Does "Political Education" Still Have a Purpose?: Notes on the 40th Birthday of an Educational Objective as Disputed as Ever

The political and journalistic embarrassments in face of the question of how we should deal with the 40th anniversary of the German capitulation made clear that there is no moral and political consensus on this event and its background. However, since it was the capitulation and not the ratification of the Basic Law (initially the latter was only a by no means certain consequence of the capitulation) that marked the actual birth of this republic, the dissension continues to have consequences for our political identity.