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Conservation in West Germany
Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND, Ger man Alliance for
the Environment and Nature Conservation) was established, and citizens’
initiatives on the environment signalled that they had come of
age. In other words, they were prepared to participate and protest,
the TV zoologist Bernhard Grzimek opened the debate on the global
dimension of environmental responsibility, Hubert Weinzierl
became a ‘rising star in conservation’, and Erhard Eppler received
plaudits for his statement that quality of life took precedence over
living standards. Thus in the twenty to thirty years after the end of
the war, the conservation and environmental movement underwent
changes that, if we accept Chaney’s conclusions, led to a ‘greening of
society’ in the 1980s.
Late twentieth-century West German society can certainly be classified
as quite ‘green’ by comparison with other countries, but
whether it was lastingly ‘greened’ right through remains questionable.
Chaney’s conclusion seems a little contrived, as the existing
open resistance to environmentalism and its actors are not adequately
explored. Similarly ignored is the fact that leading environmentalists
can be among the originators of anti-ecological sentiment. The
first generation of the new ecological environmentalists in particular
used language often bordering on the apocalyptic, and their prophecies
of doom, reminiscent of Günther Schwab and kindred authors,
encouraged resignation rather than stimulating commitment among
receptive contemporaries. Others were simply irritated by the pronouncements
of these notorious kill-joys.
These comments and certain reservations about the context of
conservation and the fostering of regional values and traditions
notwithstanding, this well-structured study of conservation in the
miracle years is a concise, readable, and thematically profound
analysis of trends in the Federal Republic of Germany.
WILLI OBERKROME has taught history at a number of German universities,
including Münster and Freiburg im Breisgau. His publications
include ‘Deutsche Heimat’: Nationale Konzeption und regionale
Praxis von Naturschutz, Landschaftsgestaltung und Kulturpolitik in
Westfalen-Lippe und Thüringen (1900–1960) (2004), and Ordnung und
Autarkie: Die Geschichte der deutschen Landbauforschung. Agrarökonomie
und ländlichen Sozialwissenschaft im Spiegel von Forschungsdienst und
DFG (1920–1970) (2009).