5 - Civil Society in an Authoritarian State: German Philanthropy on the Eve of the First World War

Summary

PHILANTHROPY AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT had by 1914 become an integral part of German society. Civic-minded citizens across the country actively participated in the shaping of Wilhelmine society through the creation of endowments they entrusted to state and municipal administration and through the establishment of foundations with their own boards of trustees. The founding of scholarship funds enabled citizens to impose their ideas about the composition of the future elite onto willing institutions of secondary and higher education from high schools to universities. Support for societies that funded research, such as the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft, and for societies that provided funding for archaeological excavations, such as the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft, allowed wealthy citizens to participate in the production of knowledge, both scientific and humanistic. Such societies, further, privileged certain forms of knowledge production over others and, through funding, shaped the course of modern sciences and humanities. Donations to museums gave donors opportunities to determine the content and character of museum collections (classic art versus modern art and fine art versus applied art). The funding provided for social-housing enterprises, finally, gave donors a voice in the debate about the nature and shape of a “normal” working-class family.

While some critics might argue that philanthropy was only a marginal phenomenon, since it worked in cooperation with state institutions, state funding, or state projects, it is enlightening to envision German society without philanthropy. Many cities, including Frankfurt am Main, Leipzig, Cologne, and Hamburg, would not have had public art museums. And even royal museums, as in the case of Berlin, would have been half empty, since sensational objects such as the Ishtar Gate and the bust of Nefertiti would simply not have been there. Royal museums, further, relied on supporting associations that provided much-needed funding for the maintenance of these institutions at the end of the nineteenth century. Modern research institutes such as the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft would not have existed, and Germany would have fallen behind other countries in the natural sciences. Modern cities without social-housing enterprises would probably have witnessed more intense social tensions, which might have led to prolonged social conflicts.