"The historical consciousness that emerged from the revolutionary break with tradition at the turn of the nineteenth century shaped the development of new forms of personal and collective identity. This book examines the stages and conflicts in this process of "becoming historical" through the works of prominent Prussian artists and intellectuals (Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Felix Mendelssohn, Jacob Grimm, Friedrich Karl von Savigny, Leopold von Ranke) who attached their personal visions to the reformist agenda of the Prussian regime that took power in 1840."--BOOK JACKET
