Zontheimer Kurt

The formal transfer of the Kurt Zontheimer Library to NaUKMA took place on March 1, 2006.
The collection of Kurt Zontheimer is now housed in the NaUKMA Scientific Library and comprises 729 items representing 693 titles. It consists primarily of valuable publications in political science, history, philosophy, and sociology. Most of the books are scholarly studies by prominent researchers who sought to examine Germany’s place and role within the broader context of twentieth-century European politics.
The distinguished German political scientist Kurt Zontheimer passed away on May 16, 2005 in Murnau, Germany, at the age of seventy-six. At the request of his son, the Berlin-based journalist Michael Zontheimer, a substantial portion of the scholar’s private library was donated to the Library of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy with the support of the German Cultural Centre, the Goethe-Institut Ukraine.
Throughout his life, Kurt Zontheimer was a committed advocate of parliamentary democracy. His scholarly work focused primarily on the political system and political culture of the Federal Republic of Germany. Describing himself as “a German traumatized by 1933,” Zontheimer consistently emphasized the importance of safeguarding a political order founded on civil liberties and democratic values.
With the aim of supporting the development and consolidation of young democracies in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly Ukraine, Michael Zontheimer chose the NaUKMA Library as the recipient of a significant part of his father's personal collection.
The chronological scope of the collection spans more than a century, from publications issued in 1902 to works published in 2005.
The ceremonial transfer of the collection on March 1, 2006 included a lecture by Michael Zontheimer on the life and work of his father, as well as on the prerequisites for the development of a democratic political culture. The event was attended by NaUKMA President Viacheslav Briukhovetsky and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany to Ukraine, Dietmar Stüdemann.
Major Works by Kurt Zontheimer
• Thomas Mann and the Germans (1961)
• Anti-Democratic Thought in the Weimar Republic (1962)
• Germany Between Democracy and Anti-Democracy (1971)
• Fundamentals of the Political System of the Federal Republic of Germany (1971)
• The Misfortune of Our Intellectuals (1976)
• The Uncertain Republic (1979)
• Germany's Political Culture (1990)
• On the German Republic (1991)
• Germany Has Never Been Like This Before: Reflections on the Political Culture of the Federal Republic of Germany (1999).

The collection is fully represented in the Electronic Catalogue.
Collection Profile.