Background In the 1950s the socialist health policy in East Germany did not follow a clear-cut course with regard to outpatient medical care. Whilst state-run policlinics gradually took the place of doctors in private practice, the required qualifications of physicians working in outpatient care remained unclear. After preparatory lobbying by committed physicians from the outpatient sector, the 1960 Weimar Health Conference finally paved the way for the preservation and professionalization of general practice in East Germany. Aim The article analyzes the formation of general practice as a specialty in East Germany between 1945 and 1990. We scrutinize the status of general practitioners and their field in the socialist health system as well as the foundation of their medical society. Our paper aims to contribute to a broader history of general practice in Germany. Methods We draw on literature from that time, unpublished archival material, and interviews with contemporary witnesses. Results After the establishment of standards for specialist training in the early 1960s, general practice was introduced as a field of specialty in 1967. By this, East Germany had a compulsory specialist training in general practice much earlier than West Germany. In 1971, a specialist society for general practice was founded in East Germany. However, institutionalization at the medical faculties was still lacking. Meanwhile, the nationalization of outpatient care continued. In the years that followed, primary medical care was increasingly provided in policlinics. In 1989, of 40,000 physicians in the GDR, only about 340 were still practicing in their own offices. Conclusion Within the nationalized GDR health system a committed group of physicians, under difficult political circumstances, pushed for professionalization of general practice and its recognition as a field of specialty. When general medicine was recognized as a specialty in 1967, this happened earlier than in other countries and constituted an important milestone.

German text / Gegenstand dieser Studie ist die historische Erforschung der deutschen Glaubens- und Gemeinschaftsmissionen, modern ausgedrückt der evangelikalen Missionen in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus. Die bisherige Forschung hatte diesen Themenkomplex vernachlässigt. Diese Studie beschreibt, wie sich diese Missionsgesellschaften im Umfeld des nationalsozialistischen Unrechtsregimes verhielten. Da die Quellenlage problematisch ist, wird anhand der Missionsblätter aufgezeigt, wie die Glaubens- und Gemeinschaftsmissionen zur Machtergreifung Hitlers standen. Dabei kristallisierte sich heraus, dass man sich überwiegend abseits von Nationalsozialismus, Rassismus und Antisemitismus positionierte. Allerdings blieb man in den Missionsblättern zur Bekennenden Kirche distanziert. Im Hauptteil dieser Studie kommt ein aus dem Quellenmaterial eruiertes Positionenspektrum zum Vorschein, welches von NS-Affinität bis Verfolgung reicht. Dieses ist an acht biographischen Einzelstudien nachgezeichnet. Schließlich hat sich gezeigt, dass die Schuldfrage in der Nachkriegzeit kaum eine Rolle spielte. Als Ergebnis kann konstatiert werden, dass die politische Ethik der Glaubens- und Gemeinschaftsmissionen nur rudimentär vorhanden war und sich lediglich in Obrigkeitsgehorsam und apolitischer Grundhaltung zeigt. / The subject of this study is a historical examination of the German faith-missions (in contemporary terms: evangelical missions) during the period of National Socialism. This topic has been neglected in scholarly research to date. This study describes how these mission agencies acted in the context of the unlawful regime of National Socialism. Due to a problematic source basis, the attitude the faith missions took towards the ursupation of power by Hitler is demonstrated based on their own periodical publications. It emerges that they largely positioned themselves at a distance to National Socialism, racism and anti-semitism. However these publications also demonstrate a distance to the “Confessing Church”. In the main body the examination of eight exemplary biographies based on detailed sources portrays an array of different positions which range from affinity to the NS-system to persecution. Furthermore the study shows that the issue of failure or guilt hardly played any role in the postwar period. This study leads to the conclusion the political ethics of the German faith missions were only rudimentarily developed, and only evinced themselves in an obedience to the powers that be and in a basically apolitical attitude. / Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)

German text / Gegenstand dieser Studie ist die historische Erforschung der deutschen Glaubens- und Gemeinschaftsmissionen, modern ausgedrückt der evangelikalen Missionen in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus. Die bisherige Forschung hatte diesen Themenkomplex vernachlässigt. Diese Studie beschreibt, wie sich diese Missionsgesellschaften im Umfeld des nationalsozialistischen Unrechtsregimes verhielten. Da die Quellenlage problematisch ist, wird anhand der Missionsblätter aufgezeigt, wie die Glaubens- und Gemeinschaftsmissionen zur Machtergreifung Hitlers standen. Dabei kristallisierte sich heraus, dass man sich überwiegend abseits von Nationalsozialismus, Rassismus und Antisemitismus positionierte. Allerdings blieb man in den Missionsblättern zur Bekennenden Kirche distanziert. Im Hauptteil dieser Studie kommt ein aus dem Quellenmaterial eruiertes Positionenspektrum zum Vorschein, welches von NS-Affinität bis Verfolgung reicht. Dieses ist an acht biographischen Einzelstudien nachgezeichnet. Schließlich hat sich gezeigt, dass die Schuldfrage in der Nachkriegzeit kaum eine Rolle spielte. Als Ergebnis kann konstatiert werden, dass die politische Ethik der Glaubens- und Gemeinschaftsmissionen nur rudimentär vorhanden war und sich lediglich in Obrigkeitsgehorsam und apolitischer Grundhaltung zeigt. / The subject of this study is a historical examination of the German faith-missions (in contemporary terms: evangelical missions) during the period of National Socialism. This topic has been neglected in scholarly research to date. This study describes how these mission agencies acted in the context of the unlawful regime of National Socialism. Due to a problematic source basis, the attitude the faith missions took towards the ursupation of power by Hitler is demonstrated based on their own periodical publications. It emerges that they largely positioned themselves at a distance to National Socialism, racism and anti-semitism. However these publications also demonstrate a distance to the “Confessing Church”. In the main body the examination of eight exemplary biographies based on detailed sources portrays an array of different positions which range from affinity to the NS-system to persecution. Furthermore the study shows that the issue of failure or guilt hardly played any role in the postwar period. This study leads to the conclusion the political ethics of the German faith missions were only rudimentarily developed, and only evinced themselves in an obedience to the powers that be and in a basically apolitical attitude. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This dissertation analyzes the efforts to develop a pluralistic political culture and democratic practices of governance through the training of democratic leaders in Germany's first school of public affairs, the German School of Politics. The investigation of the thought-leaders that formed this school illustrates two main points. First, through the prism of the School, I detail the efforts to develop a conception of civil society that, by being grounded in civility, could retie social bonds and counter the brutalization of politics characteristic of the post-World War One years. By providing practical knowledge, courses in public affairs could not only free Germans from the blinders of ideologies, but also instill in them an ethos that would help viewing the political enemy as an opponent with an equal right to participate in the political process. Secondly, I point to the limits of trans-national philanthropy in supporting the development of civil society in young democracies. By analyzing the relationship between U.S. foundations and the School, I focus on the asymmetry that existed between American ideals of democracy and the realities of the German political system. This study thus focuses on the dynamics between the actions of institutions and organizations, and the broader social behaviors that constitute public life.

Text in German / Die Arbeit ist eine ekklesiologisch-rnissiologische Untersuchung einer Migrantengruppe, der uber eine Viertelrnillion zahlender Russlanddeutscher, evangelisch freikirchlicher Tradition, die innerhalb von 35 Jahren, beginnend rnit 1963, als Aussiedler aus der vorrnaligen Sowjetunion in die Bundesrepublik Deutschland eingewandert sind. Die Aussiedlung und Einwanderung geschah in Absprache beider Staaten als Farnilienzusarnrnenfiihrung von Menschen deutscher Volkszugehorigkeit, die durch den zweiten Weltkrieg getrennt worden waren. Ethnisch ein Tei! von rund 1.900.000 Menschen, die oft nach vielen, anstrengenden aber entschlossenen Bernilhungen die Erlaubnis erlangten auszureisen. In Deutschland wurden sie unerwartet freundlich und hilfreich aufgenornrnen. Da keine offiziellen Angaben fiber die Anzahl der eingewanderten freikirchlichen Aussiedler vorliegen, war das erste Ziel der Studie, ihre zahlenrnaBige GroBe festzustellen. Ergebnis: Etwa 270.000 Personen sind als Farnilien der baptistischen und rnennonitischen Freikirche zuzurechnen. Von ihnen hatten sich rund 55.000 Erwachsene dern christlichen Glauben zugewandt und sich diesen Gerneinden angeschlossen. Die anderen waren Minderjahrige oder der Gerneinde bisher ferngeblieben. Erst nach der Aufnahrne in das Land ihrer Yater rnerkten viele, dass sie Frernde in der Heirnat waren. Wollten sie nicht Frernde bleiben, rnussten sie sich sozial, kulturell und kirchlich durch Anpassung integrieren. Dieser Prozess ist schwer, weil der einzelne Einwanderer sich dazu verandern rnuss. Zunachst aber wollen viele bleiben wie sie sind und so leben, wie sie in der alten Heirnat gelebt hatten. Besonders schwierig erweist sich die kirchliche Integration. Etwa sechs von sieben freikirchlichen Aussiedlern ( etwa 48.000) haben eigene Gerneinden gegrilndet, die anderen ( etwa 7 .000) haben ihre geistliche Heirnat in bestehenden Gerneinden gefunden. Diese neugegrilndeten Gerneinden weisen flir die BRD eine uberdurchschnittliche Wachsturnsrate auf. Ein zweites Anliegen ging der Frage nach, wie diese Gerneinden wachsen: Durch neuen Zuzug aus der GUS oder durch Bekehrung und Taufe? Ergebnis: Von den rund 62.000 Mitglieder (aus den ursprilnglichen 48.000) in Aussiedlereigenen Gerneinden (Stand 1998) sind rund 24.500 Glaubige in Verbindung rnit der Taufe zur Gerneinde gekornrnen. Die Zahl der Aussiedler-Taufen in den einheirnischen Gerneinden ist nicht bekannt. Drittens wurde diskutiert, inwiefern die Gerneinden ihre Lebensordnung bewahren und trotzdern ihren Missionsauftrag wahrnehrnen konnen. / The thesis is an ecclesio-missiological study of a migrant group of more than a quarter of a million Russian Germans, by tradition free church evangelicals. Beginning in 1963, they migrated from the former Soviet Union as 'Aussiedler' (re-settlers) to the Federal Republic of Germany. The resettling - agreed upon by both states - was a program of re-uniting families that had been separated during the Second World War. Ethnically, part of a larger group of 1,900.000 German people who, after exhausting but determined efforts, were permitted to leave for Germany. Here being welcomed and given generous material and social support. As no statistics about evangelical free church family immigrants are recorded, the first aim of the research was to establish their numerical size. The result:: By 1998 some 270,000 family members of this confession had entered Germany. Of these about 55,000 were adult Christian believers who had become members of a Baptist or a Mennonite Church. The rest were minors or adults with no confession of faith to date. In the country of their forbears many of the 'Aussiedler' realised: ,,We are strangers in our homeland. If we do not want to remain strangers, we need to adjust culturally, socially and religiously". Initially many resisted change. Change in to religious customs was particularly difficult. As a result, many did not join existing churches but established new congregations where they could practice their faith in the traditions familiar to them. Since the new 'Aussiedler' churches have been growing at an above average growth rate, the second goal was to investigate the reasons for this phenomenon. How much growth was by immigrantion? How much by conversion and baptism? It was found that of the ca. 62,000 members in the Aussiedler congregations (1998) ca. 24,500 had joined through baptism. The others had come in by immigration. A third area of discussion related to the question: In how far can immigrant Christians retain their own culture and still be faithful to their missionary calling? / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Missiology)

The Holocaust represented humanities first confrontation with unparalleled destruction and evil unchecked. It continues to impact upon the lives of survivors, their children- the second generation- and generations thereafter. The study aimed to provide the second generation with a voice. Their roles within their respective family systems and the impact of the Holocaust upon them are explored. The theoretical framework is social constructionism. One-on-one in-depth interviews were conducted with three adults whose parent/s are survivors. The manner of analysis was `Hermeneutic.' The participants' narratives took the form of interview transcripts. These were analysed and themed by the researcher. Themes that repeated themselves were elaborated upon and later linked with the available literature. The researcher hopes that the dissertation will contribute to existing research on the multigenerational effects of trauma in relation to familial and individual roles and memory. / Psychology / M. A. (Clinical Psychology)

Die kirchliche Verkündigung steht heute vor mannigfachen Herausforderungen. Das dynamische Beziehungsgeflecht von Prediger und Hörer, Text und Situation lässt sich nur schwer im Gleichgewicht halten. Prüft man die homiletischen Publikationen der Gegenwart und der jüngeren Vergangenheit, so wird deutlich, dass die Predigt sehr gründlich im Kontext der Hörersituation reflektiert wird. In diesem Zusammenhang ist auf einen möglichen Konflikt aufmerksam zu machen: die auf die Hörersituation bedachte Predigt kann versucht sein, den Anspruch des biblischen Textes zu vernachlässigen. Meine Dissertation will zur Frage der Hörerorientierung der Predigt einen klärenden Beitrag leisten, und zwar mithilfe eines homiletischen Vergleichs, der Epoche Johann Michaels Sailers mit der Gegenwart und jüngeren Vergangenheit. Bei aller kritischen Distanz zur geistesgeschichtlichen Bewegung der Aufklärung dürfen wir nicht übersehen, dass fruchtbare Impulse von ihr ausgegangen sind und zum Beispiel viele Anliegen der „katholischen Aufklärung“ im Zweiten Vatikanischen Konzil (1962-1965) wieder aufgegriffen wurden. Die weithin von anthropologischen Interessen geleiteten homiletischen Bemühungen während der Aufklärungsphase im 18. Jahrhundert stehen in einer erkennbaren Analogie zur gegenwärtigen Situation. In besonderer Weise wird die homiletische Konzeption des Pastoraltheologen und späteren Bischofs von Regensburg Johann Michael Sailer (1751-1832) dargestellt. Sein Entwurf einer christlichen Lebenslehre auf biblischem Fundament ist von bleibender Aktualität. Zum Vergleich, insbesondere im Blick auf die Hörererwartungen Situationsklärung, Solidarität und Zukunft, werden exemplarisch die homiletischen Entwürfe von Ernst Lange, Rudolf Bohren, Wilfried Engemann und Rolf Zerfaß herangezogen. / Preaching in the church today faces manifold challenges. The dynamic web of relationships between preacher and audience, text and situation is difficult to keep in balance. When analysing the homiletic publications of the present and recent past, it becomes apparent that the sermon is very thoroughly reflected with the context of the situation of the audience. In this connection, one has to draw attention to a possible conflict: a sermon designed with regard to the situation of the audience may be tempted to neglect the biblical text and its demands. Therefore, this thesis aims to make a clarifying contribution to the question of the audience orientation of sermons, namely by means of a homiletic comparison of the epoch of Johann Michael Sailer with the present and recent past. In spite of all critical distance to the history of thought of the Enlightenment Movement, we should not overlook the fact that fruitful impulses emanated from this time, and that, for example, many concerns of the “Catholic Enlightenment” were addressed again at the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). The homiletic efforts of the Enlightenment period in the 18th century, which were widely led by anthropological interests, can be recognized as analogous to the current situation. The homiletic conception of the pastoral theologian and later Bishop of Regensburg, Johann Michael Sailer (1751-1832), will be described in particular. His conception of Christian ethical teaching on a biblical foundation is of timeless relevance. As comparison, the homiletic drafts of Ernst Lange, Rudolf Bohren, Wilfried Engemann and Rolf Zerfaß will be exemplarily analysed, particularly with regard to the expectation of the audience. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D. Th. (Practical Theology)

Die kirchliche Verkündigung steht heute vor mannigfachen Herausforderungen. Das dynamische Beziehungsgeflecht von Prediger und Hörer, Text und Situation lässt sich nur schwer im Gleichgewicht halten. Prüft man die homiletischen Publikationen der Gegenwart und der jüngeren Vergangenheit, so wird deutlich, dass die Predigt sehr gründlich im Kontext der Hörersituation reflektiert wird. In diesem Zusammenhang ist auf einen möglichen Konflikt aufmerksam zu machen: die auf die Hörersituation bedachte Predigt kann versucht sein, den Anspruch des biblischen Textes zu vernachlässigen. Meine Dissertation will zur Frage der Hörerorientierung der Predigt einen klärenden Beitrag leisten, und zwar mithilfe eines homiletischen Vergleichs, der Epoche Johann Michaels Sailers mit der Gegenwart und jüngeren Vergangenheit. Bei aller kritischen Distanz zur geistesgeschichtlichen Bewegung der Aufklärung dürfen wir nicht übersehen, dass fruchtbare Impulse von ihr ausgegangen sind und zum Beispiel viele Anliegen der „katholischen Aufklärung“ im Zweiten Vatikanischen Konzil (1962-1965) wieder aufgegriffen wurden. Die weithin von anthropologischen Interessen geleiteten homiletischen Bemühungen während der Aufklärungsphase im 18. Jahrhundert stehen in einer erkennbaren Analogie zur gegenwärtigen Situation. In besonderer Weise wird die homiletische Konzeption des Pastoraltheologen und späteren Bischofs von Regensburg Johann Michael Sailer (1751-1832) dargestellt. Sein Entwurf einer christlichen Lebenslehre auf biblischem Fundament ist von bleibender Aktualität. Zum Vergleich, insbesondere im Blick auf die Hörererwartungen Situationsklärung, Solidarität und Zukunft, werden exemplarisch die homiletischen Entwürfe von Ernst Lange, Rudolf Bohren, Wilfried Engemann und Rolf Zerfaß herangezogen. / Preaching in the church today faces manifold challenges. The dynamic web of relationships between preacher and audience, text and situation is difficult to keep in balance. When analysing the homiletic publications of the present and recent past, it becomes apparent that the sermon is very thoroughly reflected with the context of the situation of the audience. In this connection, one has to draw attention to a possible conflict: a sermon designed with regard to the situation of the audience may be tempted to neglect the biblical text and its demands. Therefore, this thesis aims to make a clarifying contribution to the question of the audience orientation of sermons, namely by means of a homiletic comparison of the epoch of Johann Michael Sailer with the present and recent past. In spite of all critical distance to the history of thought of the Enlightenment Movement, we should not overlook the fact that fruitful impulses emanated from this time, and that, for example, many concerns of the “Catholic Enlightenment” were addressed again at the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). The homiletic efforts of the Enlightenment period in the 18th century, which were widely led by anthropological interests, can be recognized as analogous to the current situation. The homiletic conception of the pastoral theologian and later Bishop of Regensburg, Johann Michael Sailer (1751-1832), will be described in particular. His conception of Christian ethical teaching on a biblical foundation is of timeless relevance. As comparison, the homiletic drafts of Ernst Lange, Rudolf Bohren, Wilfried Engemann and Rolf Zerfaß will be exemplarily analysed, particularly with regard to the expectation of the audience. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D. Th. (Practical Theology)

This thesis is an examination of euthanasia, eugenics, the ethic of patient care, and linguistic propaganda in the Second World War. The examination of euthanasia discusses not only the history and involvement of the facility at Hadamar in Germany, but also discuss the current euthanasia debate. Euthanasia in World War II arose out of the Nazi desire to cleanse the Reich and was greatly influenced by the American eugenics movement of the early 20th century. Eugenics was built up to include anyone considered undesirable and unworthy of life and killed many thousands of people before the invasion of allied troops in 1944. Paramount to euthanasia is forced sterilization, the ethic of patient care, and how the results of the research conducted on euthanasia victims before their deaths should be used. The Nazis were able to change the generally accepted terms that researchers use to describe their experiments and this change affected how modern doctors and researchers use the terms in current research. This thesis includes research conducted in Germany and the United States from varied resources.

During the Weimar Republic, mountaineering organizations sought to establish hegemony over the cultural narrative of mountaineering. Contemporary texts published by various alpine organizations positioned mountaineering as an activity reserved for a select elite, casting alpinists as masculine nationalists committed to the preservation of the Alps as their exclusive 'playground of Europe.' Until World War I, the GermanAustrian Alpenverein, the largest alpine club in the world, maintained firm control over mountaineering's master narrative. I argue that, during the Weimar years, this master narrative was subject to onslaughts from ideological opponents (such as the socialist alpine club, Die Naturfreunde), commercial competitors (the mass tourism industry in the Alps), and alternative representations of mountaineering in the cinematic genre of the Bergfilm. The profusion of alternatives to the formerly hegemonic Alpenverein narrative offered audiences new ways to imagine mountaineering, and this challenge created significant fissures within the Alpenverein itself as it struggled to sustain its dominance over the representations and cultural meanings of mountaineering. As I investigate the fracturing of mountaineering's master narrative, I consider how alpine organizations reacted to the new cultural constellations that arose in Weimar and challenged the Alpenverein's master narrative. To establish the contours of this narrative, I draw upon the Alpenverein's own Zeitschriften and Mitteilungen, and I also consult popular alpine journals, such as Der Bergsteiger and the Allgemeine BergsteigerZeitung, paying close attention to how alpine organizations articulated their critiques of the mass tourism industry and published negative depictions of the increasing modernization of the Alps. Additionally, I examine how the Bergfilm genre threatened this master narrative, and how the Alpenverein attempted unsuccessfully to blunt the genre's popularity. In its analysis of texts and films as normative cultural products, my dissertation focuses on how the culture of mountaineering was contested in the realm of narrative and visual representations. The latter chapters discuss how the Alpenverein later aligned itself with the Nazi regime, not only out of ideological affinity, but also in order to utilize the machinery of the Nazi state to reassert its full control over mountaineering's master narrative. / text