Visions and revisions of nature: From the protection of nature to the invention of the environment in the Federal Republic of Germany, 1945-1975

The years between 1945 and 1975 were critical to the evolution of an ecological consciousness in West Germany. Precisely during this time, as the Federal Republic became more densely populated, highly urbanized, industrialized and polluted, concern about preserving nature (Naturschutz) came to be an important, yet subordinate aspect of managing and protecting the human environment (Umweltschutz).;The change in emphasis from Naturschutz to Umweltschutz reflected the turning away from a romantic understanding of nature which was heavily influenced by German cultural traditions to a highly technical and scientific one that was shaped by international trends. This study examines the people, ideas, and developments that contributed to the replacement of "nature" by the "environment." It argues that the meaning of these concepts, as well as the definition of environmental problems, are socially constructed and change according to shifting contexts.;Between 1945 and 1954 conservationists demanded the long-term careful use of limited natural resources which were being exploited more than ever before to promote economic recovery. From 1955 and 1967, conservationists responded to public health and regional planning concerns by establishing nature parks for a growing urban population and advocating professional land-use planning of the country's limited space. After the late 1960s, conservationists and wider circles of the public addressed worsening pollution and strains on the land by demanding the protection of their threatened surroundings, which they called the "environment." The invention of the environment in the early 1970s indicated that people regarded themselves as the architects of their surroundings.;In addition to three broad chapters, three case studies illustrate the change in emphasis from protecting nature (preserving the Wutach Gorge), to managing it (constructing the Mosel Canal), to relying on human hands to return nature to a "more natural" condition (transforming the Bavarian Forest into West Germany's first national park). This dissertation relies on federal and state archives, private conservation archives, and interviews with leading conservationists.