3. Remembering Dahrendorf (Ralf Dahrendorf) (In Memoriam‪)‬

The last time I saw Lord Dahrendorf was in Darmstadt where he was awarded the Schader Preis, shortly after his 80th birthday. He had himself typed his words of thanks for the award, but someone else had to deliver his planned speech. He had almost lost his voice and could say only a few words, like 'I do not have a Zweitstimme' (a bilingual pun, Stimme meaning both voice and ballot). His death a a few weeks later coincided with the 80th birthday of Jurgen Habermas, and drew equal attention in the German media. I prefer to remember a meeting in London 2003. We did not talk much about a study I was conducting then. He seemed happy when I reported that the topic of Mitbestimmung had come up in a discussion of the consequences of the possibilities of a European SA. He obviously rather enjoyed being a tour guide for my wife and me, showing us around the House of Lords. Few of them were in attendance. Dahrendorf introduced some and pointed out a few crucial facts. Two members of Attle e's cabinet, he said, were still among the Peers. It was an unforgettable hour, during which I could not completely suppress thinking of Janis Joplin. An awesome accomplishment for a German intellectual, sociologist and politician At the time, I was not aware that he had chosen his title ' Baron Dahrendorf of Clare Market in the City of Westminster' himself