The German Confederation, founded in 1815, is still largely regarded as an instrument for restoring outdated political, social and economic conditions and for suppressing the political opposition. For the first time, the study systematically analyses the activities of the German Federal Assembly as the central political organ of the German Confederation and the committees and commissions set up by it in the period from the meeting of the Federal Assembly in 1816 to the outbreak of the revolution of 1848/49. This shows that the German Confederation was by no means just a tool of the federal states for political repression and military defence. Rather, it developed into its own political level of action, which developed its own initiatives in many fields of civil law standardization, economic modernisation, cultural development and national integration and political participation. Although the German Confederation was ultimately unable to meet the high social expectations placed on it, its activities in many fields were ineffective and without consequences in the long term.