In Vielfalt geeint: The foundations of modern Europe through the example of post-war Freiburg, 1945-1951
Open Access
Author:
Slate, Abigail
Area of Honors:
Interdisciplinary in German and Global & International Studies
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Bettina Brandt, Thesis Supervisor Bettina Brandt, Thesis Honors Advisor Jonathan Eran Abel, Thesis Honors Advisor Samuel Mark Frederick, Faculty Reader
Keywords:
Germany Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau World War II WWII Quakers American Friends Service Committee AFSC France European Union EU Europe Post-war reconstruction
Abstract:
The purpose of this thesis, “In Vielfalt geeint: The foundations of modern Europe through the example of post-war Freiburg, 1945-1951,” is twofold. First, after introducing the southwestern German city of Freiburg im Breisgau, I will examine some of the reconstruction activities that occurred there within the six-year period following the end of World War II. Specifically, I will discuss the work of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC, a faith-based Quaker service organization) and of the French military government in occupied Freiburg, with special attention to efforts that promoted cultural reconciliation. Second, using Freiburg as a case study of the larger-scale post-war changes that were occurring across Europe, I will explain how the exchange of ideologies, languages, and cultural practices within this period helped to lay the foundations for the modern, peaceful, and unified Europe we know today.
