"Population History" in the Early German Federal Republic: Conceptual and Institutional Historic Aspects. Erich Keyser and Wolfgang Kollmann in Comparison

The article deals with conceptions of "Population History" (Bevolkerungsgeschichte) of Erich Keyser & Wolfgang Kollmann in the early German Federal Republic. On the basis of their publications & non-published texts, & by describing & comparing their biographical & institutional backgrounds, it is shown that "Population History" formed a specific social practice of West German population researchers. Historians such as Erich Keyser, who was known as Volksforscher before 1945, tried to resume a specific ethnocentrical & anthropological paradigm of "Population History" in the l95Oies, partly by interaction with younger researchers. Other historians, such as Wolfgang Kollmann, who began his career after 1945, continued "macrostructural" traditions of German population research. His theoretical framework substantially was built on the German national state. Anyway, it is shown that Kollmann, benefited by his international contacts, gradually contributed to open German "Population History" methodologically. Adapted from the source document.