The spirit of reform and of change during the Wars of Liberation did not last in East Prussia either, instead a phase of restoration set in. Rural areas in particular remained conservative and attached to tradition. This was not changed either by Theodor von Schön, the liberal "Oberpräsident" (supreme representative of the Prussian Crown) who from 1824 was head of both East and West Prussia. Continuing the work of the reform period, he strongly advocated the education of all classes and an agriculture characterised by modern economic instead of estate-based considerations. By 1830, only half of the East Prussian estates remained in the hands of the nobility.
Slowly a bourgeoisie developed that promoted the economy and stood for social mobility. It benefitted from municipal self-administration, the abolition of the strict guild rules and the improvement in trade brought about by the end of the Prussian internal tariffs in 1818. Self-confident petitions to the state parliament, even from small towns like Mohrungen (today Morąg), Stallupönen (today Nesterow) or Insterburg (today Tschernjachowsk), demanded a greater say in government.
Illustrations:
1.) A. Berkhout, family picture of the Biedermeier era, 1854
The simple portrait of father, mother and child reflects the new self-conception of the bourgeois family and a retreat into the private sphere typical of the times. The focus is on the domestic happiness of the family. The child is no longer just a "small adult", rather childhood is discovered and accepted as stage of life in its own right.
2.) Friedrich Gilly, entry of the Grand Master into the refectory of the Marienburg (today Malbork Castle), 1803
In the 19th century, historicising, mostly glorifying representations of the Middle Ages enjoyed great popularity, a German past which was thought to have established a sense of identity of the nation. The Marienburg was also "discovered" by Romantics such as the poet Joseph von Eichendorff or the painter Adolf Menzel. Eichendorff, who worked as a Prussian civil servant in Gdansk and Königsberg for ten years, wrote the drama "The Last Hero of the Marienburg" in 1830. Their new fame finally made extensive restoration work possible.