Friedrich Meinecke. Vernunftrepublikaner aus Überzeugung

"The carefully annotated documents collected here for the first time - above all from influential university lecturers - impressively show how liberal educated citizens campaigned for the preservation of the Weimar Republic against contempt for the rule of law. They provide an insight into the sharp, often very substantial controversies surrounding nation and nationalism, constitution and morality, the common good, responsibility and individual freedom during the deep crisis in which the first German democracy collapsed and National Socialism triumphed. Using Friedrich Meinecke as an example, they show how a great scientist was also able to engage as a public intellectual. Anyone interested in the role of science and politics in a deep crisis of the economy, society and state will find countless insights, suggestions and warnings in this book, however much the late Weimar Republic and the challenges of the present differ from one another." Jürgen Kocka.