Stone (Ricarda Huch)
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Stein is a study that Ricarda Huch wrote in her Munich years about the Prussian administrative reformer Karl Reichsfreiherr vom Stein . The essay was published by Karl König in Vienna in 1925.
Stein - born in Nassau in 1757 and died in Cappenberg in 1831 - is defeated in the fight against his enemies, the two destroyers of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation ; so primarily against the German territorial princes and then also against Napoleon . The French Revolution didn't mean much to Stein , but it turned out to be the real cause of his eventful life.
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- 1. Basics and beginnings
The events in this essay mainly revolve around the French Revolution and its long-term consequences for Germany - keyword: Napoleon. But because the idea of the empire plays a major role in the text, Ricarda Huch begins with a leitmotif of the victory of particularism over centralism . Anno 1523 - the princes of Hesse , Trier and the Palatinate triumphantly surrounding the deathbed of the Imperial Knight Franz von Sickingen .
After this short excursion into the time of the Reformation and the Peasant Wars , Stein's life path is traced. The noble stone, "a born ruler", does not become an officer, but studies law and then looks around in matters of administration of the German Empire in Regensburg and Wetzlar . On his travels he learned to despise the Mecklenburg nobleman who lays his peasants . In general, Stein's sympathy among the imperial estates is by no means the gentlemen, but the peasants and the middle class. Nevertheless, he does not follow the Ahlefeld or the Rantzau - Stein does not free his farmers. Ricarda Huch writes: “He didn't want to know anything about a poor nobility.” From 1784 onwards, the still single Prussian official in Wetter (Ruhr) was responsible for the supervision of the industrial operations in the county of Mark as the mining authority director .
- 2. The Prussian Minister
Princes of the Confederation of the Rhine settle down with Napoleon because they hope for liberty . Blücher takes possession of Münster for Prussia. In his entourage, Stein moved in as the new master there in September 1802. Prussia, with its urge to expand, attracts Stein, although some of the king's character traits repels him - his tricks, his preference for ambiguities and some broken words. Although Friedrich Wilhelm III. not much for Stein, but in 1804 he made him the successor of the late Struensee . After the fiasco in Jena and Auerstedt , the king dismisses “an unruly, defiant, stubborn and disobedient public servant” Stein. Napoleon, who needs money and thinks Stein is a friend of the French, urges the king to reappoint the sacked man. Friedrich Wilhelm III. gives way. Ricarda Huch writes in this connection about the Prussian reformer Stein: "Only the complete collapse of Prussia before the external enemy gave the reformers the opportunity to realize their ideas." Resistance of the depraved, greedy, selfish, stubborn, incompetent and only concerned with their own well-being. Silesian farmers long for the French because they have to run the gauntlet . Stein's October edict in particular is a thorn in the side of the nobility.
- 3. The exile
In a letter that fell into the hands of the French, Stein reveals himself to be a French hater. The undiplomatic clerk then falls under the spell of Napoleon's Madrid decree of December 16, 1808 and flees to Austria before being shot. In the land of the Emperor of Austria and Metternich , the "revolutionary" is under police supervision. For example, he is allowed to stay in Prague. Varnhagen meets him there. Stein urges the Prussian king to form an alliance with Russia. Friedrich Wilhelm III. Napoleon joins the army against the Tsar. Stein cannot stay in Austria. America is the land of his dreams, but because of the family he accepts an invitation from the tsar.
- 4. The tsar's ruler
Stein wants to make the "soft and weak" Alexander I strong in the fight against Napoleon. In Stein's view, Prussia must be drawn into this war so that Germany can be liberated. The German military who fled to Russia from the French do not want to know anything about a war of the German people against Napoleon, as Stein envisions. That is why Stein suggested to the Tsar that he should first ally himself with England and Austria against Napoleon and that Prussia should finally be drawn into the conflict.
It almost happens that way. In 1813, Stein returned to Königsberg with Arndt . York can't help it - he joins the Russian army in the fight against Napoleon.
Shunned by the Prussian king, the stone, suffering from Podagra , is visited by the tsar in Breslau .
- 5. The secret emperor
Ricarda Huch writes: “After the battle of Leipzig , Stein was placed at the head of the central administration which for the time being ruled the countries that had been wrested from the enemy; so he actually ruled the empire, that is, almost all of the German masses except Austria and Prussia. ”But even Arndt does not see the capricious“ Prince Enemy ”Stein as the savior of Germany. Ricarda Huch's comment on this: Stein saw the imperial crown , but did not reach for it.
- 6. The Tribune
Hardenberg and Humboldt are against Stein's proposal to limit the arbitrariness of the princes with a German emperor. Prussia, Bavaria and Württemberg hastily secured their sovereignty by contract . What is more - the nobility boldly lifts its head; wants to keep his position as a despot. In the fight against the threat of small states, the Rheinische Merkur becomes Stein's mouthpiece. With the fanatical Görres and the dreamer Arndt, the increasingly powerless tribune Stein has chosen allies with whom he is defeated against the particularists. The German people, on whom Stein actually relies, allow themselves to be dazzled too much by the defeated France, by its despot Napoleon, who had achieved this and that for a more liberal order in German lands; for example the public of the court.
With democracy Stein means the rule of "the totality of the people". On the other hand, he rejects the rule of the uneducated classes as " Jacobin and Sansculott ".
- 7. Disappointments and misunderstandings
Stein retires to Castle Cappenberg and, as a private citizen, follows how the territorial princes restrict freer constitutions. Stein probably recognizes that it is not the younger generation that is to blame for the restrictions, for example after the Sand fall , but the princes.
- 8. Tragic ending
Stein registered the German grievances, but can no longer do anything about it. A “whip of God for Germany” is for example “the countless army of civil servants”. Ricarda Huch shares an anecdote: Stein says to Niebuhr in Rome that although he doesn't hate Count Metternich, he would "spit in his face" if he could.
- 9. Stein, Napoleon and Bismarck
When comparing Stein with Napoleon, Ricarda Huch first generalizes: "The lust for power is the passion of the Romans, freedom that of the Teutons." Immediately afterwards, she relativizes her assertion.
Bismarck comes off badly in the comparison with Stein. In contrast to Stein, Bismarck had absolutely no idea of his own. However, Bismarck was very successful in asserting the interests of the bankers and manufacturers, i.e. the victor over the revolutionaries of 1848 . Bismarck - like Stein - achieved success through his straightforwardness - in stark contrast to the flexible, flattering, eager nobility.
- 10. Stone and the Middle Ages
Stein had envisaged a German Empire within the borders of the 13th century - that is, with Alsace , the Netherlands and Switzerland . With this utopia he stands alone in the corridor and has to fall.
- 11. German character
Ricarda Huch writes: "Stein himself was a man who owed what he was, not to his class but primarily to his character ..., free of arrogance towards the other classes." Finally, Ricarda Huch offers another anecdote . In 1813, while traveling from Russia to East Prussia, Stein expressed his astonishment that the defeated Napoleonic officers would have passed through Russia unmolested. If a Russian leader had launched the attack, the losers would all have been cut down with great ease. Then Stein: "I think I would have let them blow."
reception
- Peter Czoik says that Ricarda Huch wanted to awaken “political and spiritual forces of the Middle Ages” for her present.
- Dorit Krusche recognizes Ricarda Huch as “a political thinker” in texts like Stein .
Book editions
First edition
- Ricarda Yikes. Stone. With 1 facsimile and 26 illustrations. 144 pages. Karl König publishing house. Vienna and Leipzig 1925 (used edition)
Other issues
- Ricarda Huch: Stone. The awakening of the imperial idea. 215 pages. Atlantis Verlag, Berlin 1932
literature
- Marie Baum : Shining lead. The life of Ricarda Huch. 520 pages. Rainer Wunderlich Verlag Hermann Leins , Tübingen and Stuttgart 1950 (6th – 11th thousand)
- Helene Baumgarten: Ricarda Huch. About her life and work . 236 pages. Hermann Böhlaus successor, Weimar 1964
annotation
- ↑ From 1918 to 1927 Ricarda Huch (with interim stays in Padua ) stayed in Munich (Baumgarten, p. 235).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Baumgarten, p. 156, 5. Zvo
- ↑ Baum, p. 290, 7. Zvo
- ↑ Edition used, p. 19, 4. Zvo
- ↑ Edition used, p. 23, 6. Zvo
- ↑ Edition used, p. 19, 8. Zvo
- ↑ Edition used, p. 86, 2nd Zvu
- ↑ Edition used, p. 30, 13. Zvo
- ↑ Edition used, p. 32, 12. Zvu
- ↑ Edition used, p. 34, 10th Zvu
- ↑ Edition used, p. 39, 1. Zvo
- ↑ Edition used, p. 72, 7th Zvu
- ↑ Edition used, p. 80, 4. Zvo
- ↑ Edition used, p. 80, 6. Zvo
- ↑ Edition used, p. 116, 6th Zvu
- ↑ Edition used, p. 120, 1. Zvo
- ↑ Edition used, p. 88, 5. Zvo
- ↑ Edition used, p. 120, 1. Zvo
- ↑ Peter Czoik
- ↑ Dorit Krusche