Federal Republic of Germany

Abstract

Pingel contrasts textbook publishing practices in West Germany and the former GDR and traces their development in the years following reunification. The debate focusses primarily on the depiction of the GDR in textbooks and comparison to the years under National Socialism. The federal structure of cultural and educational policy in Germany facilitated the acceptability of differences in the depiction of the GDR from state to state, and reduced the extent to which the process of educational reunification was dominated by viewpoints from the West. While criticism exists of one-sided representations of partial aspects of the topic and the degree of emphasis placed on specific issues, Pingel underlines the caution and sensitivity of German publishers in their representations of the recent past.