Date: Tue, 29 Aug 1995 09:48:30 -0500 From: H-GERMAN EDITOR Dan Rogers To: Multiple recipients of list H-GERMAN Subject: Post-1945 German Culture Submitted by: Mark Clark For Members of H-German: I'd like to support Michael Kater's comments on the paucity of literature on post-1945 German culture and his distinction between culture and the secondary literature on culture. As several of you have pointed out, there are a few general surveys of culture in the tri-zonal area of Germany--three I believe. Of these, I would suggest that Glaser's account is perhaps the most useful and even it is more an anthology than an attempt at historical analyis and interpretation. All of these accounts are in German, though the first volume of Glaser's work has been translated as "The Rubble Years." As far as I know, no one in the English-speaking world has attempted to write a general cultural/ intellectual history of this period and area. There are a number of very specialized studies including the work of Martin Jay, Eugene Lund and Richard Wolin on the Frankfurt school. There are, as well, numerous works on specific individuals within that culture; for example, one thinks of the very large literature on Martin Heidegger. Unfortunately, no one has put together a book which examines the broader culture of the tri-zonal area. This is not to say that there weren't some very important developments during the immediate post-war period. Indeed, I would argue that the first 5-10 years were crucial for the future development of German culture. All sorts of important questions were up in the air. Who would take leadership roles within the culture? What relationship might the new German culture have to the old German 'high culture?' Around what kinds of themes and questions would German culture be rebuilt? Could there even be such a thing as a unified German culture? This is only a sampling of the many important questions which remain unanswered, and, I think, largely unasked. I would personally very much like to see a work on the Federal Republic like those by Gay, Laqueur, and Willet on Weimar. It seems that there is plenty of interest in the subject. Perhaps someone will take up this task soon. On a different note, I have a query. Does anyone know the name and address of the Zeitungsarchiv in Dortmund? I can't seem to track this information down. Best: Mark Clark Mark W. Clark History Department University of Georgia Athens, Georgia 30605 .