Werner Abelshauser
Werner Abelshauser | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 24, 1944 Wiesloch, near Heidelberg, Germany |
| Occupation(s) | Historian, economist |
| Years active | 1970–present |
| Known for | Economic history, business history, German Wirtschaftswunder research |
Werner Abelshauser (born 24 November 1944 in Wiesloch, near Heidelberg) is a distinguished German historian specializing in economic history.
Life
Abelshauser pursued his studies in economics at the University of Mannheim, completing his degree in 1970. He obtained his doctorate from Ruhr University Bochum in 1973, focusing his dissertation on the economic conditions of West Germany between 1945 and 1948. In 1980, he was appointed professor of economic and social history at Bochum. From 1983 until 1988, he acted as director of the institute dedicated to research on the European workers' movement (IGA, now known as the Institute for Social Movements, ISB). Abelshauser has held visiting academic positions at several institutions including Bielefeld, Göttingen, Cologne in Germany, as well as Oxford (UK), Florence (Italy), St. Louis, Missouri (USA), and Sydney (Australia). Between 1988 and 1991, he served as chair of twentieth-century European history at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence. Since 1991, he has occupied the chair for economic history at Bielefeld University.
He is affiliated with the Institute for Research on Science and Technology and is among the founding members of the Bielefeld Institute for Global Society Studies. Abelshauser has contributed editorially to Geschichte und Gesellschaft ("History and Society"), a prestigious journal bridging history and social sciences, as well as to the Journal of Comparative Government and European Policy (ZSE).
Focus of research
Abelshauser’s doctoral thesis completed in 1975 was pioneering as the first theory-driven investigation into the underlying causes of the German "Wirtschaftswunder" (economic miracle), incorporating essential primary sources. It challenged prevailing interpretations that credited the Marshall Plan, the 1948 currency reform, and Ludwig Erhard’s social market economy as key factors. Instead, Abelshauser emphasized distinctive postwar reconstruction conditions unique to West Germany during the 1950s that could not be duplicated later.
Although initially met with skepticism by historians and prominent newspapers such as the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, his arguments have since gained broad acceptance. The weekly news magazine "Die Zeit" remarked in 1996 that Abelshauser had effectively rewritten the economic history of postwar Germany. His publication "Deutsche Wirtschaftsgeschichte seit 1945" (2004) continues to serve as a seminal reference in German economic historiography.
A second major strand of his work centers on business history. His comprehensive studies on chemical firm BASF (2002–2007) and steel manufacturer Krupp during the era of the Third Reich (2002) have become cornerstones for what is known as "new business history" (Hans-Ulrich Wehler), emphasizing companies’ historically embedded cultures alongside their ongoing economic significance for contemporary corporate strategies.
His third research domain investigates how Germany’s social production system adapted during what is termed the second economic revolution (Douglass North). Abelshauser contends that globalization and increasing scientification in the late nineteenth century gave rise to “new industries” oriented around intangible production. Furthermore, he argues that economic institutions established during this period continue to exert influence over Germany’s economy today. His book "The Dynamics of German Industry" (2002/2005) explores conflicts between American capitalism and "Rhenish" capitalism models, positioning him as a leading proponent of European capitalism within globalization debates—a perspective that diverged from mainstream consensus until after the 2008 financial crisis.
More recently, Abelshauser has concentrated on scientific biography. His study of Hans Matthoefer (2009) investigates how individual actors can transform prevailing ideas and behaviors to establish novel economic, political, or social institutions, thereby integrating biographical approaches into new institutional economics.
Works
- German Industry and Global Enterprise. (BASF: The History of a Company), Cambridge University Press, 2004.
- The Dynamics of German Industry. Germany's Path toward the New Economy and the American Challenge, Berghahn Books, 2005; Japanese edition, University of Tokyo Press, 2009.
- Deutsche Wirtschaftsgeschichte seit 1945, C. H. Beck Verlag, Munich 2004; Japanese translation: Gendai Doitsu Keizairon, Asashi Shuppansha, Tokyo 1994.
- Wirtschaft in Westdeutschland 1945–1948. Rekonstruktion und Wachstumsbedingungen in der amerikanischen und britischen Zone, DVA, Stuttgart 1975.
- Wirtschaft und Rüstung in den Fünfziger Jahren. (Anfänge westdeutscher Sicherheitspolitik 1945–1956), Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 1997; reissued in 2001.
- Rüstungsschmiede der Nation? Der Kruppkonzern im Dritten Reich und in der Nachkriegszeit 1933–1951. In L. Gall (ed.), Krupp im 20. Jahrhundert, Siedler Verlag, Berlin 2002.
- Des Kaisers neue Kleider? Wandlungen der sozialen Marktwirtschaft (Roman Herzog Institut, Position 7), Munich 2009.
- Ruhrkohle und Politik: Ernst Brandi 1875–1937. Eine Biographie, Klartext, Essen 2009.
- Nach dem Wirtschaftswunder. Der Gewerkschafter, Politiker und Unternehmer Hans Matthoefer, Dietz Verlag, Bonn 2009.
- Kulturen der Weltwirtschaft (Geschichte und Gesellschaft, Sonderheft 24), Göttingen 2012 (co-authored with David A. Gilgen and Andreas Leutzsch).