Klemens von Metternich
In 1848, Austria was the predominant German state. After the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire, which had been dissolved by Napoleon in 1806, it was succeeded by a similarly loose coalition of states known as the German Confederation at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Austria served as President "ex officio" of this confederation. German Austrian chancellor Klemens von Metternich had dominated Austrian politics from 1815 until 1848.