German History in Images and Artefacts from Two Millenia

As the chairman of the Jacobin Club and head of the Committee off Public Safety, Robespierre was jointly responsible for the "Terror". He himself was executed in 1794.

French soldiers defended Mainz from April to July of 1793. The victory of the German allied troops also brought the experiment of the Mainz Republic to an end after nine months.

This print from the "Journal of luxury and fashion" pursues a counter-revolutionary intention: the soldiers of the motley French People's Army appear as undisciplined drinkers and plunderers.

The Revolutionary Wars consisted of more than just the great battles. Quartering led to direct contact between French soldiers and their German hosts.

The huge numbers of troops constantly had to be billeted. Excessive consume and prostitution had a strong material and moral effect on the life of the population.

The storming of the state prison is considered the beginning of the French Revolution. Since then the 14th of July is a national holiday. At the site of the mediaeval tower, the July-column was erected in 1840.

"Egalite" presents the mason's plumb as a symbol of equality and the tablets of the law with a declaration of human rights.

In this official state portrait Napoleon demonstrates his imperial dignity with insignia, as did the Roman Emperor, Charlemagne and the French monarchy.

This map from a French geographical and political atlas shows the new structure of the German territories in the Napoleonic era.

The Revolutionary Wars consisted of more than just the great battles. Quartering led to direct contact between French soldiers and their German hosts.

Napoleon was the first to use the Brandenburg Gate, inaugurated in 1791, for a triumphal procession. Seven years later, after Napoleon's defeat, Friedrich Wilhelm III emulated this act.

High expectations for the peace negotiations with France were placed on the meeting between Queen Louise and Napoleon. Prince Hardenberg prepared the Queen for the last and ultimately fruitless discussion.

From 1809 to 1810 he headed the Section for Culture and Instruction in the Prussian interior ministry. During his tenure an educational system was introduced that was to provide education for all social classes.

Both poets of the "Heidelberg Romantic" collected folk songs handed down over centuries and published them together with their own poetry.

In 1811 Jahn opened the first gymnasium for pre-military instruction. He called for a popular national uprising against Napoleonic rule, the arming of the people and the establishment of a German nation-state.

By 1818, the fates of 1,910 Prussian soldiers missing in Russia could be clarified: most of them fell during their retreat or died in Russian hospitals.

To escape capture, Napoleon fled the battle field. In his carriage, Prussian soldiers discovered, apart from jewellery, table silver, precious stones and medal Orders as well as his hat and sword.

Before it has become customary to use porcelain as a tooth-replacement, human teeth were still being used in dentures: looters of corpses broke the teeth loose from the fallen and sold them to dentists as replacements.

Czar Alexander I, Emperor Francis I and King Friedrich Wilhelm III accepting of the victory declaration. After their victory, the three monarchs formed the "Holy Alliance" and opposed nationalist movements.

Immediately after the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig the Henschel brothers created the most famous caricature of Napoleon. The "head of corpses" quickly spread throughout Europe in many printed versions.

Prussia was among the victorious powers after the victory over Napoleon. Friedrich Wilhelm III had had to tolerate previously established basic reforms by his ministers and generals.

The black miners' attire of the person depicted here refers to his professional duties. His war cap serves as a reminder of his patriotic contribution during the war of liberation.

The first tourists and souvenir-hunters began coming to Waterloo almost immediately after the June 1815 battle. Tourist guides, offering richly illustrated details of the battle, went on sale soon after.

The making of dolls was a home industry. Papier maché was pressed into negative moulds and later polished and hand-painted. With glass eyes and dressed in the modern fashion, they were to look as real as possible.

Around 1830, the silhouette of woman's wear had changed decisively: women once again wore corsets and leg-of-mutton sleeves like in the baroque era. This way, a small midriff gave an even stronger impression of frailty.

Despite appeals to mothers from doctors, "artificial nutrition" with animal milk was commonplace up until the 19th century. Wealthy families employed a wet-nurse for breastfeeding.

The bourgeoisie in the Biedermeier period practised a true cult of remembrance, extending to the friendships as well as the commemoration of loved ones or important family events.

The portrait unites various symbols of the nationalist movement: the romantic landscape cites the alps as well as castle ruins along the Rhine; the young man holds an edition of the Nibelungenliedes.

Prussia's first railway line began operating in 1838: on 22nd September the Zehlendorf-Potsdam section, and on 29th October the entire Berlin-Potsdam line. Travel time was around 40 minutes.

"Single-lever presses" had been manufactured in USA by a Swiss immigrant, Clymer, since 1814. Sold under licence throughout Europe since 1840, they were used mainly for the propagation of political pamphlets.

The home weavers sank into poverty due to competition from industrial production. Unlike earlier uprisings, the bloodily crushed Silesian rising of 1844 became a topic of public interest. Hübner's painting, which was often displayed, helped to make it widely known.

The revolution's avant garde was formed by students organised into fraternities: this "student movement" was one of the leading forces in the liberal national movement.

Mit Lorbeerkranz steht Germania als Personifikation der großdeutschen Lösung unter einer "deutschen Eiche": ihr Schild zeigt den doppelköpfigen Reichsadler mit den 1848 in der Paulskirche festgelegten deutschen Farben.

After the failed Revolution of 1848 many hoped for political freedom in the new world. However, it was the reports of economic prospects in Norh America and the myth of unlimited possibility for diligent and daring entrepreneurs that led poor manual workers from Europe to emigrate.

At the beginning of the Franco-German war, the Saarland was occupied by the French. Three days after the successful storming of the Spichere Höhen, the Prussian king marched victorious into Saarbrücken.

The scene depicts the surrender of Paris, which had kept on fighting for five months after its emperor Napoleon III had been captured. The painter was part of General Appert's staff and as an eye-witness had portrayed the military environment in detailed paintings since the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War.