State Parliament (Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen)
The Parliament of the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was from 1843 to 1918 the parliament of the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen .
prehistory
Article 13 of the German Federal Act stipulated that the states of the German Confederation should enact a land-based constitution. However, this did not initially take place in Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. After the French July Revolution in 1830, a constitutional movement also formed in Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. The result was the constitutional charter of the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen dated December 28, 1830. This constitution, drawn up by the Secret Consilium, met with sharp criticism in the Principality and throughout Germany, as the freedom and co-determination rights granted fell far short of those customary in other countries. Prince Günther Friedrich Carl I. used the criticism as an excuse to withdraw the constitution on July 21, 1831 and restore the old regulations.
In 1835 there was a palace revolt (the so-called "Ebeleben Revolution") and Prince Günther Friedrich Carl had to abdicate in favor of his son Günther Friedrich Carl II . On September 24, 1841, the latter issued the State Basic Law for the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen (LGG). This octroated constitution created the estates (or state parliament) of the principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.
The estates from 1843 to 1848
According to § 108 LGG, the estates consisted of 13 members, 7 of them from the subordinate and 6 from the supremacy. The election took place in curia. Subordination and supremacy each determined a deputy from the knight and freehold owners, one from the scholarly class and one from the commercial class. The cities of Sondershausen and Arnstadt each appointed one member. Greußen , Großenehrich and Clingen jointly elected a representative. Gehren , Breitenbach and Langewiesen also elected a representative . The rural landowners of the upper rulership elected one, those of the subordinate two deputies (§ 109 LGG).
The election was made indirectly by electors (with the exception of the estate owners, scholars and traders). The right to stand as a candidate was tied to a minimum age of 30 years and permanent residence in the country. For the first time in Germany women had the right to vote as owners of manors .
The MPs were elected for a term of 8 years (§ 131). A first and a second deputy was also elected for each of the members of the Bundestag, who would take over the client in the event that the elected member of parliament resigned (Section 127 LGG). The state parliament had to be convened at least every four years (Section 108 LGG).
The first elections were scheduled for January 6, 1842. However, a violent dispute between the city of Arnstadt and the prince over financial issues made it impossible to hold the election in Arnstadt. Only after the dispute had been settled could the elections be concluded there in August 1843. The first state parliament therefore met for a first session on August 31, 1843, at which the electoral examination was carried out. The actual constitutive session took place on September 7, 1843.
According to § 174 LGG, the director (president of parliament) was appointed by the prince. The prince could choose from a list of four candidates elected by parliament. Another candidate from this list was appointed vice-president by the prince. In the case of the first state parliament, the prince followed the election of the state parliament and appointed the first-placed Christian Theodor Zimmermann as the state parliament president. However, he did not accept the appointment, so that the prince named Eduard Huschke as the second-placed candidate.
The decisions of the first parliament was on 16 May 1844 according to tradition of the historic estates in the form of a parliamentary farewell together.
The March Revolution
The revolution also broke out in the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen in March 1848. Prince Günther Friedrich Karl II. Reacted to the unrest with a Princely Proclamation on March 13, 1848, without making any concrete promises. When he presented this proclamation to the Greussen citizens' assembly, the President of the Landtag, Eduard Huschke, encountered such massive opposition that he gave up his mandate. On March 14th, the demonstrators gathered at the residence. Now the prince had to give in. In the proclamation of March 14, 1848 he gave in on all points and on March 17 appointed Friedrich Chop as head of the college of the privy council.
The state parliament recognized that it had no trust from the people and demanded its dissolution. This took place on March 27, 1848. Since the old parliament had not passed a new electoral law, the election of the second parliament was based on the old undemocratic law.
The most important task of the elected state parliament was therefore to revise the constitution and the right to vote and to bring about new elections. After long discussions as to whether a direct election (the demand of the opposition around Carl Rebling ) or an indirect election (this was the position of the March Ministry of Friedrich Chop ) was advisable, on October 3, 1848 the constitutional amendment and the new electoral law in the interests of the government passed with the necessary 2/3 majority and confirmed by the prince on October 6, 1848.
The 13 MPs were now to be elected indirectly in 12 constituencies. Two MPs were to be elected in the constituency of the city of Arnstadt. The remaining 12 constituencies were single-person constituencies. These were Sonderhausen, Greußen, Grossenehrich, Hachelbich, Schernberg, Ebeleben and Holzthaleben for the subordinate rule. In the rulership it was Arnstadt, Plaue, Langewiesen, Gehren and Groß-Breitenbach. Men aged 25 and over had the right to vote.
The new state parliament was elected until the end of January 1849 and met for the first time on June 4, 1849. Before that, from December 10, 1848 to January 22, 1849, a commission headed by Wilhelm Hülsemann had drafted a constitution. Even if Hülsemann took conservative positions, a constitution was created that corresponded to the liberal ideas of the time. The state parliament dealt with the constitution and agreed on a text that was approved by all members except for the radical democrat Dr. August Umbreit received all the votes in the state parliament. The constitutional law for the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was countersigned by the Prince on December 12, 1849 and published on December 20, 1849.
According to the constitution, the Landtag should be elected for 4 instead of 8 years. The election should be immediate and secret. The state parliament was given the right to meet of its own volition and to elect its chairman. However, the prince's right to appoint and dismiss the government remained. The MPs were elected in 18 one-person constituencies.
The parliament elected in this way passed a series of reform laws by mid-1850, many of which also survived the reaction era.
The victory of the reaction
After the failure of the German revolution, the liberal, democratic constitutions were also revised in the federal states and the old estates were reinstated. On August 23, 1851, the Federal Assembly of the German Confederation demanded that the provisions of the state constitutions be adapted to the provisions of the Federal Act. It was the March Ministry Chop, which had the task of introducing this constitution into the state parliament. However, it soon became apparent that Chop did not have a majority in the state parliament. He asked the prince for his dismissal, which he approved. The new parliamentary majority around Albert von Holleuffer was conservative. The draft that has now been submitted and adopted by the Landtag with 13 votes to three at the end of July 1852 envisaged a conversion of the democratic into a state parliament. Compared to other states, however, significant parts of the 1848 heritage have been preserved.
The state parliament now included:
- Up to four members appointed by the Prince for life
- Five of the 100 highest taxed citizens (one each for Sondershausen, Greußen, Ebeleben, Arnstadt and Gehren)
- Ten members elected in free, direct and secret elections (two each for each district office)
The electoral term was fixed for four years.
The 1857 Constitution
The electoral law of 1856 and the constitution of 1857 (the state constitution) further reduced the democratic character of the state parliament.
The state parliament now included:
- Up to five members appointed by the Prince for life
- Five of the 100 highest taxed citizens (one each for Sondershausen, Greußen, Ebeleben, Arnstadt and Gehren)
- Five MPs elected in public indirect elections (one for each district office)
The voting age has been raised to 30 years.
As a result, a government majority in the state parliament was permanently secured. On the other hand, the citizens' interest in the state parliament largely died away, which was evident from the level of voter turnout.
November Revolution
The history of the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen and with it that of the state parliament ended with the November Revolution. The Free State of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was proclaimed and the Landtag of the Free State of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen became the successor to the Landtag of the Principality.
building
The state parliament had its seat in Sondershausen . There he met from 1843 to 1851 in the Ständesaal on the top floor of the ministerial building in Lohstrasse (destroyed in World War II). Between 1851 and 1853 the white (today: blue) hall of the castle was used. From 1853 to 1868 one met in the state hall (jury court room) in the building of the district court built by Carl Scheppig (today the district court of Sondershausen ). From 1868 to 1923 the state parliament hall in the ministerial building (the previous Prinzenpalais) on the market, today's state parliament office, was used.
MPs
literature
- Jochen Lengemann : Landtag and regional representation of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen 1843–1923.