Carlsbad Decrees (1819)-Censorship in the German Confederation
Scoffer's Assassination leads to Censorship
In October 1817 over 450 students gathered at the Wartburg to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Luther’s Ninety five Theses and the 4th anniversary of the Battle of Leipzig. To symbolize their frustration with the existing regime, the students organized a book burning.1 The roster of burned books included those by August von Kotzebue (1761-1819) in which he attempted to curb what he perceived as the dangers of German nationalist enthusiasm.2
Karl Ludwig Sand was a member of a student group (Burschenschaften) that stood for liberal and nationalistic ideas.3 Sand believed by combining “free” scholarship with a profound sense of piety, students would fulfill Martin Luther’s legacy and live out his doctrine of the priesthood of all believers.4 He wrote in his diary of his hatred for Kotzebue:
—When I reflect, I often think that someone should bravely take it upon himself to stick a sword in the guts of Kotzebue or another such traitor to the fatherland.5
Sand assassinated August von Kotzebue with a dagger in Mannheim in 1819. This event was recreated by Alexandre Dumas, père.6 Kotzebue had scoffed at the pretensions of Germans liberals who demanded free institutions, and was detested by them. 7
After Kotzebue’s assassination the German Confederation (Deutscher Bund), the association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe, held a conference in Carlsbad, Bohemia and passed “The Carlsbad Decrees” which banned nationalist fraternities, removed liberal university professors, expanded the censorship of the press and established an investigative commission established to ferret out revolutionary plots.
Sand was beheaded by sword in Mannheim on May 20 at 5:30 a.m.
As a result of the Carlsbad Decrees German states and intellectuals were set against one another, as publishers, editors, and authors fought for their ability to speak and write without state tutelage, while governments sought not only to control domestic discourse, but also to avoid offending other powerful states.8
Williamson, George S. “What Killed August von Kotzebue? The Temptations of Virtue and the Political Theology of German Nationalism, 1789-1819” Journal of Modern History 72, no. 4 (December 2000): 890-943.
A. von Kotzebue (1814-15). Geschichte des deutschen Reiches von dessen Ursprung bis zu dessen Untergange, 2 vols. (Leipzig).
The Burschenschaften were student associations that engaged in numerous social activities. However, their most important goal was to foster loyalty to the concept of a united German national state as well as strong engagement for freedom, rights, and democracy.
Carl Ludwig Sand, “dargestellt durch seine Tagebucher und Briefe von einigen seiner Freunde (Altenburg, 1821).
Ibid.
Alexandre Dumas. (1839-1841). Celebrated Crimes, an eight-volume collection of essays on famous criminals and crimes from European history includes Sand’s assassination of Kotzebue.
Williamson, George S. “What Killed August von Kotzebue? The Temptations of Virtue and the Political Theology of German Nationalism, 1789-1819” Journal of Modern History 72, no. 4 (December 2000): 890-943.
Bunn, Matthew Stephen.(2014). Censors, Intellectuals, and German Civil Society, 1815-1848. 2014 Phd Dissertation University of Texas at Austin.