Why go
This period gives Frankfurt's 1848 assembly and the later imperial state their place in the same story. It also explains why unification did not simply grow out of shared language: Austria and Prussia competed, and proposals for parliamentary government faced determined resistance.
The full story
After Napoleon's defeat, the Congress of Vienna established the German Confederation in 1815. Its members remained sovereign, and Austria held the leading position. Prussia's rising power made the balance increasingly difficult. The Zollverein customs union helped connect many German economies, but it did not settle who would govern a united country. Calls for liberty and national unity found a public voice at the Hambach Festival in 1832. Revolution spread across the German states in 1848. Representatives met in Frankfurt to draft a constitution for a unified nation. The parliament lasted only about a year; rulers resisted its plans, and its attempt to make a liberal national state failed. Rivalry between Austria and Prussia then intensified. Prussia won their military contest in 1866 and led the North German Confederation. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the German Empire was proclaimed. It was a federal state and constitutional monarchy, but Prussian power remained central. Industrial growth during the Gründerzeit changed cities and economies, leaving another layer to look for beyond medieval townscapes.