ABSTRACT
The development of geography in the German-speaking countries since 1945 is outlined in the context of political systems, institutional structures and the organisation of research. In the FRG research takes place within a liberal, laissez-faire context, influenced only indirectly through the national research foundations. In the GDR, on the other hand, research is centrally directed and depends directly on the resolutions of the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (SED) Party Conventions. Switzerland and Austria have much in common with regard to the practice of geography. Research into historical-cultural landscapes, developed in the period 1930-60, was a product of the German 'educated middle-class' interests; its methods included the study of documents, archaeological excavations, soil analyses, mapping of plant communities and the establishment of chronologies. A much greater proportion of German than American geographers do field-work abroad. Nevertheless, there have been many major achievements, including the maps and text of the Atlas of the German Agricultural Landscape.
