English summary: In 1920 Max Weber began to publish his "Collected Essays on the Sociology of Religion". In his "Preliminary Remarks" he declared as the collection's aim to identify the distinctiveness of Western - especially modern Western - rationalism and to explain its rise. These "Preliminary Remarks" were followed by reworked essays on ascetic Protestantism, which had originally appeared between 1904 and 1906. While he practically rewrote the essay on the sects of 1906, he stayed close to the original of his famous 1904/05 study "The Protestant Ethic and the 'Spirit' of Capitalism", although he made many amendments for its renewed publication. In this edition, these amendments are easily identified by their different typeface. Together with essays taken over from MWG I/9, for the first time this book provides all the essays on the cultural significance of ascetic Protestantism written by Max Weber in the period from 1904 to 1920

German description: Im Jahr 1920 begann Max Weber, seine Gesammelten Aufsatze zur Religionssoziologie zu veroffentlichen. Er leitete sie mit einer "Vorbemerkung" ein und liess dann seine uberarbeiteten Aufsatze uber den asketischen Protestantismus folgen, die ursprunglich in den Jahren 1904 bis 1906 erschienen waren. Wahrend er den Sektenaufsatz von 1906 von Grund auf umschrieb, hielt er an dem Text "Die protestantische Ethik und der 'Geist' des Kapitalismus" von 1904/05 fest, veranderte ihn aber an vielen Stellen. In der Studienausgabe werden diese Texte aus MWG I/18 ubernommen und um Texte aus MWG I/9 erganzt. So findet der Leser hier zum ersten Mal alle Weber-Texte zur Kulturbedeutung des asketischen Protestantismus in einem Band versammelt.