Parliament of the Reichsland Alsace-Lorraine

Parliament of the Reichsland Alsace-Lorraine

Country flag	State coat of arms
Basic data
Seat:	Strasbourg
Elective system :	Majority vote
Number of votes ( Federal Council ):	3
Calculation method:	./.
Number of constituencies :	60
Eligible voters :	378.036
Legislative period :	3 years
First session:

The Landtag of the Reichsland Alsace-Lorraine was the state parliament and thus the legislature of the Reichsland Alsace-Lorraine in the German Empire .

State Committee

Meeting building of the state committee

After the Franco-Prussian War , Alsace-Lorraine was directly assigned to the Reich as a state and had no statehood of its own. It was not until an imperial decree of October 29, 1874 that a representative body of the Reich was established, the state committee.

The members of the state committee were not elected by the people, but appointed by the district assembly . The three district days for Lorraine , Upper Alsace and Lower Alsace each determined ten members.

In 1879 the state committee was expanded. The now 58 members were elected indirectly by the district assemblies (Lothringen 11, Oberelsass 10, Unterelsass 13), the independent cities (1 member each from Strasbourg , Mulhouse , Metz and Colmar ) and the counties (20 members).

The state committee initially only had an advisory role. In 1877 the state committee received a legislative function and budgetary law. From 1879, the state committee received a legislative initiative right. However, its decisions required the approval of the Federal Council.

Legal basis and structure

With the constitution of the realm of Alsace-Lorraine on May 31, 1911, the state committee was replaced by a directly elected state parliament.

A meeting of the Provincial Committee for Alsace-Lorraine

Seal mark Bureau des Landtag for Alsace-Lorraine

First chamber

The introduction of a first chamber was criticized across parties in the Reichsland. While the first chambers in the other parts of the empire had historical reasons, there was no aristocratic class to be included in the empire through a first chamber. So the First Chamber was a pure dignitaries parliament . The emperor's appointment rights were particularly criticized.

The first chamber consisted of:

• the two Roman Catholic bishops of the Reichsland (the Bishop of Metz ( Willibrord Benzler ) and the Bishop of Strasbourg ( Adolf Fritzen ))
• the President of the Upper Consistory of the Church of Augsburg Confession of Alsace and Lorraine ( Friedrich Curtius )
• the President of the Synodal Council of the Reformed Church of Alsace and Lorraine , Karl Piepenbring
• the President of the Colmar Higher Regional Court ( Otto von Vacano , from 1913: Hugo Molitor )
• a representative of the University of Strasbourg , Wilhelm Wiegand
• a representative of the Israelite consistory for Upper Alsace , Lorraine and Lower Alsace (1912–1915: Adolf Ury , 1915–1919: Nathan Netter )
• four representatives of the larger cities:
  • Strasbourg (Mayor Rudolf Schwander )
  • Metz (Mayor Roger Joseph Foret )
  • Colmar (Mayor Daniel Blumenthal )
  • Mulhouse ( Michel Diemer-Heilmann )
• four representatives of the chambers of commerce:
  • Strasbourg Chamber of Commerce : Charles Léon Ungemach
  • Metz Chamber of Commerce : Theodor Müller
  • Colmar Chamber of Commerce : Emile André Kiener
  • Chamber of Commerce Mulhouse : Theodor Schlumberger (in Mulhouse Eduard Köchlin was initially elected, but he returned the mandate before the opening of the state parliament)
• namely six representatives of the Agriculture Council
  • Sebastian Pius Gegauff and Friedrich Paul Greiner (Democrat) for the Agriculture Council Alsace-Lorraine (Upper Alsace)
  • Michael Baerst (without party affiliation, liberal) and Michel Diebolt (liberal) for the Agriculture Council Alsace-Lorraine (Lower Alsace)
  • Augustin Henry (died after the opening of the state parliament) and Amedée Jean-Baptiste René Paié for the Alsace-Lorraine Agriculture Council (Lorraine)
• two representatives of the Chamber of Crafts ( Francois Xavier Ley ( center ) and Wilhelm Weißmann (liberal))
• three representatives of the trade unions

as well as other members who were appointed by the emperor on the proposal of the Federal Council.

• Gustav Abt (no party membership, national liberal)
• Hubert Franz Maria Graf von Andlau-Homburg (without party membership, center)
• Ferdinand Gustav Hans von Arnim , General
• Otto Back , Undersecretary of State and Mayor of Strasbourg
• René Bian mayor and landowner in Sentheim
• David Emil Bronnert (liberal)
• Albert Grégoire (Loth.Block, liberal)
• Johannes Hoeffel (German Reich Party)
• Paul Laband
• Hugo Miethe , director of the hut
• Walther von Moßner , General
• Johann Josef Rech , Mayor of Sablon
• Sigismund Karl Maria Freiherr von Reinach , landowner and mayor in Hirzbach
• Heinrich Ruland , Counselor
• Carl Georg Rudolf Max Schmidt , President of the General Management of the Reich Railways
• Leo Vonderscheer (center)
• Josef Johann Meckel , main teacher
• Franz Freiherr Zorn von Bulach , Auxiliary Bishop of Strasbourg

The first chamber elected its presidium at its session on November 22, 1911.

• President: Former Mayor Otto Back (1911 to 1917), Johannes Hoeffel (1917–1918)
• 1st Vice President: Johannes Hoeffel , doctor from Buchsweiler
• 2 Vice-President: Grégoire, Lorraine
• Secretary:
  • Leo Vonderscheer
  • Kiener
  • Dieboldt-Weber

Second chamber

The second chamber consisted of 60 MPs who were elected on the principle of majority voting in 60 constituencies for a term of three years. In contrast to the first chamber, which consisted of dignitaries, it was also called the “People's Parliament”. The minimum age for eligibility was 25 years. Citizens aged 25 and over had the right to vote. The modalities for the constituency boundaries were regulated by an ordinance of July 3, 1911.

State election 1911

The first and only state elections for the 2nd Chamber took place on October 22, 1911 (on October 29, 1911 a single seat was determined in a by-election).

Voting behavior was very much determined by nationality. In Lorraine, the eight constituencies west of the language border fell to the French-speaking Lorraine Bloc with large majorities. The German parties renounced candidacies here. The exception was the SPD, which was only a splinter party here. On the German-speaking side, most of the mandates went to the Center (8 mandates) and the Liberals (4 mandates). Also to compensate for the fact that the German candidates in the French-speaking parts of the country did not have the opportunity to get into parliament due to the majority vote, there are two members of this population group appointed by the emperor among the members of the first chamber with Albert Grégoire and Johann Josef Rech.

State election 1911
Political party	Voting share in%	Seats
Alsace-Lorraine Center Party	31.0%	24 seats
SPD Alsace-Lorraine	23.8%	11 seats
Alsace-Lorraine	16.3%	10 seats
Liberal Democrats	15.9%	7 seats
Independent - Liberal	6.9%	5 seats
Independent - center	1.4%	1 seat
Independently progressive	1.1%	1 seat
Various rights	0.8%	1 seat

(To 100% missing votes = nominations not represented in the state parliament)

Explanations of the parties and electoral lists:

• ELZ: Alsace-Lorraine Center Party
• Independent - Liberal: Independent candidates supported by the Liberal Democrats
• Independent Center: Independent candidates supported by the Center
• Independent progressive: independent candidates close to the SPD
• Various rights: independent candidates close to the ELZ
• Alsace-Lorraine: Various francophone parties (mainly from Lorraine)

List of members of the Second Chamber

List of the members of the Diet of Alsace-Lorraine

image	Surname	Political party	district	Constituency	Constituency number	annotation
	Joseph Heinrich	center	Upper Alsace	Constituency Pfirt Hirsingen ( Canton Pfirt and Canton Hirsingen )	1
	Eugene Ricklin	center	Upper Alsace	Constituency Altkirch-Dammerkirch ( Canton Dammerkirch and Canton Hirsingen )	2	president
	Charles Hindelang	SPD	Upper Alsace	Constituency Colmar-Stadt (City of Colmar without the district west of the Strasbourg-Basel railway line and the municipality of Hausen )	3
	Jacques Always	Liberal Democrats	Upper Alsace	Constituency Colmar-Münster-Winzenheim (the district of Colmar west of the Strasbourg-Basel railway line, the canton of Münster and the municipalities of Türkheim , Walbach , Winzenheim and Zimmerbach )	4th	Secretary
	Joseph Kubler	center	Upper Alsace	Constituency Neubreisach-Andolsheim municipality ( Heiligkreuz , canton Neubreisach , canton Andolsheim without the municipality Hausen and the canton Wintzenheim without the municipalities Türkheim , Walbach , Winzenheim and Zimmerbach )	5
	Gustav Robert Schlumberger	Liberal Democrats	Upper Alsace	Constituency Gebweiler-Sulz ( canton Gebweiler and the communities Sulz and Jungholz )	6th
	Joseph Rudolf	center	Upper Alsace	Bollweiler-Ensisheim-Rufach constituency ( canton Ensisheim and canton Rufach as well as canton Sulz excluding the communities Sulz and Jungholz )	7th
	Leopold Emmel	SPD	Upper Alsace	Mulhouse I constituency (Police stations I and VI of the city of Mulhouse )	8th
	Joseph Schilling	SPD	Upper Alsace	Mulhouse II constituency (Police stations II and III of the city of Mulhouse)	9
	Eduard Drumm	Liberal Democrats	Upper Alsace	Mulhouse III constituency (Police stations IV and V of the city of Mulhouse)	10
	Jean Martin	SPD	Upper Alsace	Mulhouse-Land constituency ( Canton of Mulhouse-North and Canton of Mulhouse-South excluding the city of Mulhouse)	11
	Joseph Brom	center	Upper Alsace	Hüningen-Sierenz constituency ( canton of Hüningen and the communities of Bartenheim , Kembs , and Sierenz )	12
	Médard Jules Brogly	center	Upper Alsace	Habsheim-Landser constituency ( canton of Habsheim and canton of Landser excluding the municipalities of Bartenheim , Kembs , and Sierenz )	13
	Emile Wetterlé	Center, NB	Upper Alsace	Constituency Rappoltsweiler-Kaysersberg ( Canton Rappoltsweiler and Canton Kaysersberg )	14th
	Laurent Meyer	SPD	Upper Alsace	Markirch-Schnierlach constituency ( Canton Markirch and Canton Schnierlach )	15th
	Joseph Remy	center	Upper Alsace	Sennheim-Masmünster constituency	16
	Eugène Müller	center	Upper Alsace	Constituency of Thann-St. Amarin	17th
	Georg Wolf	(Strasbourg) Liberal Democrats	Lower Alsace	Strasbourg I constituency	18th	2nd Vice President
	Karl Burger	Liberal Democrats	Lower Alsace	Strasbourg II constituency	19th
	Eugene Imbs	SPD	Lower Alsace	Strasbourg III constituency	20th
	Georg-Wilhelm Wolfer	SPD	Lower Alsace	Strasbourg IV constituency	21st	Secretary
	Bernhard Böhle	SPD	Lower Alsace	Strasbourg constituency V	22nd	1st Vice President
	Jacques Peirotes	SPD	Lower Alsace	Strasbourg VI constituency	23
	Richard Fuchs	SPD	Lower Alsace	Schiltigheim constituency	24
	Laurent Fischer	center	Lower Alsace	Brumath constituency	25th
	Franz Joseph Fix	non-attached	Lower Alsace	Truchtersheim-Hochfelden constituency	26th
	Alphonse Gilliot	center	Lower Alsace	Erstein-Benfeld constituency	27	Secretary
	Franz Xaver Martz	center	Lower Alsace	Geispolsheim-Oberehnheim constituency	28
	Karl Hauss	center	Lower Alsace	Hagenau constituency	29
	Georg Atzel	non-attached	Lower Alsace	Bischweiler constituency	30th
	Johannes Michel	Liberal Democrats	Lower Alsace	Niederbronn constituency	31
	Michel Heysch	SPD	Lower Alsace	Schirmeck-Saales-Rosheim constituency	32
	Nicolaus Delsor	Center, NB	Lower Alsace	Molsheim-Wasselnheim constituency	33
	Joseph Pfleger	center	Lower Alsace	Schlettstadt-Markolsheim constituency	34
	Alphons Schott	center	Lower Alsace	Barr hamlet constituency	35
	Heinrich Wiltberger	center	Lower Alsace	Weissenburg-Lauterburg-Selz constituency	36
	Alfred Wolf (Hunspach)	Liberal Democrats	Lower Alsace	Sulz constituency under Walde-Wörth	37
	Louis François Marie Auguste Knoepffler	center	Lower Alsace	Zabern-Maursmünster constituency	38
	Georg Wehrung	Liberal Democrats	Lower Alsace	Saarunion-Drulingen constituency	39
	Eduard Meyer	Liberal Democrats	Lower Alsace	Buchsweiler-Lützelstein constituency	40
	Max Donnevert	Liberal Democrats	Lorraine	Metz I constituency	41
	Nikolaus Jung	Lothringer Block	Lorraine	Metz II constituency	42
	Louis Pierson	Lothringer Block	Lorraine	Gorze-Verny-Pange constituency	43
	Adolf Heinrich Karl Steinmetz	Liberal Democrats	Lorraine	Montigny-Sablon constituency	44
	Johann Norbert Hinsberg	Liberal Democrats	Lorraine	Vigy-Rombach constituency	45
	Alexis Weber	Lothringer Block	Lorraine	Bolchen-Falkenberg constituency	46
	Joseph Bourger	Lothringer Block	Lorraine	Busendorf-Teterchen constituency	47
	Johann Labroise	Lothringer Block	Lorraine	Constituency of Château-Salins-Delme-Vic	48
	Maurice Barthélémy	Lothringer Block	Lorraine	Albesdorf-Dieuze constituency	49
	François room	Lothringer Block	Lorraine	Diedenhofen-Großhettingen constituency	50	Secretary
	Fernand Schuman	Lothringer Block	Lorraine	Kattenhofen-Sierck-Metzerwiese constituency	51
	François Fick	Lothringer Block	Lorraine	Constituency of Fentsch-Algringen	52
	Nicolas Engel	Lothringer Block	Lorraine	Hayingen-Großmoyeuvre constituency	53
	Joseph Collet	center	Lorraine	Forbach constituency	54
	Louis Hackspill	Liberal Democrats	Lorraine	St. Avold constituency	55
	Victor Michel Heymès	center	Lorraine	Großtännchen-Saaralben constituency	56
	Georg Müller	center	Lorraine	Saarburg-Lörchingen constituency	57
	Louis Meyer (Walscheid)	center	Lorraine	Pfalzburg-Finstingen-Rixingen constituency	58
	Franz Hoen	center	Lorraine	Saargemünd constituency	59
	Jakob Hessemann	center	Lorraine	Bitsch-Rohrbach-Wolmünster constituency	60

Constituencies

According to the electoral law, a fixed number of one-person constituencies per district was determined by imperial ordinance in such a way that the population of the administrative district is distributed as evenly as possible across the individual constituencies and the constituencies are locally connected. The following constituencies were allocated to the districts:

circle	Number of MPs
Altkirch (district)	2 MPs
Colmar (district)	3 MPs
Gebweiler (district)	2 MPs
Mulhouse (district)	6 MPs
Rappoltsweiler (district)	2 MPs
Thann (circle)	2 MPs
Strasbourg (urban district)	6 MPs
Strasbourg (district)	3 MPs
Erstein (circle)	2 MPs
Hagenau (district)	3 MPs
Molsheim (district)	2 MPs
Schlettstadt (district)	2 MPs
Weißenburg (district)	2 MPs
Zabern (circle)	3 MPs
Metz (urban district)	2 MPs
Metz (district)	3 MPs
Bolchen (circle)	2 MPs
Château-Salins (district)	2 MPs
Diedenhofen-Ost (district)	2 MPs
Diedenhofen-West (district)	2 MPs
Forbach (district)	3 MPs
Saarburg (district)	2 MPs
Saargemünd (district)	2 MPs

In the first World War

With the beginning of World War I , the German-conservative Reich leadership had doubts about the loyalty of the inhabitants of the Reichsland to the German Reich. This also applied to a number of members of the state parliament. The military leadership in Alsace-Lorraine feared a critical debate about the war. Instead of the discussed dissolution of the state parliament, it was decided that the state parliament was allowed to meet in order to pass the state budget and pending laws, but that the resolution had to be passed without political debate. Under these conditions, the 1915 session of the state parliament took place from April 8 to 15, 1915. In the following year, the members of parliament ensured that an open debate could take place at least in a closed session of the budget commission. There was no debate in the Landtag in the 1916 session from April 26 to May 26, 1916, in the 1917 session (June 5 to July 12, 1917) and in the last regular session from April 12 to 30, 1918 more.

1918/19

On November 11, 1918, the Alsace-Lorraine Landtag declared itself a National Council and thus the sole authority of the Reichsland. A day later, a sovereign Alsace-Lorraine was proclaimed and all the tasks of the ministry and the Reich governor were taken over. However, this independence was not recognized by the French occupying power. On December 6, 1918, the state parliament voted for annexation to France. The realm of Alsace-Lorraine, and with it the state parliament, was dissolved on October 17, 1919 and from then on administered by a general directorate in Paris.

building

The building of the Parliament, today's Théâtre National de Strasbourg

Construction plan of the parliament building

The state parliament building was built between 1888 and 1892 by the architects August Hartel and Skjøld Neckelmann for the state committee in neoclassical style. During the First World War it was used as a military hospital. The building is now the seat of the Théâtre national de Strasbourg and its address is Place de la République .

See also

• Reich Office for Alsace-Lorraine

literature

• Elections in Germany
• State Statistical Office for Alsace-Lorraine: The regional elections of 1911 in Alsace-Lorraine. Special issue of the news of the National Statistical Office for Alsace-Lorraine. Printing house of the Straßburger Neuesten Nachrichten AG, Strasbourg 1911, pp. 5–37.
• Hermann Hiery: Elections and voting behavior in the realm of Alsace-Lorraine 1871-1914. In: Ara and Kolb: Border regions in the age of nationalisms - Alsace-Lorraine / Trient-Triest. 1998
• Government and Parliament of Alsace-Lorraine 1911–1916. Biographical-statistical manual. Mulhouse 1911
• Negotiations of the second chamber of the state parliament for Alsace-Lorraine. (12 volumes), Strasbourg printing and publishing house, formerly R. Schultz u. Comp., 1912-1917
• Constitution of May 31, 1911 Online

Web links

Commons : Landtag of Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Reichsgesetzblatt 1874, p. 492, Gesetzblatt für Elsaß-Lothringen 1874, p. 37, text of the decree
2. ^ Law on Wikisource; here: § 12 ff.
3. ^ Text of the 1911 constitution
4. ↑ Sophie Charlotte Preibusch: Constitutional developments in the Alsace-Lorraine 1871-1918: Integration by constitutional law ?, 2010, ISBN 3-8305-2047-6 , page 417 ff. Online
5. ^ Ernest Hamburger: Jews in public life in Germany, 1968, ISBN 3-16-829292-3 , page 392 online
6. ^ Fritz Bronner: The constitutional efforts of the regional committee for Alsace-Lorraine 1875-1911, 1926, pp. 142-143
7. ^ Ordinance on the division of the regional electoral districts for Alsace-Lorraine from July 3, 1911 ( Reichsgesetzblatt p. 267)
8. ^ Roth, François: Le personnel politique de la Lorraine pendant l'annexion à l'empire Allemand 1871-1918. De la France vers l'Allemagne - De l'Allemagne vers la France. In: European History Thematic Portal (2007), online
9. ^ Government and Parliament of Alsace-Lorraine 1911–1916. Biographical-statistical manual. Mulhouse 1911
10. ↑ Wilhelm Heinz Schröder : Social Democratic Parliamentarians in the German Reich and Landtag 1876-1933 (BIOSOP) ( Memento of the original from September 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
11. ↑ Election regulations for the elections to the second chamber of the Landtag for Alsace-Lorraine on July 3, 1911 (RGBl. Pp. 267–273)
12. ↑ [1]
13. ↑ [2]
14. ↑ [3]
15. ↑ Electoral Law
16. ^ Fritz Bronner: The Constitutional Efforts of the State Committee for Alsace-Lorraine 1875-1911, 1926, page 344
17. ↑ BNU image