Free State of Saxony-Meiningen

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Free State of Saxony-Meiningen
coat of arms flag
Coat of arms is missing Flag of the Free State of Saxony-Meiningen
Situation in the German Reich
Localization is missing, location maps are possibly still in progress.
Arose from Duchy of Saxony-Meiningen
Incorporated into State of Thuringia
Data from 1919
State capital Meiningen
Form of government republic
Consist 1918-1920
surface 2468 km²
Residents 274,579 inhabitants
Population density 111 inhabitants / km²
Religions 97.4% Ev.
1.9% Roman Catholic
0.7% others
Reichsrat 1 vote
License Plate SM
administration 4 circles
map
Map of the Free State of Saxony-Meiningen

The Free State of Saxony-Meiningen emerged from the Duchy of Saxony-Meiningen after the First World War . It existed from November 1918 until it was merged with six other free and people's states to form Thuringia on May 1, 1920.

history

At the request of the Meiningen Workers and Soldiers Council , the Meiningen Duke Bernhard III. on November 10, 1918 his resignation from the throne. His half-brother and heir to the throne, Ernst Bernhard Viktor, Prince of Saxony-Meiningen , certified this on November 12th. On the same day, the President of the Landtag, Eduard Fritze , convened the Meiningen Landtag, which was last elected in 1909 . This appointed a state government, also called the State Ministry or the State Council. Chairman and First Council of State was the Secret Council of State Ludwig von Türcke , and civil servants were also Karl Marr and Ottomar Benz . Arthur Hofmann (SPD), Karl Knauer (SPD), Heinrich Eckardt (SPD) and Adalbert Enders (DDP) were elected honorary state councilors from the ranks of the MPs . On December 30, 1918, the Duke Bernhard III. concluded a severance payment agreement about his property and financial situation. Among other things, 45,211 hectares of forest, 931 hectares of closed property and the slate quarries in Lehesten became the property of the state. A settlement of 11 million marks was agreed. This amount was not paid out, however, but the duke received 4.5% interest as a monthly pension.

On March 9, 1919, the election for a new state parliament took place. In this case, the SPD received an absolute majority of the votes. Nevertheless, the government of 1919 was confirmed in office on April 9th ​​without any personnel changes.

With regard to the amalgamation with the other Thuringian states to form the new state of Thuringia , the state acted on a wait-and-see basis. The government coalition only wanted to join a Greater Thuringia with the Prussian parts of the territory, while the farmers' association preferred a connection to Prussia. Due to the traditionally strong ties to Franconia, there were also efforts in some parts of the country to join Bavaria. In contrast to the Free State of Coburg , however, on December 12, 1919, after Prussia's rejection, there was a clear majority in parliament for accession to the Thuringian Community Treaty. However, in a memorandum, the government insisted on a number of reservations and special requests, which were accepted by the Thuringian State Council. In particular, they did not want the debts of the other states to become the joint debts of the new country and called for all of Meining's parts of the country to stay together. The members of the Sonneberg state parliament - together with the Social Democrat Peter Eduard Wehder, they made the state parliament president - were able to push through some demands for the Sonneberg district , the so-called Meininger Oberland . In addition to a guarantee of existence for the district, this also included the seat of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In addition, the American consulate in Sonneberg, which was closed in 1916, was to be revived.

With the establishment of the state of Thuringia on May 1, 1920, the Free State of Saxony-Meiningen formally ceased to exist as a sovereign federal state. But in autumn, in some areas of Saxony-Meiningen, the ultimately unsuccessful attempt “Los von Thuringia” arose. The “Law on the Administration of the Former Thuringian States in the Transitional Period” of December 9, 1920 finally transformed the Free State into a higher-order municipal association with regional representation and regional government, which was finally repealed on April 1, 1923.

Election to the first state parliament

The state parliament building in Meiningen
Members of the Meiningen State Parliament in 1920
  • Election date: March 9, 1919
  • Seats in the state parliament: 24
Political party Result Seats
Meininger farmers' association 18.28% 5
DDP 15.44% 3
DNVP 6.44% 1
SPD 52.20% 13
USPD 7.64% 2

literature

  • Joachim Bergmann: The domestic political development of Thuringia from 1918 to 1932 . Europaforum-Verlag, Lauf an der Pegnitz 2001, ISBN 3-931070-27-1 ( Culture and history of Thuringia 16 = 19).
  • Norbert Moczarski : The last state parliament of Saxony-Meiningen and the subsequent regional representation in the years 1919–1923. In: Harald Mitteldorf (Red.): The forgotten parliaments. State parliaments and regional representations in the Thuringian states and territories 1919 to 1923 . Published by the Thuringian Parliament. Hain, Rudolstadt u. a. 2002, ISBN 3-89807-038-7 ( writings on the history of parliamentarism in Thuringia  19).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c gonschior.de: The People's State of Saxony-Meiningen overview
  2. ↑ Susan Richter: Renunciation of the Throne: The Abdication in Monarchies from the Middle Ages to Modern Times . Böhlau, 2010, ISBN 978-3-412-20535-5 , p. 169 ( online ).
  3. ↑ Thomas Schwämmlein: When Sonneberg was ticking in Thuringia. In: Free Word. February 7, 2013
  4. ^ Gonschior.de: Overview of the elections in Sachsen-Meiningen 1919–1920