Background
Heinrich Friedrich was born on the 26th of October in 1831.
He was the ninth child of Karl Philipp, Freiherr vom Stein; the maiden name of his mother was von Simmern.
(De philosophia Cyrenaica by Heinrich von Stein. This boo...)
De philosophia Cyrenaica by Heinrich von Stein. This book is a reproduction of the original book published in 1855 and may have some imperfections such as marks or hand-written notes.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GBOFMYW/?tag=2022091-20
(Sieben Bücher zur Geschichte des Platonismus by Heinrich ...)
Sieben Bücher zur Geschichte des Platonismus by Heinrich von Stein. This book is a reproduction of the original book published in 1862 and may have some imperfections such as marks or hand-written notes.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1533042829/?tag=2022091-20
(Giordano Bruno by Heinrich von Stein. This book is a rep...)
Giordano Bruno by Heinrich von Stein. This book is a reproduction of the original book published in 1900 and may have some imperfections such as marks or hand-written notes.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EVGN04G/?tag=2022091-20
Heinrich Friedrich was born on the 26th of October in 1831.
He was the ninth child of Karl Philipp, Freiherr vom Stein; the maiden name of his mother was von Simmern.
He does not seem to have gone to any school.
In 1773 he entered the University of Göttingen, where he studied jurisprudence, but also found time to pursue his studies in English history and politics.
In 1779 Heinrich Friedrich Stein went to Vienna, gave himself up to the gay life of that capital, and then proceeded to Berlin early in 1780.
He entered the Prussian administrative service as an expert on mining in 1780.
His admiration for Frederick the Great, together with his distaste for the pettiness of the legal procedure at Wetzlar, impelled him to take service under the Prussian monarch.
He was fortunate in gaining an appointment in the department of mines and manufactures, for at the head of this office was an able and intelligent administrator, Heinitz, who helped him to master the principles of economics and civil government.
In June 1785 he was sent for a time as Prussian ambassador to the courts of Mainz, Zweibriicken and Darmstadt, but he soon felt a distaste for diplomacy, and in 1786-1787 he was able to indulge his taste for travel by a tour in England, 'where he pursued his researches into commercial and mining affairs.
In November 1787 he became Kammerdirektor, i. e. director of the board of war and domains for the king's possessions west of the river Weser; and in 1796 he was appointed supreme president of all the Westphalian chambers dealing with the Commerce and mines of those Prussian lands.
He also improved the navigation of the WeSer, and kept up well the main roads committed to his care.
peoples.
Nevertheless he carefully noted the new sources of national strength which its reforms called forth in France. Meanwhile Prussia, after being at war with France during the years 1792-1795, came to terms with it at Basel in April 1795, and remained at peace until 1806, though Austria and South Germany continued the struggle with France for most of that interval.
Prussia, however, lost rather than gained strength at this time; for Frederick William II, who succeeded the weak and sensual Frederick William II in November 1797, was lacking in foresight, judgment and strength of character.
He soon felt constrained to protest against the effects of the Gallophil policy of the chief minister, Haugwitz, and the evil influences which clogged the administration.
Prussian policy continued to progress on the path which led to the disaster at Jena (Oct. 14, 1806).
The king then offered to Stein the portfolio for foreign affairs, which the minister declined to accept on the ground of his incompetence to manage that department unless there was a complete change in the system of government.
During the negotiations at Tilsit, Napoleon refused to act with Hardenberg, who thereupon retired.
Strange to say, the French emperor at that time suggested Stein as a possible successor.
The circumstances of the time and his own convictions, gained from study and experience, led him to press on drastic reforms in a way which could not otherwise have been followed.
First came the Edict of Emancipation, issued at Memel on the 9th of October 1807, which abolished the institution of serfdom throughout Prussia.
All distinctions affecting the tenure of land (noble land, peasants' land, &c. ) were also swept away, and the principle of free trade in land was established forthwith.
The same famous edict also abrogated all class distinctions respecting occupations and callings of any and every kind, thus Striking another blow at the caste system which had been so rigorous in Prussia.
Stein's next step was to strengthen the cabinet by wise changes, too complicated to be enumerated here.
In August 1808 the French agents, who swarmed throughout the land, had seized one of his letters, in which he spoke of his hope that Germany would soon be ready for a national rising like that of Spain.
On the 10th of September Napoleon gave orders that Stein's property in the new kingdom of Westphalia should be confiscated, and he likewise put pressure on Frederick William to dismiss him.
The king evaded compliance; but the French emperor, on entering Madrid in triumph, declared (December 16) le поттё Stein to be an enemy of France and the Confederation of the Rhine; and ordered the confiscation of all his property in the Confederation.
Stein saw that his life was in danger and fled from Berlin (Jan. 5, 1809).
When the miserable remains of the Grand Army reeled back into Prussia at the close of the year, Stein urged the Russian emperor to go on and free Europe from the French domination. Events now brought Stein rapidly to the front.
On the 30th of December 1812 the Prussian general Yorck signed at Tauroggen a convention with the Russian general Diebich for neutralization of the Prussian corps at and near Tilsit, and for the free passage of the Russians through that part of the king's dominions.
In that capacity he convened an assembly of representatives of the local estates, which on the 5th of February 1813 ordered the establishment of a militia (Landwehr), a militia reserve and a final levy (Landsturm).
Stein now went to Breslau, whither the king of Prussia had proceeded; but the annoyance which Frederick William felt at his irregular action lessened his influence.
The treaty of Kalisch between Russia and Prussia cannot be claimed as due to his actions, which were reprehended in court circles as those of a fanatic.
During the varying phases of the campaign of 1813 Stein continued to urge the need of war d entrance against Napoleon.
The Allies, after the entry of England and Austria into the coalition, conferred on Stein the important duties of superintending the administration of the liberated territories.
From one end of Germany to the other we may venture to say aloud that Napoleon is a villain and the enemy of the human race.
His projects were foiled, partly by the short-sightedness of German rulers and statesmen, but also by the craft whereby the Austrian statesman Metternich (q. v. ) gained the alliance of the rulers of south and central Germany for his empire, on the understanding that they were to retain their old governing power unimpaired.
Stein shared in the desire of all Prussian statesmen at that time to have Saxony wholly absorbed in their kingdom.
In that, as in other matters, he was doomed to disappointment.
The remainder of Stein's career must be briefly dismissed.
He passed into retirement after the congress of Vienna, and saw with pain and disgust the postponement of the representative system of government which Frederick William had promised to Prussia in May 1815.
His chief interest was in the study of history, and in 1818-1820 he worked hard to establish the society for the encouragement of historical research and the publication of the Monumenta Germaniae historica, of which his future biographer, Pertz, became the director.
This was so even during the fourteen months of phenomenal activity, October 1807 to December 1808.
(Sieben Bücher zur Geschichte des Platonismus by Heinrich ...)
(De philosophia Cyrenaica by Heinrich von Stein. This boo...)
(Giordano Bruno by Heinrich von Stein. This book is a rep...)
Quotations: "He (Napoleon) now desired to see Germany reconstituted as a nation, in a union which should be at once strong for purposes of defence and founded on constitutional principles".
All his contemporaries were impressed, or even awed by the determination and intellectual power of this remarkable man. His conversation had the effect of calling out all the powers of his interlocutors.
He married the Countess Wilhelmine Magdalene von Wallmoden on 8 June 1793.
They had three daughters.
