Offenburg Assembly 1848
The Offenburg meeting of 1848 took place on March 19, 1848 about two weeks after the beginning of the March Revolution in Baden . It was important because there, unlike at the Offenburg assembly the year before, the radical democrats Friedrich Hecker and Gustav Struve publicly called for a republic for the first time.
On March 9, 1848, democrats from Mannheim invited "all Baden citizens who have the right to elect electors" to a meeting on March 19 in Offenburg. The initiators and speakers included Johann Adam von Itzstein , Alexander von Soiron and Joseph Fickler from Konstanz. The participants came not only from Baden, but also from the Prussian Rhineland and other areas. The contemporary press spoke of 25,000 participants, some of whom were armed. The two pre-revolutionary parliamentary chambers that still existed were criticized and the people's trust was denied to them. Above all, Struve and Hecker pleaded for a republican form of government.
- Away with the princes and their followers; we want to govern ourselves, united and cheap.
However, most of the other speakers and finally the assembly as a whole spoke out against a hasty proclamation of the republic, as this was a matter for the national assembly . However, the assembly passed a comprehensive catalog of demands, which also provided for the nationwide formation of "patriotic associations". Friedrich Hecker was elected chairman of the regional committee of these associations.