480 Part IV: Thinking the Unconditional
On 13 August, a week after his death, the funeral took place at the
Frankfurt Central Cemetery, where he was laid to rest in the family
tomb. The funeral, which took place without religious rites, was held in
the presence of two thousand mourners. Afterwards, many of the mourn-
ers met in the house of the publisher Siegfried Unseld.
The ceremony was broadcast on Hessen Radio. The prime minister
of Hessen spoke about Adorno’s achievements as a public intellectual
and as professor of sociology and philosophy. Ralf Dahrendorf, as chair-
man of the German Sociology Society, spoke about Adorno’s relations
with the student movement and Ludwig von Friedeburg discussed his
importance for the development of the Institute of Social Research.
Max Horkheimer made a very personal statement about his collabora-
tion with Adorno over the decades:
Adorno’s works, whose depth and historical relevance arose from
his unique energy as a writer and a dedication that is difficult to
comprehend, are a testimony to critical theory... .However in-
tensively he sought reform, he refused to commit himself without
reservation to collectives that appealed to his theories instead
of reflecting on their implications for their own actions... .His
attitude was both productive and anti-conformist.. ..Today, we
mourn the passing of one of the greatest minds of this age of
transition.^151