The economists Ludwig Bamberger and Georg von Siemens, as well as the social liberal politician Eugen Richter were among the prime movers of the fusion, in the view of the coming accession of considered "liberal" Crown Prince Frederick William to the throne (which took place only in 1888).
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The DFP supported the extension of parliamentarism in the German constitutional monarchy, separation of church and state as well as Jewish emancipation.
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Under party chairman Franz August Schenk von Stauffenberg with his deputies Albert Hänel and Rudolf Virchow however, the Free-minded Party received disappointing 17.6% of the votes in the 1884 election, representing a drop of 3.6% from the combined parties' results in the previous 1881 election.
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His early death in 1888 and the accession of his son William II terminated all liberal hopes.
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