ABSTRACT
First, two preliminary points dealing with the term 'German innovators' and the employed chronology; the term 'German' refers to the 'German-speaking world' - which includes Switzerland and Austria - and those countries making a major contribution to European Winter Sports and Alpinism. Regarding the chronology, Reinhart Kosellek describes the period from 1789 to 1914 as the nineteenth century, which is followed by the short twentieth century which spans from 1914 to 1989. 1 For the historian primarily dedicated to political and constitutional developments, this suggested dating may appear sensible. Those considering the social and cultural, or economic phenomena of the nineteenth century, will find arguments for extending this period, as suggested by R. Kosellek, or for agreeing with Christiane Eisenberg and her remark that the long nineteenth century lasted 'not only to the First, but at least to the Second World War'.2 However, for an understanding of the intellectual and social changes in the nineteenth century there remains an indispensable need to include in any consideration the empirical and rationalistic conceptions of the Age of Enlightenment (,Ie siecle des lumieres') of the eighteenth century which preceded the Revolution of 1789. The fact that this Age of Enlightenment, with its pedagogical aims, itself in the Age of Humanism turned to the rediscovered philosophy and poetry of Antiquity should not be overlooked. The conventional chronological term for the nineteenth century thus requires modification in response to specific interests in the humanities and social history.
