Randfiguren? The Methodological Usefulness of Marginal Figures: Ernst Brandes and Franz Josias von Hendrich on the French Revolution and the Political Potential of the German Bürgertum

Oergel, Maike

Abstract

The article discusses two marginal political writers who were widely read and well respected by their contemporaries but are now either forgotten (Hendrich) or reduced to a historical footnote in the history of conservatism (Brandes). The aim is to illustrate the methodological and historical value of studying such figures for gaining a more horizontal perspective of historical periods. The horizontal perspective lets elided contexts and complexities re-emerge, which may in turn modify canonical views. Considering Brandes’s and Hendrich’s assessments of the French Revolution, published between 1790 and 1796, the investigation shows that in the wake of the revolution both authors hoped and expected that Bürgertum and nobility would eventually merge socially and politically. Such hopes, and their reception, suggest that (later) conceptions of ‘conservative’ and ‘liberal’ are difficult to apply to their 1790s thinking and that middle-class political power was widely discussed. These findings question aspects of the established narrative of German social and political conservatism, including the absence of middle-class ambition.

Citation

Oergel, M. (2024). Randfiguren? The Methodological Usefulness of Marginal Figures: Ernst Brandes and Franz Josias von Hendrich on the French Revolution and the Political Potential of the German Bürgertum. Publications of the English Goethe Society, 93(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/09593683.2024.2308914

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 23, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Apr 1, 2024
• Publication Date: 2024
• Deposit Date: Nov 1, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 2, 2025
• Journal: Publications of the English Goethe Society
• Print ISSN: 0959-3683
• Electronic ISSN: 1749-6284
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 93
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 1-20
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09593683.2024.2308914
• Keywords: Ernst Brandes; Franz Josias von Hendrich; marginal writers; French Revolution; Bürgertum
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/26803864
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09593683.2024.2308914
• Additional Information: Peer Review Statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope.; Aim & Scope: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=ypeg20; Published: 2024-04-01