Lorenz von Stein

Born on November 15, 1815 in Borby near Eckernförde/Kiel, Lorenz von Stein was named Wasmar Jacob Lorentz in the baptismal register. Later upon he was called Lorentz Jacob Stein and was elevated to hereditary knighthood in 1868. Combining his elevation to knighthood and in connection with the titles he acquired during his career, his name at the time of death was Professor Dr jur. Lorenz Jakob Ritter von Stein.

Von Stein was born on the European continent into a considerably chaotic world. The era of the Napoleanic Wars was coming to an end. The Congress of Vienna in 1815 had set upon itself the challenge of bringing order to a shattered Europe, avoiding future wars and, on the other hand, clarifying the internal German situation between the states of the German Empire. In this time, the German Confederation was born. During his life, von Stein felt the effects of this union first hand. It is not surprising that at a time when nothing less than the territorial and political reorganisation of Europe was on the agenda, creating and maintaining a balance, people were born who also applied this order to their own sphere of influence. Undoubtedly, Lorenz von Stein was one of them.

From 1821, the young von Stein was educated at the Christians Nursing Home in Eckernförde, which was originally an invalids' home and military orphanage, but developed into a role-model educational school in the state from 1820. Regarding to a scholarship from King Frederick VI, von Stein was able to attend the Latin school in Flensburg. Von Stein enrolled as a student of law and philosophy at the Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel on May 8, 1835 and studied there with the exception of two semesters in Jena in 1837/1838. Von Stein completed his studies with the bar examination in Kiel in 1839, which he passed with highest marks.

Following his bar examination in law, he began his career as a servant in the central administration of the Schleswig-Holstein-Lauenburg Chancellery in Copenhagen. On July 11, 1840, von Stein was finally awarded with the doctorate of law in Kiel through researches on "History of Danish Civil Procedure".

Early on, von Stein aspired to an academic career and decided to leave the administrative service, dedicating himself to an academic career. Financed by a travelling scholarship granted by the king, von Stein primarily went to Berlin in 1841 for specificacions on his academics. After a layover in Lausanne, Switzerland, in autumn 1841, von Stein finally moved to Paris. From October 1841 to March 1843, von Stein resided in Paris, where he became aware about the so-called early socialists and carried out comparative legal studies. Von Stein began to deal with the "social question", i.e. poverty and the resulting political ideas. The social question became his remaining academic focus. In 1842, his first book on "Socialism and Communism in contemporary France - a contribution to contemporary history" was published. The analysis of the social question, the development of the concept of society and the development of solutions rewarded him considerable academic attention in his time and remains with an impact today.

After his stay abroad, von Stein returned to Kiel, where he started academic lectures in the winter term of 1843/44. At first, von Stein was a private lecturer at the Faculty of Law, giving lectures on constitutional and international law and offering courses on the philosophy of law. On April 20, 1846, he was finally appointed as associate professor of political science at the Faculty of Philosophy. In September 1846, he married Dorothea Steger from Kiel. The marriage lasted until his wife's death in 1877 and was awarded with four children. His only daughter died during her father's lifetime.

Contrasting to his work as a private lecturer, the associate professorship finally came with a continuous salary. In the previous years, he had had to support himself from the small lecture fees and fees from his publishing activities. The personal predicament of not being able to fulfil von Steins wish for a position with permanent salaries at Kiel University led to a lifelong career as a journalist, which brought his academic work closer to answers on major "contemporary historical issues" of the 19th century.

After his attempt to obtain a full professorship for political science in Kiel during the constitutional elevation of Schleswig-Holstein had already failed due to Stein's supposed political radicalism and alleged sympathy for communism, he was finally presented with the bill for his political work in the years 1848 to 1851 after the defeat of the people of Schleswig-Holstein. Due to the "unfavourable prognosis from the Danish point of view", his professorship was ended on June 11, 1852 and equally his teaching licence at Kiel University. Von Stein nevertheless tried to support his family in Kiel with journalistic activities.

Dismissed from the lectural service, von Stein devoted himself entirely to his publications and also focused his attention on possible vacancies at German universities. Finally, he applied to the Austrian Emperor for a professorship in economics and finance at the University of Vienna. His revolutionary activities did not go unnoticed, but unlike in Prussia, they were apparently not to his disadvantage in Austria, and on March 22, 1855 he was appointed with a full professorship of political economy at the University of Vienna by Emperor Franz Joseph.

He remained there until his retirement in 1885 and presumably continued to lecture in the upcoming years. He lectured on philosophy of law and finance in the summer term and economics and administration in the winter term .Von Stein's "central academic work" was written in Vienna. The main topic focused less on democratic, socialism and liberal areas than on administrative science and thus supposedly conservative positions. The creative power during these 30 years was enormous.

In addition, a very special connection to Japan developed during his time in Vienna. As a result of the opening and modernisation of Japan, the later Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi sought out von Stein in 1882 to obtain advices on the creation of the Japanese constitution. Von Stein gave him and many others who travelled to him private lectures on his knowledge and doctrine of state and society and enrolled as an advisor to the Japanese embassy. He ultimately contributed to the drafting of the Meiji Constitution and other codificational work.

Shortly before retiring, von Stein married again in 1884 the family's housekeeper of many years, Therese Ruhland.

In business terms, however, von Stein remained unsuccessful. His business endeavours, which had also begun very successfully at first, ultimately led to the bankruptcy of the Salzburger Torfmoor association and the Benedict-Glashütte in 1879, which resulted in the bankruptcy of all his private assets. In addition, a third of Steins' salary was seized for years. This personal devastation accompanied von Stein until his death. Only his sons' inheritance, which was protected from creditors as his wife's share of the estate, ensured the furthermore aging von Stein a reasonably peaceful old age in one of his son's accomodations.

Von Stein died on September 23, 1890 at his countryside estate in Weidlingau near Vienna. After his death, his connection to Kiel was re-established when his remaining manuscripts, which had been kept in his Vienna accomodation for around 80 years, was transferred to Kiel in 1972 and finally placed in the Schleswig-Holstein State Library, where it is still accessible today.