ABSTRACT
Rainer Lepsius has described the concept of the Volk as ‘a prepolitical essence…which subsumes individuals’ (cited in Jeismann and Henning 1993:200). Hence the dedication ‘dem deutschen Volke’ on the Reichstag building in Berlin, which was constructed following the achievement of German unity in 1871, reflects both a specific German linguistic tradition and underlines that the post1871 state was not based on democratic principles of nationhood. This is still the case, even if the Kaiser objected to the inscription at the time. The same tradition can be seen in the way that philosophers and writers have devoted their attention to the German Volk and its claimed characteristics.
