The Call for Freedom

This is the title of an exhibition at the Dreiländermuseum in Lörrach. In 1848, the revolutionary marches of Hecker and Struve started here in the south of Baden, and in 1849, the drama of the Baden Revolution ended.

One of Red Baron's main interests is the European revolutionary efforts of the time, focusing on the Baden Revolution.

I keep returning to this topic in my blogs because there is always something new to discover.

It was the same this time when I took the ÖPNV (public transport) to Lörrach to participate in a guided tour of the exhibition The Call for Freedom.

I had hoped to find an interesting account of the Baden Revolution and was not disappointed. In addition, our history-interested group had a guide who, as it later turned out, was a Wikipedia contributor, i.e., a colleague. Well acquainted with the subject, I enjoyed his professional explanations, and, as usual, I learned something new.

I don't want to stretch the Baden Revolution here. Instead, I refer you to a detailed account in German on my Freiburg history page. Here, I'll share some finds from the exhibition.

The trigger for the revolutionary movements in Europe was the February 24, 1848, uprising in France, which toppled the regime of the Citizen King installed 18 years earlier.

Liberté (Françoise Désirée), the daughter of the people, was born in Paris on July 27, 1830.
The speech bubbles:
So be firm! Some bourgeois circles ask: But why? We're overwhelmed. I lack the strength.
But the clergy is behind: Don't give up; I'll be back soon.

In this allegorical depiction, Liberty (desired by the French), born in Paris on July 27, the day of the 1830 revolution, is strangled by the reactionary forces of Louis Phillipe's regime. So, it was time for a new revolution.

Heart and Hand for God and the Fatherland

The flag of the Lörrach militia of 1848, lovingly embroidered with golden letters by their revolutionary wives, was on display. Its color sequence is gold, red, and black, i.e., reversed. Read this blog.

 

Amalie Struve with Friedrich Hecker

The exhibition also pays tribute to women who did not embroider in the background but participated actively in the revolution. In addition to the well-known Amalie Struve and Emma Herwig, there are also:

Mathilde Franziska Anneke and

Elise Blenker

Even then, historical misinformation existed; today, we would call it fake news. 

History has always been falsified. In a painting from 1850 depicting the Battle on the Scheideck, the painter M. Jacob shows the revolutionaries confronting the government troops under a red flag. "Communist" Hecker stands next to a cannon. The red flag is just as ahistorical as the firing of a cannon, two of which the insurgents were carrying but were unable to fire due to the lack of ammunition.

The fatherland must be saved from lawlessness and a republic.
Charlottenburg, May 16, 1849 (Click to enlarge)

This exhibition was where I first encountered Frederick William IV's call for Prussian troops to intervene in southwestern Germany to defeat the "criminals."

Most impressive: Democracies and dictatorships around the world today. The colors, ranging from dark blue to dark red, are self-explanatory. Is Canada more democratic than the US, and is China more oppressed than Russia?

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