Proper noun
Sonderweg
The supposed positively or negatively 'special' path German history took before 1945 (different from e.g. the democratic path of Western Europe and the autocracy of Eastern Europe), considered as a cause of the political structure that developed in Germany.
After 1990, increased attention to cultural dimensions and to comparative and relational history moved German historiography to different topics, with much less attention paid to the Sonderweg. Source: Internet
Jürgen Kocka, "German History before Hitler: The Debate about the German 'Sonderweg.' Source: Internet
Opponents such as Gerhard Ritter of the Sonderweg theory argue that proponents of the theory are guilty of seeking selective examples, and there was much contingency and chance in German history. Source: Internet
Sonderweg main Many historians have emphasized the central importance of a German Sonderweg or "special path" (or "exceptionalism") as the root of Nazism and the German catastrophe in the 20th century. Source: Internet
The Sonderweg paradigm has provided the impetus for at least three strands of research in German historiography: the "long 19th century", the history of the bourgeoisie, and comparisons with the West. Source: Internet