Historical consciousness, historical culture, and public history: three key concepts of history teacher education at German universities

This article on history education at German universities does not offer a detailed analysis of its relevant structures, but only a very brief sketch (1). Instead, it places a special focus on the theoretical concepts of ‘historical consciousness’ and ‘historical culture’ (2). These concepts have not only played an important role for the education of future history teachers at German universities for thirty years, but has also gained considerable prominence in cultural studies-oriented historical research and teaching in Germany (‘cultural turn’). In addition, it shows a rather close connection to the newly established master’s programmes in ‘public history’ (3), which have been expanding history education at German universities for a number of years and are still on the rise