Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein (25 October 1757 – 29 June 1831), commonly known as Baron vom Stein, was a Prussian statesman who introduced the Prussian reforms, which paved the way for the unification of Germany. He promoted the abolition of serfdom, with indemnification to territorial lords; subjection of the nobles to manorial imposts; and the establishment of a modern municipal system.
Stein was from an old Franconian family. He was born on the family estate near Nassau, studied at Göttingen, and entered the civil service. Prussian conservatism hampered him in his efforts to bring about changes. In 1807, he was removed from office by the King for refusing to accept the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs but was recalled after the Peace of Tilsit.
After it became known that he had written a letter in which he criticised Napoleon, Stein was obliged to resign, which he did on 24 November 1808 and retired to the Austrian Empire, from which he was summoned to the Russian Empire by Tsar Alexander I in 1812. After the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, Stein became head of the council for the administration of the reconquered German countries.
Early life
Stein was the ninth child of Karl Philipp Freiherr vom Stein, and Henriette Karoline Langwerth von Simmern. Stein is the descendant of an ancient imperial family. Like many of his generation, he greatly admired Frederick the Great.
In his old age, Stein would express his gratitude to his parents for the influence. He added:
<blockquote>My view of the world and of human affairs I gathered as a boy and youth, in the solitude of a country life, from ancient and modern history, and in particular I was attracted by the incidents of the eventful history of England.</blockquote>
Education
thumb|325px|The town of Nassau with the castle and family seat of the Stein family, copper engraving by [[Matthäus Merian 1655]]
In 1773 Stein went to the University of Göttingen to study jurisprudence. He also found time to pursue his studies in English history and politics.
In 1777 Stein left Göttingen and proceeded to Wetzlar, the legal centre of the Holy Roman Empire. He observed the workings of its institutions and prepare himself for a career in law. Next, after a stay at each of the chief south German cities, he settled at Regensburg to observe the methods of the Imperial Diet. In 1779 he went to Vienna. He proceeded to Berlin early in 1780.
Career in Prussia
In Berlin, his admiration for Frederick the Great, together with his distaste for the pettiness of the legal procedure at Wetzlar, compelled him to take service in the monarchy of Prussia. He gained a position in the department of mines and manufactures. At the head of that department was Friedrich Anton von Heynitz who was a master of economics and civil government. In June 1785, Stein was sent for a time as Prussian ambassador to the courts of Mainz, Zweibrücken, and Darmstadt. Between 1786 and 1787, Stein went on a tour in England where he pursued his research into commercial and mining affairs.
Directorship
In November 1787, Stein was appointed Kammerdirektor, director of the chamber of war and domains, for the king's possessions west of the river Weser. From 1796 until 1803, he was supreme president of all the Westphalian chambers dealing with the commerce and mines of Prussian lands with a seat in Minden. One of the chief benefits he conferred on these districts was the canalization of the river Ruhr which became an important outlet for the coal of that region. He also improved the navigation of the Weser.
War with France
Stein's early training and his stern practical mentality made him completely impervious to the enthusiasm that his contemporaries had shown for the French Revolution. He disliked the methods of the revolutionaries which he saw as an interruption to the orderly development of peoples. Nevertheless, he carefully noted the new sources of national strength that arrose from reforms in France.
After being at war with France in 1792 to 1795, Prussia came to terms with the new revolutionary government in France at Basel in April 1795. The two nations remained at peace until 1806. However, Austria and southern Germany continued the struggle against France for most of that time. In Prussia, Frederick William III succeeded Frederick William II in November 1797. Unfortunately, Frederick William III listened to the advice of secret and irresponsible counsellors and persisted to undermine the Peace of Basle.
Minister of State
thumb|The Donnersches Palais (today Palais am Festungsgraben), Stein's residence as a Prussian Minister
Stein in 1804 took office as minister of state for trade in Prussia. This made him responsible for indirect imposts, taxes, manufactures, and commerce. While in office he introduced useful reforms in his department, particularly by abolishing various restrictions on the internal trade of the nation, but he was hampered in his endeavors by the spirit of Prussian conservatism. Stein was not at ease with the effects of the Francophile policy by the chief minister Christian Graf von Haugwitz. Little came of Stein's protests, but he continued to protest. Prussian policy continued to progress on the path that led to the disaster at Battle of Jena starting on 14 October 1806.
Stein was offered the portfolio for foreign affairs, which Stein declined to accept on the ground of his incompetence to manage that department unless there was a complete change in the system of government. Stein desired for Karl August von Hardenberg to take that office and bring into effect, with Stein's own help, the necessary administrative changes. The Prussian king refused to accept Hardenberg and, greatly irritated by Stein's unusually outspoken letters, dismissed Stein altogether because he was "a refractory, insolent, obstinate and disobedient official". Stein spent the months in which Napoleon completed the ruin of Prussia in retirement.
Treaty of Tilsit
thumb|[[Napoleon, Alexander I of Russia, Queen Louise of Prussia, and Frederick William III in Tilsit]]
Stein got to see Karl August von Hardenberg who had been called to office in April 1807. Important reforms were effected in the cabinet system. During the negotiations at Tilsit, Napoleon refused to act upon Hardenberg's recommendations and Hardenberg thereupon retired. Surprisingly, Napoleon, who had as yet no idea of Stein's deep and earnest patriotism,
All distinctions affecting the land tenure, including land owned by the nobility and peasants' land, were swept away and the principle of free trade in land was established. The October Edict also abrogated all class distinctions respecting occupations and callings of any and every kind, thus striking another blow at the caste system that had been so rigorous in Prussia.
Stein's next step was to strengthen the cabinet by wise changes.
Stein issued a measure for municipal reform on 19 November 1808 which granted local self-government on enlightened yet practical lines to all Prussian towns and even to all villages possessing more than 800 inhabitants.
While Stein's efforts were directed more towards civil affairs, he also furthered the progress of the military reforms, which are connected more especially with the name of Gerhard Johann David von Scharnhorst. They refashioned the Prussian army on modern lines, with a reserve system. Military service was made obligatory for all classes.
Exile
thumb|Statue of von Stein at the town hall in [[Wetter (Ruhr), North Rhine-Westphalia]]
thumbnail|A 1923 50 million mark coin with Vom Stein's likeness from the era of [[hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic]]
Shortly afterwards, the reformer had to flee from Prussia. 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 10 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 (16 December) 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 (5 January 1809). Thanks to the help of his former colleague, Count Friedrich Wilhelm von Reden, who gave him an asylum in his castle in the Riesengebirge, he succeeded in crossing the frontier into Bohemia.
For three years, Stein lived in the Austrian Empire, generally at Brno, but in May 1812, in danger of being surrendered by Austria to Napoleon,