Abstract

The work of the German Historical School is usually considered the most prominent German contribution to the global literature in economic history. However, its main writings were originally intended as contributions to economics and social science rather than to economic history. Critique and adaptation of the School’s teachings came from the academic disciplines nursing economic history in its early stages, that is, economics and history. The origins of German economic history cannot therefore be reduced to the approaches, albeit highly influential, of Gustav von Schmoller, Max Weber and Werner Sombart.