There is a long-standing prejudice that early romantic philosophy developed in the footsteps of Fichtean foundationalism, and that it was uncritical of the totalitarian seizure of power of subjectivity over Being or Difference allegedly characteristic of J.G. Fichte’s thought. Drawing on the recently developed research method of ‘Constellation Research’, this lecture shows that in fact Early Romanticism was skeptical about foundationalist pretensions, respectful of subjectivity without promoting it into a ‘highest point of philosophy’, ironical with regard to ultimate knowledge claims, ontologically realistic, and in general more modern than so far thought.