When ‘Bildung’ becomes ‘Kultur’: on the German ‘Sonderweg’

This paper analyses recent publications that, from different perspectives, consider the notion of Bildung (formation), a concept that is difficult to translate and which has been linked to the formative ideals underlying Western culture, for example, the Greek Paideia and the Roman Humanitas. Indeed, German neohumanism (1780-1830) sought, via Bildung, to link itself to these formative ideals of Classical and Renaissance humanism. The paper begins by reviewing the concept of Bildung (the German ideal par excellence), one which, by virtue of the special path (Sonderweg) taken by Germanic history, lost its original cosmopolitan and universal meaning to such an extent that it became perverted and dissolved amidst the ultranationalist postulates of Kultur. Although the merging of these two concepts — Bildung and Kultur, in other words, formation and nationalism — proved disastrous for the history of contemporary Germany, voices were nonetheless raised against this manipulation. Joachim Fest’s memories of childhood and youth illustrate that it is always possible to say no, such that Bildung could also serve as an antidote against barbarism and horror.