The Sesemanns. A brief history of a family from the German Bildungsbürgertum in Europe between the XIX and XX centuries

Abstract

The article examines the history and genealogy of the Sesemann family as a paradigmatic example of the Bildungsbürgertum: the educated bourgeoisie distinguished by humanistic education and the importance attributed to Bildung. The intimate and harmonious formation of the human being, achieved through literary and scientific culture, makes the Bildungsbürgertum an elite – access to which is reserved for those with a solid general culture and academic titles – of Central European society, characterized by an affluent but not ostentatious lifestyle, open to innovation in taste while maintaining a strong connection to German cultural tradition. In light of this, the article focuses on the figures of Lydia, Wilhelm, and Elga Sesemann, three intellectuals whom these pages wish to rescue from the oblivion of time. But with a final surprise.