Bundestag (Rheinbund)

The Bundestag (also: Federal Assembly , Diète de Francfort ) is an organ that is mentioned in the Rhine Confederation Act . However, it was not realized.

The Rhine Confederation was brought into being in 1806 by the French Emperor Napoleon . According to the idea, the Rheinbund was an association of German states with Napoleon as the " federal protector ". The essence of the Rhine Confederation was that the German states had to support the French Empire in the event of war. The Bundestag should have settled disputes between the member states and represented their interests.

Similarly, the three Napoleonic model states in Germany should have a legislative or other type of assembly. Even these assemblies ( Imperial Estates of the Kingdom of Westphalia , Estates Assembly of the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt ) did not, or only rarely, met and remained meaningless.

The Rheinbund Bundestag was modeled on the former Reichstag in Regensburg . It can also be regarded as a preliminary form of the Bundestag of the German Confederation of 1815.

Provisions in the federal act

According to the Rhine Federation Act, the Bundestag should work in Frankfurt am Main and consist of two colleges: one for the kings, one for the other princes (Art. 6). The prince-primate presided . The colleges could, however, also meet separately, the royal college chaired by the prince, the prince college chaired by the duke of Nassau. The specific tasks and working methods of the Bundestag should be defined by a fundamental statute of the prince (Art. 11).

The Bundestag should negotiate the common interests of the federal states and settle disputes (Art. 6, 9). In addition, the Bundestag should play a supporting role in mobilization in the event of war (Art. 36).

Realization

Prince-Primas Karl Theodor von Dalberg in 1812

Prince Primate Karl Theodor von Dalberg tried to bring the Bundestag into being. The constituent meeting was to take place on October 16, 1806. The envoys of all states with the exception of Bavaria and Württemberg came: They demanded that a draft statute must first be available, which one could discuss. The ambassadors therefore did not actually meet and did not meet again later.

The Bundestag of the Rhine Confederation did not come about because the Federal Protector (Napoleon) and the kings of German states had no interest in an “autonomous federal representation”. According to Ernst Rudolf Huber , it could have “promoted the awareness of community and the drive to develop a unified political will in the Federation”. Michael Kotulla: Precisely because the constitutional situation in the interior of the Rhine Confederation was not clarified, the Protector always had the welcome opportunity to intervene.

supporting documents

1. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789 . Volume I: Reform and Restoration 1789 to 1830 . 2nd edition, Verlag W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart [u. a.] 1967, p. 86.
2. ↑ Michael Kotulla: German Constitutional Law 1806-1918. A collection of documents and introductions. Volume 1: Germany as a whole, Anhalt states and Baden , Springer, Berlin [u. a.] 2006, p. 24.
3. ↑ Michael Kotulla: German Constitutional Law 1806-1918. A collection of documents and introductions. Volume 1: Germany as a whole, Anhalt states and Baden , Springer, Berlin [u. a.] 2006, p. 24 f.
4. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789 . Volume I: Reform and Restoration 1789 to 1830 . 2nd edition, Verlag W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart [ua] 1967, pp. 80, 86.
5. ↑ See Michael Kotulla: German Constitutional Law 1806-1918. A collection of documents and introductions. Volume 1: Germany as a whole, Anhalt states and Baden , Springer, Berlin [u. a.] 2006, p. 24.