biography
| name: |
Stein, (Heinrich Friedrich) Karl, Freiherr (Baron) von
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pronunciation:
[shtiyn]
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1757–1831)
|
| biography:
| Prussian statesman and reformer, born in Nassau, WC Germany. He studied law at Göttingen, and entered the service of Prussia in 1780. He served as minister of finance and economy (1804–7) and became leading minister in 1807–8, carrying out important reforms in the army, economy, and both national and local government, notably the Bauernbefreiung (1807) and the Städteordnung (1808). At the request of Napoleon, he was dismissed from his post for the second time (the first time under Friedrich Wilhelm III). He lived in exile in Prague and Brno, until 1812, when he went to St Petersburg as adviser to the Tsar (1812), and built up the coalition against Napoleon. He was later adviser to Alexander I (1812–15), then retired to Kappenberg in Westphalia. His reforms were continued in a different spirit by Hardenberg (Stein-Hardenbergsche Reformen), and he was the inspiration for the Monumenta Germaniae Historica. |
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