ABSTRACT
This chapter starts with the first organizational formation of associations like the Christlich-Deutsche Tischgesellschaft in 1806, an alliance of Prussian nobles who, in 1816, became the Maikäferei group (among them Protestants and Catholics like the brothers von Gerlach, Carl von Voss-Buch, Karl von Bülow, and Clemens von Brentano). These individuals were keen to foster opposition to the ideas of the French Revolution and its ideological implications, as well as to rational Orthodoxy (especially during the 1820s). Their religious devotion was fused with political conservatism, which was consolidating in these same years. Fearing the consequences of the growing national movement, yet clearly aware of its importance, these neo-Pietist conservatives forged their own idea of the nation-state, especially through the theories of Friedrich Julius Stahl. As the chapter demonstrates, their ideal of a Christian state was neither abstract nor solely universal in essence. Following its advocates, it emerged from a certain understanding and practice of religion, as evolved within certain people (Volk) throughout history. Like earlier Pietists and the neo-Pietist theologians, most of these conservatives thought about such a state in ecumenical terms and with social paternalism. They associated linguistic and religious aspects with a particular collective identity.
