ARNDT, Ernst Moritz

Last Updated: Sunday, 12 July 2009 Written by W. David Samuelsen Print Email
Das gauze Deutschland soll es sein, 1971

Ernst Moritz ARNDT
26 Dec 1769-29 Jan 1860

Political writer and poet. After calling on his countrymen to shake off the French yoke he was forced to emigrate to Sweden in 1806, but he continued to communicate his patriotic ideals in pamphlets and poems, eg 'What is the German's fatherland?' His work included the call for German unity, renewal of the empire and a new national consciousness. In 1812 he became Stein's private secretary; in 1818 he was appointed professor of history at the University of Bonn. When he criticized the reactionary policy of the German states after the Congress of Vienna, he was suspended from his university post until 1840. After the outbreak of the Revolution of 1848 he became a member of the Frankfurt National Assembly and was assocated with H. von Gagern's group. He joined the deputation to the Kaiser in Berlin. His disappointment at its failure led to his withdrawal from public life. Hits: 3082