The best known members were Lorenz Brentano, Carl Damm, Franz Joseph Damian Junghanns, Christian Kapp, Joseph Ignatz Peter, Gustav Rée, Arnold Ruge, Friedrich Schüler, Maximilian Werner, and Wilhelm Wolff. The group initially met at the Holländischer Hof inn, and relocated to a riverside establishment called the Donnersberg in September 1848.
