Bernd mothers

Bernd Mütter (born September 28, 1938 in Kleve ) is a German historian and history teacher . Until his retirement in 2003 he was a professor at the Carl von Ossietzky University in Oldenburg .

life and work

Mütter was born in 1938 in Kleve on the Lower Rhine, went to school there and, after graduating from high school in 1958, studied history and German at the universities of Münster and Freiburg i. Br. After the first (1963) and second (1968) teaching exams he was teacher at the high school Theodorianum in Paderborn, received his doctorate in 1973 at the University of Münster Dr. phil. in the subject of history and was seconded in 1975 to the Faculty of History at the Reform University Bielefeld with a teaching position for general history with special consideration of subject didactics. In 1979 he, meanwhile director of studies in the university service, was commissioned to supervise the chair for didactics of history at the University of Oldenburg . He was appointed professor there in 1981. He taught in Oldenburg until he retired in 2003. 1989–1999 he was 2nd chairman of the “ Conference for History Didactics ”.

Mütter began work on the history and theory of historical science, which he continues to this day. His dissertation from 1973 (published 1980) deals with the development of historical studies at the Münster University and in Westphalia in the 19th century between the Enlightenment and historicism , whereby the tension between historicism and Catholicism plays a specific role.

A second, related focus deals with the history and theory of history didactics. Together with Siegfried Quandt , he published the volume “History - Didactics - Communication. History of Science and Current Challenges ”. In 1995 the anthology “Historical Guild and Historical Education. Contributions to the humanities history didactics ”, 2013 the monograph“ The emergence of history didactics as a scientific discipline in the era of the world wars. A 'contribution to the' culture of defeat 'in Germany ”( Karl Brandi , Herman Nohl , Erich Less ).

A third focus of Mutter's work deals with the historical didactic potential of historical travel. On the basis of years of experience in academic teaching (master's degree internship) and adult education work, the monograph “HisTourismus. History in Adult Education and Travel ”. As deputy chairman of the German “Conference for History Didactics”, Mütter was responsible for the publication of several conference volumes on the subjects of “Emotions and historical learning” (1992), “Historical learning” and “Regional identity in united Germany” (1994/96) and “ History culture ”(2000) significantly involved.

An economic-historical focus is on the subject of “Agricultural Modernization in the Age of Industrialization” with a north-west German focus and with regional comparative intent. A biography of the Oldenburg agricultural modernizer Friedrich Oetken (1990) and the study “Agricultural modernization in the Duchy of Oldenburg between the founding of the Empire and the First World War” (1995) belong in this context.

After all, mothers was active in the didactic and practical school work on teaching subjects. With Jürgen Kocka he worked on the topic of "Economy and Society in the Age of Industrialization" for the secondary level II, together with him u. a. he gave the textbook history book. The people and their history in illustrations and documents for the lower secondary level.

Book publications

• History in Münster between the Enlightenment and historicism with special consideration of the historical discipline at the Münster University. Phil. Diss. Münster 1973. (= Historical Commission for Westphalia, Series XXII: B Bd. 1, Münster 1980) 525 pp.
• (together with Jürgen Kocka ): Economy and society in the age of industrialization. Source and workbook for upper secondary school. Munich 1980. 2nd edition 1984. (Bayerischer Schulbuchverlag: Geschichte / Politik) 295 pp.
• Bernd Mütter / Siegfried Quandt (ed.): History - Didactics - Communication. History of Science and Current Challenges. Reinhart Koselleck on his 65th birthday. Marburg 1988 (history - basics and backgrounds, vol. 1). 180 pp.
• (together with Peter Hüttenberger ) (ed.): History book. The people and their history in representations and documents. Bd. 4. Berlin 1988. (Teaching book for secondary level I) Edition A: 304 p. New editions until 1997.
• Agricultural modernization as a life experience. Friedrich Oetken (1850–1922), a forgotten pioneer of Oldenburg agriculture. Oldenburg 1990 (Oldenburg Studies Vol. 33), 190 pp.
• (together with Uwe Uffelmann ) (ed.): Emotions and historical learning. Research, communication, reception. Frankfurt am Main 1992, 3rd edition 1996 (Studies on international textbook research. Series of publications by the Georg Eckert Institute, Vol. 76). 410 pp.
• (together with Uwe Uffelmann / Dagmar Klose ) (Ed.): Historical learning in a united Germany. Nation - Europe - World. Weinheim 1994 (Writings on History Didactics Vol. 1): 373 pp.
• Historical guild and historical education. Contributions to the didactics of history in the humanities. Weinheim 1995 (Writings on History Didactics, Vol. 2). 388 pp.
• (together with Robert Meyer): Agricultural modernization in the Duchy of Oldenburg between the establishment of an empire and the First World War. Marsch and Geest in an intraregional comparison (offices Brake / Elsfleth and Cloppenburg). Hanover 1995 (Publications of the Historical Commission for Lower Saxony and Bremen, Series XXXIV: Sources and Studies on the Economic and Social History of Lower Saxony in Modern Times, Vol. 17), 213 pp.
• (together with Uwe Uffelmann ) (ed.): Regional identity in a united Germany. Chance and danger. Weinheim 1996 (Writings on History Didactics, Vol. 4), 303 pp.
• (together with Horst Kuss ) (ed.): History of Lower Saxony - rediscovered. Braunschweig 1996 (Westermann Practice Pedagogy) 160 pp.
• (together with Bernd Schönemann , Uwe Uffelmann ) (Ed.). History culture. Theory - empiricism - pragmatics. Weinheim 2000 (Writings on History Didactics Vol. 11) 368 pp.
• HisTourism. History in adult education and traveling. 2 vols. Oldenburg (BIS) 2009.
• The emergence of history didactics as a scientific discipline in the era of the world wars. A contribution to the “culture of defeat” in Germany. Oldenburg (BIS) 2013.

literature

• Institute for History of the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg (ed.): From Historicism to HisTourism. Farewell ceremony for Prof. Dr. Bernd mothers. Oldenburg 2004.

Web links

• Bernd mothers in the Internet Movie Database (English)