Making of a German Constitution : a Slow Revolution

Undermining Absolutism • 145journals of the 1820s had been general in subject matter, the journals founded atmid-century focused on specific areas of law. This new trend reflected the consolidationof key political revisions. Der Gerichtssaal was founded by the lawyer, LudwigJagemann, in 1849. His opening article, Der Uebergang vom alten zum neuen Rechte(1849), clearly anticipated a wholesale legal restructuring of German society. He wasexplicit in explaining that the journal was dedicated to obtaining certain ‘pure politicalinstitutions, namely, the constitutional state, associations and trade rights’. 87 Heemphasized that the formation of civil and criminal procedures were vital elementsin any constitutional state, and he wrote specifically that the journal would publishon key areas of the debate at the sitting Reichsversammlung in Frankfurt. 88 Indeed,it was a major organ for members of the Parliament who advocated for the jury trialsystem, including Mittermaier and the lawyers, Leue from Cologne and Drechslerof Rostock. 89 In addition to high profile liberal names, Der Gerichtssaal was alsoan organ for rank and file liberal legal professionals, who were the foot soldiers ofconstitutional transformation in the courts.Unlike the earlier journals, which attempted to address constitutional concerns,Der Gerichtssaal was not shut down after 1849, and its continuing circulation wassustained by the procedural reforms that began in 1850. It also covered the trials ofmajor liberal figures who faced prosecution after the revolution failed in 1849. TheMannheim lawyer Amman’s article, ‘Über den Proceß gegen Gustav von Struve undKarl Blind aus Mannheim, wegen Hochverraths: Die erste Verhandlung vor einemBadische Schwurgerichte’ (1849), was concerned that the very procedures that liberalshad fought to install were now being used to persecute them. 90 The radical Struvehad called for the Vorparlament to make itself permanent. When this was rejected andthe ministry in Baden acted to curb radicalism, Struve along with Friedrich Heckerhad proclaimed a republic in southern Baden. 91 In his article, Amman published along tract of Mittermaier’s comments to the Frankfurt Parliament’s procedure commission,in which he emphasized that even those charged with political crimes wereentitled to a trial by a jury of their peers. 92 His analysis, however, did not stop withan assessment of the plight of Struve and Blind. Rather, he emphasized that behindthese high-profile trials, many, many lesser-known figures were be dragged beforethe courts. Some 4,279 persons were charged with treason, in Baden, between Marchand September of 1848 and some 1,266 for their involvement in the Septembercoup attempt. Of these, 850 of those charged with treason and 730 charged for theirSeptember activities were under arrest. Many, as he also noted, had simply takenflight; 383 persons charged with treason and 196 from the other group. 93Der Gerichtssaal and other organs played an important role in the continuing mobilizationfor constitutional transformation. Johann Seuffert and Christian Glück’sBlätter für Rechtsanwendung, which was founded earlier in 1836, was renamed inhonor of Seuffert in 1859 to Dr. J. A. Seuffert’s Blätter für Rechtsanwendung andcontinued to be a major organ for Bavaria until 1913. Seuffert (1794–1857) was typicalof the rank and file liberal lawyers who sustained constitutional transformation.