To understand the mindset of 19th century Victorian Germany, it's good to have a little background history. Backtrack to 1806, when the Holy Roman Empire dissolves into the Confederation of the Rhine under Napoleon Bonaparte.
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To increase control over the German states and completely destroy the Holy Roman Empire, Napoleon implements the Confederation of the Rhine. He unites sixteen formerly independent states as allies of the French, and forces HRE Emperor Francis II to abdicate.
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Members of the Confederation of the Rhine include the southern powers Württemberg and Bavaria. Before long, Saxony, Westphalia and other German states follow.
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The defeat of Napoleon on 18 June 1815 by strategic use of Prussian forces gives rise to the Constitution of the German Confederation or German Federal Act (German: Deutsche Bundesakte). The Congress of Vienna establishes the German Confederation in 1815.
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The 39 members of the German Confederation emerge from the previous 360 states of the Holy Roman Empire (HRE). Centered in Vienna, the Confederation grants presidency to Austrian Emperor Francis I, who was Francis II of the now-defunct HRE.
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Among the most powerful members of the Confederation are the Kingdom of Prussia and the Austrian Empire. Others include Bavaria, Holstein and the Grand Duchy of Hesse. Also in the early 1800s, the Grimm Brothers collect their compilation of folk tales (fairy tales).
In 1835, the German Confederation gets a locomotive. Called the Adler (Eng. Eagle), it's the first working steam locomotive used in Germany. Imported from England, the Adler is in service 22 years, hauling trains on the Ludwig Railway between Nuremberg and Fürth.
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In art, a flood of Romanticism inundates the German-speaking countries at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century. Romantic styles in painting, poetry, music and ideas ebb and flow through 1800s. The Lorelei myth (Heinrich Heine) first appears in 1824.
Artists such as Caspar David Friedrich (1774 - 1840) emerge in the early part of the century, followed by such luminaries as epic opera composer Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883) in later years. Prevalent attitudes turn to mythology, folktales, nature and the fantastic imagination.
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With increase of the pace of life, nervous conditions arise. A new school of study is born. In 1825 scientists identify a growing anxiety disorder, neurasthenia.
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Revolutionary concepts like nature-based healing, water therapy and mineral spring health spas are on the horizon. The word spa is a Latin acronym meaning 'health by water' or sanus per aquam.
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Bicycles evolve through the 1800s to become a transportation favorite. Women have more mobility, contributing to the strength of women's rights movements. A major legal victory comes in 1887, when women are allowed to own property or money after marriage.
In 1856 the University of Heidelberg gives its first psychology degree, to Wilhelm Wundt (1832 - 1920), the founder of experimental psychology. The 1800s makes strong inroads into fields of mental health, especially toward at the end of the century.
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In 1838, Queen Victoria takes the throne of Britain. A woman of German heritage, all eyes are upon her. She comes to influence much of Europe, from stripes in fashion to elaborate Victorian mourning rituals after the death of her husband Albert in 1861 of typhoid.
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In the first half of the century people are already swarming to cities to work in mass production. There are jobs for everyone regardless of gender and age. Many people come from small family farms.
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Now steam is Queen of the Machines. Because factory machines run day and night, people are expected to fulfill the same criteria. On March 9, 1839 Prussia passes a law regulating practice of child labor in industry.
The law forbids factory employment of children younger than nine. It also limits the work of youths under sixteen to ten hours a day. Night and Sunday shifts for children are outlawed. It's the first regulation of its kind in Europe. It's not known how well the law is upheld.
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In Germany children are spared the deadly jobs of cleaning chimneys. Sweepers are part of a guild disallowing use of children as chimney sweeps or "climbing boys". Scotland has similar policies.
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In 1848 Germany is among several nations suffering violent rebellions and unrest. The people want to dissolve monarchies and return to city-states. The conflicts erupt in over fifty European countries, without significant coordination or cooperation among revolutionaries.
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Also in 1848 German revolutionary socialist Karl Marx publishes The Communist Manifesto with Friedrich Engels. First released in London the text is created by Marx and Engels for a widespread audience.
Marx and Engels put forth the historical materialist concept of human relationship to work and class struggle. They assert "the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles".
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In Marx's model, social classes are defined by the relationship of people to the means of production. Published amid the Revolutions of 1848 in Europe, the Manifesto remains one of the world's most influential political documents.
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As Marx points out in his theory of alienation the move to urban existence separates people from their work. People no longer own the means of production ... or even the places they live. Poverty-level wages go to rental units, food and survival.
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Work is a mechanical means to an end, not a vital and fulfilling part of life itself. A whole tradition of hating Mondays demonstrates the basis of the theory.
"Owing to the extensive use of machinery and to division of labor, the work of the proletarians has lost all individual character, and consequently all charm for the workman."
Karl Marx - Communist Manifesto 1848
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Major contributing factors to the 1848 rebellions include dissatisfaction with political leadership, demands for more participation in government and democracy, demands for freedom of the press, other demands made by the working class for economic rights.
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The European potato failure triggers mass starvation, migration, and civil unrest. Romantic nationalism surges through the lands. The rebellions last a year and prompt changes as nations respond, with freedom of serfs, workers' rights and more power to the people.
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In 1850, Prussia finally stops trying to resist growing powers in Germany and accepts the German Confederation under Austrian leadership. Austria and Prussia remain rivals, leading to the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 under Otto von Bismarck (tenure: 1862 - 1890).
In 1861 England, Queen Victoria's husband Albert succumbs to typhoid at the age of 42. Victoria loved him deeply. After his death she wears black for the rest of her life to show her grief.
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The romance of this gesture sends vibrations through Europe. Victoria may have borrowed the idea from Portuguese Empress Amélie of Leuchtenberg, who wears black for the rest of her life after her husband Pedro I of Brazil dies in 1834.
Mourning becomes big business in Europe, giving rise to vast 'mourning warehouses' carrying everything from black dyes, curtains and furniture to jewelry of jet, a type of coal, which becomes the traditional gemstone of mourning.
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When German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck steps up in 1862 he already wields immense power. A shrewd strategist, he uses it to unify Germany and solidify its borders after three decisive border battles against Denmark, Austria and France.
He's known for the motto "Blood and Iron," meaning the unity of the Germans is based is brought about through strength forged in iron and the the blood spilled through war. Wars he implements are the three initial border disputes. Germany also colonizes African lands.
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The bronze medal above from 1890 shows a profile of Bismarck and a bit of verdigris. It reads Otto Fürst von Bismarck, Kanzler des Deutschen Reiches (Otto Prince von Bismarck, Chancellor of German Empire). 1890 is his final year in power.
With the unification of the German Empire in 1870-1 a new industrial revolution swings into action. Bismarck maintains a home-first policy, focusing on domestic issues. Nonetheless, nationalist pressure prompts Germany to colonize more of Africa.
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At the same time, as a Conservative, Bismarck works with the wave of socialist thought and the fight for individual rights. He implements worker's rights such as accident and work insurance, and social security. Germany becomes the first welfare state in history.
Welfare is the provision of basic level well-being through subsidized social services such as health care, education, public housing, infrastructure and vocational training. The state takes responsibility for the welfare of its citizens.
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Conflict with the Catholic Church erupts as Bismarck tries to stem rising religious fervor with a campaign known as Kulturkampf. He believes people should give allegiance to their country first, not to Rome. The Pope is not pleased, but cartoonists have fun.
A Protestant, Bismarck challenges Catholic power in Germany in state affairs such as schooling and politics, as well as accompanying propaganda. When the Church passes legislation regarding "infallibility of the Pope" Bismarck is vocal in protest.
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Eventually the Kulturkampf subsides without much resolution as other affairs take precedence. In fields of health and medicine, Germany's first psychiatrist, Emil Kraepelin, receives his degree in 1886.
His thesis of 1882, The Place of Psychology in Psychiatry, influences the treatment of mental health disorders. Doctors realize "hysteria", a condition of anxiety, pain and depression, is not attached to a woman's womb, and men are subject to similar emotions.
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During the 1800s interest also increases in the occult. The term is popularized by French esotericist Éliphas Lévi in 1850. In Germany, regular playing cards are typically used to divine the future. Crystal balls, tea readings and trances or hypnosis also tweak interest.
Ouija boards are invented in America as popular drawing room entertainment in 1890. They aren't connected to the occult until the First World War when a medium uses one as a divining tool. Seances are not widespread until after World War II.
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In 1888, Kaiser Wilhelm II takes the throne of the German Empire. He makes Bismarck resign in 1890, and leads the country through bursts of economic progress overwhelmed by self-indulgent chaos into the First World War. The German Empire comes to an end in 1918.
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