We are happy to share the abstracts for the conference What citizenship education for what democracy? Transnational Perspectives from the 19th to the 21st Century.

A Call to Reflection. Democracy Education in the German Southwest, 1945–1947

Jolin Diekmann

The term Besinnung can be seen as the guiding principle of democratic education in South-West Germany after 1945. Besinnung meant to reflect, to remember, and to become aware of something – often with a religious connotation. The idea of Besinnung was used across post-war Germany: For instance, at the opening event of the Adult Education Centre¹ in Hanover, the social democrat and Minister of Education in Lower Saxony, Adolf Grimme, called it a place of Besinnung. He explained: “For Germany there is only one choice: Either it’s the end or a return to the innermost being.”((„Für Deutschland gibt es nur die Wahl: Entweder Ende oder Rückbesinnung auf sein tiefstes Wesen.“))

1. Volkshochschule [↩]