Academic tenure is primarily intended to guarantee the right to academic freedom: it protects respected teachers and researchers when they dissent from prevailing opinion, openly disagree with authorities of any sort, or spend time on unfashionable topics.
When tenure was institutionalized in German universities there was a genuine need. The danger of governmental interference in thinking was too great to leave to chance. The system seems to have declined since then and it can be a disincentive to promote ground-breaking work.
Without the security of the position, an academic would usually favor tepid topics and safe ideas to pursue. Tenure encourages iconoclastic and original ideas by providing scholars the intellectual autonomy to investigate the problems and solutions about which they are most qualified, and to report their findings in an open, academic setting.
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