Abstract
The article aims at a revision of the term “class” and its theoretical history that is informed both by cultural theory and literary concepts. The new understanding of “class” is connected with the German idea of “Bildung”.
The literary historical relevance of the resulting offspring “Klassen-Bildung” is then applied to the genres of the German “Bildungsroman” and autobiography. Finally, we take a look at recent developments in social history.