Nicht für den Kladderadatsch geeignet: ein ‚kleindeutsches‘ Ghasel Georg Herweghs von 1859

Abstract

Abstract Austria’s defeat in the Sardinian War of 1859 triggered renewed debates about the right path to German unification as well as a satirical campaign in Berlin’s Kladderadatsch in which the emigrant Herwegh also tried to participate. However, a ghazel written by him for this campaign proved to be too complex even for the taste of the editorial staff. The poem’s coded statement in opposition to the Austrian government and in support of Duke Ernst II of Coburg-Gotha, or rather, for the Deutsche Nationalverein is made comprehensible here for the first time on the basis of historical documents.