Horst Hensel

Horst Hensel was born in the Ruhr region in 1947. After completing an apprenticeship and working as a skilled laborer, he attended evening school. He subsequently studied politics, history, economics and education in Munich and Dortmund. He became a teacher and earned a doctorate in education. Hensel belonged to the founding generation of the Werkkreis Literatur der Arbeitswelt, a literary group focused on working life, and served as its first speaker, or federal chair, from 1977 to 1979. He also served on boards and worked as an editor and co-publisher of a professional journal.