Abstract

The “scientification of the social sphere” ¹ is a key aspect in the development of twentieth-century Western societies. Experts in human sciences – representatives of disciplines as diverse as medicine, law, economics, psychology and social sciences – gained interpretive power with regard to social reality, interpersonal relationships and personal wellbeing. For nursing in West Germany this process began comparatively late. While scientification and rationalization were included in the socio-political agenda for private households as early as the 1920s, the field of nursing did not follow suit until the 1950s. ²