The history of early Germany is considered an exemplary example of building a successful democratic state after the collapse of a dictatorship. Perhaps it is partly for this reason that a number of myths regarding post-war Germany exist in the public consciousness. The main goal of the presented work is to trace the evolution of West German society in the first post-war decade and reveal its relationship with political and economic processes. The key thesis is that “overcoming the past” and the formation of civil society in Germany was a long process, the main part of which took place after the creation of the institutions of a democratic state.