2018 is once again relevant: Precise diagnoses of a society in crisis. There have not been many German scholars and intellectuals who have truly demonstrated political judgment. Right after World War I, during the revolution and in the early years of the Weimar Republic, the philosopher and theologian Ernst Troeltsch published under the pseudonym "Spectator" in the cultured magazine "Der Kunstwart." One to two times a month, he wrote about his everyday observations in post-revolutionary Berlin: They lead directly into a torn era, allowing the reader to partake in the excitements of the Weimar Republic and vividly presenting the key players. They also show immediately what a precious good democracy is. Ernst Troeltsch aimed to win the agitated bourgeoisie for a new politics.