J.R. Thorbecke's portfolio. Between 1820 and 1824 Thorbecke undertook study trips to various German universities. This long stay in Germany had a profound effect on his thinking. Thorbecke fell under the spell of the Romantic movement, a reaction against the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. The result was amoderate, pragmatic attitude to politics: he rejected the principles of the French Revolution but accepted its consequences as a reality. For the rest of his life Thorbecke kept mementoes of his travels in Germany during the 1820s and 1830s in this portfolio.