Deadline

Those who contemplate death gain a clearer perspective on life. This is a common thread in all contributions, even though the authors come from various fields of culture, politics, and society. Reflecting on a freely chosen text, thirty personalities recall their encounters with dying and death, some in a professional context, others in their personal lives. With the existential boundary of life in mind, these often very personal testimonies recount specific fears, significant or minor hopes, and an awareness of the value of life, which is sharpened by the experience of having to face death. The literary scholar and critic Hildergard Elisabeth Keller compares exemplary life stories from history to illustrate the understanding of the final phase of life then and now.