The first book to provide the English-speaking reader with the
revisionist interpretation of the role of the state and philanthropy in
Germany that is increasingly embraced by German historians.
Largely unnoticed among English-speaking scholars of German history, a
major shift in interpretation of German history has been underway during
the past three decades among German historians of Germany. While
American and British historians continue to subscribe to an
interpretation of German society as state centered, their German
counterparts have begun to embrace an interpretation in which
nineteenth- and twentieth-century German society was characterized by
private initiative and a vibrant civil society. Public institutions such
as museums, high schools, universities, hospitals, and charities relied
heavily on the support of wealthy donors. State funding for
universitiesand high schools, for instance, accounted only for a
fragment of the operating costs of those institutions, while private
endowments running into the millions of marks funded scholarships as
well as health care for teachers and students. Private support for
public institutions was essential for their existence and survival: it
was the backbone of Germany's civil society. This book is the first to
provide the English-speaking reader with this revisionist interpretation
of the role of the state and philanthropy in nineteenth- and
twentieth-century Germany: a society in which private actors claimed
responsibility for the common good and used philanthropic engagement to
shape societyaccording to their visions.
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Thomas Adam is Professor of History at the University of Texas at
Arlington. He has published extensively in the field of transnational
history and the history of philanthropy.
