Andreas Joseph Hofmann Andreas Joseph Hofmann ( July 14 , 1752 – September 6 , 1849 ) was a German philosopher and revolutionary active in the Republic of Mainz . As Chairman of the Rhenish - German National Convention , the earliest parliament in Germany based on the principle of popular sovereignty , he proclaimed the first republican state in Germany , the " Rhenish - German Free State " , on March 18 , 1793 . A strong supporter of the French Revolution , he argued for an accession of all German territory west of the Rhine to France and served in the administration of the department Mont - Tonnerre under the French Directory and the French Consulate . Early life . Hofmann was born in Zell am Main near Würzburg as son of a . After the early death of his parents , he was educated by his uncle Franz Xaver Fahrmann , professor of moral theology at the University of Würzburg . After a year at a Jesuit seminary , Hofmann studied law at the University of Mainz and at the University of Würzburg . Revolutionary in Mainz . After some years at the Reichshofrat in Vienna , Hofmann was forced to leave due to his critical publications and returned to Mainz in 1784 , where he was hired at the University during the progressive reforms by Elector Friedrich Karl von Erthal . He taught History of Philosophy until 1791 , when he became chair of natural justice . Hofmann was a liberal and progressive thinker ( for instance , he supported the use of German instead of Latin in University lectures and in church ) . However , he became disillusioned with the pace of the reforms in Mainz and welcomed the French Revolution from the start . As he declared his support openly in his lectures , he was soon spied on by the Mainz authorities . However , before the investigation of his activities had progressed beyond the questioning of his students , the archbishop and his court fled from the advancing French troops under General Custine , who arrived in Mainz on October 21 , 1792 . Two days later , Hofmann helped found the Mainz Jacobin club and became one of its most active members . A popular and powerful orator , he criticised both the old regime of the Elector and the French military government in his speeches , which were especially supported by the more radical students . Hofmann lectured in the rural areas of the French occupied territory , calling for support of the general elections in February and March 1793 which he helped organize . He was elected into the Rhenish - German National Convention as a representative of Mainz and became its president . On March 18 , 1793 , Hofmann declared the Rhenish - German Free State from the balcony of the Deutschhaus . French government official . When the republic ended after the Siege of Mainz , Hofmann was able to leave the city with the retreating French troops and went into exile in Paris , where he headed a society of exiled Mainz republicans , the " Societé des Refugiés Mayençais " . After a short period in the military , he was sent to London on a military espionage mission . However , he was recognized and reported to the authorities by his former student Klemens Wenzel von Metternich . After his flight and subsequent return to Paris , he was made chief of the " bureau des étrangers " by the French Directory . In his 1795 essay " Sur les nouvelles limites de la republique française " , he argued for the Rhine as natural Eastern border of France . When the incorporation of areas west of the Rhine into France had become a reality with the Treaty of Campo Formio , Hofmann became part of the government of the new " département " Mont - Tonnerre and worked as its superior tax officer from 1797 - 1803 . After Napoleon ' s defeat and the return of Mainz to German control , Hofmann moved to his wife ' s estates in Winkel , where he spent the rest of his life until his death in September 1849 .