Abstract

Initiated by Erich Rothacker, a »Kommission für Begriffsgeschichte« was founded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and chaired by HansGeorg Gadamer to establish Begriffsgeschichte as a common method for several disciplines of the humanities. On the basis of unpublished correspondence the article (I.) describes the organization of activities of the commission up to its end in 1966, i. e. before in 1971 the fi rst volumes of the two great dictionaries ofconceptual history were published, and (II.) offers a documentation of the discussions during the conferences, preserved in the archives of the DFG. An analysis of the documents reveals that the participants’ approach to textual material was somehow arbitrary regarding conceptual history. It therefore provided nosubstantial support or inspiration for the two dictionaries in course and failed toengage in general refl ection on Begriffsgeschichte which could have helped toestablish it methodologically.