102 Years in the Heart of Europe - A Portrait of Ernst Jünger

During his century-long life, the German writer Ernst Jünger, who passed away in February 1998, remained in the centre of the ever-changing world. For example, in 1918 general Von Hindenburg presented him with the highest military honour; in the twenties, he discussed politics with Brecht and Goebbels; in the forties he talked about art with Picasso; in World War II he conspired against Hitler; and in the fifties he was one of the first to experiment with LSD. In 1996, Jesper Wachtmeister and Björn Cederberg had three conversations with the aged Jünger, addressing the important issues of the past one hundred years. The most important development, according to Jünger, was the secularisation that developed parallel to the faith in technological progress, or ‘the attempt by humans to take over God’s throne‘. Illustrated by newscasts that have been incorporated in Jünger’s portrait, the filmmakers want to show that the great ideologies of this century (fascism, communism and liberalism) share this belief in technological and economic progress. The archive footage also acts as a comment on Ernst Jünger’s life; a life that seems to comprise all the conflicts and controversies of this century.