Hambach Festival

The Hambacher Fest was a German national democratic festival celebrated from May 27 to May 30 1832 at Hambach Castle near Neustadt an der Weinstraße (Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany).

About 30,000 participants came from all ranks of society, workmen, students and members of parliament, as well as from different nations such as France and Poland. Amongst the Polish there were many who fled after the November Uprising (1830–1831) from Poland to Germany and further on to France.

The Palatinate on the west bank of the Rhine was at that time under the control of Bavaria, and the local population suffered from high taxes and censorship. The main demands of the meeting that had been disguised as a non-political county fair were Liberty, Civil rights and National Unity.

No consensus was reached in regard to actions, and a few uncoordinated violent acts were carried out by students later on. This was criticized as a missed opportunity, e.g. by poet Heinrich Heine. [See Heine, "Ludwig Börne: A Memorial", trans. J.L. Sammons (Camden House, 2006), pp. 69-72.]

The meeting had no immediate results, but the meeting is considered a milestone in German history. It also confirmed the establishment of the combination of Black, Red and Gold as a symbol of a democratic movement for a united Germany. These colours, which were later used by democratic revolutionaries in the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, were adopted after 1918 by the Weimar Republic as National colours of Germany, and used in the Flag of Germany.

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