In this chapter, I intend to call attention to the German concept of Bildung as well as to its generally less well-known Swedish counterpart of Bildning. These words have much to tell us about both German and Swedish intellectual traditions. Bildung and Bildning start their careers at the end of the eighteenth century, and even today they are quite central to actual discussions about school and society. Of course, their meanings have shifted over the centuries, and these changes were closely linked to the social, political, and institutional circumstances in both countries.

The German Ideology of Bildung

Culture and enlightenment

In 1784 in the Berliner Monatsschrift there appeared some articles concerning the meaning of the word ‘enlightenment’, its supposed ‘real’ meaning. Immanuel Kant's little masterpiece, An Answer to the Question of Enlightenment (Beantwortung der Frage: Was ist Aufklärung?) is still widely read and commented upon. The great German-Jewish philosopher, Moses Mendelssohn, contributed to the discussion with a succinct and lucid article called, On the Subject of the Meaning of Enlightenment (Über die Frage: was heisst Aufklären?). Mendelssohn started his essay with the remark that the words Aufklädrung, Kultur, and Bildung were newcomers to the German language. Ordinary people hardly understood them.