Unlike previously claimed unanimously, the Holy Roman Empire did not collapse in 1806 "without a sound," but rather with a noticeable uproar, accompanied by the laments of contemporaries throughout Germany. Furthermore, the author Wolfgang Burgdorf demonstrates how restrictions on communication and the horrors of a new war initially stifled the complaints about the empire's downfall and then pushed them far into the background. This entirely new interpretation is now available as a study edition in its second edition. Regarding the first edition: "An innovative research achievement that thoroughly addresses the Prussian perspective on the Holy Roman Empire." Volker Ullrich, Die Zeit. "Burgdorf's book is consistently stimulating, his 'history' is excitingly narrated and very well written." Otto Feldbauer, Das Historisch-Politische Buch. "Burgdorf's language is lively and engaged, his judgments...