THIS BOOK EMERGED from two decades of research into German philanthropy. It all began in Leipzig in 1996 when I came across the housing trust of Herrmann Julius Meyer. Meyer, a famous and wealthy publisher, had collaborated at the end of the nineteenth century with the architect Max Pommer to create a privately funded social-housing project to provide affordable shelter for working-class families. (Since public housing in the United States designates government-provided low-rent housing for the poor, I have chosen to use the more general British term social housing, which can cover affordable housing provided by both governmental and private entities.) Historians had paid little attention to such private-public institutions, because they simply did not fit into the teleological narrative of the social-welfare state and because the sources about the activities of such institutions were often kept in private archives. I was lucky enough to be introduced to Dieter Pommer, the great-grandson of Max Pommer, who gave me free access to all documents that had survived.

This example of private support for the common good inspired me to search for further examples of this kind of civil engagement in the fields of social welfare, the arts and culture, and education and research. In the process I discovered that the traditional narrative about a state-centered German society, in which Germans expected the government to provide funding for all aspects of their lives, simply did not hold true. Rupert Graf Strachwitz, who over the last two decades selflessly offered his advice and expertise, helped me greatly in developing my interpretative framework for locating philanthropy within German history. He invited me to talks and conferences; introduced me to colleagues and funding agencies; and most importantly, read many of my papers before publication, including large segments of the manuscript of this book, and provided valuable comments that helped sharpen my argument. I am also indebted to Gabriele Lingelbach, with whom I collaborated on various projects in the field of philanthropy research. Our last joint project resulted in the collection of extensive data with regard to the history of foundations and endowments in Eastern Germany. These data have been used extensively in this book.