Literature and legislature – Ferdinand von Schirach – the man who talks about guilt – culture

From defense attorney to leading author: Ferdinand von Schirach tells stories as they are written in the courtroom.

In his very first volume of short stories, «Verbrechen» (2009), Ferdinand von Schirach told a true and disturbing story: on a hot summer day, a folk festival is held in the countryside. Alcohol flows freely. Eight men from the village band play to dance and quench their thirst. As if in delirium, they attack a young service worker together late in the evening and rape her several times behind the stands.

One of the groups anonymously alerted the police. The victim later found the victim unconscious and badly injured under a wooden shed.

“Then I lost my innocence”

It was the first case in which attorney Ferdinand von Schirach was assigned in 1994 immediately after graduation. He got an acquittal for the authors because they couldn’t really be convicted as individuals because of their uniform. If in doubt, for the accused.

“At that time I lost my innocence,” says Ferdinand von Schirach in retrospect. He is still haunted today by the image of his father in tears, who at the time had lost faith in the judiciary: why were the men who destroyed his daughter’s life simply let go?

Since then, Ferdinand von Schirach has known that justice doesn’t always prevail in court. There is a fine line between guilt and innocence.

Self-Determined Dying: Ferdinand von Schirach’s “God”

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On November 23, SRF 1 will show the film “Gott” based on the homonymous work by Ferdinand von Schirach from 20:05. Address the question of whether a healthy person can die independently.

Richard Gärtner, a 74-year-old widower, wants to end his life even though he is completely healthy. After the death of his beloved wife, life simply lost its meaning for him. Should he be given a lethal drug?

An ethics council negotiates this issue in the film. The public can then cast their vote by telephone and online voting. Should Richard Gärtner take the drug, yes or no?

SRF uses the Eurovision broadcast of “Gott” as an opportunity for a themed evening. After the film, Barbara Lüthi will discuss with her guests the audience vote and the ethical arguments for and against the self-determined death of a healthy person in a “CLUB Special”.

This theme also guides him in his literary works. Whether in stories, novels, movies or comedies: he always talks to us about people who are guilty of some kind.

Ferdinand von Schirach is convinced that “it is the situation that gives rise to the crime”. How many times have you seen people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time or who, due to the combination of unfavorable circumstances, became responsible.

Most of the accused are guilty

Even as a teenager, Ferdinand von Schirach really only wanted one thing: to become a writer. But the irrational fear of hunger first prompted him to learn a job.

His literary talent was then very useful as a criminal defense attorney: “Even then, I really did nothing but tell stories.”

This is because “most of the defendants are still guilty”. This is also clear to the court.

“Most of the time, it wasn’t about proving innocence, but rather I had to make plausible why it was committed,” says von Schirach. In his long legal practice, he learned that the verdict was ultimately not interesting: “It’s the story behind it that makes life great and rich.”

This is also the nerve center of his success as a writer: Ferdinand von Schirach is thoroughly acquainted with everyday controversies and deftly diverts his legal experience into compelling literature. Play with the forms in a virtuous way. He is currently transforming the stage into a voting arena.

But he is already thinking about the next projects: a film for television, for example, which shows the perspective of the author on one channel and that of the victim on another channel. Ferdinand von Schirach will still be good for some surprises.

“‘God’ is a discussion on the constitution”

With the television production “Gott”, Ferdinand von Schirach brings up the explosive theme of euthanasia: the public should decide whether a healthy person should have the right to receive a lethal drug from a doctor.

SRF: Isn’t it negligent to leave such a judgment to a horde of laymen, which is literally a matter of life and death?

Ferdinand von Schirach: In my first play “Terror” I actually put the audience in the role of judges. Now the setting is completely different: in “Dio” it is not a debating court, but the ethics council. Legal laymen sit there. And this is also true: because we cannot ask these questions only in the hands of experts.

The topics are presented tonight from a wide variety of perspectives – that is the purpose of this piece.

What interests you as a writer and what as a former criminal defense attorney in the setting of a voting arena?

In its original form, the theater was a forum for discussion. We saw a piece on a socially relevant topic together and talked about it. The criminal trials themselves were organized like plays: 2,000 judges gathered in ancient Greece. There were no paragraphs to invoke, but two sides faced each other and each made its point.

Seen this way, I’m not doing anything new with “God”. At most I let the audience vote in the end. Personally, I believe that a constitution is alive when it is mentioned and not when it is written on paper.

Terrorism or euthanasia are part of our constitutional reality. From this point of view, I do not at all believe that participation in the decision-making process is wrong or populist. “God” is a discussion of our constitution.