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The Freiburg “Bonhoeffer Circle” (1943) on Theology and Germany’s Economic Order
Abstract
Between October 1942 and January 1943 a group of academics at the University of Freiburg (Germany) produced a 120-page memorandum on a societal and economic order for post-war Germany.
Although well-known and documented in Germany, this document is virtually unknown in the English-speaking sphere.
At the occasion of the 75-year anniversary of its completion, this paper summarizes the history of its creation and key insights from it. Emphasis is given to the economic order the Freiburgers propose, since their paper became one of the cornerstones of the West-German postwar economic system.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.
- See For Example Hans
- Maier
See for example Hans Maier, Die Freiburger Kreise. Akademischer Widerstand und
Soziale Marktwirtschaft (Paderborn: Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh GmbH, 2014).
Mein Leben in Deutschland vor und nach 1933. Hrsg. und mit einem Nachwort versehen von Detlef Garz
- Käthe Vordtriede
Käthe Vordtriede, Es gibt Zeiten, in denen man welkt. Mein Leben in Deutschland vor
und nach 1933. Hrsg. und mit einem Nachwort versehen von Detlef Garz. (Lengwil: Libelle,
1999), 195.
12. Blumenberg-Lampe, 16-17.
58. When asked in the early 1950s, many described the years from 1933 to 1939 as the best time of their lives "The[ir] lives . . . were lightened and brightened by National Socialism as they knew it. And they look back at it now . . . as the best time of their lives
DS, 132. Eucken himself went even further, saying that any properly understood
social policy is "identical with policy to [give] order [to] the economy"; see Walter Eucken,
Grundsätze der Wirtschaftspolitik, 7. Edition (Tübingen: UTB, Stuttgart, 2003), 313. Quoted
from Goldschmidt 1998, 42.
57. Anyone who experienced the euphoria that can grab the audience of a rock
concert or the fans of a sports club after a decisive goal will recognize the situation. This
phenomenon is most aptly described in Elias Canetti, Crowds and Power, trans. Carol Stewart (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1984).
58. When asked in the early 1950s, many described the years from 1933 to 1939 as
the best time of their lives "The[ir] lives... were lightened and brightened by National
Socialism as they knew it. And they look back at it now... as the best time of their
lives;... There were jobs and job security, summer camps for the children and the Hitlerjugend to keep them off the streets." Mayer and Evans, 48.
59. The Denkschrift was one of the main contributors, but by no means the only
source of inspiration. For a sampling of Roman Catholic and Protestant contributors see
for example Alfred Müller-Armack, Wirtschaftslenkung und Marktwirtschaft, ed. Frank Thelen
(Munich: Kastell, 1990);
An English translation is
- Joseph Höffner
- Christliche Gesellschaftslehre
Joseph Höffner, Christliche Gesellschaftslehre (Kevelaer: Butzon &
Bercker Verlag, 1962). An English translation is available at http://www.ordosocialis.de/
pdf/jhoeffner/Christl.%20Gesellschaftsl/cglenga4neu.pdf; Nils Goldschmidt and Ursula
Nothelle-Wildfeuer, eds., Freiburger Schule und Christliche Gesellschaftslehre: Joseph Kardinal
Höffner und die Ordnung von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2012);
Genese und ethische Bedeutung einer sozioökonomischen Ordnungstheorie" (presented at the conference Wettbewerbsf ähige soziale Marktwirtschaft-Zukunftsmodell oder Utopie? Tagungsnummer: 620311, Bad Boll
- Daniel Dietzfelbinger
Daniel Dietzfelbinger, "Die evangelischen Wurzeln der Sozialen Marktwirtschaft. Genese
und ethische Bedeutung einer sozioökonomischen Ordnungstheorie" (presented at the
conference Wettbewerbsf ähige soziale Marktwirtschaft-Zukunftsmodell oder Utopie?
Tagungsnummer: 620311, Bad Boll, Germany, February 3, 2011), http://www.ev-akademie
-boll.de/fileadmin/res/otg/doku/620311-Dietzfelbinger-pdf.pdf.
60. On the historic background, see Hans Maier's work mentioned above (endnote
See Christine Blumenberg-Lampe, Das Wirtschaftliche Programm der "Freiburger Kreise
The most likely date. See Christine Blumenberg-Lampe, Das Wirtschaftliche
Programm der "Freiburger Kreise," 1st ed., Volkswirtschaftliche Schriften 208 (Duncker &
Humblot, 1973), 22. Hereafter, cited as Blumenberg-Lampe.
Politische Gemeinschaftsordnung: ein Versuch zur Selbstbesinnung des christlichen Gewissens in den politischen Nöten unserer Zeit"
- Helmut Thielicke
Helmut Thielicke, In der Stunde Null-Die Denkschrift des Freiburger BonhoefferKreises (Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr and Siebeck, 1979), 27-28. Hereafter cited as DS.
4. "Politische Gemeinschaftsordnung: ein Versuch zur Selbstbesinnung des christlichen
Gewissens in den politischen Nöten unserer Zeit"; Published in its entirety in DS and
in Gerhard A. Ritter, Gerhard Ritter: Ein politischer Historiker in seinen Briefen, ed. Klaus
Schwabe and Rolf Reichardt, Schriften des Bundesarchivs 33 (Boppard am Rhein: Boldt,
1984). Hereafter, cited as Ritter.
Kirche und Welt. Eine notwendige Besinnung auf die Aufgaben des Christen und der Kirche in unserer Zeit"; A complete reprint can be found in Ritter, 635-654. 16. Blumenberg-Lampe, 20 quoting from Eberhard Bethge's Bonhoeffer biography cited in note 17. See also Ritter
- Käthe Vordtriede
Käthe Vordtriede, Es gibt Zeiten, in denen man welkt. Mein Leben in Deutschland vor
und nach 1933. Hrsg. und mit einem Nachwort versehen von Detlef Garz. (Lengwil: Libelle,
1999), 195.
12. Blumenberg-Lampe, 16-17.
13. For a complete list see Nils Goldschmidt, Die Entstehung Der Freiburger Kreise in
Historisch-Politische Mitteilungen, Archiv f ür Christlich-demokratische Politik, no. 4
(1997), 1-14. Hereafter, cited as Goldschmidt.
14. Goldschmidt, 10.
15. "Kirche und Welt. Eine notwendige Besinnung auf die Aufgaben des Christen
und der Kirche in unserer Zeit"; A complete reprint can be found in Ritter, 635-654.
16. Blumenberg-Lampe, 20 quoting from Eberhard Bethge's Bonhoeffer biography
cited in note 17. See also Ritter. In commentary on the genesis of the two Denkschriften
of the Freiburg circles, Reinhard Hauf writes with respect to this first memorandum, 630:
Igel") in 1923 and left in 1933. Constantin von Dietze joined the hedgehogs while studying in Tübingen, likely 1911-1912. See Steffen Lippitz and Petra Hofmann
- Eberhard Bethge
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Eberhard Bethge, Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Biography, ed. Victoria J. Barnett, revised
edition (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000) 48-51. Hereafter, cited as Bethge. Bonhoeffer
joined the fraternity of the hedgehogs ("Igel") in 1923 and left in 1933. Constantin von
Dietze joined the hedgehogs while studying in Tübingen, likely 1911-1912. See Steffen
Lippitz and Petra Hofmann, Nachlass Constantin von Dietze, vol. C 100 (Universitätsarchiv der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg i. Breisgau, 2013) Preface. Available online at
https://www.uniarchiv.uni-freiburg.de/bestaende/Fremdprovenienzen/nachlass/c0100/
findbuchc0100neu.
18. Regarding Böhm, see Marie Baum, Leuchtende Spur. Das Leben Ricarda Huchs
(Wunderlich, 1950). 369-372. Regarding Thielicke, see Hans D. Betz et al., eds., Religion in
Geschichte und Gegenwart: Handwörterbuch für Theologie und Religionswissenschaft, 4th edition,.de/personen/register/eintrag/friedrich-delekat.html. This part of the Denkschrift later
became Appendix 3, on "Education."
32. Blumenberg-Lampe, 25.
Crowds and Power, trans. Carol Stewart
- Elias Canetti
Elias Canetti, Crowds and Power, trans. Carol Stewart (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1984).
Böhm-Jena natural law, Mensing. criminal law. State Church. The Jews. Education. The Church's proclamation to the world. The Word of God and counsel. The basis of right. Existence of the Church in the world. Perels. These notes suggest that Bonhoeffer conceived the manuscripts "State and Church" and
- Asmussen
- Luther Ritter
- God
Asmussen, Ritter, Luther.
God and justice; fundamental and human rights... [v. Simson] Böhm-Jena
natural law, Mensing. criminal law. State Church.
The Jews.
Education.
The Church's proclamation to the world. The Word of God and counsel.
The basis of right. Existence of the Church in the world. Perels.
These notes suggest that Bonhoeffer conceived the manuscripts "State and
Church" and "On the Possibility of the Word of the Church to the World" for
the Freiburg plans.
Historisch-Politische Mitteilungen
Walter Eucken und die Anlage 4 der Denkschrift des Freiburger Bonhoeffer-Kreises,"
Historisch-Politische Mitteilungen, Archiv für Christlich-demokratische Politik, no. 5 (1998): 33-48.
Hereafter, cited as Goldschmidt 1998.
40. DS, 55.
41. DS, 129.
42. DS, 129.