“Da h\u00f6rte ich unter anderem zum ersten Male den gro\u00dfen Prozessualisten Friedrich Stein.” Those words set the stage for a glimpse into the life of a man commemorated by this very stone. This is the Friederich-Stein Stone a monument to a remarkable legal scholar.
Friedrich Wilhelm Victor Albert Stein was born in Breslau in 1859. The Friedrich-Stein Stone honors a man of law. He died in Halle in 1923.
Stein’s academic journey began in Breslau. He then moved to T\u00fcbingen and Berlin. His studies eventually led him to Leipzig the city of the German Reich Court. There, he studied under Adolf Wach.
After academic and military service Friedrich Stein qualified as a lecturer in Leipzig in 1887. His work focused on understanding the relationship between process law. He lectured on criminal and civil procedure. Friedrich Stein became an associate professor in 1890.
In 1896 Friedrich Stein was appointed professor at the University of Halle. He took the chair of civil and criminal procedure. A year later he became a judge at the Higher Regional Court in Naumburg.
Friedrich Stein’s career took an unexpected turn in 1907. After a conflict with the Prussian state he resigned his professorship. He became a private lecturer in Leipzig. Even though the University of Frankfurt wanted him he stayed in Leipzig.
Max Friedlaender recalls Stein’s appearance at the German Juristentag 1908 in Karlsruhe. He described him as a small man in a light blue coat. Stein spoke unprepared about civil procedure reform. He captivated the audience. He opposed reforms that mirrored Austrian civil procedure. He warned against the hypnosis of Austriazismus.
Friedrich Stein was critical of the Austrian civil process’s tight official operations. Stein also critized modern trends. He believed in serving the law. He aimed to be a loyal guardian of the law. He was governed by the law’s ideas.
Friedrich Stein co-edited the Leipziger Zeitschrift f\u00fcr deutsches Recht. He worked on process law reform. His proposals were adopted in the Emminger Novels of 1924. Long-term illness marked his final years. He died in 1923 at 64. His family faced financial struggles. The Prussian state supported his widow.
Friedrich Stein’s legacy endures through his commentary on the Civil Procedure Code. He joined Friedrich Ludwig Gaupp’s work in 1897. After Gaupp’s death in 1901 Stein revised and updated the work.
His insights into the role of court officers remain influential. The Reichsgericht adopted his view that court officers act as state organs. His student Martin Jonas continued his work. The commentary became known as Stein-Jonas. The name faced challenges during the Nazi era due to Jonas’s Jewish heritage.
The Friedrich-Stein Stone here serves as a reminder. It honors a legal mind. He helped to shape German legal thought.