The Zollverein, or German Customs Union, was a coalition of German states formed to manage tariffs and economic policies within their territories. Organized by the 1833 Zollverein treaties, it formally started on 1 January 1834. However, its foundations had been in development from 1818 with the creation of a variety of custom unions among the German states. By 1866, the Zollverein included most of the German states. The Zollverein was not part of the German Confederation (1815-1866).
Friedrich List, economist. (1839 oil painting by Caroline Hövemeyer at the Heimatmuseum Reutlingen.)
The German Confederation was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, which had been dissolved in 1806 in reaction to the Napoleonic Wars.
Frontispiece of the Acts of the Congress of Vienna
Monarchs of the member states of the German Confederation (with the exception of the Prussian king) meeting at Frankfurt in 1863
Austrian chancellor and foreign minister Klemens von Metternich dominated the German Confederation from 1815 until 1848.
The University of Berlin in 1850