Hegel’s intervention in Württemberg’s constitutional conflict

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn so far as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel’s political thought is placed in historical context, Prussia usually takes pride of place even among those who reject the tenacious stereotype of ‘the Prussian state philosopher’. This article in contrast draws attention to Hegel’s often neglected intervention in Württemberg’s constitutional conflict in 1817/18. Drawing on contemporary pamphlets, lecture transcripts and correspondence, it provides an analysis of Hegel’s Assessment of the Proceedings of the Estates Assembly of the Kingdom of Württemberg in 1815 and 1816 in the context of the post-Napoleonic constitutional debate in Germany and explores the background and reactions to Hegel’s article. Hegel’s advocacy of the King’s imposition of a new constitution and his rejection of the Estates’ struggle for a return to ‘the good old law’ affords crucial insights into his conception of constitutional monarchy and political representation. The relevance of early nineteenth-century constitutional developments in the Southern German states to Hegel’s political thought is thus established.