Hermann Guido Leopold Freiherr[a] von Stengel (19 July 1837 – 5 May 1919) was aBavarian administrator, aGermanpolitician andFinance Minister of theGerman Empire from 1903 to 1908.
He was born inSpeyer,Electorate of the Palatinate, on 19 July 1837, andbaptized two days later. Hermann was the son of Carl Albert Leopold von Stengel and Julia Magdalena Catharina Franziska von Mayer.
After studying law, he entered into the civil service of Bavaria. In 1874, he became governmentassessor inWürzburg. In 1881 he was made ministerial council, and as such authorized deputy of theBundesrat inBerlin. He exercised this office until he was appointed State Council sixteen years later.
On 23 August 1903, he was appointed as a successor toMax Franz Guido von Thielmann asFinance Minister of the German empire. In the years that followed, there was a steady deterioration of the empire's finances that developed into a constant,structural crisis. TheFleet Acts of 1898 and 1900, employment of German troops during theBoxer Rebellion inChina, the expansion of thearmy in 1893, 1899 and 1905 by as many as 613,000 men, and the increase in military pensions, all had to be financed.
Pressured by the increasing costs of armament, he developed a measure in 1906 that undermined the existing federal system, and instituted a country-wideinheritance tax, in addition to higherexcise taxes. Yet the measures were not able to achieve the desired results, so the German empire's debt of 3 billionmarks in 1904, grew to 4 billion in 1908 (equivalent to 21 billion and 25 billion 2021 euros). On 20 February 1908, he was replaced as Finance Minister byReinhold Sydow.
Mecklenburg: Grand Cross of theOrder of the Griffon,23 May 1906[1]{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Finance Minister of Germany 1903–1908 | Succeeded by |
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