The Hessian Courier was written by the short lived playwright Georg Büchner in 1834. Büchner wrote the revolutionary tract after he decided to stop studying medicene at Strasbourg (1831), and switched his focus to the study of philosophy and history at Gießen (1833). It was here he composed The Hessian Courier; a psuedo-socialist leaflet calling for the German people to overthrow their ruling class, their princes, and their government in order to secure the freedom which was their right. This pamphlet was written while he was still a bit naiviely drunk off his study of the French Revolution of 1789, which also was the basis of the play Danton's Death. After writing The Hessian Courier, Büchner became so deeply a part of the political struggle of the time he had to flee the country to Zurich; where he eventually came to believe that at that particular time all revolutionary action was in vain.
During the next, and sadly, last years of his life, this growing writer was preparing himself to teach at the University Of Zurich. It is during this time he wrote his three more well known works; Danton's Death, Leonce And Lena, and Woyzeck. Two of these works, Danton's Death and Woyzeck, were so extraordinary that they have served as the barebones basis for many modern literary and theatrical movements; including the Theatre of The Absurd, Naturalism, Social Realism, Psychological Irrationalism, Expressionism, and Existential Theatre. Rather typically, he was mainly ignored by his contempories untill being rediscovered by the first of the Naturalist playwrights, Gerhart Hauptmann.
The Hessian Courier, although nowhere near as important as any of his plays, is useful to show the political background of Büchner. When reading Büchner, it is very crucial to understand his political beliefs, because they were so much a part of who he was. Despite this, The Hessian Courier is possibly one of the more impressive political documents ever written. This is mainly because of the passion and bitter sarcasm visible in it. It shows much of the great talent to come, and which was tragically robbed from us.