ABSTRACT
Looking back over the fateful year of 1806 Goethe speaks of the ‘interim hopes’ with which ‘for many a year we had already buoyed ourselves, like Philistines.... The world was in flames from end to end, Europe had assumed a different form, on land and sea cities and fleets were in ruins, but central and northern Germany still enjoyed a measure of fitful peace, in which we surrendered ourselves to a dubious security.’
