Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes ProCon History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture Money Videos
Friedrich Hecker
Table of Contents
Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Images
Friedrich Hecker, lithograph by Valentin Schertle
Read Next
The United States Supreme Court building, Washington, D.C.
14 Questions About Government in the United States Answered
Mississippi River and the Saint Louis Arch, Missouri
St. Louis: 10 Claims to Fame
Discover
A human Inuit skull in a stone chambered cairn in Ilulissat in Greenland. These ancient graves are pre christian and are at least 2000
14 Tough Questions Answered
Santa Claus flying in his sleigh, christmas, reindeer
Was Santa Claus a Real Person?
Woman tied to a ducking stool, a method of punishment by means of humiliation, beating, or death. (cucking stool)
8 Unusual Punishments Inflicted on Women Throughout History
Diverse elementary school children wearing school uniforms running outside of school. Boys girls
Pro and Con: School Uniforms
Rural Irish landscape, Sligo, Ireland.
Why Is Ireland Two Countries?
Iraqi Army Soldiers from the 9th Mechanized Division learning to operate and maintain M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks at Besmaya Combat Training Center, Baghdad, Iraq, 2011. Military training. Iraq war. U.S. Army
8 Deadliest Wars of the 21st Century
Baseball laying in the grass. Homepage blog 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society, sports and games athletics
10 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time
Friedrich Hecker, lithograph by Valentin Schertle
Friedrich Hecker, lithograph by Valentin Schertle

Friedrich Hecker

German politician
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Written and fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated: • Article History
Quick Facts
Born:
September 28, 1811, Eichtersheim, Baden
Died:
March 24, 1881, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. (aged 69)

Friedrich Hecker (born September 28, 1811, Eichtersheim, Baden—died March 24, 1881, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.) was a German revolutionary republican politician who led radical forces that demanded that the 1848 revolution establish a republican form of government in Germany.

A lawyer, Hecker in 1842 was elected to Baden’s second chamber, where he quickly established himself as the leader of the liberal opposition. He became a Democrat, and in the revolutionary Vorparlament (Preparliament) he attempted to turn that body into a permanent revolutionary peoples’ committee (1848), demanding the elimination of the monarchies. When the assembly majority decided to try to win Germany’s princes over to their new constitution, Hecker and the radicals walked out.

After a popular rising, fomented in Baden (spring 1849), was quickly crushed by Baden and Hessian troops, Hecker fled to Switzerland and the United States, where, during the U.S. Civil War (1861–65), he served as a colonel in the Union army. He revisited Germany several times, but, although he admired the new united German empire founded in 1871, he could never reconcile himself to its Prussian leadership.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.