Gustav Mensching (1901–1978), who joined the Nazi Party as early as 1934,
was appointed as Clemen’s successor in Bonn, despite resistance among the
Faculty. He had assimilated the study of religion to Nazi ideological premises
(Heinrich 2002: 329–337). After the war, he carefully removed Nazi undertones
from new editions of his writings (Gantke, Hoheisel, and Schneemelcher [eds]
2003).
Post-World War II developments
The first two international conferences following World War II were clearly
influenced by the so-called Uppsala school in the history of religions; the themes
were ‘The Mythical-Ritual Pattern in Civilization’ (Amsterdam 1950) and
‘Sacred Kingship’ (Rome 1955). Despite the political overtones of both themes,
at neither conference was there any public reflection on past events. Several
scholars who had been politically involved attended the Rome conference, and
even Hauer could present a paper at the Marburg conference in 1960 (Junginger
2000).
Surprisingly, much remained unchanged in the academic scene of post-war
Western Germany. One notable exception was the Free University in Berlin,
founded in 1948. Upon the initiative of Paul Tillich (1886–1965), a chair and
department for the study of religion was established there, apparently because
the pseudo-religious elements of National Socialism had convinced Tillich of
the need for a critical, non-confessional study of religion (Karl-Heinz Kohl,
personal communication, 2006).
Another new development centered on Hans-Joachim Schoeps (1909–
1980), ‘one of twentieth-century Germany’s most provocative and fruitful
scholars’ (Lease 1997: 655). Schoeps had fled to Sweden to escape Nazism.
After his return, he was appointed in 1950, as an act of reparation, to an ad
personamchair in ‘religious and intellectual history’ at the University of
Erlangen. Meanwhile, the German occupation and the Vichy regime seems to
have had a lasting impact in France. French sociologist of religion and scholar
of laïcitéJean Baubérot argues that these historical experiences destroyed the
walls that had hitherto separated the ‘two Frances’, Catholic and laic (Baubérot
2002: 60–61), creating a new atmosphere for a renewed study of religion. As
a result, the Fifth Section of the EPHE expanded greatly.
Scholarly associations and what’s in a name
It was only after World War II that the study of religion took shape in the form
of an international as well as national professional associations. In 1947, the
Nederlands genootschap voor godsdienstwetenschap (Dutch Association for the
Study of Religion) was formed on the initiative of Gerardus van der Leeuw
(1890–1950) in the run-up to the international conference in Amsterdam in
1111
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1011
1
2
3111
4 5 6 7 8 9
20111
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
30111
1
2
3
4
35
6
7
8
9
40111
42222
3
411
WESTERN EUROPE
23
