Abstract: This article analyzes the Russian-German trade based on the materials of the monthly "Journal of Manufactures and Trade", Russian commercial magazine, which was published in 1825-1860, and covered a wide range of economic topics. Issues of a production and commercial nature were put on the central place, as it’s supposed by the name and structure of the «Journal». The most valuable period is the first 10 years of its issue. In these articles close attention was paid to various aspects of foreign trade. The task of our research was to identify key topics, which were related to Russian-German trade relations and covered in the Journal. It was also interesting to trace the changes in the thematic content in 1825-1834, during the period of changes in customs legislation both in Russia and in German countries. To solve these tasks, the content analysis method in the computer program MAXQDA was chosen. The relevance of the work is based on the poor study of the articles’ texts of the "Journal" in the context of trade problems. The research carried out the presence of stable trends in the coverage of foreign trade issues, however, textile production issues occupied a central place, while trade was considered as a second.
The main conclusion of this article was the discovery of strong links between the indicators of trade items, which were established in our previous study of the statistics of Russian-German trade, as key (wool, silk, wood), and the mention of German states in the Journal's articles. Thus, the press information confirms the statistical data in the studied period under review.
The results obtained can be used for further, more in-depth research on foreign trade issues, as well, as other topics covered in the Journal.

Abstract: The object of this research is the trade relations between Russia and the German states after the Congress of Vienna, established in the conditions of the large-scale customs reforms. Such changes were substantiated by the provisions of the Final Act and the need for renewal of trade systems in accordance with the relevant requirements. The article examines the stages of trade relations prior to the creation of the German Customs Union, which led to fundamental changes in trade situation in the German space. The author also analyzes trade in the initial years of existence of the German Customs Union for assessing its effectiveness and role in foreign trade relations between the German states and Russia. The main conclusion consists in confirmation of the thesis on sustainable trade relations with Prussia as the key trade partner of Russia in the German space. This conclusion was made due to the absence of evidence in the available sources and historiography on trade relations with other German states, except scarce information on the trade with Hanseatic League. After the establishment of the German Customs Union, Prussia is still in the picture of the Russian foreign trade statistics, which testifies to its crucial role in the new union and international disregard of the German Customs Union in the initial years of its existence. The article may be valuable for the audience studying the economic history of Russia and the German states in the first half of the XIX century.