A civil republic? Bourgeoisie and and civilness in the west-German post-war society

This article is part of an unfolding debate about the German Burgertum in the 20' century, especially after 1945. Its main argument is that in post-1945 West Germany, an encounter of two different forms of Burgerlichkeit, of two forms of middle class culture took place, charged with tension and conflict. One form of Burgerlichkeit is described as a socially integrating bourgeois, even petty bourgeois habitus based on material and economic conditions: the bourgeois habitus of the Wirtschaftswunder-gesellschaft. The other form is presented as Staatsburgerlichkeit, as "civility". The tension between these two dimensions of Burgerlichkeit is interpreted as a central element of socio-political change in West Germany during the 1950s and 1960s.