"It could have turned out differently" - from this perspective, the volume looks at fourteen caesuras in German history between 1848 and 1989. Here the real and crucial historical events are considered against the backdrop of other historical developments that were always possible - developments inherently present in decisive, often dramatic turning points. In this way new light is shed on what is already known, the essential openness of history made evident. What would have happened if the East German security services had violently turned on the demonstrators in 1989? If the USA had dropped atomic bombs on Germany in 1945? How would Germany have turned out if the effort to