Göttingen Seven

The Göttingen Seven were a group of seven liberal professors at University of Göttingen. In 1837, they protested against the annulment of the constitution of the Kingdom of Hanover by its new ruler, King Ernest Augustus, and refused to swear an oath to the king. The company of seven was led by historian Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann, who himself was one of the key advocates of the previous constitution. The other six were the Germanist brothers Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm, famed collectors and publishers of folklore, known collectively as the Brothers Grimm; jurist Wilhelm Eduard Albrecht; historian Georg Gottfried Gervinus; physicist Wilhelm Eduard Weber; and theologian and orientalist Heinrich Georg August Ewald.