Brunswick State Parliament

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The former landscape house in Braunschweig

The Braunschweigische Parliament , also known as Brunswick landscape and in the 19th century as Braunschweigische State Assembly referred, presented the Brunswick stands Parliament in Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and since 1814 in the successor state Duchy of Brunswick . In 1918/22 founded Free State of Brunswick , Parliament was Parliament democratically elected MPs. The in April 1933 by the Nazis conformist parliament was disbanded 1934th On November 21, 1946, the last meeting of the Braunschweig State Parliament was dissolved after the state of Braunschweig was absorbed into the newly created state of Lower Saxony on November 1.

history

Origins in the Middle Ages

The privileges of the estates in the Duchy of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel developed in the form of privileges granted by the Guelph sovereign. The foundation for a country-class constitution was laid in the Middle Ages. During the 13th and 14th centuries, the prelates of the monasteries and monasteries, the knights and the cities of the duchy formed a kind of cooperative to defend common rights against the sovereign. The most important right of the estates was the approval of duties and taxes. These were granted to the sovereign rulers, who were often indebted, under written conditions, the national treaties. The term landscape in the meaning of a political union of prelates, knights and cities can be found as early as 1488 in a reverse Duke Wilhelm II († 1503) to the prelates. Under Duke Heinrich the Elder († 1514), the estates were also included in legislation. New laws now required the approval of the estates. The ruling since 1514 Duke Heinrich the Younger († 1568) convened the estates in Salzdahlum in 1530 to negotiate about reducing his debt burden. 22 monasteries and monasteries, 66 noblemen, ten cities and three towns were represented in the three estate curiae. The latter included Alfeld , Bockenem , Braunschweig , Gandersheim , Helmstedt , Holzminden , Königslutter , Schöningen , Schöppenstedt , Seesen , Stadtoldendorf , Calvörde , Heinrichstadt and Lamspringe . The estates granted a six-year tax in 1530. After the Turks besieged Vienna for the first time in 1529 , a “ Turkish tax ” was negotiated for the empire in one of the following state parliaments .

In the period from 1568 to 1807 there are 59 provincial parliaments in nine different locations. Another statistic counts 55 state parliaments for the period from 1500 to 1621. Between 1585 and 1615 the city of Braunschweig did not take part in the state assemblies to demonstrate its independence. The stands each met for one to two days, which was associated with a lot of effort. Authorized committees were created to simplify negotiations with the Duke. A “committee of the six” is documented for the year 1505. In the 1580s a "small committee" and a "large committee" of the state estates with fixed areas of responsibility were brought into being.

absolutism

The estates met in 1682 to discuss the state finances. In the period that followed, the Treasury and the “Select Committee” replaced the landscape, so that no state parliament was convened for more than 80 years. The following state parliament did not meet again until 1768 when Duke Charles I († 1780) was threatened with bankruptcy due to inherited national debt and the lavish court rulings. This made considerable concessions to the estates, whereupon the “ Landtag farewell ” of 1770 provided brief relief from the financial crisis. The increased political importance of the state parliament found its expression in the new building of the landscape house built by Christian Gottlob Langwagen at the Martinikirche from 1793 to 1798 . Duke Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand († 1806) took over half of the construction costs. The Duke issued a debt edict on May 1, 1794, according to which no loans could be taken out without the consent of the estates. This was hailed by contemporaries as the beginning of a constitutional era. The last parliament before the Napoleonic occupation of the duchy met in January 1801.

Napoleonic occupation 1806–1813

The ruling Duke Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand was fatally wounded in the battle of Jena and Auerstedt in 1806 . As a result of the ensuing Peace of Tilsit , the Principality of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel was occupied by the French without a fight and from July 1807 to October 1813 was part of the newly founded Napoleonic Kingdom of Westphalia with the Oker department . This had at the level of the department over a department council and at the level of the kingdom over the imperial estates of the Kingdom of Westphalia as parliament.

Duchy of Brunswick 1814–1918

Federal Act of 1815

With the establishment of the German Confederation , the states had committed themselves in Section 13 of the German Federal Act to enact land-based constitutions and to provide for state parliaments there.

On October 12, 1819, the estates met in the Residenzschloss to discuss the Renewed Landscape Regulations , which were agreed together with King George IV, who ruled as guardian , and passed on April 25, 1820. The new state parliament had 130 members. For the first time, the free farmers were represented by 20 members. In fact, Duke Charles II , who had ruled since 1826, did not recognize the Renewed Landscape Order , disempowered the estates and installed a favoritism. The growing resentment of the population escalated and led Duke Charles II to flee in September 1830. As a result of the revolution, Karl's brother Wilhelm officially assumed the reign on April 20, 1831.

On September 30, 1831, the landscape met to deliberate on the new landscape order, which was issued on October 12, 1832. With this Braunschweig constitutional law, a balance was created between the duke, manorial landowners, city owners and free farmers. With the tax-dependent census voting right, however , the majority of the population was excluded from voting. The number of representatives in the state parliament was reduced from 130 to 48. Since 1833 the Holzminden lawyer Karl Steinacker († 1847) led the liberal opposition in the state parliament, of which he was president from 1842 to 1846. After the revolution of 1848/1849 in Braunschweig , too , the sessions of the state parliament became public, for which purpose auditoriums were installed in the landscape house.

After the death of the childless Duke Wilhelm in 1884, the state assembly elected Albrecht of Prussia as regent of the duchy in 1885 .

Landtag President

Weimar Republic

From the November Revolution to the State Constitution of 1922

In the final phase of the First World War , there were also revolutionary unrest in Braunschweig . Duke Ernst August abdicated on November 8, 1918 to the local workers and soldiers council under the leadership of August Merges . On November 10th, a large demonstration marched from the castle to the state parliament, where a sole government of the USPD was proclaimed by the workers 'and soldiers' council. The "Socialist Republic of Braunschweig" was proclaimed and August Merges was unanimously elected as its first president on the proposal of the USPD politician Sepp Oerter . The “ Council of People's Commissars ” on the other hand, with Oerter as chairman, exercised the actual power of government. The council consisted of eight "People's Commissars": Minna Faßhauer (public education), Karl Eckardt (work), Gustav Gerecke (nutrition), August Junke (justice), Michael Müller (transport and trade, replaced by Rudolf Löhr on January 28, 1919 ) , Sepp Oerter (Internal Affairs and Finance), Gustav Rosenthal (revolutionary defense, replaced by Herling on January 28, 1919) and August Wesemeier (City of Braunschweig). On December 22nd, 1918 a state election took place according to the new electoral law. The USPD won 14 of the 60 seats, the MSPD 17, the bourgeois state electoral association 16 and the liberal Democratic People's Party, later DDP, 13 seats. The new state parliament was opened on February 10, 1919. The newly elected President of the Landtag, Jasper, represented a democratic opposing position in relation to the Workers 'and Soldiers' Council: the people spoke in the elections, and with the meeting of this Landtag, representing the entire people, power was transferred to the representation of the people, to the Landtag . The state parliament building was stormed on February 19 by left-wing unemployed people. Since February 22, 1919, the " Council of People's Representatives ", a coalition government between the USPD and the SPD, ruled under its President Oerter. This government was deposed on April 17th by General Maercker , who had occupied the city without a fight with Freikorps troops in order to avert civil war . On April 30, 1919, the state parliament elected a new government , which was led by the SPD politician Heinrich Jasper . When the Weimar Constitution came into force on August 11, 1919, the autonomy of the state government was restricted.

After the state elections on May 16, 1920, the state parliament elected a new state ministry with chairman Sepp Oerter on June 22 . State ministers were Gustav Steinbrecher (labor), August Junke (justice) and Hans Sievers (public education), who was replaced on November 25, 1920 by Otto Grotewohl . On December 22nd, 1921, the new Braunschweig constitution was adopted by the state parliament, which ended its term of office. The constitution came into force on January 6, 1922.

The state elections of January 22, 1922 resulted in a socialist majority. The coalition government of the USPD and MSPD was led by August Junke (USPD).

The rise of the NSDAP since 1930

In the state elections on September 14, 1930, the NSDAP received 22.2% of the vote. Although the SPD achieved 41%, the left no longer had a majority in the state parliament. Ernst Zörner (NSDAP) was elected President of the State Parliament with 20 to 17 votes on September 30th, and a new right-wing government was elected the next day with the same majority. The civil unified list consisted of DNVP, DVP, center and WP and together with the NSDAP formed the government with Werner Küchenthal as Prime Minister and the National Socialist Anton Franzen as Minister of State for the Interior and National Education.

The NSDAP state politicians, including Klagges and Landtag President Zörner, promoted the naturalization of Adolf Hitler , who as a stateless person was not allowed to run for the presidential election in 1932 . On February 26, 1932, Hitler was sworn in as a clerk for economic issues in the state of Braunschweig at the Braunschweig legation in Berlin , which also gave him German citizenship . On March 1, 1932, the state parliament subsequently approved the government council post requested by the State Ministry of the Interior.

State election results 1918–1930

December 22, 1918 (60 seats): MSPD 27.7% - 17 seats | State electoral association ( DVP , ZENTRUM , Welfen , DNVP and others) 26.2% - 16 seats | USPD 24.3% - 14 seats | DDP 21.8% - 13 seats
List of members of the Landtag (Free State of Braunschweig) (1st electoral period)

May 16, 1920 (60 seats): State electoral association 37.3% - 23 seats | USPD 37.3% - 23 seats | MSPD 14.8% - 9 seats | DDP 9.5% - 5 seats | KPD 1.1% - 0 seats
List of members of the Landtag (Free State of Braunschweig) (2nd electoral period)

January 22, 1922 (60 seats): State electoral association 38.0% - 23 seats | USPD 27.6% - 17 seats | MSPD 19.8% - 12 seats | DDP 10.7% - 6 seats | KPD 4.0% - 2 seats
List of members of the Landtag (Free State of Braunschweig) (3rd electoral period)

December 7, 1924 (48 seats): SPD 37.4% - 19 seats | DNVP 18.5% - 10 seats | DVP 17.2% - 9 seats | Economic unit list 8.3% - 4 seats | DDP 5.3% - 2 seats | KPD 4.5% - 2 seats | NSFB 3.4% - 1 seat | Welfen 3.2% - 1 seat | CENTER 1.6% - 0 seats | USPD 0.6% - 0 seats
List of members of the Landtag (Free State of Braunschweig) (4th electoral period)

November 27, 1927 (48 seats): SPD 46.2% - 24 seats | DVP 14.3% - 8 seats | DNVP 9.4% - 5 seats | Business Association of Medium-Sized Enterprises 8.1% - 4 seats | KPD 4.7% - 2 seats | | DDP / Bauernbund 4.6% - 2 seats | NSDAP 3.7% - 1 seat | People's Rights Party 1.7% - 0 seats | CENTER 1.7% - 0 seats | Welfen 1.2% - 0 seats
List of members of the Landtag (Free State of Braunschweig) (5th electoral period)

September 14, 1930 (40 seats): SPD 41.0% - 17 seats | Civil unity list ( DNVP , DVP , ZENTRUM, etc.) 26.0% - 11 seats | NSDAP 22.9% - 9 seats | KPD 6.8% - 2 seats | DStP 3.0% - 1 seat | People's Rights Party 0.8% - 0 seats | National center 0.2% - 0 seats List of members of the state parliament (Free State of Braunschweig) (6th electoral period)

Landtag President

  • Heinrich Jasper, SPD, several terms in office
  • Heinrich Wessel , DVP, three terms
  • August Wesemeier, USPD, 1920–1922 and SPD, 1927–1930
  • Ernst Zörner, NSDAP, 1930–1933
  • Kuno Rieke , SPD, 1930–1933

time of the nationalsocialism

After the National Socialist seizure of power on January 30, 1933, the so-called wave of “mandate waivers” began on March 15 in the state of Braunschweig. Social democratic and communist members of the state parliament were forced to sign a declaration under the threat and sometimes use of force, in which they renounced their state parliament mandate. Only Heinrich Jasper did not sign such a waiver, despite massive abuse. The state executive committee of the DVP dissolved and the state executive committee of the DNVP transferred completely to the NSDAP. At the opening of the state parliament on April 29, 1933, Klagges was able to telegraph Hitler to report a purely National Socialist state parliament. Klagges was appointed Prime Minister of Brunswick on May 6, 1933 and held this office until his arrest in April 1945. The state parliament, which had been brought into line, was dissolved in 1934 after the law on the reconstruction of the Reich of January 30th granted the sovereign rights of the states to the Reich passed over. During the Second World War , the state parliament building was largely destroyed in 1944.

Dissolution after the Second World War

Between April 6 and 23, 1945, the state of Braunschweig was occupied by the Allied troops. On April 24, the British military government appointed Hubert Schlebusch, former SPD member of the Reichstag, as Prime Minister of Braunschweig. The military government also set up an Appointed Braunschweig Landtag to control the Braunschweig Land Government. It existed from February 21, 1946 (first session) to November 21, 1946 (last session). Since the old state parliament building was burned out, it met in the "Kant University" (today Braunschweig House of Science ). The state of Braunschweig was absorbed into the newly created state of Lower Saxony on November 1, 1946. On April 20, 1947, the first Lower Saxony state elections took place.

Individual evidence

  1. Carl von Rotteck, Carl Welcker (ed.): Staats-Lexikon or Encyklopädie der Staatswissenschaften , second volume. Altona 1835, p. 734.
  2. a b Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Gerhard Schildt (ed.): The Braunschweigische Landesgeschichte Millennium Review of a Region. Braunschweig 2000, p. 470.
  3. Uwe Ohainski: The Landtag of the Principality of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel from 1568 to 1807. Göttingen 1999.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / cdl.niedersachsen.de  
  4. Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Gerhard Schildt (ed.): The Braunschweigische Landesgeschichte millennium review of a region. Braunschweig 2000, p. 471.
  5. Gerd Biegel (ed.): Dukes, revolution and kidney table. 1200 years of Braunschweig national history. Braunschweig 1992, p. 101.
  6. Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Gerhard Schildt (ed.): The Braunschweigische Landesgeschichte millennium review of a region. Braunschweig 2000, pp. 938-939.
  7. Reinhard Bein: Braunschweig between right and left. The Free State 1918 to 1930. Braunschweig 1990, p. 7.
  8. Klaus Kaiser: Braunschweiger Presse and National Socialism. Braunschweig 1970, p. 50.
  9. Reinhard Bein: Zeitzeichen. City and State of Braunschweig 1930–1945. Braunschweig 2006, p. 283.
  10. Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Günter Scheel (ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon 19th and 20th centuries. Braunschweig 1996, p. 490.

literature