On the morning of November 9, 1848, Robert Blum was led to the Brigittenau, a meadow outside Vienna, to be shot.
He had spent his final night writing letters — to Jenny, to his children, to his comrades in the cause. He wrote:
"I die for the German liberty that I have fought for my whole life. Do not mourn me too long. I have lived according to my convictions, and I die according to them. This is more than most people can say.
"Tell the children their father loved them and believed in a future better than the present. That future will come, though I will not see it. Others will carry the work forward."
At the execution ground, he refused a blindfold. He wanted to face death with open eyes, as he had faced life. According to witnesses, he was calm, even serene.
He said to the soldiers: "I am not afraid. I know what I die for. May you come to know what you live for."
The order was given. The shots were fired. Robert Blum, forty-one years old, poet, publisher, reformer, husband, father, died in the meadow outside Vienna.
His death sent shockwaves through the German states. He became a martyr for the democratic cause. Songs were written about him. Memorials were raised. For generations, his name was invoked whenever liberty was threatened.
His Signature
His signature was the word. He lived by words and died for words — the dangerous words that spoke of human dignity and popular sovereignty. When the authorities silenced his voice, they amplified it beyond anything they could have imagined.
Historical Sources