Ensikat studied after an apprenticeship as a commercial advertisers 1954-1958 at the School of Applied Arts in Berlin-Oberschöneweide , worked until 1960 as a commercial artist, had 1961-1962 a lecturer at the Association of Artists and was until 1965 a teacher at the School of Fine Arts. Since then he has lived as a freelancer in Berlin. Ensikats graphics published in magazines of the GDR as the magazine and Eulenspiegel . In addition to works of Peter Hacks, JRR Tolkien, Mark Twain and others he illustrated numerous children"s books especially. His delicate illustrations have received many awards, including 1975 with the Gold Medal at the KNIGA in Moscow , in 1979 with the Grand Prize of the Biennale of Illustrators in Bratislava, in 1984 with the Catalan Award of the International exhibition of children"s book authors in Barcelona in 1989, with the Gutenberg Prize Leipzig and 1992 the Premio Grafiko international Children"s and Youth book Fair in Bologna and the Troisdorf Picture book Price. From 1995 to 2002 was Ensikat professor of drawing at the Fachhochschule Hamburg . In 1995 he received the children"s literature prize and 1996 his life"s work has been honored with the most important international Children"s Book Award, the Hans Christian Andersen Award of the International Board on Books for Young People ( IBBY ). On 24 November 2007 he was awarded the Thuringian fairy tales and legends Price Ludwig Bechstein. Klaus Ensikats brother was the 2013 deceased author and actor Peter Ensikat .