Early spring in Berlin, 1848. Never in human memory had the weather been so mild at this time of year. ‘February was full of sunshine and March of the loveliest Spring air imaginable’, as the writer Wilhelm Angerstein later recalled. ‘The forces of reaction subsequently claimed that the Revolution could never have broken out in Berlin, or indeed anywhere, had not the spring been so lovely and come so early. This may perhaps be correct, I don't want to take issue with it – but it is certain that our Divine Father appeared to glory in what happened, since Heaven smiled steadily, dispensing the most splendid sunshine over sinful Earth.’

There was in any case no question of revolution in Berlin at the end of February. Whereas in Italy, France and even Munich the first rumblings of the disturbances and popular uprisings of the coming revolutions could be heard, Berlin, the largest industrial city in Germany, already rivalling Vienna with her population of 400,000 citizens, was absolutely quiet – 204 policemen sufficed to keep the peace and maintain order.