Full Idea
After the French Revolution, philosophy suddenly became the key rallying point for an entire generation of German intellectuals, who had been reading Kant as the harbinger of a new order.
Gist of Idea
The combination of Kant and the French Revolution was an excited focus for German philosophy
Source
Terry Pinkard (German Philosophy 1760-1860 [2002], Pt II Intro)
Book Reference
Pinkard,Terry: 'German Philosophy 1760-1860' [CUP 2002], p.84
A Reaction
Kant was a harbinger because he offered an autonomous status to each individual, rather than being subservient to a social order.