Die Wahrheitsmacher

Research into Catholicism in the Federal Republic of Germany has been dominated by the Commission for Contemporary History since the early 1960s. This church-orientated institution painted a largely homogenous and apologetic picture of the recent past of the Catholic Church and German Catholicism. It was not until the early 1990s that independent research networks emerged, leading to a certain pluralisation in the field of Catholicism research. Nonetheless, the Commission's publications continue to shape historiography on the role of German Catholicism in the 20th century. How the Commission managed to achieve this central position within the German academic community remains largely unexplained to this day. This study, based on the estate of a key figure in the Commission for Contemporary History, provides the first insight into the internal communication of this network of Catholic historians.