Auerbach's Lamentation

=Auerbach's Lamentation= The dear old holy Roman realm, How does it hold together? - Goethe, "Faust"

A moment of nostalgia
The fate of the late Holy Roman Empire was all but sealed in 1815: While individual member states, such as Great Britain, were arguing for a reestablishment of the HRE by nullifying the (constitutionally dodgy) dissolution of 1806, the one person most resistant to the idea was emperor Francis II (I of Austria) himself; albeit a reactionary, he was unwilling to be emperor of traitors and turncoats. Not that it would have mattered much at this point of time - the Holy Roman Empire had finally outlived its single remaining purpose during the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss, which abolished most of the tiny realms, and a renewed empire would not be any different from the German Confederation. In a moment of nostalgia, the legacy of a millenium on his shoulders, he finally gives in to the idea and the Holy Roman Empire lives again. At least for a while.