Die Bodenreform-Bewegung in Deutschland

The following article traces the beginnings of the treatment of land in the history of economic theory and in the corresponding political practice. A central role is played by the criticism of private ownership of land, from which the demand for taxation of the increase in value was derived. The reception of Henry George and his concept of a “single tax” in the first organisations of the land reform movement is shown; the influence of Adolf Damaschke and his work in uniting the movement to form the “Bund deutscher Bodenreformer” (Association of German Land Reformers), which finally left its mark in the Weimar Constitution and the Reich Homestead Act, is then clarified. Nationalsocialism led to the end of the movement. But even after the end of the Second World War, land reform was demanded in part as a prerequisite for a planned reconstruction of cities. Essential lines of argumentation – for example on the basis of taxation – appear to be still relevant today