ABSTRACT
Like a lightning conductor, Friedrich Schlegel was among the first to detect the rising storms on the European horizon, and was able to channel their explosive energy into his own writings. The latest cultural trends and the drastic events on the political landscape were condensed together in his writings, which were characterised by an endless curiosity for the new. Schlegel's endless receptivity for new ideas and his constant willingness to reassess his own position whenever the historical and political situation changed have often been seen as signs of opportunism. The kairological model injected a dose of contingency into Schlegel's philosophy of history. The American and French Revolutions, combined with the rise of indus-trialisation and urbanisation, changed the European society so fast that even the most revolutionary persons felt insecure and turned to seeking stability from the forever-lost past. The age of florescence in chivalric poetry provided an opportunity for original European cultures written in the vernacular languages.
