Description
Book SynopsisThe Society for Rhenish History was founded in 1881. In view of the increasing nationalism in the German Empire, her work was subject to tension for decades, which was considerably increased by the affinity of large sections of the population in the region for Catholicism and liberalism. This explains the efforts of those involved at the time to contribute equally to illuminating regional and fatherland history by publishing sources without taking political or ideological partisanship. This self-commitment, which grew out of the tradition of the society to work on the usually archival records, has now lasted for more than 140 years. Society has always been the object and mirror of scientific booms and networks, political systems and socio-economic upheavals. In this light, this book describes the history of the society, especially with regard to its institutional development: The focus is on the academic and civic supporters or members of the society, its organization and its position in the state and province. The political and social framework conditions are also highlighted: the imperial and Weimar era, the behavior of society towards the folk history propagated under National Socialism and finally the reorientation of their work after the dissolution of the Prussian Rhine province in the post-war period. The editorial preparation of the manuscript, which was kept until 1980, was carried out by Prof. Dr. Stephan Laux (Professorship for Historical Regional Studies at the University of Trier).
