In Germany, social welfare legislation and social work as a profession emerged at the end of the 19th century. Although considered a latecomer in the process of industrialisation, Germany was one of the first countries to introduce basic social security programmes, such as work accident insurance and unemployment insurance. Encompassing welfare legislation for children and youth was introduced in the 1920s. It was in this context that social work as a profession emerged in Germany. We can identify first attempts to educate men and women to be social educators in the second half of the 19th century, but Jeanette Schwerin and Alice Salomon established the first schools of social work in the late 1890s. These schools for women established vocational training for welfare services.

Parallel to this development, social pedagogy as a discipline evolved at universities as part of educational science. This division between a more practice-oriented education in social work at colleges and universities of applied sciences, and the study of social pedagogy (or educational science with a focus on social pedagogy) at universities continued throughout the following century. During the 12 years of the National Socialist regime social work and social pedagogy supported a racist ideology and introduced eugenic strategies in all professional fields. Historical research on this period shows that leading academics paved the way for this ideology by emphasising the biological and genetic causes for social deprivation and poverty (Kuhlmann, 2011). After 1945, social work and social pedagogy in West Germany were highly influenced by the US social work tradition, whereas social work in the German Democratic Republic was marginalised. In contemporary Germany, social work and social pedagogy continue to be organised in different academic bodies, eg a subdivision of social pedagogy in the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Erziehungswissenschaft (DGfE, German Educational Research Association) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziale Arbeit (DGSA, German Association of Social Work), and distinctive professional associations (eg the Deutscher Berufsverband für Soziale Arbeit (DBSH, German professional association of social workers) and the Gilde Soziale Arbeit (the social work guild).

Social policy and social work in Germany

Germany can be considered the ideal type of corporatist welfare regime (Esping-Andersen, 1990).