Carl Schmitt (1888-1985), the inventor of the friend-enemy theory and a thinker of the state of exception, is one of the most famous and controversial political theorists of the 20th century. A multitude of unpublished documents and images makes this book the most comprehensive account of the life and work of the "monster" to date. Christian Linder approaches the enigmatic life, thought, and writing center of a man who, due to his temporary closeness to the National Socialists and being labeled their "crown jurist," was long considered taboo after 1945, but has now become the most discussed German thinker worldwide. "The Train Station of Finnentrop" is an intimate portrait of Carl Schmitt, from which the "monster" emerges with one of the most adventurous intellectual biographies of the 20th century in all its clarity.