Appointed Hamburg citizenship
The Appointed Citizenship in Hamburg was a body established after the Second World War to control the Hamburg Senate . She was the predecessor of the elected Hamburg citizenship . Comparable Appointed Diets have also been set up in other federal states .
General
There were 81 deputies approved for Parliament. The citizenship consisted of the 13 members of the Hamburg Senate under Rudolf Petersen , 17 politicians nominated by the parties, 45 corporate representatives and 6 members from Bergedorf and Harburg. The individual members were proposed by the parties and organizations and were then confirmed by the British occupying forces. Citizenship should reflect a broad political spectrum. Citizens who had been excluded by the military authorities through membership of the NSDAP or due to close cooperation with the Nazi regime were excluded.
The factions
Even before the first regular meeting of the newly created citizenship on February 27, 1946, the members met and formed the parliamentary groups. Six factions emerged:
- Non-party (23 seats, until summer 1946, then dissolved independently)
- SPD (20 seats)
- Union faction (16 seats)
- FDP (9 seats)
- KPD (8 seats)
- CDU (5 seats)
The special position of the two factions of the non-attached and the free trade union is explained below.
Parties
The SPD, KPD and FDP were able to fall back on existing structures and personalities, whereby the FDP was a new party, which, however, was able to tie in with the German Democratic Party (DDP) of the Weimar Republic through strong personal continuity .
The CDU was only founded at the beginning of the occupation, but was able to distinguish itself as a bourgeois force in the Hanseatic city from the start. Before the first free election in autumn 1946, no one could say exactly how many supporters and potential voters the party would retain.
Non-party faction
The members, who were not proposed through the parties, but were representatives of the estates, had largely tied themselves to other parliamentary groups. 23 members were non-attached and formed the "non-party faction". Among them was the mayor Rudolf Petersen and Gerd Bucerius . In the summer this faction broke up. A large part turned to the CDU. Very few remained as “non-party” in the citizenry.
Union faction
The free trade unionists were almost all SPD members, but remained associated with their parliamentary group until the end of the appointed citizenship. The faction is curious because the British occupying power had actually forbidden the trade unions from any political activity. By participating in the first citizenship, this ban was taken ad absurdum .
tasks
The main task of the appointed citizenship should be the drafting of a new constitution. The Senate had already presented a very mature “working basis”, which was also supported by the British. Because any change would have been too much of an effort and an elected parliament was in sight, nothing in the draft was changed. The Appointed Citizenship adopted this provisional constitution for the State of Hamburg on May 15, 1946 as part of the British zone of occupation.
In retrospect, one of the tasks was to gradually introduce democratic elements into the city. In addition, the parties formed and developed, some with a new profile. Parliament did not have a real control function because the mayor and the senate were not bound by the decisions of the citizens.
Completion of work and first free elections
On October 8, 1946, the appointed citizens finished their work.
In 1946, the military government passed an electoral law based on the British model (relative majority voting), on the basis of which the first free general election since April 24, 1932 took place on October 13, 1946 . Election winner was the SPD (43.1% of the vote, 75.5% of the seats), the mayor was Max Brauer , President Adolph Schönfelder selected.
Sources and literature
- Peter Gabrielsson: Between surrender and the formation of a new Senate. The Hamburg administration in the first post-war years ; (1985), in: State Center for Political Education: Hamburg after the end of the Third Reich. Political rebuilding 1945/46 to 1949 , Hamburg 2000.
- Tormin Walter: Hamburg after the end of the Third Reich. Political rebuilding in the immediate post-war period ; in: State Center for Political Education: Hamburg after the end of the Third Reich. Political rebuilding 1945/46 to 1949 , Hamburg 2000.
See also
From 1859 to 1919 | From 1919 to 1933 | Appointed Citizenship (1946) | 1st electoral term (1946–1949) | 2nd electoral term (1949–1953) | 3rd electoral term (1953–1957) | 4th legislative term (1957–1961) | 5th legislative term (1961–1966) | 6th legislative term (1966–1970) | 7th legislative term (1970–1974) | 8th legislative term (1974–1978) | 9th legislative term (1978–1982) | 10th legislative term (1982) | 11th legislative term (1982–1986) | 12th legislative term (1986–1987) | 13th legislative term (1987–1991) | 14th legislative term (1991–1993) | 15th legislative term (1993–1997) | 16th legislative term (1997–2001) | 17th electoral term (2001–2004) | 18th electoral term (2004–2008) | 19th electoral term (2008–2011) | 20th legislative term (2011–2015) | 21st electoral term (2015–2020) | 22nd electoral term (from 2020)