ABSTRACT
This chapter offers an introduction to the dramatic events that happened in the Habsburg Empire, especially in Austria, in the years 1866-1871, that is, in the years in which Bismarck's German Reich was created. It then considers Adolph Fischhof first and foremost, Albert Schaeffle only as an afterthought. Fischhof was born in Alt-Ofen (Obuda), now a suburb of Budapest in 1816, of German-speaking Jewish parents. The chapter summarizes Fischhof's trend of thought, as it emerges from the pamphlet, and the suggestions that are contained in it. Fischhof reviews the ethnic as well as the territorial components of the Austrian conglomerate in order to assay the chances of a confederation. Fischhof adds that German cultural interests in Austria have no more dangerous enemies than their violent protectors. Philosophically, Fischhof's position is a combination of liberalism and romanticism: one might say it is a liberal interpretation of romantic thought.
