Kinkel’s Lieder cover a wide range of themes: love, longing, searching for the truth of life; political themes including Exoticist plots, mythology, and appraisals of democracy; and such Romantic topoi as watery landscapes, night scenes, and mystical worldviews by self-centred lyrical protagonists. Nineteenth-century poetry can be seen to reflect the cultural and political diversity of contemporary Germany. Such well-known writers and poets as Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Ernst Moritz Arndt, Heinrich Kleist, and Theodor Körner the-matised myths of the German past in their works, while others engaged with politics more directly. For instance, Friedrich Schlegel supported Metternich’s conservative policies; Joseph von Eichendorff was involved in the Prussian education ministry; and Joseph von Görres stood up for the Catholics in Bavaria. Furthermore, idealism and Romanticism had an impact on the foundation of ‘Junges Deutschland’ (Young Germany), a politicised literary movement which gathered such influential writers as Georg Büchner, Karl Gutzkow, Heinrich Laube, Ludwig Börne, and Nikolaus Lenau. Another catalyst of politicised literature was the establishment of (literary) salons, which enabled a vivid exchange of ideas during the early decades of the nineteenth century.

In accordance with the increasing bourgeois interest in salonesque gatherings, such cultural institutions as libraries, museums, concert halls, opera houses and theatres emerged during the Biedermeier era and literature and arts were popularised. Salon scholar Andreas Ballstaedt points to the broad cultural, artistic and political opportunities for salon attendees, which developed as a result of the social interaction between intellectuals of different societal strata, regardless of their own backgrounds. However, Barbara Hahn takes an opposing view, positing that this exceptional social constellation in the salon may be a delusion. After all, entry to salons was granted on the basis of invitation or recommendation and only very few salons were fully open to the public. Hahn’s objection is documented by the experience Kinkel gained during her time in Berlin, when references from Mendelssohn and Brentano enabled her to get access to Bettina von Arnim’s and Fanny Hensel’s social gatherings.

Even though the purposes, structures, and cultural focuses of social gatherings were diverse, Ballstaedt depicts conversation as a central aim of salon culture. Composers and musicians used the salon as a platform to discuss and experiment with unpublished works and to demonstrate their musical skills.