Editorial
From the Editor: Changing of the Guard Andrew I. Port Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 481 – 481 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001952 Published Online on 29th October 2014
Forum: German Home Towns, Forty Years Later
Introduction Robert Mark Spaulding Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 482 – 487 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001587 Published Online on 29th October 2014 The idea of publicly recognizing an important milestone in the life of Mack Walker's book German Home Towns, which appeared in 1971, goes back to January 2011 when David Luebke and Yair Mintzker put out a call for papers to discuss “German Home Towns—Forty Years Later” at the upcoming meeting of the German Studies Association (GSA) in Louisville, Kentucky. The robust response to their call confirmed the wide-ranging impact of Walker's book and validated their hunch that the fortieth anniversary was the right time for a critical celebration of this influential text.
How German was the German Home Town? Christopher R. Friedrichs Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 488 – 495 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001599 Published Online on 29th October 2014 We have loved this book for more than forty years. Age cannot wither its intellectual charms, nor custom stale its endless teachability, especially in graduate seminars. As in any long relationship, there have been moments of vexation and irritation, but we return to this book over and over to be nourished anew by its originality, its insights, and its capacity not just to evoke a certain kind of German community but also to convince us that the values of such communities shaped much of German history right into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Ritual, Religion, and German Home Towns David M. Luebke Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 496 – 504 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001605 Published Online on 29th October 2014 German Home Towns is a very forward-looking book. I say that not because it proved so influential—although it certainly had a profound impact on my generation of historians. My point is more prosaic, namely that German Home Towns occupies a set point in time and social milieu, the inaugural moment of an attenuated phase of stability for a peculiar type of human community in central Europe. That moment, of course, is 1648; the milieu is that of walled and privileged towns—large and differentiated enough for self-sufficiency in most economic functions, but not so large or so differentiated as to generate the degrees of stratification and anonymity that characterized larger commercial or manufacturing cities. In contrast to metropolitan centers, “home towns” embraced all inhabitants in a web of face-to-face relations, at once integrating, enabling, and controlling all inhabitants through guilds and the political systems built around them. Usually, almost all hometown inhabitants were citizens, too—again in contrast to larger cities, with their substrates of noncitizen residents. From the vantage of 1648, and within the stream of early modern German history, German Home Towns peers into a future of confrontation with “movers and doers”—those vanguards of the “general estate,” as Walker called them, who trampled idiosyncrasy, leveled difference, and, with some help from Napoleon, replaced both local corporatism and the imperial “incubator” with provincial and national systems of general, liberal delegation.
The Paradox of Visual and Material Cultures in Mack Walker's German Home Towns Yair Mintzker Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 505 – 512 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001617 Published Online on 29th October 2014 As far as visuality and materiality are concerned, Mack Walker's German Home Towns is a paradoxical work. In more than 400 pages of dense text about society, politics, and law in and around German towns from 1648 to 1871, the author devoted almost no space to the home towns' visual and material aspects. One would look in vain in this book for detailed descriptions of burghers' private and communal buildings; the layout of fortifications, streets, and public spaces; the location of civic and religious institutions; or the outward appearance of the townspeople, their fairs, rituals, and processions. Early in the book, Walker set the tone for his approach by dismissing as intellectually lazy the most common definition for a town in early modern central Europe—a settlement surrounded by physical walls—and in the entire book he included only one image of a German home town (and even that only on page 222).
Rethinking “Great Commerce” and the Hometown Economy Robert Mark Spaulding Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 513 – 522 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001629 Published Online on 29th October 2014 This essay examines home towns in the “Third Germany,” and suggests that important assumptions about the insularity of the hometown economy might need revision. Ironically, a revised understanding of hometown economies that sees them as active participants in long-distance trade networks can help to confirm Mack Walker's core insights about the resilient strength of German home towns.
Other Articles
Bilingualism in Medieval Europe: Germans and Slavs in Helmold of Bosau's Chronicle Sébastien Rossignol Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 523 – 543 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001630 Published Online on 29th October 2014 Having described the countries of the “numerous peoples of the Slavs,” the late twelfth-century chronicler Helmold of Bosau added, “If you consider Hungary as a part of Slavania, as some would suggest, because it does not differ by customs or by language, the area of the Slavic language extends so far that a proper estimate is quite lacking.” These few words indicate how clearly local the chronicler's horizon was—the farther away from Wagria, the fuzzier his information. At the same time, though, Helmold made plain that the Slavic language was for him an essential element of what Slavania was. As a parish priest at the forefront of missionary and settlement activities, Helmold wrote a chronicle that is a unique source of information for intercultural interactions between Germans and Slavs during the high medieval colonization period.
Prosecuting Injuries in Early Modern Germany (ca. 1550–1650) Govind P. Sreenivasan Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 544 – 584 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001642 Published Online on 29th October 2014 On Saturday, September 4, 1610, an urgent message arrived at the criminal court (Zentgericht) of Remlingen from the nearby rural market of Neubrunn: a dangerous criminal by the name of Georg Schmid, alias “Baker Georg,” had been apprehended the previous day, and the officials of the Zentgericht should come and get him. The chief magistrate (Zentgraf) Johann Müller, together with the court clerk and one of the jurors, accordingly rode out to Neubrunn, where the prisoner was handed over, but with the condition, as Müller subsequently reported, that if the prisoner should be released alive, and if he should cause any harm to any members of the community of Neubrunn in either the village [itself] or its fields, that they would in every case seek to recover these [damages] from the Remlingen Zentgericht, and moreover, that if they had reason to believe that the evildoer would [in fact] escape in this way, they would prefer that he die in prison.
Godly, International, and Independent: German Protestant Missionary Loyalties before World War I Jeremy Best Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 585 – 611 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001654 Published Online on 29th October 2014 In 1910 Gustav Warneck received nominations and support for both the Nobel Peace Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature. His boosters, mostly from Germany but also from elsewhere in Europe, later speculated that Warneck's failure to secure an award was because his dual nomination prevented enough support for either prize. Instead, they went to the Bureau international permanent de la Paix (Permanent International Peace Bureau) and to German poet and author Paul Johann Ludwig Heyse. The laudatory merits of the Permanent International Peace Bureau and Heyse aside, what had made Warneck worthy in the minds of so many for a Nobel Prize?
Protecting Unborn Life in the Secular Age: The Catholic Church and the West German Abortion Debate, 1969–1989 Kimba Allie Tichenor Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 612 – 645 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001666 Published Online on 29th October 2014 In 1969, the newly elected coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) in West Germany announced plans to reform Paragraph 218, the law that regulated women's access to abortion. This announcement prompted a public debate in West Germany on the state's obligation to protect unborn life—a debate that continues today in reunified Germany. Through an analysis of key events in that debate between 1969 and 1989, this article makes a twofold argument. First it argues that despite West Germany's increasingly secular orientation, the Catholic Church exercised significant political influence with respect to abortion policy throughout the history of the Federal Republic. Second, it argues that the West German Church's participation in these debates exposed deep rifts within the Catholic community, which, in turn, contributed to the formation of a smaller, more activist, and conservative Church. This smaller Church has achieved a remarkable degree of political success in reunified Germany by mobilizing its conservative core constituency, embracing new arguments, and pursuing issue-specific alliances.
Book Reviews
The Fuggers of Augsburg: Pursuing Wealth and Honor in Renaissance Germany. ByMark Häberlein.Charlottesville:University of Virginia Press,2012. Pp. xi + 286. Cloth $39.50. ISBN978-0813932446. Eve M. Duffy Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 646 – 647 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001678 Published Online on 29th October 2014
The Faithful Executioner: Life and Death, Honor and Shame in the Turbulent Sixteenth Century. ByJoel F. Harrington.New York:Farrar, Straus and Giroux,2013. Pp. 320. Cloth $28.00. ISBN978-0809049929; New York: Picador, 2013. Pp. 320. Paper $20.00. ISBN978-1250043610. Tryntje Helfferich Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 648 – 650 doi: 10.1017/S000893891400168X Published Online on 29th October 2014
Hopes for Better Spouses: Protestant Marriage and Church Renewal in Early Modern Europe, India, and North America. ByA. G. Roeber.Grand Rapids:Eerdmans,2013. Pp. xxviii + 289. Paper $29.00. ISBN978-0802868619. Douglas H. Shantz Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 650 – 652 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001691 Published Online on 29th October 2014
The Holy Roman Empire, Reconsidered. Edited byJason Philip Coy,Benjamin Marschke, andDavid Warren Sabean.New York and Oxford:Berghahn Books,2010. Pp. xvii + 328. Cloth $120.00. ISBN978-1845457594; Paper (2013) $34.95. ISBN978-1782380894. Peter G. Wallace Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 653 – 656 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001708 Published Online on 29th October 2014
Shatterzone of Empires: Coexistence and Violence in the German, Habsburg, Russian, and Ottoman Borderlands. Edited byOmer Bartov andEric D. Weitz.Bloomington, IN:Indiana University Press,2013. Pp. xii + 528. Paper $37.00. ISBN978-0253006356. Ian Reifowitz Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 656 – 658 doi: 10.1017/S000893891400171X Published Online on 29th October 2014
From Empire to Union: Conceptions of German Constitutional Law since 1871. ByJo Eric Khushal Murkens.Oxford:Oxford University Press,2013. Pp. x + 261. Cloth £60.00. ISBN978-0199671885. Peter C. Caldwell Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 658 – 660 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001721 Published Online on 29th October 2014
Militarism in a Global Age: Naval Ambitions in Germany and the United States before World War I. ByDirk Bönker.Ithaca, NY, and London:Cornell University Press,2012. Pp. vii + 421. Cloth $49.95. ISBN978-0801450402. Gary E. Weir Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 661 – 662 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001733 Published Online on 29th October 2014
The Zimmermann Telegram: Intelligence, Diplomacy, and America's Entry into World War I. ByThomas Boghardt.Annapolis, MD:Naval Institute Press,2012. Pp. xiii + 322. Cloth $36.95. ISBN978-1612511481. Matthew Stibbe Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 663 – 665 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001745 Published Online on 29th October 2014
The German Minority in Interwar Poland. ByWinson Chu.Washington, D.C.:German Historical Institute and Cambridge University Press,2012. Pp. 320 + xxii. Cloth $94.00. ISBN978-107008304; Paper (2014) $31.99. ISBN978-1107634626. James Bjork Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 665 – 668 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001757 Published Online on 29th October 2014
The Pan-German League and Radical Nationalist Politics in Interwar Germany, 1918-39. ByBarry Jackisch.Farnham, Surry, and Burlington, VT:Ashgate,2012. Pp. viii + 212. Cloth $119.95. ISBN978-1409427612. Bruce B. Campbell Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 668 – 670 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001769 Published Online on 29th October 2014
Culture in Dark Times: Nazi Fascism, Inner Emigration, and Exile. ByJost Hermand. Translated byVictoria W. Hill.New York and Oxford:Berghahn Books,2013. Pp. v + 278. Cloth $80.00. ISBN978-0857455901; Paper (2014) $34.95. ISBN978-1782383857. Joan L. Clinefelter Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 670 – 672 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001770 Published Online on 29th October 2014
Secret Reports on Nazi Germany: The Frankfurt School Contribution to the War Effort. ByFranz Neumann,Herbert Marcuse, andOtto Kirchheimer. Edited byRaffaele Laudani, with a foreword byRaymond Geuss.Princeton, NJ:Princeton University Press,2013. Pp. xxiv + 679. Cloth $45.00. ISBN978-0691134130. Martin Woessner Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 672 – 675 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001782 Published Online on 29th October 2014
Marching into Darkness: The Wehrmacht and the Holocaust in Belarus. ByWaitman Wade Beorn.Cambridge, MA:Harvard University Press,2014. Pp. 314. Cloth $39.95. ISBN978-0674725508. Stephen G. Fritz Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 675 – 677 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001794 Published Online on 29th October 2014
Homemade Men in Postwar Austrian Cinema: Nationhood, Genre and Masculinity. ByMaria Fritsche.New York and Oxford:Berghahn Books,2013. Pp. xi + 228. Cloth $95.00. ISBN978-0857459459. Matthew P. Berg Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 677 – 680 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001800 Published Online on 29th October 2014
Divided, but Not Disconnected: German Experiences of the Cold War. Edited byTobias Hochscherf,Christoph Laucht, andAndrew Plowman.New York:Berghahn Books,2010. Pp. 266. Cloth $95.00. ISBN978-1845457518; Paper (2013). $34.95. ISBN978-782380993. Steven J. Brady Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 680 – 681 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001812 Published Online on 29th October 2014
Becoming East German: Socialist Structures and Sensibilities after Hitler. Edited byMary Fulbrook andAndrew I. Port.New York:Berghahn,2013. Pp. 314. Cloth $95.00. ISBN978-0857459749. Eli Rubin Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 681 – 683 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001824 Published Online on 29th October 2014
GIs in Germany: The Social, Economic, Cultural, and Political History of the American Military Presence. Edited byThomas W. Maulucci andDetlef Junker.Washington, D.C.:German Historical Institute and Cambridge University Press,2013. Pp. xi + 365. Cloth $99.00. ISBN978-0521851336. Jay Lockenour Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 684 – 685 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001836 Published Online on 29th October 2014
The Language of Human Rights in West Germany. ByLora Wildenthal.Philadelphia:University of Pennsylvania Press,2013. Pp. 227. Cloth $69.95. ISBN978-812244889. Jeremy Varon Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 685 – 687 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001848 Published Online on 29th October 2014
Das Unbehagen an der Erinnerungskultur. Eine Intervention. ByAleida Assmann.Munich:C. H. Beck Verlag,2013. Pp. 231. Paper €16.95. ISBN978-3406652103. Gavriel D. Rosenfeld Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 688 – 690 doi: 10.1017/S000893891400185X Published Online on 29th October 2014
Building after Auschwitz: Jewish Architecture and the Memory of the Holocaust. ByGavriel D. Rosenfeld:New Haven:Yale University Press,2011. Pp. ix + 438. Cloth $45.00. ISBN978-0300169140. Nils Roemer Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 690 – 692 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001861 Published Online on 29th October 2014
Memorial
Jonathan Osmond (1953–2014) Toby Thacker Central European History , Volume 47 , Issue 03 , September 2014, pp 696 – 698 doi: 10.1017/S0008938914001940 Published Online on 29th October 2014