STEIN, HEINRICH FRIEDRICH KARL, BARON vOM UND ZUM (1757-1831), German statesman, was born at the family estate near Nassau, on Oct. 26, 1757, the ninth child of Karl Philipp, Freiherr vom Stein. He studied law at Gottingen, Wetz lar, Regensburg and Vienna, and settled in Berlin in i780. There he entered the Prussian service.
After holding various diplomatic and other appointments he became (1787) 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. Among the benefits of his administration was the canalization of the river Ruhr, which became an important outlet for the coal of that region. He also improved the naviga tion of the Weser, and kept up well the main roads committed to his care. On June 8 1793 he married the countess Wilhelmine von Wallmoden-Gimborn, daughter of a natural son of King George II. of Great Britain.
Stein's early training, together with the sternly practical bent of his own nature, made him completely impervious to the enthusi asm which the French Revolution had aroused in many minds in Germany. He disliked its methods as an interruption to the orderly development of peoples. Nevertheless he carefully noted the new sources of national strength which its reforms called forth in France. Under the untoward circumstances which fol lowed the Peace of Basel Stein in 1804 took office at Berlin as minister of state for trade. He protested against the effects of the Gallophil policy of the chief minister, Haugwitz, and the evil influences which clogged the administration. Little, however, came of Stein's protests, though they were urged with his usual incisiveness and energy. 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 he declined, because he desired to see Hardenberg take that office and effect, with his own help, the necessary administrative changes. The king refused to accept Hardenberg, and, greatly irritated by Stein's unusually outspoken letters, dismissed him alto gether, adding that he was "a refractory, insolent, obstinate and disobedient official." Stein now spent in retirement the months
during which Napoleon completed the ruin of Prussia; but he saw Hardenberg called to office in April 1807 and important reforms effected in the cabinet system. 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, and on Oct. 4, 1807, Frederick William called Stein to office with very wide powers.
Stein's strong convictions 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 Oct. 9, 1807, which abolished the institution of serfdom throughout Prussia from Oct. 8, 181o. All distinctions affecting the tenure of land (noble land, peasants' land, etc.) 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 and he also furthered the progress of the military reor ganization which is connected more especially with the name of Scharnhorst (q.v.). Stein's efforts were directed more towards civil affairs; and in this sphere he was able to issue a measure of municipal reform (Nov. 19, i8o8) which granted local self-gov ernment on enlightened and practical lines to all Prussian towns.
In August i8o8 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 Sept. 1 o 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 nomme 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) to Bohemia.