Coming back after a break it is fun to read the old threads to which one might have contributed if one was here when the thread was new. I did like reading this particular thread and I only want to add a tiny bit to Dick's remark:

The word 'idealism(us)' has never been in more frequent use in Germany during the last century than during those 12 years that seemed to last 1000. The idealist leading Germany during that period really could put many of his ideas into action.

Wolfgang