Department of German and Dutch

Modern & Medieval Languages

Department of German and Dutch

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Paper Ge 12

History and identity in Germany, 1750 to the present

MML Part IB and Part II

From the mid-eighteenth century to the present the question of national and cultural identity has engaged many of the greatest German writers and thinkers. Their reflections have been stimulated by the disrupted history of the German lands: from the Holy Roman Empire, destroyed by the Napoleonic Wars, to the second Reich, destroyed by World War I, to the Third Reich, destroyed by World War II and then divided by the 'Iron Curtain'. The legacy of this troubled past has attracted fresh interest since the reunification of Germany in 1990 and the 2005 commemoration of 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War was marked by important statements on German identity by both the Chancellor and the President of Germany. Every stage in this disrupted history has prompted new debate about the identity of the Germans.

All students study a selection of texts from either Section A or Section B. You then select three other Sections (including either A or B) for further study. Two supervisions are devoted to each Section selected; the final two supervisions are devoted to revision. In the exam you answer three questions, at least one of which must be taken from Section A or Section B. A specimen question paper can be seen here.

Sections A and B focus on ideas about the meaning of history and on theories of culture and society. These are studied in selections from major writers such as Herder, Kant, Hegel, Marx and Engels, Nietzsche and Spengler. Section C concentrates on the history of German philhellenism and the significance of Greek antiquity for debates about national identity between 1750 and 1940. Section D explores the growing interest in the German past after about 1770, in particular the role of 'Hermann the German', the Middle Ages, and the Reformation as sites of collective memory and national myth-making. Section E examines the changing notions of the Volk from Fichte, Jahn, and Arndt, via völkisch and racial theorists, to Hitler. Section F looks at the debates about German identity in both East and West Germany after 1945 and at their role in the political and cultural life of the Germans since reunification in 1990.

The paper offers the opportunity to study texts and ideas which are of political, social and cultural rather than purely literary significance. We assume no prior knowledge of history, merely an interest in exploring the intellectual debates that have accompanied the cultural and political development of modern Germany.

The paper can be studied in either Part IB or Part II. In Part IB a portfolio of essays may be offered for examination instead of sitting the written paper. It can easily be combined with any of the modern German literature, history and thought papers (i.e. Ge 5 or Ge 6 for Part IB or for Part II Ge 8, Ge 9, Ge 10, Ge 13 or Ge 14 or the paper that may be 'borrowed' from the Historical Tripos, 'European History since 1890'). Students who take the paper in Part IB may wish to consider doing their Year Abroad Project on some aspect of the material they have studied; it is also possible to extend the work done for Ge 12 in Part IB by offering an Optional Dissertation in Part II instead of Paper Ge 8, Ge 9, Ge 10, Ge 13 or Ge 14. Please consult the course adviser.

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Introductory reading:

  • S. Berger, Germany. Inventing the Nation (London 2004)
  • O. Dann, Nation und Nationalismus in Deutschland, 1770-1990 (Munich 1993)
  • A Bowie, German Philosophy. A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2010)

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Reading list

SECTION A: THEORIES OF CULTURE, SOCIETY AND THE MEANING OF HISTORY (I)


Texts

  • Herder: Auch eine Philosophie der Geschichte (Reclam no 4460)
  • Kant: Idee zu einer allgemeinen Geschichte (in: Reclam no 9694)
  • Hegel: Vorlesungen über die Philosophie der GeschIchte (Einleitung) (Reclam no 4881)
  • Engels: Die Entwicklung des Sozialismus von der Utopie zur Wissenschaft (Dietz paperback; many other editions, including collections of Marx-Engels Werke)

Supervisors will advise on secondary reading.

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SECTION B: THEORIES OF CULTURE, SOCIETY AND THE MEANING OF HISTORY (II)


Texts

  • Burckhardt: Weltgeschichtliche Betrachtungen, Kröner Taschenausgaben Nr. 55, pp 1-26, 157-248
  • Nietzsche: Vom Nutzen und Nachteil der Historie für das Leben (Reclam no 7134)
  • Spengler: Der Untergang des Abendlandes (dtv no 838), 'Einleitung', pp. 3-70.
  • Meinecke: Die deutsche Katastrophe, [1946], any edition

Supervisors will advise on secondary reading.

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SECTION C: THE RISE AND FALL OF GERMAN PHILHELLENISM, 1750-1945


1. The Rise of Philhellenism

Primary reading

  • Winckelmann: Gedanken über die Nachahmung der griechischen Werke in der Malerei und Bildhauerkunst (Reclam no 8338)
  • W. v. Humboldt, 'Über den Charakter der Griechen, die idealische und historische Ansicht desselben' [1807], in: W.v. Humboldt, Werke in fünf Bänden, ed. A. Flitner and K. Giel (Darmstadt 1969), vol. II, pp. 65-72

Secondary reading

  • S. Marchand, Down from Olympus: Archaeology and Philhellenism in Germany, 1750-1970 (Princeton 1996), ch. 1
  • M. Fuhrmann, 'Die "Querelle des Anciens et des Modernes", der Nationalismus und die deutsche Klassik', in M. Fuhrmann (ed.), Brechungen. Wirkungsgeschichtliche Studien zur antik-europäischen Bildungstradition (Stuttgart 1982)


2. The Dark Side of Hellas: Nietzsche, Burckhardt and the Revaluation of Greek Antiquity

Primary reading

  • Nietzsche, Die Geburt der Tragödie aus dem Geiste der Musik (Reclam 7131) ch. 1-12
  • Burckhardt, Griechische Kulturgeschichte, 3 vols, ed. R. Marx (Leipzig 1928), vol. 1, 'Einleitung'

Secondary reading

  • H. Cancik, Nietzsches Antike (Stuttgart 1995), ch. 3-4
  • M. Silk and J. P. Stern, Nietzsche on Tragedy (Cambridge 1981), ch. 4-5
  • O. Murray, 'Introduction', in: J. Burckhardt, The Greeks and Greek Civilization, ed. O. Murray (New York 1998)
  • M. Ruehl, 'Politeia 1871: Nietzsche contra Wagner on the Greek State', in I. Gildenhard and M. Ruehl (eds.), Out of Arcadia: Classics and Politics in Germany in the Age of Nietzsche, Burckhardt and Wilamowitz (London 2003)


3. Philhellenism and Nazism

Primary reading

  • K. Hildebrandt, 'Einleitung', in: Platon: Der Staat, ed. A. Horneffer and K. Hildebrandt [1933] (Stuttgart 1943), pp. I- XXXVI
  • H. Berve, Sparta (Leipzig 1936), 'Vorwort' and 'Vorkämpfer der Hellenen' pp. 75-85
  • Göring, 'Stalingrad-Thermopylä: Aus dem Appell des Reichsmarschalls an die Wehrmacht am 30. Januar 1943', in: O.W. v. Vacano (ed.), Sparta: Der Lebenskampf einer nordischen Herrenschicht, 2nd edn (Kempten 1942), p. 120

Secondary reading

  • V. Losemann, 'NS-Ideologie und die Altertumswissenschaften', in: M. Landfester (ed.), Der Neue Pauly. Enzyklopädie der Antike. Rezeptions- und Wissenschaftsgeschichte, vol. 15/1 (Stuttgart 2001), pp. 723-54
  • S. Rebenich, 'From Thermopylae to Stalingrad: the myth of Leonidas in German historiography', in A. Powell and S. Hodkinson (eds.), Sparta Beyond the Mirage (London 2002)
  • R.H. Watt, '"Wanderer, kommst du nach Sparta." History through propaganda into literary commonplace', The Modern Language Review (1985). Online via JSTOR

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SECTION D: MYTH, MEMORY, AND HISTORY - THE INVENTION OF GERMAN TRADITIONS, c.1770-1945


1. The Gothic Revival and Romantic Medievalism

Primary reading

  • Goethe, 'Von deutscher Baukunst' [1772], in Von deutscher Art und Kunst (Reclam no 7497)
  • Wackenroder and Tieck, Herzensergießungen eines kunstliebenden Klosterbruders [1796], (Reclam 7860), pp. 7-24, 50-60, 90-102
  • M. v. Schenkendorf, 'Die Deutschen an ihren Kaiser' [1813]

Secondary reading

  • W.D. Robson-Scott, The Literary Background of the Gothic Revival in Germany (Oxford 1965), ch.2-3
  • D.E. Barclay, 'Medievalism and nationalism in nineteenth-century Germany', Studies in Medievalism (1993)
  • T. Nipperdey, 'Der Kölner Dom als Nationaldenkmal', in T. Nipperdey, Nachdenken über die deutsche Geschichte (Munich 1986)


2. 'Hermann the German' and the rise of 'Teutomania' in the 19th Century

Primary reading

  • Kleist, Die Hermannsschlacht (Reclam 348)

Secondary reading

  • R. Kuehnemund, Arminius or the Rise of a National Symbol in Literature (New York 1966), ch. 6 and Conclusion
  • W. M. Doyé, 'Arminius', in: E. François and H. Schulze (eds.), Deutsche Erinnerungsorte, vol. 3 (Munich 2001)
  • J. Hermand, 'Vom altständischen Reichsgedanken zum deutschnationalen Befreiungskriegspathos', in J. Hermand and M. Niedermeier (eds.) Revolutio Germanica. Die Sehnsucht nach der 'alten Freiheit' der Germanen. 1750-1820 (Frankfurt/M 2002)


3. The Nationalist Conscription of Luther and the Reformation

Primary reading

  • Heine, Zur Geschichte der Religion und Philosophie in Deutschland, bk. 1 ('Deutschland bis Luther'). (Reclam 2254)
  • J.B. Müller (ed.), Luther und die Deutschen. Texte zur Geschichte und Wirkung (Reclam 7916), ch. 5 ('Luther als nationale Symbolfigur')

Secondary reading

  • T.A. Brady, The Protestant Reformation in German History (Washington DC 1998)
  • G. Chaix, 'Die Reformation', in: E. François and H. Schulze (eds.), Deutsche Erinnerungsorte, vol. ii (Munich 2001)
  • K. Kupisch, 'The "Luther Renaissance"', Journal of Contemporary History (1967). Online via JSTOR

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SECTION E: VÖLKISCH THOUGHT AND RACIAL IDEOLOGIES, c. 1800-1945


1. Fashioning the Volk: Fichte, Jahn, and Arndt

Primary reading

Secondary reading

  • B. Vick, 'The origins of the German Volk: cultural purity and national identity in nineteenth-century Germany', German Studies Review (2003). Online via JSTOR
  • J. Whaley, 'Thinking about Germany, 1750-1815: the birth of a nation?', Publications of the English Goethe Society (1997)
  • H. Schulze, The Course of German Nationalism (London 1991), ch. 3-6

2. The völkisch movement: Lagarde, Langbehn, Chamberlain

Primary reading

  • P. de Lagarde, Deutsche Schriften [1878], 'Die Religion der Zukunft' and 'Die graue Internationale'
  • J. Langbehn, Rembrandt als Erzieher [1890], ch. 1 'Deutsche Kunst'
  • H.S. Chamberlain, Die Grundlagen des XIX. Jahrhunderts [1899], ch. 9a ('Die Germanen als Schöpfer einer neuen Kultur')

Secondary reading

  • G. Mosse, The Crisis of German Ideology: Intellectual Origins of the Third Reich (New York 1964), ch. 5-6
  • M. Burleigh and W. Wippermann, The Racial State (Cambridge 1991), ch. 2
  • U. Puschner, W. Schmitz, J. H. Ulbricht (eds), Handbuch zur 'Völkischen Bewegung' 1871-1918 (Munich 1996), Preface and pp. 22-45 ('Völkische Ideologie')


3. Nazi ideology between völkisch nationalism and biological racism

Primary reading

  • Hitler, Mein Kampf [1925-26], vol. i, ch. 11 and vol. ii, ch. 2-4
  • 'Gesetz zum Schutze des deutschen Blutes und der deutschen Ehre' [1935]; 'Reichsbürgergesetz' [1935]
  • Himmler, 'Rede des Reichsführer-SS bei der SS- Gruppenführertagung in Posen' (4.x.1943)

Secondary reading

  • I. Kershaw, Hitler: 1889-1936, Hubris (London 1998), ch. 2, 7
  • P. Weindling, 'Understanding Nazi racism: precursors and perpetrators', in M. Burleigh (ed.), Confronting the Nazi Past: New Debates on Modern German History, (London 1996), pp. 66-83
  • B. Mees, 'Hitler and Germanentum', Journal of Contemporary History (2004)

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SECTION F: HISTORY AND IDENTITY IN GERMANY 1945-2005

The titles listed below are not set texts or compulsory reading but are intended to give a general impression of the kind of works which will be used. Dr Joachim Whaley (jw10005) can give further advice.


1. Vergangenheitsbewältigung in the Federal Republic before 1989

  • M. Fulbrook, German National Identity after the Holocaust (Cambridge 1999), ch. 1-6
  • C. E. Maier, The Unmasterable Past. History, Holocaust and German National Identity (Cambridge, Mass. l988)
  • J. Herf, Divided Memory. The Nazi Past in the Two Germanies (Cambridge, Mass. 1997), ch. 1, 7-10
  • S. Berger, The Search for Normality. National Identity and Historical Consciousness in Germany since 1800 (Oxford 1997), ch. 1, 2, 4
  • J.-W. Müller, Another country. German intellectuals, Unification and National Identity (New Haven 2000) ch. 1


2. Antifascism and the German Past in the German Democratic Republic 1949-89

  • D. Orlow, 'The GDR's failed search for a national identity, 1945-1989', German Studies Review (2006)
  • J. H. Brinks, 'Political Anti-Fascism in the German Democratic Republic', Journal of Contemporary History (1997). Online via JSTOR
  • D. Diner and C. Gundermann, 'On the ideology of Antifascism', New German Critique, (1996). Online via JSTOR
  • T. Ahbe, Der DDR-Antifaschismus. Diskurse und Generationen, Kontexte und Identitäten. Ein Rückblick über 60 Jahre (Leipzig 2007)
  • J Herf, Divided Memory. The Nazi Past in the Two Germanies (Cambridge, Mass. 1997), ch. 1-6, 9-10


3. Facing the German Past in a unified Germany, 1990-2005

  • B. Niven, Facing the Nazi Past. United Germany and the Third Reich (London 2002)
  • K. Jarausch (ed.), After Unity. Reconfiguring German Identity (Cambridge 1997) ch. 1
  • S. Berger, Inventing the Nation: Germany (London 2004), ch. 8
  • B. Niven (ed.), Germans as Victims. Remembering the Past in Contemporary Germany (Houndmills 2006), Intro and ch. 9, 10, 12
  • A. Fuchs, Phantoms of War in Contemporary German Literature, Films and Discourse. The Politics of Memory (Houndmills 2008), ch. 1, 7

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Course adviser

The Department's undergraduate course adviser for this paper is Dr Joachim Whaley, (Gonville & Caius College, network tel: 32454, e-mail: jw10005@cam.ac.uk).

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Links to all German papers and comparative papers with a substantial German element

 

 

 

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