His great-grandfather was Azriel Hildesheimer, the moderniser of Orthodox Judaism in Germany.

[2] He was educated at the Humanistisches Gymnasium in Mannheim (Karl-Friedrich-Gymnasium [de]) from 1926 to 1930.

In 1980, he gave the inaugural address at the Salzburg Festival, "Was sagt Musik aus?"

[3] In addition to writing, Hildesheimer created collages which he collected in several volumes (the first Endlich allein, 1984), an activity he shared with other late-20th century writers Peter Weiss and Ror Wolf.

The municipality of Poschiavo in Switzerland made Hildesheimer an honorary citizen in 1982; he died there in 1991.