SOURCE: Bruford, W. H. “The Idea of ‘Bildung’ in Wilhelm von Humboldt's Letters.” In The Era of Goethe: Essays Presented to James Boyd, pp. 17-46. Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries Press, 1959.

In the following essay, Bruford presents a detailed examination of Humboldt's theory of “bildung,” or the quest for perfection, noting that its evolution was inextricably linked to Humboldt's own life experiences.

The name of Wilhelm von Humboldt is inseparably connected with the growth of German ideas about ‘Bildung’. The importance of his personal influence on university and school education in Prussia and in Germany as a whole is beyond all question. A great deal has naturally been written about these activities and about the theory of ‘Bildung’ that occupied so much of his attention, long before he was entrusted with the reform of the Prussian educational system after the battle of Jena. One of the most...