ABSTRACT
In the early nineteenth century, Germany was a country comprised of more than 300 different principalities, lacking both a state capital and a central government. Dened as Kleinstaaterei by some scholars,1 this state of political affairs made general communication difcult and created insular pockets of social activity, disrupting the exchange of ideas and knowledge within the country, while also establishing many cultural divides among its citizens. In these circumstances the notion of travel was implicit, if not entirely necessary, if one wanted to counter the effects of seclusion and engage with a more cosmopolitan intellectual climate. This chapter investigates the various literary means devised to encourage mobility and promote a more varied intellectual interaction amidst these difcult conditions, focusing in particular on the impact such literature had on the development of German museum culture, a national culture that was in its very beginnings at the time and was physically dispersed throughout the country without a clear centre and without national focus.
