Stephan von Stengel
Stephan Christian von Stengel , from 1788 Freiherr von Stengel , (born October 6, 1750 in Mannheim ; † October 3, 1822 in Bamberg ) was a Palatinate-Bavarian enlightener, liberal finance and economic expert in the service of Elector Karl Theodor of Palatinate Bavaria , State Councilor and General Commissioner of the Bamberg Regional Directorate, etcher and draftsman as well as patron and art collector.
Life
Stengel was the son of the Palatine chancellery director and state councilor Johann Georg von Stengel (1721–1798) and Maria Christine Edle von Hauer (1734–1796) from the baronial line of the noble family of Stengel . According to various other sources, Stephan von Stengel is said to have been an illegitimate son of Elector Karl Theodor , with whom Maria Christine Edle von Hauer had a liaison, was expecting a child and, as a pregnant woman, Johann Georg von Stengel, a close confidante of the Elector, got married. Both ancestry versions are represented by historians. Stengel's descent from Elector Karl-Theodor indicates that he later drew him into his immediate surroundings and also took him on private trips, such as the pilgrimage to Rome (1783). The increase in the coat of arms with the lozenges (Wecken) of the Wittelsbachers, which Stephan von Stengel was allowed to lead from this point on, could also be an indication of this.
Stengel studied law, political science and economics at the University of Heidelberg. He made himself familiar with Physiocratism early on . In political science he followed the teachings of the philosophers Christian Wolff and Immanuel Kant . He studied modern economics using the teachings of the Scottish economist and moral philosopher Adam Smith . In 1775 he suggested the establishment of the German Society to convey knowledge in art and science to a broad readership and to improve the written language. In 1780 he was one of the founders of the Meteorological Society, which later operated worldwide . When Elector Karl Theodor took over the affairs of state in Bavaria in 1778 and moved his court from Mannheim to Munich, Stengel was given the post of secret cabinet secretary there, which he held until the elector's death. In 1784 the ruler gave him the noble seat of Biederstein near Munich, as a knight's fief, where he lived with his family. In the year of the beginning of the French Revolution , Karl Theodor appointed him head of the finance department with extensive powers to carry out a liberal economic policy. Stengel was an opponent of the mercantilist economic system . In Bavaria he enforced the free trade in grain, which is indispensable for the state budget . As director of the Donaumoos Commission, he was responsible for the drainage and cultivation of the Donaumoos, a 180 square kilometer swamp. The capitalization of the land and the promotion of the banking industry were goals of his financial policy. Since 1793, Stengel led the lengthy tax negotiations with the estates, which he sought to abolish. Stengel was for the equality of all before the tax; the nobility should also pay taxes. He was regarded as a representative of a moderate, Catholic-oriented Enlightenment and, under Minister Maximilian von Montgelas, for reasons of conscience he advocated a less radical approach to the secularization of the Bavarian monasteries.
Finally, in 1808, he was transferred as general commissioner to the regional directorate of the newly founded Mainkreis in Bamberg, where he built up a modern state administration that was bound by legal principles. His removal from government headquarters in the province indicates differences with Minister Montgelas and those around him.
Stephan von Stengel left behind an extensive body of pen and pencil drawings and etchings. For the first time, all of his prints were shown in 2009 by the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museums in Mannheim in the Zeughaus C 5 museum. He was friends with important artists of his time such as Ferdinand Kobell and Johann Georg von Dillis .
From 1784 he was a full member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences .
Stengel was married in 1st marriage to Marianne (v.) Blesen († 1802) and since 1810 in 2nd marriage with Juliane Marc, nee Stieglitz (1765-1834). His children from his first marriage include the Bavarian Ministerialrat Georg von Stengel (1775–1824), Carl Albert Leopold von Stengel (1784–1865, among other things, District President of Swabia) and the daughter Rosina (1786–1862), mother of the important Eichstatt Bishop Franz Leopold von Leonrod (1827–1905)
Others
The village of Stengelheim , today a district of Königsmoos , was created during the drainage of the Donaumoos initiated by Stephan von Stengel and was named after him.
literature
- Stephan v. Stengel: Memories. ed. v. G. Ebersold (writings of the friends of Mannheim and the former Electoral Palatinate, Mannheimer Altertumsverein from 1859, issue 23) Mannheim 1993.
- Stephan v. Stengel: Elector Karl Theodor in Rome. Diary of his second trip to Rome in 1783. ed. v. G. Ebersold (writings of the Society of Friends of Mannheim and the former Electoral Palatinate, Mannheimer Altertumsverein from 1859, issue 24) Mannheim 1997.
- An esthete in the diplomatic service. Prints and drawings by Stephan von Stengel. Edited by Henner-Wolfgang Harling u. a. Mannheim 2008. (Publications of the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museums; 32) ISBN 978-3-89735-566-8
- Lothar Braun: Stephan Freiherr von Stengel (1750-1822). First general commissioner of the Mainkreis in Bamberg. In: Renate Baumgärtel-Fleischmann (Hrsg.): Bamberg becomes Bavarian. The secularization of the Bamberg Monastery (1802/3). Bamberg 2003.
- Monika Groening: Karl Theodor's silent revolution. Stephan Freiherr von Stengel (1750–1822) and his state and economic policy innovations in Bavaria. In: Mannheim history sheets. New episode / supplement 3 Ubstadt-Weiher 2001.
- Josephine Cheese: Dynastic Unity and State Diversity - Elector Karl Theodor's early reform policy in Palatinate Bavaria 1778/9. Dissertation 1999.
- Stefan Mörz: Enlightened absolutism in the Electoral Palatinate during the Mannheim reign of Elector Karl Theodor (1742–1777). Stuttgart 1991.
- Hans Rall: Elector Karl Theodor. Ruling gentleman in seven countries. In: Research on the history of Mannheim and the Electoral Palatinate. New series, vol. 8) Mannheim 1993.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Example of a source that sees Stengel as the secret elector's son
- ↑ To the possession of Biederstein Castle near Munich, as a knight's fief.
- ↑ About the sale of the Biederstein estate
- ↑ Source for assessment as a moderate, Catholic enlightener
- ↑ Source of Stengel's protest against the secularization measures of the Montgelas Ministry
- ↑ Details on the 2nd marriage
- ↑ Source on the descent of Bishop Franz Leopold von Leonrod from the von Stengel family
- ↑ On the naming of Stengelheim in memory of Stephan von Stengel
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Stengel, Stephan von |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Stengel, Stephan Christian Freiherr von (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Palatinate-Bavarian enlightener, liberal finance and economic expert, etcher and draftsman |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 6, 1750 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Mannheim |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 3, 1822 |
| Place of death | Bamberg |