Abschied von der Republik. Kommentare zur Preu-ßischwerdung Danzigs in der deutschsprachigen Literatur um 1800
Abschied von der Republik. Kommentare zur Preu-ßischwerdung Danzigs in der deutschsprachigen Literatur um 1800

Summary/Abstract: The present article analyses how contemporary authors comment on the Prussian capture of Danzig in 1793. In view of the break-up of the Free City and a rejection of the Prussian government by the citizens of Danzig significant for the authors, the reflection about the ideal form of government becomes an inspiration of their texts. While the anonymous author of Briefe über Danzig (1794), Carl B. Feyerabend (Kosmopolitische Wanderungen …, 1798) and August Graf von Lehndorff (Meine Reise ins blaue Ländchen…, 1799) prefer the enlightened absolutism of the Prussian state to the republican government, Johannes Daniel Falk defends republicanism against the Prussian order in his autobiographical novel Leben, wunderbare Reisen und Irrfahrten des Johannes von der Ostsee (1805). The presented opinions can be regarded as a part of a discussion about the ideal form of government, which took place in the context of the French Revolution.

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