October edict

Title page of the October edict

The October edict ( edict the easier possession and free use of real estate as well as the personal circumstances of the land residents ) of October 9, 1807, which was written by the noble lawyer Heinrich Friedrich Karl Reichsfreiherr vom und zum Stein (1757-1831) the beginning of the Prussian reform policy . These reforms were intended to regenerate the Prussian state from within.

Effects

This law brought about the abolition of the estates in Prussia and effected as far as possible until November 11th ( "Martini-Tage" ) 1810:

the exemption of all peasants from serfdom and inheritance (patrimonial hierarchy) ,
the free choice of profession rsp. Freedom of trade ,
the freedom to buy and sell country estates as well
freedom of marriage .

Peasants with better property rights were relieved of inheritance with immediate effect. The liberation of the peasants in Prussia was additionally influenced by the regulation edict of 1811 issued on September 14, 1811 .

According to the October edict, every nobleman, citizen and farmer could buy land, freely share the land or go into debt. With the freedom to choose a profession, the privileges of the guilds were gradually replaced by freedom of trade. In addition, the lower police ( executive ) and judiciary ( judiciary ) were nationalized.

criticism

One of the leading representatives of the Prussian nobility, General Friedrich August Ludwig von der Marwitz (1777–1837), criticized the edict because it took power and privileges from the second estate (nobility) and the feudal order of estates (regarded as given by God) with the nobility at the head. In addition, the nobility was economically very weakened and often had to operate a trade in the city in order to secure its livelihood, because mostly the citizens now tried to become landowners. He condemned the newly created "class of people" called rural residents in his criticism of Stein and his edict of 1807. He also pointed out the now uncertain situation of the peasants, who merely exchanged landlords for creditors because they owned no land, but no longer had it could build the previous care of the landlords.

literature

Hans Busch: The reform in Prussia under stone and under Hardenberg. Peasants' Liberation and Prussian Town Order . Breslau o. JS 21 f.

Web links

Edict concerning the easier possession and free use of property as well as the personal circumstances of the land residents

Individual evidence

↑ Friedrich August Ludwig von der Marwitz: From the limitless, printed in: Carl Jantke u. Dietrich Holger (ed.): The propertyless. German pauperism and the emancipation crisis in representations and interpretations of contemporary literature. Munich 1965, pp. 134-148.

[1] Friedrich August Ludwig von der Marwitz: From the limitless, printed in: Carl Jantke u. Dietrich Holger (ed.): The propertyless. German pauperism and the emancipation crisis in representations and interpretations of contemporary literature. Munich 1965, pp. 134-148.