He was one of the most popular representatives in the Second Chamber of the Assembly of the Estates of Baden and played an important role in the creation of the first freely elected parliament for a German nation-state, the Frankfurt Parliament. As chairman of the constitution committee and under-secretary of state in the Interior Ministry of the Provisional Central Power, he contributed greatly to the Paulskirchenverfassung of the Parliament. As a publisher he founded the Deutsche Zeitung, one of the most influential newspapers in the period leading up to the Revolution of 1848/49.
