Bavarian Assembly of Estates

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Bavarian State Parliament, Munich, Prannerstrasse (destroyed in World War II), 1884

The Bavarian State Assembly , from 1848 Landtag , was the parliament of the Kingdom of Bavaria that existed from 1819 to 1918 and thus the forerunner of today's Bavarian Landtag . It was established on the basis of the constitution of the Kingdom of Bavaria from 1818 and consisted of two chambers, the Chamber of Imperial Councils and the Chamber of Deputies . King Maximilian I Joseph opened the first meeting of the estates on February 4, 1819 in a joint session of both chambers with a speech from the throne.

history

Presentation medal from 1819 of the assembly of estates to King Maximilian I Joseph on the 1st anniversary of the constitution of 1818. Obverse.
Presentation medal from 1819 to King Maximilian I Joseph for the 1st anniversary of the constitution of 1818. Reverse with dedication.

With the constitution issued by King Maximilian I Joseph in 1808 , the estates that still existed in the individual parts of the country were repealed. A single "national representation", no longer composed according to estates, was to be set up for the entire empire. However, this never met. After the establishment of the German Confederation in 1815, the first constitutions were issued in some German states. Article 13 of the German Federal Act commits the states to so-called land-class constitutions . In Bavaria a new constitution was imposed by the king in 1818 , which replaced the constitution that had been in force since 1808. The constitution implemented the requirement of the federal act (as in the other countries) to the effect that instead of the “national representation” a bi-chamber “assembly of estates” was set up.

Chamber of Imperial Councils

The first chamber was the chamber of the imperial councils. Membership in it was either hereditary, tied to state or ecclesiastical offices, or granted by the king for life.

According to Title VI § 2 of the Constitution, the Chamber consisted of:

  1. the adult prince of the royal house;
  2. the crown officials of the empire;
  3. the Archbishops of Munich-Freising and Bamberg ;
  4. the heads of the former imperial families of princely and counts with lords located in the kingdom;
  5. a bishop appointed by the king and the respective president of the Protestant general consistory;
  6. as well as "those persons whom the king either hereditary or lifelong appoints as members of this chamber either because of excellent service rendered to the state, or because of their birth or property".

The number of "lifelong" Imperial Councilors was not allowed to exceed the third part of the hereditary ones. (§ 4) A law was passed on this regulation on March 9, 1828, which declared who was to be regarded as the hereditary Imperial Councilor.

Chamber of Deputies

The Second Chamber was the Chamber of Deputies and consisted of members elected for six years. Until 1848, the election of the deputies took place separately according to class. According to Title VI § 9 of the Constitution, the Chamber was composed as follows:

  1. Class - the aristocratic landowners with manorial jurisdiction (one eighth of the deputies)
  2. 1st class - one member each from the three universities of Erlangen , Munich and Würzburg
  3. Class - the Catholic and Protestant clergy (one eighth of the MPs)
  4. Great - the cities and markets with more than 500 families (a quarter of the MPs)
  5. Class - the remaining landowners, regardless of whether they were noble or not (half of the MPs)

The number of representatives was calculated according to the number of families in the kingdom and one representative was determined for 7,000 families (§ 8). There were also representatives from the universities.

Through the law concerning the election of members of the Landtag on June 4, 1848, the name of the Estates Assembly was de facto changed to Landtag and the estates composition was abolished. The deputies were no longer elected according to class, but in equal elections by all male citizens who paid a direct tax. The law determined one member for every 31,500 inhabitants. In 1906 the number of inhabitants per member was increased to 38,000.

Convocation of the meeting of the estates

The king alone had the right to convene the meeting of the estates. He was obliged to convene this at least every three years. As far as the meeting of the estates met, both chambers were convened, opened and closed at the same time. As a rule, the duration of the session could not be longer than two months. The king had the right to extend, adjourn or dissolve the meeting. The constitution stipulated that new elections to the Chamber of Deputies should take place every six years. If the king dissolved the assembly of estates, a new election of the Chamber of Deputies had to be made within three months.

Powers

Schematic representation of the constitution of 1818 with the assembly of estates

The powers of the assembly of estates were limited to the sphere of activity specified by the constitution. According to Title VII, this included the right to approve and amend bills (Section 2) and tax assessments (Section 3), the review of the budget (Section 4) and approval of new national debts (Section 11). The right to initiate legislation rested with the king. The assembly could, however, bring wishes and suggestions to the king from its sphere of activity. Resolutions had to be discussed in both chambers and a majority had to be achieved. The chambers were given equal rights. As the only right of control , the assembly of estates had the right to complain about violation of the constitution by the state authorities and the indictment of royal ministers in case of intent. With the exception of the royal ministries of state, the chambers were not allowed to consult with any authorities, and even fewer were allowed to issue addresses to the people. The competences of the parliament were gradually expanded. The constitutional understanding of June 14, 1843 strengthened the Assembly's right to approve the budget; with the law on the Estates initiative of June 4, 1848, both chambers received the right of initiative for laws and the law, the ministers' responsibility for June 4, 1848 was expanded the ministerial indictment of violation of state law. He was denied active influence on the formation of a government until 1919. It was not until 1912 that Georg von Hertling , a representative of the majority faction of the Bavarian Center, was appointed chairman of the Council of Ministers for the first time .

building

The meeting of the estates met in a building that grew around the former Palais of Count Seeau (at Prannerstrasse 20).

Web links

Commons : Bavarian State Parliament Building (Munich)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b Constitutional document of the Kingdom of Baiern of May 26, 1818. Title VII § 22, Law Gazette for the Kingdom of Baiern, 1818 p. 132
  2. ^ Constitutional document of the Kingdom of Baiern of May 26, 1818. Title VI § 16, Law Gazette for the Kingdom of Baiern, 1818 p. 126
  3. a b Constitutional document of the Kingdom of Baiern of May 26, 1818. Title VII § 23, Law Gazette for the Kingdom of Baiern, 1818 p. 132
  4. ^ Constitutional document of the Kingdom of Baiern of May 26, 1818. Title VI § 13, Law Gazette for the Kingdom of Baiern, 1818 p. 125
  5. Ed .: Nils Freytag, Dominik Petzold, The "long" 19th century: old questions and new perspectives, p. 83