Wilhelmine Germany (1871–1918) was noted for its creation of a network of excellent research institutes, including some for the study of overseas cultures and nations. This development resulted from several factors: the rapid rise and increasing sophistication of the German economy, the expansion of Germany’s role in world trade, the creation of first-class universities, and Germany’s well-established expertise in philology and foreign languages. The Ibero-Amerikanische Institut was founded in 1930, near the end of the Weimar Republic. As a scientific area-studies institute, it enjoyed only a few years of independence before being subordinated to the Nazi Gleichschalting (restructuring) that transformed all institutions in the country. The authors of this book are determined to rescue the institute’s good academic name by documenting (and denouncing) its misuse for geopolitical ends.
How was the institute exploited by the Nazi government? The agent to this end was army general Wilhelm Faupel, the institute’s director...
