The self-government of medieval German cities grew considerably, but the absolutism in the 18th century utterly destroyed it, and made it stagnant. Freiherr von Stein and his collaborators tried to revive the self-government by making citizens take part in the administration of cities, and drafted the Stadteordnung (it was proclaimed on the 19th of November, 1808). The present paper intends to approach the problems of German self-government by considering the contents of the Stadteordnung and its enforcement. First, as to its contents, the Stddteordnung consisted of two opposite elements: traditional and modern. Second, as to its enforcement, the Stddteordnung confronted various difficulties, most of them having been due to its own defect, which did not succeed to harmonize the traditional elements with the new reality of modern society. Finally, what thought affected such complex contents of the Stadteordnung? Stein, who contributed most to it's drafting, was a politician of conservative calibre and an admirer of English traditionalism. But the conditions of German cities at that time were quite foreign to those of English cities. Thus, confronting to the reality of German cities, the thought of Stein was obliged to change itself and adopt new foreign elements. The Stadteordnung was drafted in the line of two opposite elements: the one similar to English traditionalism, the other similar to the French physiocracy.
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