Timeline / Before 1800 to 1840 / GERMANY
Date Country Theme
1700 - 1750s Germany Fine And Applied Arts
"Palace Schwetzingen" is bulit and flourised under the Palatine Prince Elector Carl Theodor. The baroque castle complex includes more than 100 sculptures and a "Türkischer Garten" ("Turkish Garden") with a mosque, biult from 1779 to 1791, that makes it the earliest mosque- style in Germany and the largest structure of its kind in a german garden. It was designed by Nicolas de Pigage. However the oriental details are not for religious but for decorative purposes.
1700 - 1750s Germany Cities And Urban Spaces
The newly built Palace of Schwetzingen (built on the site of a former palace that actually dates back to 1350) flourishes under the Palatine Prince Elector Karl Theodor. Today a heritage site of great cultural significance, it contains some 100 sculptures and is known for its Türkischer Garten, a garden in the Turkish style with a mosque (constructed 1779–91 and the earliest mosque-style and largest structure of its kind in any German garden), designed by French architect Nicolas de Pigage and with “Oriental” details that are for decorative purposes only.
During the 18th and 19th Germany Travelling centuries
Travellers from Europe approached the notion of the Near East with dreams of a “holy world” and “treasuries of wisdom”. The European desire for the “Orient” arose partly as a result of the Enlightenment, which since the 1800s had already changed the public psyche, filtering down from the rationalism of intellectuals to the scientification of the public. In addition, the many wars of the period, especially the Napoleonic Wars, produced in the people nostalgia; a desire for distance, the unknown, and the halcyon days of the past. Romantic-era authors and philosophers, much disturbed by these very topics (e.g. Friedrich Schlegel), thus attempted to escape into something magical – the “Orient” seemed to them, and their readers, an ideal imaginary world.
1745 - 1747 Germany Cities And Urban Spaces
Prussian King Friedrick II commissions G. W. von Knobelsdorff to build Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam.
1769 - 1785 Germany Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The era of Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) in literature (i.e. the works of Goethe, Schiller, Hölderlin and Herder) is characterised by lyricism, fantasy, freedom, juvenility and idealism, which is felt most keenly in the dramatic writing of the period.
1770 - 1830 Germany Fine And Applied Arts
The painting by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein, Goethe in der Campagna (1786/87), exemplifies Classicism in art at this time.
1772 - 1807 Germany Cities And Urban Spaces Date Country Theme
Karl Eugen, Duke of Wittenberg, built three important palaces: one in the centre of Stuttgart, Neues Schloss (1746–1807); Schloss Solitude (1763–9); and Schloss Hohenheim (1772–93).
Around 1800 Germany Travelling
The wealthiest among the bourgeoisie begin to undertake more exploratory and scientific journeys to “discover” the rest of the world.
1786 - 1832 Germany Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The Classical era in literature (i.e. the work of Goethe, Schiller, Wieland and Herder) is characterised by a will to preserve beauty, maintain goodness in order to gain harmony, and sees nature as an entity. The centre for this movement in literature is the city of Weimar.
1789 - 1791 Germany Travelling
The Brandenburg Gate is built, today it a famous landmark of German reunification.
1790 - 1840 Germany Fine And Applied Arts
The painting by Caspar David Friedrich, Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer (1818), exemplifies Romanticism in art at this time.
Around 1800 Germany Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
"Disire for the orient" arises because of the breakovers around 1800, as the Enlightenment already had changed peoples life to a more rationalistic way of thinking and the scientification of the public. Also the sumless wars, especially the Napoleonic Wars, produced nostalgia and desire for the distance, the unknown, the paradise... Authors and philosophers from the era of romanticism bothered this topics (e.g. Friedrich Schlegel) and they tried to escape into something magical- the orient seemed to be a imaginary world.
Beginning of 19th century Germany Cities And Urban Spaces
Garden cities – planned urbanisation to overcome the housing crises in growing cities –come into vogue. Examples include Margarethenhöhe in Essen, Dresden- Hellerau and Dresden-Briesnitz.
1802 Germany Rediscovering The Past
The first Chair of Archaeology is appointed at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität in Kiel.
1806 Germany Political Context
The twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt are fought – in the midst of the collapse of the Prussian State and abolition of the Holy Roman Empire by Kaiser Franz II – under pressure from Napoleon Bonaparte.
1809 Germany Reforms And Social Changes Date Country Theme
Establishment of Berlin’s first university, the Humboldt-Universität.
1812 - 1817 Germany Travelling
John Lewis Burckhardt from Switzerland journeyed to the “Orient”, especially to Aleppo in Syria, to study the Near East and Islam. While there, under the pseudonym Sheikh Ibrahim ibn ‘Abd-Allah and living as a Muslim businessman, he not only translated from English to Arabic Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, but also rediscovered the city of Petra (Jordan) in 1812.
1813 - 1815 Germany Political Context
The Liberation Wars (and the decisive Battle of Leipzig in 1913) were between Napoleon Bonaparte’s French troops and Central Europe; Napoleon is overthrown.
1814 - 1815 Germany Political Context
The Wiener Kongress (Congress of Vienna) saw the restoration of the political state (the 1792 Ancien Régime), realignment of the borders, and creation of a loosely arranged German Bund (Federation).
1814 - 1815 Germany Reforms And Social Changes
The Wiener Kongress (Congress of Vienna) decides on territorial realignment and the constitutional restoration of Europe.
1816 - 1830 Germany Fine And Applied Arts
Architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel engraved a certain style on Berlin, starting with the Neue Wache (New Guardhouse, 1816–18) and followed by the Konzerthaus at Berlin’s Gandarmenmarkt (1818–21). Opposite the Lustgarten (Pleasure gardens) on what is now known as Museum Island in Berlin, Schinkel built the first royal museum, the Altes Museum (opened 1830), marking the beginning of the Island’s history.
1817 Germany Reforms And Social Changes
Rise of the Wartburgfest, an assembly of radical students who want to implement the idea of a German National State.
1818 Germany Reforms And Social Changes
Arthur Schopenhauer publishes Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung (The World as Will and Representation is the title of the latest, 2008, English translation; the first was published in 1883).The second, expanded German edition appeared in 1944.
1819 Germany Political Context
The Karlsbader Beschlüsse (Carlsbad Decrees) was intended to suppress liberal and national movements through censorship of the press and political persecution.
1820 - 1825 Germany Rediscovering The Past Date Country Theme
The German naturalists and explorers Wilhelm Friedrich Hemprich and Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg embark on a research tour in cooperation with Martin Lichtenstein (who published Reisen im südlichen Afrika (Tourism in Southern Africa) in 1810 and was appointed director of the Berlin Zoological Museum in 1813) from Cairo to Derna in Libya, along the Nile, and through the Sinai Desert and Lebanon, collecting natural and historical specimens.
1822 - 1829 Germany Political Context
The War between Greece and the Ottoman Empire concludes with Greece attaining its independence with the help of Russia and the Western nations.
1824 - 1829 Germany Cities And Urban Spaces
Rosenstein Palace is built by Giovanni Salucci under Wilhelm I; it has been a public museum since 1954.
1830 - 1840 Germany Economy And Trade
Industrialisation and the Industrial Revolution.
1830 Germany Reforms And Social Changes
The French July Revolution strengthens the power of the Besitzbürgertum (the landed gentry). Revolutions in central and north Germany enforce constitutional state reforms.
1832 Germany Political Context
From 27 to 30 May an apparently non-political country fair, the “Hambacher Fest”, was held by a German national democratic assembly, demanding freedom, national entity and popular sovereignty.
1832 Germany Reforms And Social Changes
The “Hambacher Fest” demonstrates the liberal, democratic and national opposition in Germany.
1833 Germany Great Inventions Of The 19th Century
First communication by telegram.
1834 Germany Reforms And Social Changes
Standardisation of the Abitur (equivalent to the A-Level system used elsewhere) which allows students to enter German universities.
1834 Germany Travelling
The Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam is connected to Berlin by rail, one of the first electrified railway sections in Old Germany. Since 1911, the Palace has been used as a film location (i.e. The Blue Angel, 1930). Date Country Theme
1835 - 1838 Germany Cities And Urban Spaces
The first section of railway is established between Nürnberg and Fürth (6 km); the building of the long-haul between Leipzig and Dresden is finished in 1838.