Heinrich Friedrich Karl from and to the stone

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Karl Freiherr vom Stein, painting by Johann Christoph Rincklake , 1804. Stein's signature:
Signature Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein.PNG

Heinrich Friedrich Karl Reichsfreiherr vom und zum Stein (born October 25, 1757 in Nassau , rule Stein zu Nassau , † June 29, 1831 in Cappenberg , Province of Westphalia , Kingdom of Prussia ) was a Prussian statesman and reformer .

Stein entered the Prussian civil service in 1780 . After the publication of the Nassau memorandum for a modern administration, he was in 1807 by King Friedrich Wilhelm III. appointed State Chancellor and initiated the Prussian reforms . Dismissed again in 1808 because of plans for revolt against Napoleon , he was appointed advisor by the Russian Emperor Alexander I in 1812 and brokered the Treaty of Kalisch in 1813 for the liberation from Napoleonic rule. With the establishment of the Monumenta Germaniae HistoricaIn 1819 he also made an important contribution to the development of German Medieval Studies . Stein is one of the most important personalities in German history.

Life

Childhood and adolescence

Nassau with Nassau Castle and Steinschen Castle , engraving by Matthäus Merian , 1655
Steinsche Castle , where the family lived after the castle fell into disrepair

Stein was a son of Baron Karl Philipp vom und zum Stein and his wife Henriette Karoline Langwerth von Simmern , widowed Löw von und zu Steinfurth . Stein was the second youngest child of nine siblings, but only six of them reached adulthood. The brother Johann Friedrich von und zum Stein became a Prussian colonel, Friedrich Ludwig an imperial lieutenant colonel. His sister Marianne vom und zum Stein was an abbess at the Wallenstein Monastery in Homberg (Efze) . Another sister was Countess Johanna Luise von Werthern . Heinrich Friedrich Karl grew up in the Steinschen Castle in the center of Nassau.

The Stein rule had been imperial since the 17th century . Stein's family owned several small estates along the Rhine and Lahn rivers . In total, the property made up about 2,400 Nassau acres . As an imperial knight , she was protected by imperial laws and could appeal directly to imperial courts in the event of disputes. It held a high level of jurisdiction and a lordly position in some villages such as Frücht or Schweighausen . However, the income from these properties was not enough for a decent life. That is why the heads of the house have been in the service of larger princes and rulers for centuries. Despite his Protestant denomination, Karl Philipp was Electoral Mainz Chamberlain and Privy Councilor .

Due to the frequent absence of the father from work, Stein's early upbringing was largely in the hands of the mother. This was educated and was in contact with the scholar Johann Caspar Lavater . For them, the focus was on moral and religious upbringing. Karl vom Stein was the mother's favorite son. In order to keep the family property together, Karl Philipp had set up a Fideikommiss . Some time later, against the protests of the older brothers, Karl vom Stein became the sole heir. Since his mother's death in 1783, he was responsible for the administration of the imperial knighthood, as the father had also withdrawn for health reasons. Because of his Prussian civil service career, Stein transferred the actual management of the property administration to his sister, the unmarried canon Marianne.

After the French conquest , Stein sold his goods on the left bank of the Rhine and in 1802 acquired the Birnbaum rule in the later Prussian province of Posen .

Study and travel

In 1773, at the age of 16, Stein began studying law , history and camera sciences (forerunners of economics ) at the University of Göttingen . August Ludwig Schlözer exercised considerable intellectual influence on him , who tried to mediate between modern constitutional thinking and conservative ideas of old German liberty . In addition, Stein also studied with Johann Stephan Pütter , one of the best experts on the constitution and structure of the Holy Roman Empire . As was customary for students of the aristocratic class at the time, he left the university in 1777 without a degree.

Since his studies were primarily geared towards Reich service, Stein then completed an internship at the Reich Chamber of Commerce in Wetzlar for a few months . There he also joined the Masonic Lodge Joseph zum Reichsadler . On various cavalier journeys in 1778/80 he got to know Regensburg as the seat of the Reichstag , the courts and governments of various territories of the empire such as Mainz , Mannheim , Darmstadt , Munich and the emperor's residence in Vienna . Stein also traveled to Styria and Hungary . He was also interested in mining.

Act

Entry into the Prussian civil service

Friedrich Anton von Heynitz , painting by Anton Graff , 1772

At the endeavor of his mother, Stein entered the Prussian civil service in 1780. He himself justified this step with his admiration for Frederick II and the liberality of the Prussian state, which had no reservations against outsiders and offered them good opportunities for advancement. He was employed as a trainee lawyer in Berlin at the Mining and Smelting Department of the General Directorate , where he was promoted by Minister Friedrich Anton von Heynitz . Stein completed appropriate specialist training, partly at the Saxon mining academy in Freiberg . Extended business trips with the minister completed his knowledge.

In 1784 he took a position of responsibility in the field of mining in the Westphalian part of the Prussian states. As director of the mining offices Wetter an der Ruhr and Ibbenbüren , Stein was responsible for the construction of roads, the Ruhr Canal and the organization of the mining operated under state supervision. He intensified the state supervision of the mines. He also improved the connection between the coal mines in the later Ruhr area and the industrial regions in the Sauerland , Siegerland and Bergisches Land . He also introduced a fixed wage for wage workers .

Several times he was offered diplomatic posts, which he turned down except for a legation trip to Mainz in 1785 with the aim of persuading the Elector to join the Princes ' League. In 1786 he traveled to England to study mining, sewer construction and, in general, the beginnings of the industrial revolution . After his return he was able to partially implement the knowledge gained in this way in the Ruhr mining industry . He also succeeded in signing a supply contract for a Boulton & Watt steam engine .

Administration of the Western Provinces

Edmund Burke , painting by Joshua Reynolds , around 1769

In 1787 Stein became head of the Mark War and Domain Chambers in Hamm . In this function he was responsible for making the Ruhr navigable, was one of the first in Germany to build a few miles of paved roads and thereby renounced the usual corporal labor. He also ensured that taxes were restricted and that traffic and trade regulations were liberalized. In 1792, Stein received state supervision for the Land estates of the County of Mark as the Landtag commissioner . From 1793 he was also President of the Chamber of the Duchy of Kleve , based in Kleve . He took up residence in the Duke's Castle in Kleve .

In the same year he married Countess Wilhelmine von Wallmoden, who was fourteen years his junior in Heinde . She was the daughter of Johann Ludwig von Wallmoden-Gimborn , a Hanover general who came from a love affair between King George II of England . With her, Stein had three daughters, of whom Henriette (* 1796) and Therese (* 1803) survived childhood.

As a senior official, Stein was responsible for a comprehensive tax reform in the county of Mark, which meant a reduction in taxes for the residents. Stein countered the unrest caused by the war-related rise in prices by having grain from the army's storehouses sold to the population at low prices, against the resistance of the military. Against the attempts of the Prussian central administration, Stein protected the remains of the Estates constitution and local self-government .

When Stein was responsible for catering to the army at the king's headquarters during the first coalition war, he witnessed the siege and fall of Mainz , the capital of the Mainz republic . He was also involved in the arrest and physical abuse of the revolutionary Friedrich Georg Pape .

In 1796 Stein was appointed President of the Upper Chamber of all western Prussian territories with the official seat in Minden . On behalf of Berlin, he promoted the economy by dismantling regulations, tariffs and similar economic barriers. He had a paved road built between Bielefeld and Osnabrück and improved shipping traffic on the Weser . He also initiated agricultural reforms for the united territories of Minden-Ravensberg . This included reducing manual and clamping services. In addition, there were administrative reforms in his area of ​​responsibility.

Politically, Stein was a supporter of the English constitutional system at this time. In the beginning, however, he was not without sympathy for the French Revolution. Both influences led to his being increasingly critical of Prussian bureaucracy-based absolutism. However, Stein's image of the French Revolution changed quickly. The contact with high-ranking French emigrants who had found refuge in Hamm also contributed to this. These included after the execution of Louis XVI. the exile regent of France, the future King Louis XVIII. , and his brother Karl von Anjou ( Karl X ). During this time, Stein made a lasting impression on Edmund Burke's work "Reflection on the Revolution in France."

Although Stein was an imperial patriot and not just a Prussian official, he approved of the territorial changes dictated by Napoleon in the west of the empire and in particular the secularization of the spiritual territories. Commissioned by the Prussian central government, he drove this development forward in Westphalia even before the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803. Between 1802 and 1804 he headed the integration of the clergy into the Prussian state from Münster . The eastern part of the bishopric of Münster fell to Prussia as the hereditary principality of Münster , the bishopric Paderborn as the hereditary principality of Paderborn and the abbeys of Essen , Werden and Herford monastery . In Munster in particular, this met with criticism. These acquisitions were lost for a few years after the Peace of Tilsit , but after 1815 they became part of the Prussian state for good.

In 1804, Stein was personally affected by the changes in the empire, when the Nassau State Minister Ernst Franz Ludwig Marschall von Bieberstein had the von Stein family's possessions occupied and thus did nothing on a small scale but Stein with the Westphalian bishoprics on a large scale. Nevertheless, Stein protested emphatically and (also under pressure from Emperor Franz II ) the occupation had to be lifted first. This episode led to a long-lasting opposition to Stein against Nassau and Marshal von Bieberstein. Ultimately, the possessions of those from the stone were also mediated . Stein lost his sovereign rights, but not the possession of his goods and lands.

During his time in Westphalia, Stein presented himself as an above-average efficient administrative officer, particularly in economic matters. As a result, he recommended himself for tasks in the Berlin headquarters.

Minister of State and Fall

Stein lived and worked in the Palais Donner in Berlin from 1804 to 1808.
Memorial plaque at Palais Donner
Napoleon's entry into Berlin on October 27, 1806 (painting by Charles Meynier , 1810)

In 1804, Stein was appointed royal finance and economy minister to the general directorate in Berlin , where he was responsible for excise , customs , factory and commercial matters. Cabinet councilor Carl Friedrich von Beyme , who saw the new minister as a supporter of a comprehensive reform policy, was behind the appointment . Even when taking on this task, Freiherr vom und zum Stein made it clear that he had an eye on all of Germany beyond Prussia. "If one is convinced that Germany's refinement and culture are firmly and inseparably chained to the happiness of the Prussian monarchy, then one can certainly not waver for a moment between duty and personality, but one is ready for every sacrifice of the latter."

As the person responsible for the state budget, Stein tried to increase state revenue in view of the impending war, but also tried to harmonize the regionally very different taxes and duties. In the area of ​​the state salt monopoly, for example, uniform prices were introduced, but these were increased overall, resulting in considerable additional income. To a limited extent, internal tariffs between some parts of the monarchy were abolished. He also founded the Prussian Statistical Bureau . Later, the Royal Main Bank and maritime trade also belonged to his area of ​​responsibility.

In 1805, Stein belonged to the war party around Queen Luise , who, together with Louis Ferdinand Prince of Prussia and General Ernst von Rüchel, tried to get King Friedrich Wilhelm III. convince them to oppose Napoleon . On 10 May 1805 handed Stone a corresponding memorandum in its extremely rugged kind - Foreign Minister Christian Graf von Haugwitz (1752-1832) he called for example, a "man without truthfulness, a truncated voluptuary, indulging in pleasures of all kinds" - to helped to reinforce the rejection of his ideas. The king refused for the time being and saw in the group around Louis Ferdinand and Stein, not without good reason, a Fronde directed against his policies. Eventually, however, he gave in and ordered mobilization . This led to the Fourth Coalition War of 1806.

After the campaign, which was catastrophic for Prussia, the court and important politicians fled to Königsberg . Stein took care of the rescue of the state coffers and recommended in Konigsberg that the war against Napoleon be continued with all might.

As a result of the lost battle at Jena and Auerstedt and the encrustations in the administration and the military that became evident as a result of them, the Prussian state was forced to make changes. Stein sharply criticized the weaknesses of the civilian and military leadership that had become apparent during the war and did not stop at the monarchical style of government. Instead, he called for fundamental reforms in the structure of the state in order to gain a stable foundation for the war effort. This included in particular his criticism of the previous absolutist cabinet system , which began before the outbreak of war ; instead, he advocated a state ministry made up of responsible ministers who work with the monarch.

Stein abruptly refused the invitation to accept the State Department in order to achieve peace. This and his sharp criticism of the previous policy led to his dismissal on January 3, 1807 by Friedrich Wilhelm III. with the comment “that I was unfortunately not initially wrong about you, but that you are rather to be viewed as an unruly, defiant, stubborn and disobedient public servant who, insisting on his genius and talents, far away from the best of the state To have eyes, guided only by caprices, act out of passion and out of personal hatred and bitterness…. Since you, however, pretend to be a man who loves the truth, I have given you my opinion in good German, adding that if you are not willing to change your disrespectful and indecent behavior, the state will not take your further into account Can do services. "

The defeat of 1806 plunged the Prussian state into one of the worst crises in its history. In the Peace of Tilsit on July 7, 1807, Prussia lost all territories west of the Elbe as well as a large part of the areas gained in the Polish partitions . The state thus lost about half of its inhabitants. Large contributions were imposed on the kingdom. In addition, Prussia was only allowed to maintain an army of 40,000 men and had to tolerate the French occupation in important fortresses . A total of 150,000 foreign soldiers were in the country and had to be supported by Prussia.

State Chancellor and Reformer

Meeting of the first Berlin city council in the Nikolaikirche , painting by Friedrich August Calau , 1809
Karl August von Hardenberg , painting by Friedrich Georg Weitsch , around 1822

After his release, Stein retired to his holdings in Nassau. In 1807 he wrote the Nassau memorandum as a reform program for the Prussian state, with its administration being the focus. This included the demand for self-government for provinces, counties and municipalities. In doing so, Stein drew less on the then modern state and constitutional theory than on the example of the older estates constitution, as he had got to know in Westphalia. For Stein, not only functional considerations played a role in this question, but primarily political and educational goals. In the memorandum, he formulated the reform goal: “Revitalization of the community spirit and citizenship, the use of dormant and misguided forces and scattered knowledge, the harmony between the spirit of the nation, its views and needs and those of the state authorities, the revival of feelings for fatherland, independence and national honor . ” Like the Riga memorandum from the same year drawn up by a group around Karl August von Hardenberg , this was a basis for the Prussian reforms.

In Stein's memorandum and the policy he advocated, the reference to the conditions of the old estates and, more generally, to the institutions of the old empire always played a role. Stein was an anti-absolutist and an anti-statist, he was skeptical of central authorities and the bureaucracy as a whole. Instead, he relied on decentralization and collegial leadership.

Not least at the insistence of Napoleon , who mistakenly saw Stein as a supporter of France, and the reform party around Hardenberg, Stein was appointed Minister of State on July 10, 1807. Stein made the assumption dependent on a few preconditions. This included the end of the cabinet system. Instead, the ministers should have the right to speak directly to the king. After the fulfillment of this central requirement had been promised, Stein took the office. He was directly responsible for civil administration, over the other departments he exercised control functions. In the next fourteen months the most important reform laws were enacted or prepared. Stein's personal contribution to the individual reforms varied. He hardly dealt with detailed questions; many laws were essentially drafted by employees such as Theodor von Schön or Ludwig von Vincke . But Stein was responsible for enforcing them against the king and various opposing social forces.

Some of the reform ideas came from employees, such as the October edict for the liberation of the peasants, which was one of the central reform laws; it was signed only five days after Stein was appointed and was based on a design by Theodor von Schön. With him, serfdom and subservience were abolished and freedom of career choice was introduced. On the other hand, Stein's handwriting was particularly clear in the new urban order of November 19, 1808. Its basic concept came from his colleague Johann Gottfried Frey . The idea of self-government based on the principle of subsidiarity , which was strongly pronounced there, reflected Stein's rejection of the centralized and bureaucratic state, which came from old-class roots. He failed when he tried to extend self-government to the flat country.

The Berlin politician and entrepreneur Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Knoblauch worked out reports and ideas on the trade regulations, which he sent Stein for examination. In 1825 Knoblauch visited Stein in Cappenberg.

In the area of ​​state administration, Stein had the previous General Directorate dissolved. On November 24, 1808, it was replaced by a state ministry with five specialist ministers for internal affairs , finance , foreign affairs , war and justice . In addition, numerous special and subsidiary agencies, often working against one another, were dissolved. In the area of ​​central administration, Stein was based on the French constitution of 1791. A council of state was also provided as an advisory body. For the level below the Berlin headquarters Stein conceived the Provincial President and the regional councils , which replaced the War and Domain Chambers.

This policy was carried out against the background of a serious financial crisis caused by the demands of Napoleon. This forced Stein to adopt a radical austerity policy. In addition, state property was pledged, plus guarantees.

After Stein's forced resignation, Hardenberg was able to take over an ongoing reform process after a brief interim phase under the politician Karl vom Stein zum Altenstein . Hardenberg was more statistically oriented than the class-thinking stone and based on modern models. However, due to the growing restorative tendencies, he was no longer able to implement a national representation.

Although Stein had been sponsored by Hardenberg, not only their political views differed, but also their personal way of life. While Stein led a scandal-free private life and uncompromisingly pursued his goals, Hardenberg was not averse to diplomatic and extramarital affairs. Both determined Stein's judgment of his successor. He attributed Hardenberg's alleged lack of energy to his unfortunate hand in appointments and his familiar contact with worthless women .

Resistance to Napoleon and exile in Austria

Stein lived in Prague Castle from 1810 to 1812 during his exile.
The Tyrolean Landsturm in 1809 , painting by Joseph Anton Koch , around 1820

Initially, Stein relied on a policy of fulfillment and coexistence towards Napoleon. In particular, the negotiations about the level of the war contributions and the new demands repeatedly made by the French made him think of resistance during his tenure. The beginning uprising against Napoleon in Spain also contributed to this. Stein relied on a general popular uprising in northern Germany and an alliance with Austria. As for August Neidhardt von Gneisenau and Gerhard von Scharnhorst , the main goal of Prussia's policy for him was to prepare for a future war. Stein's opposition to the occupiers was expressed in an intercepted letter that was printed in the French government newspaper Le Moniteur . Napoleon used the letter to put pressure on Prussia and force them to accept the war contributions. From Spain, Napoleon himself issued an army order in which he declared Stein to be an enemy of France. Napoleon ordered Stein's possessions to be confiscated and Stein to be shot. Friedrich Wilhelm III., Who did not want to risk a break with France, dismissed Stein on November 24, 1808 with thanks for the services rendered and the continued payment of his ministerial salary for one year.

On the day of the official dismissal, Stein sent the members of the royal family and the Council of State a script, essentially written by Schön, which later became known as the "political testament". On the one hand, she drew a summary of the previous reform policy and, on the other hand, addressed the further changes that Stein believed necessary. The latter included, for example, the common division and the abolition of compulsory labor, the introduction of state representation, but also the education of young people in religion and love for the fatherland as well as strengthening the nobility.

Despite the reforms, the dismissal also marked Stein's political failure as leading minister. The destruction of his power base was in many cases due to himself: he had made opponents in many areas at the same time, whose strength he underestimated. This included, in particular, the resilience of the nobility and the crown. In the case of the king, displeasure about Stein's high-handedness also played a role. Not least the harshness of his nature and the eruptiveness of his temperament increasingly reduced his influence. These were also central reasons why he was no longer able to take on any real leadership role later.

After Stein learned of Napoleon's orders, he fled to Bohemia and stayed in Brno , Opava and Prague . Stein lived in the Habsburg monarchy for more than three years. During this time he hoped in vain for an uprising, especially in the Napoleonic states Kingdom of Westphalia and Grand Duchy of Berg . He watched the uprising of the Tyroleans around Andreas Hofer with great sympathy . He later had a monumental, heroic painting created by the painter Joseph Anton Koch .

In exile he drafted various constitutional concepts for a German constitution; the restoration of the old empire also played a role. He sharply criticized the compliance of the Princes of the Rhine to the French. Stein tried several times to obtain a pardon or mitigation from Napoleon. As recently as 1811 he saw in Stein, partly rightly, the head of a possible resistance in the German states, but refrained from urging Austria to extradite. The ostracism of Stein, contrary to all international customs, ultimately did not achieve its goal, as this had become a symbol and a leading figure of the anti-Napoleonic resistance.

Wars of Liberation and Congress of Vienna

Emperor Alexander I of Russia, painting by Stepan Semjonowitsch Schchukin , 1809
Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg , painting by Ernst Gebauer , 1835

In anticipation of the impending war with France , Tsar Alexander I began to draw opponents of Napoleon to his court. One of these was Stein, who became an advisor to the Tsar, but without entering into an official employment relationship. He now began to campaign aggressively for the anti-Napoleonic resistance. So he proposed a "German Committee" to coordinate and prepare a popular uprising. Stein supported Justus von Gruner , who set up an espionage and agent network from Prague. He himself developed in his Petersburg memorandum of 17./18. September 1812 a plan for a successful war in Germany.

After the withdrawal of the Great Army , Stein moved the Tsar's headquarters towards the Prussian border. On behalf of the Tsar, he immediately had land defense units formed on East Prussian territory , although Prussia was still allied with France. He also had the estates convened. After the Prussian general Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg had switched to the Allied opponents of Napoleon in the Tauroggen Convention , Stein urged the still hesitant Friedrich Wilhelm III. to change sides. In March 1813, mediated by Stein, he concluded an alliance with Russia in the Treaty of Kalisch , and the war of liberation was proclaimed. During this time, Stein specified his constitutional ideas from the previous year. According to this, not only the Rhine Confederation should be smashed, but also the sovereignty rights of the other states, such as the decision on war and peace, should be limited in favor of a German emperor and a Reichstag. There should be strong central executive power. In order not to let the preponderance of Austria become too great, Stein also called for Prussia to be strengthened.

Stein had proposed the establishment of an Allied central administrative authority as an occupation authority and as a procurement agency for money, weapons and soldiers. The main intention behind this was to create a basis for the restoration of a German empire. The governments of Prussia and Russia did not follow this concept; the tasks remained purely administrative. Stein became head of this authority, which earned him the derisive nickname "Kaiser von Deutschland". The areas to be administered included parts of the former Napoleonic model states such as Westphalia, Berg and Frankfurt as well as the Kingdom of Saxony , whose King Friedrich August I had been arrested for his loyalty to Napoleon. Stein pleaded in vain to occupy the southern German states of the Rhine Confederation. The board of directors was effectively dissolved on October 21, 1813; In its place came the Department of Central d'Administration, which was also responsible for the areas on the left bank of the Rhine and the French areas occupied by the coalition troops. Stein was in charge of that too. He received his instructions from an Allied diplomatic council.

During the war and after the victory of the Allies, Stein presented numerous ideas on the new order of Germany and Europe. Both his criticism of the Russian plan to establish a dependent state ( Congress Poland ) in Poland and his demand to move the French border to the west were rejected. Stein's drafts for the design of Germany were determined by idealized ideas of the German Empire in the Middle Ages. He pleaded for the renewal of the empire. Of course, he did not want a return to the state of the empire in the 18th century, but proposed a federation state dominated by Prussia and Austria. Overall, Stein's ideas found no support from the relevant princes and politicians. Although he was the Russian envoy to the Congress of Vienna , his influence remained minimal. In addition, his positions were contradictory. As a former imperial immediate he supported the demand of the mediatized imperial estates for the restoration of their positions, on the other hand he spoke out in favor of a strong competence of the German Confederation and the restriction of the sovereignty of the individual states. Without success, Stein left before the federal act was passed.

Constitution for Nassau and Personal Life

Cappenberg Castle in Westphalia
Stone statue on the equestrian statue of Friedrich Wilhelm III. on the Cologne Heumarkt

In 1814, Stein received the goods confiscated during the Napoleonic era in Nassau back with substantial compensation. As before, he put the administration in the hands of his sister Marianne. In the summer he usually spent a few months there himself. His attempt to get back at least parts of his previous rights to rule failed. Nevertheless, Stein participated in the drafting of a constitution for Nassau. This made the country a pioneer in the German Confederation in 1814. Stein received a virile vote in the state parliament, but lost the seat again when he refused to take the oath of subjects in 1818.

In 1816 Stein exchanged his rule in the province of Posen for the goods and the building of the former monastery Cappenberg near Lünen in Westphalia. In the same year he was awarded the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III. the Order of the Black Eagle . In addition, he acquired the former Scheda monastery in 1823 . Together with Cappenberg, Stein's possessions were raised to a civil status in 1826 . This title was linked to his person and not hereditary. Stein initially lived with his family mainly in Frankfurt . After the death of his wife in 1819, he made extensive trips with his daughters to Switzerland and Italy . He gave up his Frankfurt residence in 1824/25 and since then has stayed either in Nassau or on Cappenberg.

Stein rejected the position of Bundestag envoy, which was proposed to him by both Austria and Prussia. However, he was well informed about current affairs through extensive correspondence, the visits of numerous guests to Cappenberg and his reading.

As an imperial chivalrous patriot, Stein supported the national movement. In a letter to Ernst von Munster he wrote “I am sorry that your Excellency suspects that I was Prussian ... I have only one fatherland, that is Germany, and since I belonged to him and no particular part of it according to the old constitution, so I am only devoted to him and not to part of it with all my soul. ” In addition, he criticized the Karlsbad resolutions and the persecution of demagogues and welcomed the transition of the southern German states to constitutionalism. The Central Investigation Authority therefore suspected him of protecting and promoting the opposition movement in the German Confederation. In some cases he supported the freedom movement in Greece with considerable sums of money and had a positive attitude towards comparable national movements, for example in Poland or in South and Central America. However, Stein rejected the early liberal movement and the formation of political parties because they did not correspond to his old-fashioned principles. He sharply criticized the Belgian Revolution because he feared "mob rule" in the new state.

Foundation of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica

Stein's initiative to found the Monumenta Germaniae Historica as the most important source work on medieval German history was of lasting importance for historical studies. In addition to general historical interest, reasons for national education and the overcoming of national particularism also played a role for Stein. As early as 1814, Stein sought support for the edition plans in contact with politicians and princes. These were concretized by scientists and politicians such as Friedrich Carl von Savigny , Barthold Georg Niebuhr or Johann Albrecht Friedrich von Eichhorn and on January 20, 1819 led to the establishment of the “Society for Older German History” in Stein's apartment in Frankfurt. Stein became president of the Society for the Publication of the Monumenta. He headed the work personally until 1824 and then transferred it to the historian Georg Heinrich Pertz . Stein himself continued to organize the project. The first volume with sources from the Carolingian era appeared in 1826.

One of Stein's motivation for the Monumenta was to derive the legitimation of the nobility and Stein's class thinking from medieval history. This corresponded to the initial funding of the project. Only the German aristocracy was supposed to bear the costs, civil and foreign supporters were turned away. In the longer term, this could not be sustained, and the project received government support, especially after Stein's death.

Representative of noble-class interests

Karl Freiherr vom Stein, drawing by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld , 1821

How far Stein's political class goals were from those of the liberals became apparent in the run-up to the establishment of the provincial parliaments . He took part in discussions and demands of the Westphalian nobility. He was instrumental in a petition in 1818. Although the peasants were not to be excluded from the committees, Stein demanded that their deputies should come from the peasantry itself and not from the rural lower classes or from the class of intellectuals. In addition, he fought for special aristocratic rights, such as hereditary membership in the state parliaments, preferential treatment for public positions, a privileged place of jurisdiction and the like. These ideas were at least partially incorporated into the organization of the provincial estates. The provincial order for the province of Westphalia was enacted by law on March 27, 1824. The provincial assembly was divided into four estates. As a registrar, Stein automatically belonged to the membership and, together with ten other people, formed the first estate. In addition, there were the estates of the owners of manorial estates, the cities and the rural communities.

The first Westphalian provincial assembly met on October 29, 1826 in Münster and met for about two months. Stein was appointed state marshal and thus chairman. In his opening speech, he welcomed the reintroduction of the Estates constitution and distinguished it from the “all-transforming constitution” at the time of French domination. He also presided over subsequent sessions of the Assembly.

At the first provincial parliament, there were violent disputes between the representatives of the aristocracy, headed by Stein, on the one hand, and the representatives of the cities and rural communities on the other. He was also an opponent of liberal economic reforms and defender of aristocratic supremacy in numerous other points, such as the registration of aristocratic owners in the state cadastre as the basis for a property tax, or the question of whether land ownership should be free for sale. For Jewish emancipation in turn, he had brought as part of the municipal ordinance of 1808 on the road, he was negative and thought 1816 expulsion of the Jews to "the north coast of Africa." He invoked anti-Jewish clichés in the form of alleged dangers emanating from Jews, warned that the peasants freed from serfdom would fall into "bondage to the Jews and to the usurers", spoke of the "corruption of the Jewish horde" and assumed Jews Bankers in 1823 a "lack of honor" and "satisfaction of greed".

How far he had strayed from his positions during the reform period became clear not least in connection with the revision of the city regulations of 1808. While he assessed the draft of such an order positively in 1831, the representatives of the cities rejected it because of the planned stronger state control and restriction of self-government. However, Stein stuck to his ideas of a state constitutionalism, as was shown during the provincial parish of 1830/31. In the meantime, the ideas of the bourgeoisie in particular went much further than Stein's. While the bourgeoisie, impressed by the revolutionary events of 1830, demanded a direct motion to convene a state parliament, Stein considered this open declaration of war to be inappropriate. It was only with difficulty that he succeeded in pushing through a compromise and directing the demands to Prince Wilhelm .

death

In the last years of his life, Stein suffered from lung disease and heart disease. Stein is buried in the family crypt in Frücht near Bad Ems, which he had built by the Cologne sculptor Peter Joseph Imhoff . His eldest daughter, Countess Giech, after artistic advice from Sulpiz Boisserée 1836–1843, had a neo-Gothic chapel built above it, designed by the Munich architect Joseph Daniel Ohlmüller . The marble relief on Stein's grave monument was created by Ludwig Schwanthaler in 1837–1840 . The tombstone in the family crypt in Frücht bears the following inscription:

“Heinrich Friedrich Karl Reichsfreiherr vom und zum Stein,
born October 25th, 1757,
died June 29th, 1831, rests here;
the last of his
knight dynasty that flourished on the Lahn for more than seven centuries ;
humble before God, generous to people,
the falsehood and the wrongful enemy, very old
in duty and loyalty,
unshakable in
respect and spell, the bent fatherland's unbowed son,
in the struggle and victory of Germany's co-liberator.
I want to leave and be with Christ. "

rating

Relief at the Schöneberg Town Hall , Berlin
Special postage stamp of the Deutsche Bundespost for Stein's 200th birthday in 1957
Commemorative coin of the GDR for the 150th anniversary of Stein's death in 1981

After his death, Stein was not only the subject of historical representations, but his person and his work were politically co-opted from different sides. Ernst Moritz Arndt established a tradition of uncritical worship of stone in 1858. Georg Heinrich Pertz wrote the first six-volume biography of Stein after 1849. Behind a source-saturated representation, the attempt to paint the image of an anti-revolutionary as well as an anti-restorative nationally minded liberal was hidden.

In the 1870s, both liberals and conservatives tried to invoke Stein. But the state and the monarchy also began to reclaim stone for themselves. When a memorial for him was inaugurated at the Steins' ancestral castle in Nassau in 1872 , Kaiser Wilhelm I was present alongside Otto von Bismarck . Three years later, a memorial was inaugurated on Dönhoffplatz in Berlin, for which liberals in particular, supported by the state, donated money. The first demanding scientific biographies were written during the German Empire. The English historian John Robert Seeley interpreted Stein as a liberal and resolute opponent of Napoleon. In a research controversy, especially between Ernst von Meier and Max Lehmann , who presented an important biography about Stein, the question was whether Stein had been influenced by the ideas of the French Revolution. Lehmann emphasized an imitation of the French development.

Hugo Preuss and the Social Democrats tried to claim Stein for the republic. For Preuss, Stein was “Germany's greatest inner statesman”, whose ultimate goal was the “democratically self-governing state”. The Marxist Franz Mehring praised Stein's patriotism and his ability to assert himself against a hesitant king. Against this background, the centenary of Stein's death was celebrated as the forerunner of the republic. Numerous schools were named after Stein at this time. In addition, a significant new interpretation appeared with Gerhard Ritter’s Stein biography. This emphasized the ancient roots of Stein in the tradition of the Holy Roman Empire. Although he stylized him as a national hero, he saw Bismarck as a more important person in domestic politics. Franz Schnabel, in turn, tried to interpret Stein as a constitutional liberal. National Socialists like Adolf Hitler and Alfred Rosenberg also tried to reclaim Stein for themselves. The new National Socialist community order explicitly referred to Stein. Erich Botzenhart , editor of the first complete edition of Stein's writings, even saw him as a forerunner of National Socialism.

After the Second World War, the two German states also tried to take Stein over for themselves. In Rhineland-Palatinate , the Freiherr vom Stein plaque is awarded every three years for many years of local political activity. In 1952, the Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gesellschaft was founded in the Federal Republic of Germany with the aim of looking scientifically at Stein's ideas and thoughts and keeping them accessible to the public. The society published various writings on individual aspects of Stein's life and work. The new edition of Stein's writings by Walther Hubatsch was scientifically significant . In 1957 he played a leading role in organizing Stein's bicentenary. The GDR tried to derive Stein's revolutionary sentiments from his statements in 1813. Gordon A. Craig pointed out the fact that Freiherr vom Stein was judged similarly positively in both West and East German research for a long time. An earlier edition of the Handbuch der Deutschen Geschichte described him as "the best statesman that Germany had at that time". The counterpart from the GDR, the German history in three volumes, described him as the "most important German statesman of the first half of the 19th century".

Since the late 1960s in particular, Stein's work has been viewed rather critically in parts of German research. Hans-Ulrich Wehler judged in the first volume of his social history: “The importance of Stein has been grossly overestimated. The majority of an older generation of historians were able to identify with this, at times, early liberal, but predominantly old-class, romanticizing, reform-conservative civil servant [...] with a true stone cult. " In Wehler's opinion, research focused on both Stein's short-term political leadership also his sometimes "abstruse reactionary views" away. Barbara Vogel made a very similar statement . She spoke of the fact that German historiography always treated Stein with a respect that is in inverse proportion to his tangible achievements as a reformer.

Recently, this sharp criticism began to be relativized, for example by Paul Nolte or Stein's most recent biography by Heinz Duchhardt. This largely dispenses with labeling and instead tries to depict the complexity of Stein's actions and person. Thomas Nipperdey also painted an ambiguous picture. Stein was then a conservative reformer, insofar as he tried to tie in with traditions, classes and corporate structures and rejected an unchecked economic liberalism . But it was also fashionable, as it urged citizens to participate in public affairs. He was primarily concerned with the state and only secondarily with the economic citizen. In addition, according to Nipperdey, Stein was a moralist who also tried to implement the ideas of independence, education and the nation in his practical measures.

Monuments

Statue in front of the Prussian Landtag , Berlin-Mitte
Bust on Steinplatz , Berlin-Charlottenburg
  • For the city of Nassau (Lahn) , building officer Eduard Zais designed a memorial in the form of a Gothic pinnacle , in which a statue of Baron Karl von und zum Stein based on the model of the sculptor Johannes Pfuhl was placed. The monument was inaugurated on July 9, 1872 in the presence of Kaiser Wilhelm I. Badly damaged in the Second World War, the ruinous monument was blown up and demolished in 1952.
  • On June 28, 1953, Federal President Theodor Heuss inaugurated a new memorial that Eugen Keller had created in the city of Nassau .
  • The sculptor Pfuhl from Löwenberg / Silesia transferred the model of the statue to the city of Wroclaw. There it was first set up in the remter of the town hall . In 1910 the statue found a new location in the old stock exchange .
  • The Berlin monument, designed by the Berlin sculptors Hermann Schievelbein and Hugo Hagen and cast in bronze by the caster Hermann Gladenbeck , was unveiled on October 26, 1875 on Dönhoffplatz on Leipziger Strasse . It has stood in front of the House of Representatives on Niederkirchnerstrasse since 2003 .
  • On March 30, 1901, Kaiser Wilhelm II consecrated the monument to King Friedrich Wilhelm III in Siegesallee . a. This group of figures was the work of the Berlin sculptor Gustav Eberlein . After the war destruction and demolition, the herm of the Freiherr vom Stein finally found a new installation on a modern concrete base in the Spandauer Mönchsallee.
  • An elaborate inscription plaque with a relief medallion of stone in the left profile, flanked by two thoughtful powerhouses by the sculptor Hugo Lederer on the ground floor area on the facade on Freiherr-vom-Stein-Straße of the town hall Berlin-Schöneberg refers to the namesake of the street. Originally it was a separate monument that was to be unveiled at the same time as the town hall in April 1914. In the summer of the same year, however, it fell victim to a traffic regulation on Freiherr-vom-Stein-Strasse and was redesigned as a wall relief on the town hall.
  • A bust based on the model of the sculptor Fritz Schaper was placed in the Hall of Fame in the Berlin armory . The bust is thought to be lost.
  • Since September 26, 1878 the equestrian statue of the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III on the Cologne Heumarkt . was solemnly unveiled, vom Stein is also there. His statue can be found on the back as one of the numerous assistant figures that populate the base. The overall design for the monument was provided by sculptor Gustav Bläser , statics and base by architect Heinrich Strack .
  • The bronze statue can be seen on the right corner of the town hall facade in Wetter an der Ruhr since December 20, 1909, the day the town hall was inaugurated. The inscription on the base "BARON / VON / u.ZUM STEIN" designates the statesman depicted by the sculptor Richard Grüttner .
  • Since June 29, 1931, at the 50 Vorderroßgarten house in Königsberg i.Pr. In memory of his place of residence in the winter of 1806/07, a plaque with a relief image of the politician was unveiled by the police director Johann Gottfried Frey . The creator was the sculptor Rudolf Daudert . The memorial plaque has been lost since the time “under Soviet administration”.
  • On October 18, 1842, King Ludwig I opened the Walhalla memorial above Donaustauf . One of the first busts to be erected here was Stein's bust, which the sculptor Johannes Leeb had already picked in Carrara marble in 1825 .
  • A von Stein bust was created by the same hand and was once seen in the hall of fame of the Freiherr vom Stein tower on the Kaisberg near the Ruhr valley near Hagen - vestibule . The tower, a design by the architect Friedrich Schmidt from Haspe , was inaugurated on October 17, 1869. The busts of Adolf Diesterweg (since 1874), Ludwig Natorp (before 1883) and Friedrich Harkort (1883) were added later. In the post-war chaos, the Hall of Fame was looted and destroyed, the busts are lost.
  • A bust on a modern limestone plinth stands in front of the Old University in Marburg .

Further honors

Head shot on the 1 billion mark coin emergency money of the Province of Westphalia , 1923

progeny

The baron married Wilhelmine Magdalene Friederike von Wallmoden-Gimborn (* 1772, † 1819) in 1793 . She was the daughter of the Hanoverian Field Marshal Johann Ludwig von Wallmoden-Gimborn and his first wife Charlotte Christiane Auguste Wilhelmine von Wangenheim (* 1740, † 1783). The couple had two daughters:

  • Henriette vom Stein (* August 2, 1796; † October 11, 1865) ⚭ October 4, 1825 Friedrich Karl Hermann Graf von Giech (* 1791; † 1846) - This marriage remained childless and so the “Stein” inheritance passed to the younger one Daughter.
  • Therese vom Stein (* May 3, 1803; † January 1, 1863) ⚭ August 27, 1827 Ludwig Graf von Kielmansegg auf giltzow (* 1798; † 1873) - The only son Ludwig von Kielmannsegg (* 1830; † 1895) came due to illness not considered as an inheritance, the property initially passed to the eldest daughter.
    • Louise von Kielmannsegg (* 1833; † 1901) ⚭ 1863 with her cousin Thedel Graf von Kielmannsegg, the son of Eduard von Kielmansegg - Since Louise died childless, in 1901 the Stein property went to her younger sister.
    • Mathilde von Kielmannsegg (* 1838; † 1914) ⚭ 1858 with Albrecht Graf von der Groeben (* 1818; † 1864) - the inheritance went to her son.
      • Unico Graf von der Groeben (* 1861, † 1924) - After his death, the property went to his sister.
      • Therese von der Groeben (* 1859; † 1938) ⚭ 1886 Count Alexander von Kanitz (* 1848; † 1940) - She renounced the inheritance in favor of her only son.
        • Albrecht Graf von Kanitz (* 1891; † 1975) ⚭ Ilse von Borcke (* 1899; † 1991) - in 1969 the son took over the Steinschen estates.
          • Carl Albrecht Graf von Kanitz (* 1940; † 2002) ⚭ 1969 Dorothea von Frankenberg and Ludwigsdorf (* 1946)
            • Sebastian Graf von Kanitz (* 1971)

Works

  • Freiherr vom Stein: Letters and Official Writings. Edited by Walther Hubatsch, 10 volumes, Stuttgart 1957–1974.
  • Freiherr vom Stein: Memories and Letters. Published by L. Lorenz, Berlin 1919.
  • Freiherr vom Stein: Writings by and about Stein. Published by Günther Schmidt, Berlin 1955.
  • The estate of Baron vom Stein in the archive of Count von Kanitz at Cappenberg Castle. Edited by Norbert Reimann, edited by Annekatrin Schaller and Norbert Reimann, 2 volumes, Münster 2009, ISBN 978-3-936258-11-0 .

literature

  • Ernst Moritz Arndt : My wanderings and changes with the baron Heinrich Karl Friedrich vom Stein. Edited with introductions and comments by Wilhelm Steffens. Munster 1957.
  • Erich Botzenhart Freiherr vom Stein, correspondence, memoranda and notes. 7 volumes. Heymann, 1931-1937.
  • Gordon A. Craig : The Failure of Reform: Stein and Marwitz. In: The end of Prussia. Eight portraits. 2nd Edition. Beck, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-406-45964-1 , pp. 13-38.
  • Heinz Duchhardt (Ed.): Stein. The late years of the Prussian reformer 1815–1831. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-525-36376-8 .
  • Heinz Duchhardt: Stone facets. Studies on Karl vom und zum Stein. Aschendorff Münster 2007, ISBN 978-3-402-12741-4 .
  • Heinz Duchhardt: Stone. A biography. Aschendorff, Münster 2007, ISBN 978-3-402-05365-2 .
  • Heinz Duchhardt: The Myth of Stone. About the afterlife, the stylization and the instrumentalization of the Prussian reformer. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2008, ISBN 978-3-525-30014-5 .
  • Heinz Duchhardt, Karl Teppe (Ed.): Karl vom and zum Stein. The actor, the author, his impact and reception history (= publications of the Institute for European History. Volume 58). von Zabern, Mainz 2003, ISBN 3-8053-3102-9 .
  • Hans Fenske : Freiherr vom Stein, reformer and moralist. WBG, Darmstadt 2012, ISBN 978-3-534-25162-9 .
  • Konrad Fuchs:  STEIN, Heinrich Friedrich Karl. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 10, Bautz, Herzberg 1995, ISBN 3-88309-062-X , Sp. 1286-1288.  ( Article / beginning of article in the Internet archive )
  • Walther Hubatsch : The Imperial Baron Karl vom Stein and Immanuel Kant. In: Otto Büsch, Wolfgang Neugebauer (ed.): Modern Prussian History 1648–1947. An anthology. Volume 3, de Gruyter, Berlin 1981, ISBN 3-11-008324-8 , pp. 1328-1345.
  • Walther Hubatsch: The Stein-Hardenberg reforms. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1989, ISBN 3-534-05357-5 .
  • Josef Lappe : Freiherr vom Stein as a squire on Kappenberg. Aschendorff, Münster 1920.
  • Jürgen Luh : The short dream of freedom. Prussia after Napoleon. Siedler, Munich 2015, ISBN 978-3-8275-0039-7 .
  • Gerhard Ritter : Stone. A political biography. Volume 1: The Reformer ; Volume 2: The champion of national unity and freedom. Stuttgart et al. 1931. (3rd, newly designed edition in one volume, Stuttgart 1958; 4th edition. Stuttgart 1981)
  • Alfred Hartlieb von Wallthor : The baron from the stone and Russia. Cologne 1992. (A publication of the Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gesellschaft eV)

Web links

Commons : Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files
Commons : Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikiquote: Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom Stein  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz48791.html#ndbcontent
  2. ^ Family contract vom Stein dated February 2, 1774 (PDF; 664 kB).
  3. ↑ Karl Freiherr vom and zum Stein. Part 1: Origin, family, property.
  4. ↑ GA Craig: The Failure of Reform. 2001, p. 16.
  5. ↑ Steins memorandum for the improvement of hard coal mining in Grafschaft Mark from 1784 .
  6. ↑ Aufbruch ins revier , Hoesch 1871–1961, page 45
  7. ^ Hans-Ulrich Wehler: German history of society. First volume: From the feudalism of the old empire to the defensive modernization of the reform era, 1700–1815. CH Beck, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-406-32261-1 , p. 121.
  8. ^ Wilhelm Ribhegge: Prussia in the west. Aschendorff, Münster 2008, ISBN 978-3-402-05489-5 , p. 10.
  9. ^ W. Ribhegge: Prussia in the west. 2008, p. 10 f.
  10. ^ A b Hans-Ulrich Wehler: German history of society. First volume: From the feudalism of the old empire to the defensive modernization of the reform era, 1700–1815. CH Beck, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-406-32261-1 , p. 399.
  11. ↑ quot. GA Craig: The failure of reform. 2001, p. 17.
  12. ^ Hans-Ulrich Wehler: German history of society. First volume: From the feudalism of the old empire to the defensive modernization of the reform era, 1700–1815. CH Beck, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-406-32261-1 , p. 443.
  13. ↑ GA Craig: The Failure of Reform. 2001, p. 22.
  14. ↑ GA Craig: The Failure of Reform. 2001, p. 25; there, quoted after Frh. vom Stein: Letters and official writings. ed. by W. Hubatsch, 10 volumes, Stuttgart 1957–1974, volume 2, p. 329 f.
  15. ↑ Quoted from E. Fehrenbach: From the Ancien Regime to the Congress of Vienna. Year ?, p. 112, the text of the Nassau memorandum (PDF; 2.7 MB).
  16. ↑ Thomas Nipperdey: German History 1800–1866. Citizen world and strong state . Munich 1998, ISBN 3-406-44038-X , p. 36.
  17. ↑ GA Craig: The Failure of Reform. 2001, p. 29.
  18. ↑ Thomas Nipperdey: German History 1800–1866. Citizen world and strong state . Munich 1998, ISBN 3-406-44038-X , p. 21.
  19. ↑ Letter of discharge and “political testament” (PDF; 587 kB).
  20. ^ Hans-Ulrich Wehler: German history of society. Volume One: From Feudalism of the Old Empire to the Defensive Modernization of the Reform Era . 1700-1815. CH Beck, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-406-32261-1 , p. 400; Thomas Nipperdey: German History 1800–1866. Citizen world and strong state . Munich 1998, ISBN 3-406-44038-X , p. 22.
  21. ↑ Thomas Nipperdey: German History 1800–1866. Citizen world and strong state . Munich 1998, ISBN 3-406-44038-X , p. 23.
  22. ^ W. Ribhegge: Prussia in the west. 2008, p. 443f.
  23. ^ W. Ribhegge: Prussia in the west. 2008, p. 45f.
  24. ↑ Thomas Nipperdey: German History 1800–1866. Citizen world and strong state . Munich 1998, ISBN 3-406-44038-X , p. 88; W. Hubatsch: The Stein-Hardenbergschen reforms. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1989, pp. 197ff .; W. Ribhegge: Prussia in the west. 2008, p. 46ff.
  25. ^ Memorandum on the constitutional question of 1813 (PDF; 1.0 MB).
  26. ↑ Stein's diary during the Congress of Vienna (PDF; 8.0 MB).
  27. ↑ Louis Schneider: The book of the black eagle. P. 208 (31), Duncker, Berlin 1870.
  28. ↑ Alfred Hartlieb von Wallthor : The Baron vom Stein in Italy. Grote, Cologne 1971, ISBN 3-7745-0237-4 , mainly pp. 26–85.
  29. ↑ GA Craig: The Failure of Reform. 2001, p. 36; there quoted from Frh. vom Stein, Volume 3, p. 818.
  30. ↑ Thomas Nipperdey: German History 1800–1866. Citizen world and strong state . Munich 1998, ISBN 3-406-44038-X , p. 284.
  31. ↑ Karl Freiherr vom and zum Stein. Part 9: Public work and private life.
  32. ↑ Harry Bresslau: History of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica. ( Memento of December 8, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) 1921.
  33. ^ Speech from Steins at the opening of the first Westphalian provincial council (PDF; 503 kB).
  34. ↑ Von Steins report on the negotiations of the first Westphalian provincial parliament (PDF; 236 kB).
  35. ↑ quoted from Jakob Rausch: From the life of Freiherrn vom Stein ( Memento from September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ).
  36. ^ Ernst Moritz Arndt: My wanderings and changes with the imperial baron Heinrich Friedrich Karl von Stein. Berlin 1858.
  37. ↑ quoted from Paul Luchtenberg: The risk of coming of age. Neustadt 1970, p. 31.
  38. ↑ a b G. A. Craig: The failure of reform. 2001, p. 14.
  39. ↑ Thomas Nipperdey: German History 1800–1866. Citizen world and strong state . Munich 1998, ISBN 3-406-44038-X , p. 36. Karl Freiherr vom und zum Stein offers an overview of the stone research. Part 10: Effect, Interpretation, Memory. also E. Fehrenbach: From the Ancien Regime to the Congress of Vienna. Year ?, pp. 235–237, the older research in: Hubatsch, Stein-Hardenbergsche Reformen, pp. 73–90.
  40. ↑ Hendrik Mädeler: Freiherr vom Stein-Gedächtnisausgabe (FSGA) 1-30
  41. ↑ Kanitz family tree on susandoreydesigns.com
  42. ↑ Gabriele B. Clemens: Review of: Duchhardt, Heinz: Mythos Stein. About the afterlife, the stylization and the instrumentalization of the Prussian reformer. Göttingen 2008 . In: H-Soz-u-Kult . January 25, 2010.
personal data
SURNAME Stein, Heinrich Friedrich Karl from and to
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stein, Heinrich Friedrich Karl Reichsfreiherr from and to (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian civil servant, statesman and reformer
DATE OF BIRTH October 25, 1757
PLACE OF BIRTH Nassau , Reign of Stein zu Nassau
DATE OF DEATH June 29, 1831
PLACE OF DEATH Cappenberg , Westphalia Province , Kingdom of Prussia