Göttingen Seven

[7] The death of King William IV on 20 June 1837 had a great impact on Hanover's political positioning, relations, and union with the group of constitutional states in the German Confederation.

[8] Hearing this, Dahlmann made an attempt to persuade his colleagues at the University of Göttingen senate to disapprove of the king's intent to change the constitution, and take some form of action.

None of his over 40 different colleagues were willing to support Dahlmann's view and possibly cause public conflict or unrest during ongoing festivities of the 100th anniversary of the University of Göttingen.

Dahlmann's document was published on 18 November and it met with an explosive influence—the students at the university produced many hundreds or even thousands of copies and disseminated them across Germany.

The efforts of the Göttingen Seven outlived each of them, and the creation of a liberal republic in Germany can in part be traced back to their protest.

The Göttingen Seven. Top row: Wilhelm Grimm, Jacob Grimm. Middle Row: Wilhelm Eduard Albrecht, Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann, Georg Gottfried Gervinus. Bottom Row: Wilhelm Eduard Weber, Heinrich Georg August Ewald. [ 1 ]
Ernest Augustus
The bronze statues of the Göttingen Seven seen near to the federal state parliament in Hanover