Deutschland ist Hamlet, follow up

As a follow up to my last post, more especially the comment that Janelle left, let me do a little more explanation of Freiligrath's poem.

Janelle asked a great question, If Germany is Hamlet, then who are the other characters in the play?

In the poem Freiligrath only mentions three other characters in his poem:  The Ghost of Hamlet's father, Polonius, and Laertes.  Let's look at each of these characters and what they would symbolize or represents in Germany's history.

1. The Ghost of Hamlet's father --  In Hamlet, who was Hamlet's father in relation to him -- well, obviously his father.  A person that Hamlet respected, looked up to, was incited to revenge.  I already mentioned Otto von Bismarck, and what he did for the German empire.  This was seen as the Second German Empire, the first being the Holy Roman Empire founded in 962 by Otto I, and the Third Reich we are all familiar with, being Hitler's pipedream of a Germany that ruled the world.

So, I would say that the Ghost of Hamlet's father would be Germany's rich history, including the Holy Roman Empire.  Freiligrath wants Germany to rise up and take action and be as great as it once was, so he writes this poem, drawing on the parallel of Hamlet being asked to avenge his father's legacy.

2.  Polonius -- Freiligrath actually tells us who he wants us to interpret as Polonius, August Kotzebue.  Kotzebue was a poet and author who wrote against the student uprisings and rebellions of the time.   These student organizations were very involved with nationalism and conservative values.  After reading what Kotzebue wrote, one student, Karl Ludwig Sand, killed him.
It seems, then, that like Polonius, who was trying to stop Hamlet from what he was supposed to be doing, and conspiring with Hamlet's enemy, Claudius, Kotzebue was working against the cause of German nationalism, and was killed for it.  But making this connection with Polonius, Freiligrath says that Kotzebue was the wrong man to kill.  The poem even says that he received the blow instead of the proper one.    Who, then, does Freiligrath consider the Claudius, the actual person who was standing in the way of German nationalism?


3.  Laertes -- In the poem, Freiligrath does mention, in connection with Laertes, a "French rapier".  It seems, then, that Freiligrath feared some treachery from France.  I might have to do some more research into German history of this time period, to see if there was a threat from France.  I just don't know.