In the Name of Dignity

“How, why and who succeeded in establishing dignity as a paradigm in the Federal Republic of Germany?”

The German constitution guarantees human dignity – an abstract promise that has led to the formulation of many concrete demands over the years. While the early German Republic was concerned with distancing itself from the National Socialist dictatorship, it later invoked human dignity to fight global injustice, stand up for women’s rights and sexual equality and also to campaign against the impunity of abortion. Habbo Knoch writes about how the concept of inviolable human dignity was developed even before 1945 and how, despite its various interpretations, it became the most important agreement of the German people.