Does life have no value anymore?asks Simon Caldwell

For a language which to the English ear occasionally sounds guttural, German also contains a few words as musical as they are useful. Think of Doppelgänger or Schadenfreude. Words such as these tend to creep into the English language when we lack an equivalent to convey the meaning so succinctly expressed.

One such word with contemporary relevance is Entzauberung. This appeared in the works of Friedrich Schiller, the 18th century playwright, philosopher and poet, and was later borrowed by Max Weber, the 20th century sociologist often referred to as one of the most important theorists on the development of modern Western society.