The Heidelberg Assembly, which convened on March 5, 1848, at the inn Badischer Hof, paved the way for the establishment of a national representation in Germany. Triggered by the February Revolution of 1848, in which the French monarchy was finally overthrown, revolutionary unrest spread across parts of Europe in March 1848. The participants of the Heidelberg Assembly, however, firmly advocated a parliamentary path within the German Confederation, a course that was realized only a few weeks later through the establishment of the Frankfurt Parliament in St. Paul's Church. Fifty-one men, most of them members of the South German estates assemblies, unanimously signed a declaration pursuing the following aims: no German interference in the affairs of neighboring countries; no alliance with Russia; the swift establishment of a national representation elected according to population size and thus truly representative, serving as a bulwark for the "German fatherland and the thrones"; and acceptance of the particular characteristics and self-government of the individual states. To implement this parliamentary path, seven men were appointed to prepare the establishment of the national representation. The later failure of parliamentarianism in Germany and the triumph of monarchical repression are reflected in several biographies of the 51 participants. The essays in this volume acknowledge the significance of the Heidelberg Assembly as the cradle of parliamentarianism in Germany from the perspectives of history, legal studies, and political science. The book also reproduces key source documents as well as short biographies of all participants in the Heidelberg Assembly. The volume is richly illustrated with numerous historical images from archives, libraries, and museums.
