The concepts of educational policy about school culture mirror both the tradition and the visions about the future of a society. They are documented in school curricula, teacher training-stipulations or in journals for educational policy. By applying the method of Discourse Analysis the paper portrays the development of these concepts since 1945 and compares them with both the pedagogical and the constitutional discussion about the mandate of school and the concept of school culture. Against this background, school culture as today’s object of policy is analyzed by questioning the practice of school competitions and of awarding school prices (cf. DDS 2 & 3/ 2012). The analysis reveals not only the concepts of school culture tried to be implemented in schools but also that the state is not the only actor in this policy field. Questions of Governance arise: Which social groups can be identified as initiators of school competitions? What kind of interests do they pursue with their specific concept of school culture? To which extent does the state cooperate with these actors (cf. Höhne, 2012)? By bringing both parts of the paper together, the current developments about school culture are reflected with regard to the school’s mandate for neutrality.