1848 – the spring of this year electrified the people of Europe: uprisings shook or brought down centuries-old monarchies. Demands for better living conditions, a free press, an independent judiciary, fundamental rights and a German national state were also voiced in the German Confederation. Little is known about the fates, hopes and views of the people in the 1848/49 revolution: who were the men and women who experienced and helped shape this revolution, took to the streets for it, struggled in parliament to shape the future - or fought the revolutionary upheaval with all their might?