The statesman who walked toward the viewer

Karl Freiherr vom Stein stands in bronze, a 3.30-meter tall man mid-stride as if caught in a perpetual stroll toward you. He holds a walking stick in his left hand and raises his right in a steady greeting. The sculpture, a masterpiece of the Berlin Sculpture School, captures him wearing the Order of the Black Eagle on his coat - a mark of status for the Prussian statesman and reformer.

Created between 1864 and 1869 by Hermann Schievelbein and Hugo Hagen, the monument is a study in Realism. It rises 7.80 meters high, anchored by a 4.50-meter pedestal. Figures on the pedestal represent Stein's virtues: Piety, Truth, Willpower, and Patriotism. Reliefs between the virtues represent the allegories of Hope, Courage, Popular Uprising, and Victory. One figure of Patriotism holds a ribbon of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, which Stein founded.

Below the main figure, a detailed frieze depicts Stein's reforms of the Prussian state and liberation from Napoleonic rule. It includes the introduction of the State Ministry, the establishment of the Landwehr, and the opening of the Landtag. It also records the liberation of the peasants, the visit of Alexander I to Stein, and the vow of Stein and Gneisenaus against Napoleon. The monument bears the inscription: "DEM MINISTER / FREIHERRN VOM STEIN / DAS DANKBARE VATERLAND."

This bronze body has not always stood in the same spot. It began its life in 1875 on Dönhoffplatz, where it sat in an ensemble with the smaller Hardenberg Monument. In 1969, during the GDR era, it was removed for the reconstruction of Leipziger Straße and relocated to the site of the former commander's house on Unter den Linden in 1981. In 2001, the monument was removed again for the reconstruction of the commander's house and subsequently restored.

Today, it finds its home on the left side of the Prussian State Parliament, the Abgeordnetenhaus. The move to its current location was initiated by Walter Momper. Visitors standing before it see a man who served as a reformer and statesman for Prussia. He remains there, greeting the passing crowd, located at Margot-Friedländer-Platz in Berlin-Mitte.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons