State Parliament of the Grand Duchy of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach

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The state parliament of the Grand Duchy of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach existed from 1816 to 1918 and had its seat in Weimar . His successor was the Landtag of the Free State of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach in the Weimar Republic .

Estates from 1816

After Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach experienced an increase in territory at the Congress of Vienna and was elevated to the status of a Grand Duchy, Grand Duke Karl August enacted a constitution that was liberal for the time on May 5, 1816 . Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach was the first country in Germany after the Wars of Liberation to receive such a constitution.

The estates regulated in this constitution are composed of 31 representatives of the estates:

  • eleven deputies were elected from the class of manor owners
  • ten from the state of citizens and
  • ten of the class of the peasants.

The choice of the manor owners took place in three constituencies:

  • The Weimar and Jena districts, including the Ilmenau office and those parts of the country, elected 4 members
  • The Eisenachische Kreis, including the offices of Dermbach and Geis, elected 3 members
  • The Neustadt district elected 3 members

The eleventh mandate was held by a representative from the University of Jena . It was not a virile vote from the rector, but the university owned manors, from which the constitution derived a mandate that was exercised by a member of the university's senate.

The election was made directly by the primary voters of the respective district. The right to vote depended on the possession of the manor. If the person in question owned several goods, he had several votes. If there were several owners, they had to come to an agreement.

The citizens were elected in ten one-deputy electoral districts:

  1. Residence city of Weimar
  2. Jena , Bürgel and Lobeda
  3. Allstädt , Rastenberg , Buttstädt and Buttelstädt , and the patch of Neumark
  4. Ilmenau , Blankenhayn , Kranichfeld , Remda and Berka , and the spots of Tannroda
  5. Apolda , Dornburg , Sulza and Magdala
  6. Eisenach with Fischbach
  7. Ostheim , Geisa and Lengsfeld
  8. Vacha , Berka an der Werra and Kreuzburg
  9. Neustadt and Triptis
  10. Weida and Auma

The farmers were also elected in ten electoral districts:

  1. Weimar and Capellendorf offices
  2. Offices Bürgel with Tautenburg , Dornburg and Jena , with the town court villages
  3. Offices Allstädt , Oldisleben , Hardisleben , Roßla and the municipal court villages of Buttstädt
  4. Offices Blankenhayn , Ilmenau , Berka and Remda
  5. Rudestedt , Vieselbach and Tonndorf offices
  6. Offices in Kaltennordheim , Ostheim , Dermbach and Geisa , along with the Wenigentaft court
  7. Offices Vacha , with the Vogtei Kreuzberg , Tiefenort with the court Marksuhl and Frauensee , together with the patrimonial offices of Lengsfeld and Völkershausen
  8. Offices Gerstungen , Hausbreitenbach , Creuzburg and Eisenach
  9. Neustadt Office
  10. Office Weida with Mildenfurth

Peasants and citizens elected their representatives indirectly through electors . One voter was elected by the primary voters for every 50 houses in the town . The electors elected a representative and a representative for each constituency. The right to vote was linked to civil or neighbor rights. For women and minors, the voting rights were exercised by their husbands or guardians. One representative was elected in each case. Both were eliminated from by-elections.

For the right to stand for election it was required that the person to be elected must be at least 30 years old and born in wedlock and Christian. In addition, an innocent reputation and that the candidate had to be German was required (his father had to be German and have his place of residence in Germany). There was also a census. Citizens had to have an income of 500 thalers in the residential cities or 300 thalers in other cities, farmers had to have a fortune of 200 thalers in order to be eligible.

The election took place for an electoral term of 6 years. The Landtag should meet every three years in the first week of January. The Grand Duke was able to invite to extraordinary meetings.

The office of President (Landmarschall) of the Landtag was hereditary in the Riedesel family. From 1817 Georg Riedesel zu Eisenbach was Land Marshal . The estates elected two "assistants" as deputy presidents. These were paid from the state treasury. The MPs enjoyed political immunity . The state parliament had rights of participation and control over the state budget. In addition to participating in the legislative process, there was the right to prosecute ministers .

Parliament from 1850

The constitution was changed on March 15, 1850 and the rights of parliament were strengthened.

The state parliament of the Grand Duchy now consisted of 33 members:

  • five were chosen by direct vote by the larger landowners
  • five in direct choice of the remaining highest taxed persons and
  • 23 determined in general, indirect elections

Four more mandates were added later:

  • a representative of the Senate of the University of Jena
  • a representative of the Chamber of Commerce for the Grand Duchy,
  • a representative of the Chamber of Agriculture for the Grand Duchy,
  • a representative of the existing Chamber of Labor in the Grand Duchy.

November Revolution

After the November Revolution, the Free State of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach was proclaimed and the mandate of the Landtag ended.

Members

For the members of the Landtag, see category: Member of the Landtag (Duchy of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach) .

Remarks

  1. ↑ The respective place names in the spelling used at the time.

literature

  • Henning Kästner: The Weimar Parliament 1817-1848. Small-state parliamentarism between tradition and change , Droste, Düsseldorf 2014 (= Handbook of the History of German Parliamentarism ).

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