Ernst Walter Zeeden (1916–2011) als Historiker der Reformation, Konfessionsbildung und "deutschen Kultur." Relektüren eines geschichtswissenschaftlichen Vordenkers ed. by Markus Gerstmeier and Anton Schindling

Abstract

Reviewed by: Ernst Walter Zeeden (1916–2011) als Historiker der Reformation, Konfessionsbildung und "deutschen Kultur." Relektüren eines geschichtswissenschaftlichen Vordenkers ed. by Markus Gerstmeier and Anton Schindling Robert Kolb Ernst Walter Zeeden (1916–2011) als Historiker der Reformation, Konfessionsbildung und "deutschen Kultur." Relektüren eines geschichtswissenschaftlichen Vordenkers. Edited by Markus Gerstmeier and Anton Schindling. Katholisches Leben und Kirchenreform im Zeitalter der Glaubensspaltung 76. Münster: Aschendorff, 2016. 250 pp. Ernst Walter Zeeden converted from his "bourgeois Cultural Protestantism" to the Roman Catholic Church as a university student during the Third Reich. This may have stimulated his interest as a professor of secular history at the University of Tübingen in the development of the Konfessionen, the institutional groupings of Christians that arose in the sixteenth century that have borne the label "confessions" since the nineteenth century even though confessional documents played different roles within the Lutheran, Reformed, and Roman Catholic Konfessionen in Germany. Zeeden pioneered the comparison of the cultures of these groups in their German context under the banner of Konfessionsbildung, the construction of the three churches within German-speaking lands. His approach has proved to have staying power as the attempt to study the process of the development of these cultural constellations within German society labeled "confessionalization" arose under the leadership of Heinz Schilling and Wolfgang Reinhard, underwent the revisionary process that such paradigmatic theories always experience, and now seems to fade. Zeeden was remarkable not only because of his acuity as a scholar but also because of his humane and generous way of fulfilling his task as university professor. Both aspects of his impact and influence are reflected in this collection of essays by those who studied with him and who have carried on his approach to charting early modern history in central Europe. The volume is a record of a conference honoring Zeeden at the University of Tübingen in 2014, including the introductory address at the conference by Wilhelm Borth. One group of essays appraises Zeeden's own research on the personalities of the period, noting his great respect for them, particularly Luther, and his development of new methods and procedures of researching and writing cultural history. Richard J. Ninness's essay on "the past [End Page 229] and future interpretations of the formation of confessions in North America," the only English language essay in the volume, offers a valuable assessment of Zeeden's all-too-meager influence in North American scholarship and a critical evaluation of the "confessionalization" model. Unfortunately, as is true in other essays, research into the actual confessional documents of the Lutheran and Reformed traditions and into the role of piety in the "confessional" culture is hardly noted here. The volume includes a gathering of recollections of Zeeden as academic friend and advisor as well as lecturer; a review of his role alongside Heiko Oberman in Tübingen's research institution for the Late Middle Ages and Reformation; and seven photographs from key stations of Zeeden's life. A bibliography of his published works completes the volume and is in itself a valuable tool for further research. These reflections of Zeeden's lively personality and of his meticulous scholarship not only present the historical record of an important aspect of the development of modern Reformation scholarship. They also aid readers in appreciating the current debates and the future possibilities of research in the ongoing attempts to interpret the critical developments in Western life and thought that took place in the German-speaking lands in the sixteenth century. Robert Kolb Concordia Seminary Saint Louis, Missouri Copyright © 2018 Johns Hopkins University Press and Lutheran Quarterly, Inc.