Memorial Page for Walter Jens

Walter Jens (born 8 March 1923 in Hamburg; died 9 June 2013 in Tübingen) was a German classical philologist, literary scholar, writer, critic, translator and university teacher. In Tübingen he helped establish the field of general rhetoric; his speeches, essays and lectures were widely heard in West Germany's literary and political debates.

Hamburg, classical philology and Tübingen

Jens grew up in Hamburg and studied classical philology. His academic work took him to Freiburg and Tübingen. Early on, he connected ancient literature, modern narrative forms and political present. As professor of general rhetoric at the University of Tübingen he taught on speech, language, literature and public life. The Tübingen seminar for general rhetoric remained closely tied to his name.

Writer and critic

Jens wrote novels, essays, speeches, literary criticism, translations and studies of antiquity. His books include Nein. Die Welt der Angeklagten, Ilias und Odyssee and many texts on language, responsibility and education. He was both scholar and public speaker, linking political questions with literary and theological traditions.

Public offices

From the 1970s onward Jens held roles in cultural institutions. He was president of the PEN Centre of the Federal Republic of Germany and later president of the Academy of Arts in Berlin. Awards such as the Heinrich Heine Prize, the Theodor Heuss Prize and the Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit show the place his voice held in West German cultural life.

Debates and later years

Jens spoke on questions of democracy, peace, language, church and dying. In 2003 reports discussed his NSDAP membership from his youth; Jens said he had not actively applied for admission. In later years he withdrew from public life for health reasons. Writings by his son Tilman Jens also brought public discussion of dementia, family and dignity.

Tübingen

Walter Jens died in Tübingen on 9 June 2013. He was 90 years old. His work brings together philological discipline, rhetorical training and political contemporaneity. His later life is also connected with public debate about dementia, family and dignity.