Nassau Heritage Association

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Nassau Hereditary Association is a contract signed between the Ottonian and Walram lines of the House of Nassau . The contract signed in Bad Ems on June 30, 1783 is exclusively in German and comprises 25 pages.

The term Erbverein is synonymous with inheritance contract and regulates the inheritance under the four branches of the Ottonian and Walramian main line of the House of Nassau .

  • Family coat of arms of the Counts of Nassau (Ottonian line)

  • Family coat of arms of the Counts of Nassau (Walramic line)

  • Coat of arms of the Duke of Nassau

Treaty of 1783

The contract was signed by all six adult members of the House of Nassau on June 13, 23, 26 and 30, 1783, namely by

The contract of June 30, 1783 was confirmed by Emperor Joseph II with the Imperial confirmation document of September 29, 1786.

The contract of June 30, 1783 confirms the hereditary association of 1736 in accordance with the explanations of the hereditary association of June 30, 1783.

The house of Nassau had become politically insignificant due to the fragmentation caused by the division of the estate . The Treaty was intended to stop this development and reverse it. The core of the contract was that the primogeniture law was recognized for all lines of the House of Nassau . A sale of goods and lands in the Erbverein was prohibited, which prevented further shredding. In the event of a branch in the male trunk becoming extinct, it was agreed that its areas should fall to other branches. This regulation took effect with the death of Friedrich August (Nassau-Usingen) and with it the extinction of the line of Nassau-Usingen . Wilhelm I (Nassau) inherited its claims from the Nassau-Weilburg line . In anticipation of this inheritance, the two princes had already merged their lands to form the Duchy of Nassau in 1806 .

Since there were no male ancestral owners, the royal heads of state of the Netherlands have only been in the female line of the Ottonian line since 1890, the grand ducal heads of state of Luxembourg since 1912 only in the female line of the Walram line. Both ruling houses are in the tradition of the House of Nassau, which legally provides the head of state in both states, and still use his name.

Article 42 of the Nassau Hereditary Association is very important for the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and reads as follows:

"Since, by the way, the case is also possible, which the Most High will graciously avert, that our entire Nassau man tribe would like to extinguish, so we leave it with regard to their respective existing daughters, with the one performed by such daughters, also to be performed in the future and forever unconditional renunciation, without reservation of some regreditship, unite us, set, arrange and accordingly want that in such a case a daughter, if there are several, the first-born, or in the absence of this, the next heiress of the last male line, with the exclusion of all to others, more distantly, should be called to succession , it would then be that we or our descendants would have agreed otherwise in such a case, or had otherwise provided for than what We hereby expressly reserve for you and us to do, on our and our descendants and daughters and heirs to maintain such a providence have joined force of this where llen. "

On the occasion of the legacy conferences between the two main lines in Bad Ems in the summer of 1783 it was decided that the Nassau lion should be reinforced in red and crowned red. Regardless of this, as in the large and medium-sized coat of arms of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau (later the province of Nassau ), it is crowned gold in the royal Dutch coat of arms as well as in the Grand Ducal Luxembourg coat of arms .

Constitution of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

The constitution of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg of October 17, 1868, which was published in the original German text with a French translation in the Official Journal of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (Memorial) on October 22, 1868, is the constitution that is still valid today despite several changes in the meantime. Article 3 stipulates: “The crown of the Grand Duchy is hereditary in the Nassau family, in accordance with the Treaty of June 30, 1783, Art. 71 of the Vienna Treatise of June 9, 1815 and the Treaty of London of May 11, 1867 . "

The contract of June 30, 1783 is the Nassau Hereditary Association, through which the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is inherited within the Nassau family to this day.

Congress of Vienna

The Vienna Convention Act signed on June 8, 1815 stipulates:

“Article 71 - Family Contract between the Princes of Nassau.
The law and the order of succession, which between the two lines of the House of Nassau by the Act of 1783, called: Nassauischer Erbverein, have been established, will be retained and transferred from the four Orania-Nassau principalities to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. "

Family statute of the House of Nassau

Since William IV of Nassau-Weilburg , Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Duke of Nassau, only had female descendants, he enacted the law of July 10, 1907, which gave the Nassau family statute of April 16, 1907 legal force.

The family statute of the House of Nassau of April 16, 1907 is exclusively in German and refers to Article 42 of the Nassau Hereditary Association from 1783.

The key statements of the family statute of the House of Nassau of April 16, 1907 can be found in Article 1:

"Since we have so far been denied a male inheritance (...), the case set out in Article 42 of the Hereditary Association of 1783 can arise and our first-born daughter Princess Marie-Adelheid and initially her male line, from a marriage according to the family statutes of our house, according to the right of the firstborn to follow Us in the crown of Luxembourg, as well as head of our house and in possession and usufruct of the entire house fideicommiss, however, until the age of eighteen, the regency and guardianship for them is from our beloved wife the Grand Duchess Maria-Anna respectively. If our beloved daughter should die without leaving any offspring from a marriage in accordance with the family statutes of our house, our other beloved daughters and their lines are equally called to inheritance according to the primogeniture law. "

And in Article 3: "We reserve the right to ourselves and our successors to issue family statutes regarding our house constitution in the previous scope."

Thus, in the succession, as before in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which also belonged to the Nassau house, the Lex Salica was deviated from.

The following is the original of the family statute of the House of Nassau from April 16, 1907:

Family statute
"We WILHELM , by the grace of God Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Duke of Nassau, etc., etc., etc., declare and order:
Art. I. - Since a male inheritance has hitherto been denied to us and since the death of our uncle of Prince Nicolas Liebden, the princely male tribe of the House of Nassau has stood alone on our eyes without leaving any successive descent, the case set out in Article 42 of the Hereditary Association of 1783 can and does occur then our first-born daughter Princess Marie-Adelheid and first of all her male line, from marriage according to the family statutes of our house, according to the law of the firstborn, to follow us in the crown of Luxembourg, as well as head of our house and in possession and usufruct of the entire house fideicommisses , however the regency and guardianship for her is to be led by our beloved wife of the Grand Duchess Maria-Anna until she is eighteen . If our beloved daughter should die without leaving any offspring from a marriage concluded in accordance with the family statutes of our house, our other beloved daughters and their lines are called to inheritance in the same way according to Primogenitur law.
Art. II - The Grand Ducal Luxembourg and Ducal Nassau Princely Houses form an inseparable unit.
The fact that the Luxembourg state has no claim to ownership, management, administration, control or income from the internal and external fideicommis assets of our house will remain the case in the future. However, as long as Our Descendency governs in the male line or in accordance with the provisions made in Art. 1 of this family statute in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the successor in the state succession is at the same time the sole successor in the entire household fideicommis inside and outside the Grand Duchy and may separate the Ownership and usufruct of the house fideicommiss from the ownership of the crown does not take place.
Changes in the inventory of the Fideicommiss are not excluded.
Art. III - We reserve the right to ourselves and our successors to issue family statutes regarding our house constitution in the previous scope.
Documented with our handwritten signature and the stamped seal.
Thus given to Santa Margherita , April 16, 1907.
Wilhelm .
The members of the government:
Eyschen, Minister of State, President.
H. Kirbach, General Director of the Interior.
M. Mongenast, General Director of Finance.
Ch. De Waha, General Director of Public Works. "

The revision of the Nassau Heritage Association from 2010 to 2012

The Grand Ducal Luxembourg Court Marshal's Office announced on June 20, 2011 that the Nassau Hereditary Association, known in Luxembourg as the “Family Pact of the House of Luxembourg-Nassau”, had been changed; Men and women should be treated equally in the succession to the throne in the future. As early as October 12, 2004, Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg announced at the opening ceremony of the Chamber of Deputies: “As far as equality between men and women is concerned, I would like to take the opportunity to propose that we introduce full equality in the line of succession”.

As the head of the family, Grand Duke Henri had already issued an internal decree on September 16, 2010 to change the family pact. The new regulation of succession no longer differentiates between sons and daughters and is applicable for the first time to the descendants of Grand Duke Henri. Since Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume is the first-born anyway, the change in the family pact has no effect on the direct succession to the throne after Grand Duke Henri.

In the accompanying declaration of June 20, 2011, the Court Marshal's Office recalled the New York Convention of 1979, according to which Luxembourg also committed itself to the abolition of discrimination against women. Until 2008, however, there was a reservation for the succession to the throne. With the amendment of the Nassau Hereditary Association, the grand ducal family anticipated a reform of the constitution. The draft of the Chamber of Deputies provides for the succession to the throne no longer to be regulated by the family pact, but by the constitution itself. The proposed text of the constitutional reform also declares the firstborn child, regardless of gender, to be the heir to the throne. However, some time could pass before the vote and the entry into force of the new constitution. The reform proposal was deposited on April 21, 2009; the Council of State's opinion was only published on June 6, 2012. As long as no new constitutional rules are in force, the rules of succession to the throne of the Nassau Hereditary Association apply.

The Grand Ducal Decree of September 16, 2010 on the new regulation of the succession to the throne of the Nassau Hereditary Association, published exclusively in German on June 23, 2011 in the Luxembourg Official Gazette, Mémorial Part B No. 55 pp. 719–720 :

“Décret grand-ducal du 16 September 2010 introducing l'égalité entre hommes et femmes en matière de succession au trône.
We Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Duke of Nassau,
after inspection of the Renewed Nassau Hereditary Association of June 30, 1783 (Pacte de famille de la Maison de Nassau du 30 juin 1783) and its additions, in particular the family statute concerning the house constitution of May 5, 1907,
after approval of the agnatic advisory board,
declare and dispose:
Art. 1. The Renewed Nassau Hereditary Association of June 30, 1783 (Pacte de famille de la Maison de Nassau du 30 June 1783), which otherwise remains unchanged, is amended and supplemented as follows.
a) Article 24, paragraph 1, point 1 is replaced by the following:
'1) to the succession order in all possible cases, according to which the right of the firstborn is to be observed without exception,'
(b) Article 24, paragraphs 2 and 3 become paragraph 2 and are replaced by the following:
'As far as the succession order (number 1) is concerned, we have found ourselves motivated to limit the right of succession to the throne no longer solely to the male line in the event of the death or abdication of a ruling Grand Duke, but rather the right of the firstborn regardless of gender to introduce, confirm and reaffirm, so that the line of succession to the firstborn child of a ruling grand duke should and should remain. This succession order is applied for the first time to Our Descendence. '
(c) Article 26 is replaced by the following:
'In the event that one of our successors should die as Head of House without marital heirs capable of succession, insofar as they are capable of succession, according to the law of the first-born, the holding of the house entrustment associated with the holding of the throne of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, initially of the deceased Grand Duke Siblings and their descendants, and if they are lacking, the closest relatives of the house or family and their descendants. '
Art. 2. The family statute relating to the house constitution of May 5, 1907, which otherwise remains unchanged, is amended and supplemented as follows.
Section 9 is given the following heading: Advisory Board:
Paragraph III With reference to the withdrawal, announced in 2008, of the reservation anchored in the law of December 15, 1988 with regard to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women of December 18, 1979, the agnates' right to vote and stand for election is extended to the eligible female members of the Grand Ducal House and applies for the first time to Our Descendent. '
Given Luxembourg, September 16, 2010.
Henri. "

On June 22, 2012, the Grand Ducal Luxembourg Court Marshal's Office announced that the updated revision of the house rules of the House of Luxembourg-Nassau had been completed and that the new version of the Nassau Hereditary Association of June 30, 1783 and the family statute concerning the house constitution from May 5, 1907 soon to be published in the Luxembourg Official Gazette, Mémorial Part B.

The new version of the Nassau Hereditary Association of June 30, 1783 issued by Grand Ducal Decree of June 11, 2012 and the new version of the family statute relating to the house constitution of May 5, 1907, decreed by Grand Ducal Decree of June 18, 1907, were published in Mémorial Part B No. 51 of June 23, 2012 pp. 829–835 published exclusively in German .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mémorial of October 22, 1868
  2. ^ Vienna Convention Act signed on June 8, 1815
  3. ^ Mémorial of July 11, 1907
  4. ↑ a b Communiqué of the Grand Ducal Luxembourg Court Marshal's Office
  5. ↑ Grand Ducal Decree of September 10, 2010
  6. ↑ Mémorial of June 23, 2012

Web links