Paths of Continuity
Central European Historiography from the 1930s to the 1950s

Paths of Continuity examines the impact of the Third Reich on the German historical profession before and after 1945.

Hartmut Lehmann (Edited by), James Van Horn Melton (Edited by)

9780521451994, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 January 1994

418 pages
23.7 x 16 x 2.8 cm, 0.69 kg

"Judged as a whole this is a truly splendid volume, carefully edited, intelligently constructed, and offering challenging arguments that open up new and hitherto neglected stands of continuity and discontinuity in German historiography." Hermann Beck, German Studies Review

Paths of Continuity examines the impact of the Third Reich on the German historical profession before and after 1945. The essays look at ten prominent historians whose lives and work spanned the period from the 1930s to the 1960s. Their response to the Nazi regime ranged from open resistance to willing collaboration. Ironically, however, much of the impetus for scholarly innovation after 1945 came from historians with earlier ties to the antiliberal 'folk history' of the Nazi era. All in all, this insightful collection of essays provides fresh insight into the development of West German historical scholarship since 1945.

Preface
Introduction. Continuities in German historical scholarship, 1933–60 James Van Horn Melton
1. German historiography from the 1930s to the 1950s Winfried Schulze
Comment Georg S. Iggers
2. Friedrich Meinecke (1862–1954) Jonathan B. Knudsen
Comment Ernst A. Breisach
3. Change and continuity in German historiography from 1933 into the early 1950s: Gerhard Ritter (1888–1967) Klaus Schwabe
Comment Thomas A. Brady, Jr
4. Hans Rothfels (1891–1976) Klemens von Klemperer
Comment Douglas A. Unfug
5. Franz Schnabel (1887–1966) Lothar Gall
Comment Hartmut Lehmann
6. Heinrich Ritter von Srbik (1878–1951) Fritz Fellner
Comment John W. Boyer
7. 'Historical social science' and political myth: Hans Freyer (1887–1969) and the genealogy of social history in West Germany Jerry Z. Muller
Comment Roger Chickering
8. Some observations on the work of Hermann Aubin (1885–1969) Marc Raeff
Comment Edgar Melton
9. From folk history to structural history: Otto Brunner (1898–1982) and the radical-conservative roots of German social history James Van Horn Melton
Comment Steve Rowan
10. Werner Conze (1910–86): the measure of history and the historian's measures Irmline Veit-Brause
Comment Peter Reill
11. Continuity, innovation, and self-reflection in late historicism: Theodor Schieder (1908–84) Jörn Rüsen
Comment Charles S. Maier
Index.

Subject Areas: Historiography [HBAH]