Adelbert von Bornstedt, a former Prussian political refugee in Paris and editor of a German-language newspaper, had founded a “German Democratic Society”, whose president was the Swabian poet Georg Herwegh.

The Legion benefited from the networks of German expatriates brought together by the publication in 1843 of La Correspondance française[1] written by the Bôrnstein brothers in an apartment on the first floor of a corner building, rue des Petits-Champs.

Supported by Napoléon Joseph Ney and Mikhail Bakunin but strongly criticized by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels,[3][4] it benefited from the help of the French provisional government of Alphonse de Lamartine, who wanted in the process to get rid of a potential source of disorder.

The Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin, on April 4, applauded the passage of a speech by M. Devinck, who spoke energetically against "the expedition of Germans who came from France to demoralize Germany".

The legionaries above all want to reach out to German public opinion: “Brothers, in our beautiful country, welcome the exiles who approach as friends, because we never intended to return to our native soil as enemies.

Far be it from us to impose your freedom, to limit your will or to attack your property”, affirmed a proclamation signed, on behalf of the legion, by Georg Herwegh and Heinrich Börnstein.

At Dossenbach, the regular troops defeated the Legion despite their numerical superiority, killing 30 legionaries while 300 more were captured, among them their leader Adelbert von Bornstedt, who was sentenced to one year solitary confinement for high treason in 1849.