These are the proceedings of the 2nd Krefeld Historical Symposium of 1987 - a meeting of 34 distinguished historians to compare the constitutional history of Germany and the USA. Interdisciplinary in approach - an encounter between legal historians and those specializing in political and social history - the emphasis is on concrete historical realities of constitutional thought in both countries. Dissimilarities between the countries are highlighted in addition to ascertaining factors common to both, to explain why their respective developments diverged. There are 12 papers included, two from each of the six sessions, published here in the original German.

"Tales of Two Cities" compares both metropolises and soon discovers differences as well as similarities. American and German experts from different fields (for example historians, geographers, architects, journalists or Americanists) join our 'guided tours' through Chicago and Hamburg. They introduce the reader to the sister cities as migration magnets and spaces of different interests. They discuss challenges and chances of urban life, city planning, safety measures or media cities within an Atlantic context. The volume includes contributions in German as well as English.

"Claudia Schnurmann" is a researcher at the Department of History at the University of Hamburg (Germany). "Iris Wigger" is a researcher at the School of Sociology at University College in Dublin (Ireland).