At the end of The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (1975), there is the following DISCLAIMER/EPILOGUE: "Personen und Handlung sind frei erfunden. Ähnlichkeiten mit gewissen journalistischen sind weder beabsichtigt, noch zufällig, sondern unvermeidlich." This means: "Characters and events are fictitious. Description of certain journalistic practices is neither intentional nor accidental, but unavoidable."
Fictionalization of events that were the basis for The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008), Germany in Autumn (1978), If Not Us, Who? (2011), Baader (2002), Black Box BRD (2001), Stammheim - The Baader-Meinhof Gang on Trial (1986), A German Youth (2015), Starbuck Holger Meins (2002), Baader-Meinhof: In Love with Terror (2002), Andreas Baader - Der Staatsfeind (2002), Die RAF (2007), Ulrike Marie Meinhof (1995), Prisoner of Terrorism (1978), Ulrike Meinhof (2007), Die RAF - Tödliche Illusion (2007) and were strongly related with Marianne & Juliane (1981), Wildentiere (1969), Gudrun Ensslin - the early years (1968), Den fjärde mannen (2014), Der Fall Susanne Albrecht (2017), Children of the Revolution (2010), Sekigun-P.F.L.P: Sekai sensô sengen (1971), Schleyer - Eine deutsche Geschichte (2003), Todesspiel (1997), Mogadischu (2008) and present in the storylines of Long Shadows (2008), The Worst Thing (2019) and Joschka und Herr Fischer (2011).
During an interview, Volker Schlöndorff and other crew members argue for the film's continued relevance today, drawing an analogy between the political climate of panic over terrorism in 1970s West Germany and the post-September 11, 2001 situation in the U.S. where unsubstantiated media hype was used to launch the invasion of Iraq.