State Council of the American Occupation Area

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The State Council of the American Occupation Area (in some cases also the South German State Council ) was a cross-border coordination body in the area of ​​the American zone of occupation in Germany from 1945 to 1949 . Similar to the zone advisory council in the British zone , the state council was an important milestone in the rebuilding of the state order in West Germany after the end of the Second World War and can serve as a model both for the state council of the bizone created in 1947 and for today's Federal Council .

overview

The state council was formed on the initiative of the US military government ( OMGUS ) on October 17, 1945 and existed until the Bundestag and Bundesrat were constituted in autumn 1949. Its task was "within the framework of the political guidelines of the occupying power to control the territory of a country jointly solving far-reaching questions, eliminating difficulties in the traffic of the countries and ensuring the desirable harmonization of developments in the areas of political, social, economic and cultural life. "

The State Council consisted of the Prime Ministers of Bavaria , Greater Hesse and Württemberg-Baden and - since April 1947 - the Senate President of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen . It met once a month with changing chairmanship in Stuttgart . The work of the state council was supported by a secretariat based in Stuttgart; Erich Roßmann (SPD), a former member of the Reichstag, was General Secretary from December 4, 1945 . In June 1946, a board of directors consisting of special representatives and authorized representatives from the federal states as well as the general secretary was formed, which met on a weekly basis, prepared the meetings of the state council and was able to take urgent decisions in urgent cases. For individual transnational tasks (nutrition, trade, postal services, transport), the regional council set up its own zone administrations under the direction of special representatives (e.g. for food and agriculture) or agents (e.g. pricing and price monitoring, for interzonal and foreign trade) including the former Reich Food Minister Hermann Dietrich .

In order to strengthen the influence of the now elected state parliaments on the work of the state council, a parliamentary council was formed in March 1947 from seven members of each of the three state parliaments and three members of the Bremen citizenship . It should comment on bills and ordinances of the state council and also promote the approximation of legislation in the states.

Members of the State Council

Members of the Parliamentary Council (since 1947)

For Bavaria
For Bremen
For Hessen
For Württemberg-Baden

literature

  • Lia Härtel (edit.): The State Council of the American Occupation Area , published on behalf of the Prime Ministers of Bavaria, Hesse, Württemberg-Baden and the President of the Senate of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen by the Directorate of the State Council, W. Kohlhammer Verlag Stuttgart and Cologne 1951.
  • Antje Mohr: Hesse and the State Council of the American Occupation Area. Possibilities and limits of transnational cooperation in the years 1945 to 1949 , Peter Lang 1999 ISBN 3-631-33826-0

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Härtel, Länderrat p. XVII.
  2. ^ Statute of the State Council of November 6, 1945, cited above. in: Härtel, p. 185.
  3. ↑ Sebastian Lamm: State Council of the American Occupation Area . In: Historical Lexicon of Bavaria
  4. ↑ Härtel pp. 24 ff. And 182.
  5. ↑ Härtel p. 18 ff.
  6. ↑ Härtel, Länderrat pp. 61 and 190.
  7. ↑ Bremen initially only took part in an advisory capacity and only became a full member of the state council in spring 1947 after it was integrated into the US zone. Härtel p. 62.