Fürst Franz und die englische Kultur: Eine selektive Wahlverwandtschaft

Among the German princes of the 18th century Franz von Anhalt-Dessau (1740-1817) was a well-known Anglophile, who was fluent in English and well-read in English literature. Although the influence of this literature on him is difficult to assess, it is clear that England, which he visited no fewer than four times, offered him at once crucial but limited models for his efforts to create a book market in his principality and to turn his 'garden kingdom' into an instrument for the aesthetic, scientific, and economic edication of his subjects.