Part 2. Introduction

The 1960s were turbulent times. They stand for a period of dramatic and profound change and not just in retrospect – contemporaries too perceived them as such, though from a quite different perspective. ‘For the times they are a-changing’ wrote Bob Dylan in 1963, putting his interpretation of these changes into song. It was not only rock musicians but also politicians who perceived that something special was underway. The same year federal chancellor Ludwig Erhard set out his government’s first-term programme, affirming that ‘not just West Germany but the entire world is in the process of emerging from the postwar