Dec16, 2005 -- concerning my changes of the biography part in the article about Norbert Elias:

Sources for my changes are (among others):

• Jörg Hackeschmidt, "Von Kurt Blumenfeld to Norbert Elias. Die Erfindung einer jüdischen Nation", Hamburg (Europäische Verlagsanstalt) 1997, ISBN 3-434-52004-X;
• Jörg Hackeschmidt, "The Torch Bearer. Norbert Elias as a Young Zionist", in: Leo Baeck Institute Year Book XLIX (2004), p. 59-74, Berghahn Books, Oxford, ISBN 1-84545-070-1;
• Norbert Elias, "Gesammelte Schriften", Bd. 1: Frühschriften", bearbeitet v. Reinhard Blomert, Amsterdam, Frankfurt (Suhrkamp) 2002, ISBN 3-518-58317-4;
• Reinhard Blomert, "Intellektuelle im Aufbruch. Karl Mannheim, Alfred Weber, Norbert Elias und die Heidelberger Sozialwissenschaften der Zwischenkriegszeit, München 1999 (Hanser Verlag), ISBN 3-446-19756-7;
• Zivilisationstheorie in der Bilanz. Beiträge zum 100. Geburtstag von Norbert Elias, hrsg. von Annette Treibel, Helmut Kuzmics, Reinhard Blomert, Opladen (Leske & Budrich) 2000 ISBN 3-8100-2038-9;
• Jörg Hackeschmidt, article: "Jüdische Jugendbewegung", in: Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 4th edition Tübingen 2001, col. 666f.

I don't know why people tend to ignore the research progress achieved by researchers from other disciplines - must have to do with psychology. Anyway. The young Norbert Elias popped up in the field of Modern history, especially concerning debates regarding Zionism and debates within intellectual circles around M. Buber, G. Scholem, Renaissance of Jewish Culture and so forth. Sociologists are not researching historical sources like historians, I presume, that is why they didn't know the milieu in the early 1920ies Elias was part of. It is a good starting point for more research and more discovery and insights concerning the development of Elias' Sociology, esp. looking at Elias intellectual sources (Cassirer and not only Hönigswald!) or researching his early discussions with peers like Fromm and Löwenthal, who he met as academic rivals 10 years later in Frankfurt.

I don't know, who is "Ot" and why he or she undid my update.

I am convinced that my update would be helpful to all kinds of researchers all over the world who want to know with whom Elias had contact and what kind of topics he discussed during his student times (before 1925).

For an editing war in Wikipedia I haven't got the time and nerve.

I am very curious, what is going to happen now ...

The only thing I have to say is: There is a lot more to find out, folks! JoergH