Danish Imperial Council (1855–1866)
The Reichsrat was an advisory body in Denmark between 1855 and 1866 . The seat of the Imperial Council was Copenhagen .
Reichsrat after the constitution of 1854
The Danish constitutional law of 1849, which arose after the March Revolution , saw a two-chamber parliament consisting of Folketing and Landsting , which together formed the Reichstag. With the decree concerning the constitution of the Danish monarchy for their common affairs of July 26th, 1854 the Reichsrat was introduced. The constitutional law for community affairs of October 2, 1855 confirmed these regulations. It consisted of 20 personalities appointed by the king for 12 years each and 30 deputies indirectly elected for 8 years each. Twelve of those appointed had to come from the Kingdom of Denmark, three from the Duchy of Schleswig , four from the Duchy of Holstein and one from the Duchy of Lauenburg .
Of the elected members, 18 were elected by the Reichstag of the Kingdom of Denmark, five by the Schleswig Council of Estates , six by the Holstein Council of Estates and one by the Knights and Landscape of the Duchy of Lauenburg .
With the constitutional amendment of April 1, 1856, § 28 of the constitution established the election of 30 additional Reichsrat members. These were directly elected. 17 MPs came from Denmark, 5 from Schleswig and 8 from Holstein.
The powers of the Reichsrat were low. He had an advisory role on all matters affecting the entire Danish state as a whole. The consent of the Reichsrat was only necessary for changes in communal taxes or the issuance of government bonds for the entire monarchy.
Holstein and Lauenburg leave in 1858
The validity of the entire state constitution of 1855 for Holstein and Lauenburg (both duchies belonged to the German Confederation ) was violently opposed. On February 11, 1858, the Bundestag demanded the repeal of the constitution for Holstein and Lauenburg. The Danish king met this requirement with the patent for the repeal of the constitutional law of October 2, 1855 for the Duchy of Holstein and for the Duchy of Lauenburg of November 6, 1858. Accordingly, there were no longer any representatives from Holstein or Lauenburg in the Reichsrat.
Reichsrat after the constitution of 1863
The November constitution of 1863 provided for a common representative body "Reichsrat". However, this should be responsible for matters that were not expressly reserved for the Danish Reichstag or the people's representative body in Schleswig. The Reichsrat should have two chambers, the Folketing and the Landsting. The latter should consist of MPs appointed by the king or elected by citizens with privileged voting rights.
However, the constitution was not implemented, but triggered the German-Danish War . As a result, Schleswig-Holstein was ceded to Prussia and the entire Danish state ended. In 1866 the Danish constitution was modified and the Reichsrat was formally abolished.