Hessian Constitution (People's State of Hesse)

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The Hessian Constitution was the constitution of the People's State of Hesse from 1919 to 1933. It replaced the constitution of the Grand Duchy of Hesse .

Emergence

The November Revolution also led to an upheaval in the Grand Duchy of Hesse . At the end of October 1918, Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig agreed to the parliamentarization of the state, and the Second Chamber of the Estates of the Grand Duchy of Hesse then decided on November 8th that a constitutional reform should take place. On November 9, the Grand Duke was deposed by the Workers 'and Soldiers' Council and a "free socialist republic" was proclaimed.

On December 3, 1918, the provisional government under Carl Ulrich ( SPD ) passed the “Ordinance on the Elections of the Constituent Chamber of the Republic of Hesse”. On January 26, 1919, the first Landtag of the People's State of Hesse was elected on this basis in the state elections in the People's State of Hessen in 1919 .

The “Emergency Constitution” of February 20, 1919

On February 20, 1919, the state parliament passed an “emergency constitution” as a law, which was to serve as a constitution for a transitional period until a final constitution was drawn up.

This was preceded by the deliberation of the constitutional draft of the provisional government of February 14, 1919 in a special committee of the state parliament. The committee decided to exclude the particularly contentious points such as fundamental rights, the possibility of referendums, the regulations for the school system and the organization of the economy and work in the "spirit of socialism" from the emergency constitution and to limit itself to five key points, About which consensus could be reached: The form of government, the national territory, government authority, legislation and government.

As part of the parliamentary debate, the DVP and the Bauernbund pushed through that the regulations on referendums were included in the draft. The state parliament passed the constitution in this form.

The constitution of December 12, 1919

The government made up of the SPD, the center and the DDP commissioned a commission of experts on March 5 to draw up the final constitution. This was based on the other draft constitution of the southern German states, in particular the Baden constitution, which was passed on March 21, 1919. The draft presented on May 8th was critically revised by Giessen constitutional law professor Hans Gmelin . In this revision, the sections "On the rights and duties of the Hessian people" and "On the religious communities, the educational institutions and charities" have been removed.

The resulting draft was approved by the state government and submitted to the state parliament. After some controversial debates, he passed the constitution on December 9, 1919. It came into force when it was published in the government gazette on December 12, 1919.

Regulations

The constitution was divided into nine sections:

  1. About the People's State of Hessen and its borders
  2. From the state authority
  3. Legislation (referendums and the Landtag of the People's State of Hesse )
  4. From the government
  5. From finance and state property
  6. From the administration of justice
  7. From the municipalities and public municipal associations
  8. From the patrons
  9. Final and transitional provisions

Constitutional amendments

The constitution was amended three times:

  • with the law of November 4, 1924
  • with the law of September 27, 1927
  • by law of March 28, 1930

Repeal of the constitution

With the Provisional Law for coordination of the states with the Reich of 31 March 1933 and the Second Law for coordination of the countries with the Kingdom April 7, 1933 , the countries deprived of their political independence and the diets into line and disempowered. With the law on the rebuilding of the Reich of January 30, 1934, the Landtag was repealed and the sovereign rights of the People's State of Hesse were transferred to the Reich. The constitution lost its foundation.

successor

After the Second World War , the former People's State of Hesse was divided between the new federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse . The constitution of the state of Hesse and the constitution for Rhineland-Palatinate are thus successors to the old Hessian constitution.

literature

  • Eckhart G. Franz (Ed.): Constitutions in Hesse 1807-1946. Constitutional texts of the states of the 19th century of the people's state and today's federal state of Hesse. 1998, ISBN 3884430343 , pp. 384-400.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ordinance on the elections of the constituent people's chamber of the Republic of Hesse of December 3, 1918; Hessian Government Gazette for 1918, No. 29, pp. 245–263
  2. ^ Law on the provisional constitution for the Free State (Republic) of Hesse of February 20, 1919; Hessian government gazette for 1919, No. 4, pp. 23-25
  3. ^ Hessian Constitution; Hessian government gazette for 1919, No. 37, pp. 439–452
  4. ↑ RegBl. P. 367
  5. ↑ RegBl. P. 170
  6. ↑ RegBl. P. 49