page_title: Friedrich Hecker
section_title: Post-war activities and reputation
hierarchical_section_title: Friedrich Hecker / Post-war activities and reputation
context_page_description: Friedrich Franz Karl Hecker was a German lawyer, politician and revolutionary. He was one of the most popular speakers and agitators of the 1848 Revolution. After moving to the United States, he served as a brigade commander in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
context_section_description: After the war, Hecker returned to his farm in Illinois. It was with great joy that he heard of the union of Germany brought about by the victory over France in 1870-71. It was then that he gave his famous address at St. Louis, in which he gave animated expression to the enthusiasm of the German Americans for their newly united fatherland. After the war, he became more and more involved in the German-language press and Republican Party activities. He received a less favourable impression when he visited Germany in 1873 for criticizing lack of individual rights and the size of government in the new German government organization. He died at his farm in Summerfield, Illinois on March 24, 1881.
  Hecker was always very much a favourite with all the German democrats. The song ("Heckerlied") and the hat named after him (a broad slouch hat with a feather) became famous as the symbols of the middle-classes in revolt. In America he won great esteem, not only on political grounds but also for his personal qualities.
caption: Friedrich Hecker's Farm in Summerfield, Illinois
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