 Ronge took part in the political struggles of 1848 and was prominent as a democratic leader.He was obliged to flee to London, where he signed in 1851, with Arnold Ruge, Gustav Struve, Gottfried Kinkel, and others, a democratic manifesto to the German people, and where he became the leader of a free congregation.While in London, Ronge was subject to surveillance by The Police Union of German States because his wife's sister was married to Carl Schurz, whom they viewed as an emissary of communism.