The rise of the absolutist state in the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries transformed the political organization of Germany. The establishment of absolutism entailed the expansion of the bureaucracy to enable the state to assume responsibilities formerly borne by aristocrats. Legal reform was fundamental to the struggle for absolute central control of territories, as enlightened monarchs sought to standardize legal procedures and eradicate local anomalies and privileges. The Allgemeines Landrecht (ALR) of 1794 was a legacy of Frederick the Great's reign, but it only succeeded in part in its aims. As we saw in chapter 1, the ALR can hardly be understood as the product of apolitical jurisprudence, for, as Theodor Schieder remarks, it “faithfully mirrored Frederician Prussia, with all its contradictions: between absolutism and human rights, between the principle of equality and corporate privilege.”

The Stein-Hardenberg era saw more widespread recognition of the failings of absolutist governance. In particular, Stein objected to Frederick William III's use of cabinet government, under which unaccountable officials would often wield greater power than ministers simply by virtue of their favor with the king. By 1808, Frederick William III had been persuaded to dissolve the cabinet and replace it with a Council of State composed of responsible ministers. Hardenberg also worked to remove the remaining powers of landowners, who often retained certain administrative, legal, and educational functions. However, landowners successfully resisted the challenge to their powers, and the legal power of landlords remained unbroken, even if in principle their former serfs now enjoyed equality before the law.