Text in German. This study is dedicated to the origins of two decisive processes - the transformation of post-war Germany from the National Socialist community to a liberal democracy and the ideological genesis of the Cold War. The study focuses on five German emigrants, the political thinker and Protestant Carl J. Friedrich, the socialist political scientist Ernst Fraenkel, the Catholic publicist Waldemar Gurian, the liberal lawyer and lawyer Karl Loewenstein and finally Hans Morgenthau, political scientist, lawyer and theorist on the Field of international relations. All of them participated intensively in the political debates of the Weimar period, survived the Nazi era in exile in the United States, and advanced to become influential American intellectuals and political advisors. Udi Greenberg follows in their footsteps and shows, including historical and political perspectives, that the cornerstone for Germany’s democratic reconstruction as well as for the transatlantic post-war order was based on experiences of the Weimar Republic. From the interwar period in Germany to the end of the East-West conflict, the study sheds light on five personalities, their ideas and the resulting political decisions that had a lasting impact on Germany’s relationship with America and the structure of the Cold War.