The article reconstructs Hegel's concept of the ethical state ('sittlicher Staat') against the ongoing trend towards a critique of Egalitarianism. Particularly highlighted are the egalitarian consequences of a connection of moral-political equality with distributive equality. The approach takes its start from Hegel's Philosophy of Right, because in his view moral-political equality is founded by the 'necessity of property'. His critique of the claim for equality can be revised by reflecting on the problems of the modern state already named by him. Hegel's challenging but by no means outdated notion of the ethical state calls for public welfare measures in order to realize it.