Robert moved to Leipzig in his twenties and found his calling. The city was a center of publishing and intellectual life. He became a bookseller, then a publisher, then a voice for democratic reform.
His talent was for words. He could write articles that moved readers to tears and speeches that moved crowds to action. He edited newspapers that challenged the censors and published pamphlets that circulated in secret.
But he was not merely a writer. He organized. He helped found Leipzig's first gymnastic society, which was secretly a political club. He supported workers' associations, educational initiatives, theatrical productions that carried subversive messages beneath their entertainment.
He married Jenny, and they had children. His life was full, despite its dangers. The police watched him constantly. His publications were regularly seized. He was arrested, tried, fined, and released — then arrested again.
Yet he persisted. When asked why he risked so much, he said: "What would you have me do? Stay silent while injustice reigns? Pursue my own comfort while others suffer? I cannot. Something in me compels me to speak, whatever the cost."
In 1847, he was elected to the city council of Leipzig. In 1848, when revolution swept through Europe, he was ready.