Gustav Struve: Visionary of Democracy

In 1830, the diplomat's son and jurist Gustav Struve, born in Munich, loses his position as assessor in Jever because he paid travel costs out of his own pocket to help a poor witness in a court case, contrary to the opinion of the judicial office. Struve seeks ways to combat the impoverishment of poorer classes and consequently renounces his noble title in 1847. In the same year, the skilled writer founds a weekly newspaper called Deutscher Zuschauer (German Observer). It becomes the most important organ of the democratic-republican movement in Germany and constantly struggles against censorship. From his exile in Basel, Struve will march to Lörrach with 50 men on September 21, 1848, and proclaim the "German Republic." This political project will fail. In 1851, Struve emigrates to the USA.