ABSTRACT
When visiting the Saxon town of Dresden in July 1847, Richard Cobden passed a shop window in which he was surprised to find a silk handkerchief for sale which carried his portrait and had his name attached. In an article on protection and free trade from 1879, Adolf Held also made a clear distinction between Cobden and Manchesterism. Whereas socialism was not accepted as an answer to the social question, Liberals were equally uneasy about free trade and any economic policies linked to abhorred Manchesterism. The debate about Cobden and Manchesterism turned new impulse that presented Manchesterism not only as an economic dogma but also as an instrument of English hegemony over Germany and the rest of the world. The study of the impact of Cobden and Manchesterism in Germany presented in this chapter, underlines the more general point that all processes of cultural transfer are heavily shaped by 'local' conditions.
