Foundations after "hour zero": The history of philanthropy in West Germany after 1945

Studying the history of German foundations since 1945 meets with a number of methodological difficulties. Empirical and historical studies have been very rare for nearly a century. The paper therefore concentrates on a number of post-1945 creations and ask whether they may be seen as matching the development of an overall conception of civic engagement. It shows that donors gradually move from strict subservience to the state to a vision of an independent pursuit of public purposes, while retaining a strong interaction with the state, which by creations of its own and political and regulatory measures remains highly influential. The findings suggest that foundations present a good case for the peculiarly German corporatist paradigm of society.