German Reform Association
The German Reform Association (also Großdeutscher Reformverein ) was an organization founded on October 26, 1862 . She campaigned for the solution of the German question in a greater German sense, including Austria . The association should not be confused with the anti-Semitic German Reform Association of the 1870s and 1880s of the same name .
history
The founding of the association was a reaction to the success of the German National Association, which was oriented towards small German . The turn of parts of the liberal German public to the Habsburg Monarchy was closely related to the escalating Prussian constitutional conflict on the one hand and the appointment of a comparatively liberal cabinet in Austria under Anton von Schmerling . The founding was significantly advanced by Oskar von Wydenbrugk . The association was supported by, among others, the former small German Heinrich von Gagern , the left-wing liberal Moritz Mohl and the democrat Julius Froebel .
Nevertheless, the number of members remained relatively small. In total, the association only had around 1,500 members (of which around 1,000 came from Munich alone ). In addition, he had mainly supporters in the German medium-sized states . In contrast to the comparatively centrally organized national association, there were hardly any more solid connections between the management level and the various local associations. The aim of the reform association was to reform the German Confederation by setting up an at least advisory assembly next to the Bundestag , with members of parliament from the individual states . With the failure of the federal reform project, particularly advocated by Austria, due to the resistance of Prussia , the reform association lost all importance as early as 1863, and finally in 1871 with the establishment of the Little German Empire .
Due to the initiative of board member Carl Großmann , the association took its seat in Wiesbaden .
literature
- Jürgen Angelow : The German Confederation. WBG, Darmstadt 2003, ISBN 3-534-15152-6 , p. 131 f.
- Willy Real: The German Reform Association. Greater German voices and forces between Villafranca and Königgrätz (= historical studies. 395). Matthiesen, Lübeck 1966, DNB 457889519 .
- Hans Rosenberg : Dignitary Politicians and 'Greater German' Collection Efforts in the Decade of the Founding of the Reich. In: Yearbook for the history of Central and Eastern Germany . 19, 1970, ISSN 0075-2614 , pp. 155-233.
- Erich Zimmermann: The German Reform Association. Diss. Phil., Heidelberg 1929, DNB 361357567 .