German Indology and Hinduism

Abstract

Few European nations developed such a broad spectrum of research on India or sought so strongly to defend the notion of a privileged access to ancient India as Germany. Yet this German interest was peculiarly restricted to ancient India, and German scholars often contrasted its intellectual and social achievements with what they saw as the degeneracy of contemporary Hinduism. This contribution discusses the origins and growth of the German fascination with India. It surveys the main fields of Indological engagement and scholarship and ex- plores reasons why, even today, in Indology we can hardly speak of Germany and Hinduism — except negatively — in a volume dedicated to Hinduism in Europe.