Klaus Mollenhauer (31 October 1928 – 18 March 1998) was one of the most important German pedagogical theorists of the post-war era.

His work focused on questions of critical pedagogy and the cultural and historical nature of education and upbringing.

In 1958 he completed his PhD under the supervision of Erich Weniger, with his doctoral dissertation on "The Social Origins of the industrial society".

[3] Mollenhauer’s Forgotten Connections: On Culture and Upbringing (2014) is internationally regarded as one of the most important German contributions to educational and curriculum theory in the 20th century.

[6] Specifically in exploring questions of representation and Bildsamkeit, Mollenhauer focuses on the significant notion of the pedagogical relation.