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Germany's Cultural Ideology of Bildung

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Germany's Cultural Ideology of Bildung GERMANY’S CULTURAL IDEOLOGY OF BILDUNG 1870-1945 A dissertation submitted to Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Hans-Henning Bunge August, 2015 © Copyright All rights reserved except for previously published materials. Dissertation written by Hans-Henning Bunge M.S. Lack Igenieur Schule, Germany M.A., Kent State University Ph.D., Kent State University, 2015 Approved by _________________________, History, Chair Doctoral Dissertation Committee Richard Steigmann-Gall _________________________, History, Member, Doctoral Committee Timothy Scarnecchia _________________________, University of Akron, Member, Doctoral Committee Shelley Baranowski _________________________, Geology, Member, Doctoral Committee Alison Smith _________________________, Graduate Faculty Representative Sue Ellen Wright Accepted by _________________________, Chair, Department of History Kenneth Bindas _________________________, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences James Blank TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ...............................................................................................................v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... vi Chapter Page INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 Purpose of Dissertation ..............................................................................................3 Existing Literature .....................................................................................................5 Method and Chapter Outlline ...................................................................................16 Archives Used ...........................................................................................................23 I. METHOD ................................................................................................................27 Humanist Ideology ....................................................................................................27 Gymnasium Education – School Reform of 1808 ....................................................30 School Reform of 1890 .............................................................................................38 Secondary Education During the Weimar Republic .................................................48 Humanistic Education in the Weimar Republic .......................................................53 Bildungsbürgertum ...................................................................................................58 II. GYMNASIUM TEACHERS’ ESSAYS.....................................................................66 Introduction ...............................................................................................................66 Background ...............................................................................................................67 Reviews of Books and Essays, 1877-1918 ...............................................................73 Summary ................................................................................................................107 Conclusion .............................................................................................................109 III. GYMNASIUM STUDENTS IN IMPERIAL GERMANY ......................................115 Introduction ............................................................................................................115 The Wandervogel Movement ..................................................................................116 The School Paper "Der Anfang" ("The Beginning") ..............................................125 Jugend und Jugendkultur (Youth and Youth-culture) ............................................129 Erfahrung (Experience) by Ardor ...........................................................................133 Jugend und Schule (Youth and School) .................................................................141 Jugend und Elternhaus (Youth and Parents) ..........................................................145 Youth and Religion .................................................................................................146 Klassenspiegel (Reflection on Lessons) .................................................................148 iii Summary .................................................................................................................150 Conclusion .............................................................................................................153 IV. DIARIES 1847 TO 1943 ........................................................................................156 Introduction ............................................................................................................156 Review of Diaries – Part I .......................................................................................160 Review of Diaries – Part II .....................................................................................197 Summary .................................................................................................................241 Conclusion .............................................................................................................248 V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION .......................................................................252 BIBLOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................260 Archives ..................................................................................................................260 Primary Sources ......................................................................................................260 Secondary Sources .................................................................................................264 iv LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 Curricula of German Secondary Schools ...............................................................44 2 Age of Diarists at Major Historical Events ..........................................................241 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my advisor, Professor Richard Steigmann-Gall, for his help, guidance and patience, as well as Professor Shelley Baranowski, for her close reading of my dissertation. Their continuous support enabled me to bring this dissertation to a successful conclusion. I also like to express my appreciation to Tim Scarnecchia, Alison Smith, and Sue Ellen Wright for their feedback as members of my dissertation committee. I especially want to thank Dr. Monika Flaschka for her suggestions and encouragement and Ms. Nancy MacMillan for proofreading my dissertation. My wife, Ms. Gisela Bunge, has been very supportive and tolerated my seclusion while I was working on my dissertation for which I am very grateful. vi INTRODUCTION During World War II the Russian forces had encircled a German division and its chance to breakout was slim. A young Fähnrich (officer cadet) was to escape the anticipated surrender to the enemy by being flown home. As he came to say his goodbyes, the commanding officer addressed the young man by quoting the famous inscription of the memorial at Thermopylae where Leonidas, king of the Spartans perished in 480 BC as he defended the mountain pass against an overwhelming Persian force. “Go tell Germans …. “1 He then continued his recital in ancient Greek. When the recruit responded with a blank stare, he repeated the quote in Latin. But the recruit remained clueless. Whereupon the commander commented to his comrade, a physician, both members of the humanistic educated Bildungsbürgertum: “If he does not even understand the Latin version, why is it he who is being saved.”2 The Bildungsbürgertum (educated bourgeoisie) was since the early nineteenth century uniquely privileged to receive a secondary education and they thereby became the main proponents of Germany’s cultural ideology of Bildung. This ideology of Bildung combined the desire for intellectual exploration, with ethical values, self-reliance and personal betterment of the Lutheran religion. It was also influenced by the idealized culture of ancient Greece and Rome that were highly admired and perceived as the zenith 1 Go tell Spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their law we lie. Steven Pressfield, Gates of Fire (New York: Doubleday, 1998), 1. 2 Peter Bamm, Die unsichtbare Flagge (Berlin: Deutsche Buch-Gesellschaft, 1952), 254. 1 of mankind’s accomplishment. This ideology had sprung from a contemplative social environment during a time when Germany’s economy was mainly agrarian, but the nation’s industrialization during the Kaiserreich provided less fertile condition for it to thrive. In response to the changing social and economic environment the Ministry of Education reformed and expanded the secondary education, which up to now was only offered by the humanistic Gymnasium that was also responsible for perpetuating the cultural ideology of Bildung. In order to educate a larger section of the population, and not just the small elite of the Bildungsbürgertum, the Realschule with its more utilitarian orientation was upgraded to provide the lower classes with a better access to a secondary education and to universities. The expanded secondary education caused the middle class to restructure and thereby diminished the role of the Bildungsbürgertum as
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