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A fervent patriot, Caspar David Friedrich wanted to see the country’s many small kingdoms and principalities absorbed into a unified, free Germany. This political belief also informs his painting Hutten's Grave. The tomb portrayed in this work, though, does not really exist. In this scene, invented by Friedrich, the ruined church’s Gothic architecture is already a patriotic message. In those days, Gothic architecture was thought to epitomise the German architectural style. The ‘old German’ traditional costume of the man at the grave also symbolises a love of Germany and the desire for civil freedoms. But the person honoured by this tomb is even more important – Ulrich von Hutten. Since as early as the 16th century, this humanist thinker had the vision of a unified Germany, he became a positive role model for the patriots in Friedrich’s day. Friedrich imagined a direct line from Hutten to prominent leaders in the wars of liberation against Napoleon. The front of the tomb bears the following names, though now hardly legible: Görres, Arndt, Jahn and Scharnhorst. Here, Friedrich sets their efforts for liberation from Napoleon in a historical line to the Protestant Reformation, and honours them by listing their names.

Friedrich’s painting dates from 1823 – nearly ten years after victory over Napoleon at the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig. But after the Congress of Vienna in 1815 and Europe’s return to monarchical rule, Germany continued to comprise numerous kingdoms and principalities. Their rulers fought ideas of a liberal and national state, introducing press censorship and barring professors who proved too liberal-minded. Possibly due to his liberal views, Friedrich was never granted permission to teach at the art academy in Dresden.