Prussian Constitution (1920)

Basic data
Title:	Constitution of the Free State of Prussia
Type:	Constitution
Scope:	Free State of Prussia
Legal matter:	Constitutional law
Issued on:	November 30, 1920
Entry into force on:	November 30, 1920
Expiry:	February 25, 1947
	Please note the note on the applicable legal version.

The Prussian constitution of November 30, 1920 on a democratic-parliamentary basis replaced the monarchist constitution of 1848/50 . It formed the constitutional framework for the Free State of Prussia . In terms of content, it was hollowed out to the point of insignificance during the Nazi era and lost its validity through the Control Council Act No. 46 with the official dissolution of Prussia.

prehistory

Until the November Revolution of 1918, the constitution of the Kingdom of Prussia, imposed in 1848 and amended again in 1850, was in force in Prussia . It was about the constitution of a constitutional monarchy . An outstanding characteristic that was criticized in particular by the Social Democrats during the Empire was the three-class suffrage .

After the revolution, the earlier laws initially continued to apply, with the exception that they explicitly contradicted the new order. The House of Representatives and the Manor House were dissolved on November 15, 1918. The three-tier suffrage was also replaced by a universal suffrage for men and women. On this basis, the Prussian state assembly was elected on January 26, 1919 .

At first it was by no means clear whether the discussion about a constitution was even necessary. On the one hand, the existence of the Prussian state as a whole was questioned and, on the other hand, there would be a democratic imperial constitution . First of all, in March 1919, a law on the provisional order of state power in Prussia was discussed and passed as a kind of transitional constitution. Parts of the later debate became visible in outline. The DNVP had come to terms with the republican order, but pleaded for a strong president at the top as a counterweight to parliament. Ernst Heilmann of the SPD sharply contradicted this and at the same time indicated an advocacy for a unified German state . This was also supported by the DDP , while the DVP also advocated a strong state president. The USPD missed a reference to the overthrow of the monarchy and the mention of the workers' councils . Further advice on the emergency constitution was referred to the responsible committee. In December 1919, long after the Weimar Constitution was passed, the regional assembly advocated a unified German state with 210 votes to 32. Opposition to this came from the right-wing parties. The advance at the imperial level became irrelevant when Bavaria spoke out against a unitary state.

The constitution of the Free State of Prussia was clearly adopted after the majority of the other state constitutions and after the imperial constitution. Several factors played a role here. First of all there was the aforementioned willingness to merge into a unitary state. But there were other things too. Because of the close ties between Reich and Prussia, at least in the past, but also because of the size and importance of the country, it was first necessary to wait for the basic features of the imperial constitution to be determined in order to be able to orientate oneself. On the other hand, the critical events surrounding the Kapp Putsch and its consequences have hampered adoption. The advantage was that practical experience with regard to the cooperation between the government and the Prussian state assembly could be incorporated into the constitution . One could also learn from the other state constitutions and the imperial constitution.

Constitutional discussion

One of the foundations for the constitution was the failed attempt by the state assembly to implement a unitary empire structure with correspondingly little importance for the states. This increased the importance of having its own constitution, but also the need to adopt one. The Prussian Ministry of the Interior had a first draft drawn up, which was forwarded to the state assembly on February 25, 1920. The Kapp Putsch prevented Interior Minister Wolfgang Heine from presenting the draft. Carl Severing took over this task on April 26, 1920 . He made no secret of his criticism of the original design. He justified the need to include the waiver of a state president in the draft by saying that one wanted to avoid conflicts of competence with the Reich president . Basically there should be a unicameral parliament . A finance council should take into account the interests of the provinces, particularly in financial matters. The spokesman for the SPD made it clear that the debate would not be easy. He put forward a number of requests for changes, including criticism of the government's intended right to dissolve the state parliament. The right raised the subject of the President and the Second Chamber again.

The draft was discussed by the responsible constitutional committee. The constitutional committee consisted of 27 members. 11 of them belonged to the SPD, 6 to the center , 4 each to the DDP and the DNVP. There was also a MP from the DVP and an independent. Among the members were Hugo Preuß (DDP), Ernst Heilmann (SPD), Felix Porsch (center), Wolfgang von Kries and Otto Hoetzsch (DNVP) and Eugen Leidig (DVP)

The deliberations in the Constitutional Committee began on June 16, 1920. At this point in time, the political framework conditions had already changed significantly as a result of the Kapp Putsch at the Reich level. The parties of the Weimar coalition had lost considerable weight in the Reichstag elections on June 6 in favor of the political right and the more extreme left. This had repercussions on the coalition in Prussia. Their politicians felt compelled to compromise, at least to stabilize the government in Prussia. There were three committee meetings in total. This resulted in an acceptable compromise for all coalition partners of a strictly parliamentary system without a state president. Opposite Parliament was a Prime Minister who set the guidelines for politics and had a position similar to that of the British Prime Minister. In addition to the Landtag, the Council of State, representing the provinces, resembled a second chamber. Ultimately, the adopted constitution was a factor in political stability in Prussia.

After the work in the committee, the plenary dealt with the draft, which was in some cases heavily modified, in three readings. On November 30, 1919, the state assembly approved with 280 votes. The 60 MPs from the USPD and DNVP voted against this. The seven members of the German-Hanoverian party abstained.

development

The constitution was subsequently amended several times. This was the case for the first time in 1921 with regard to the representation of Upper Silesia in 1921. Further changes followed in 1924 and 1928. A number of changes were made after the start of National Socialist rule . In particular, however, the provisional law for the alignment of the states with the Reich of March 31, 1933 and the second law for the alignment of the states with the Reich of April 7, 1933 undermined the effectiveness of the constitution. It was in fact repealed by the law on the rebuilding of the Reich of January 30, 1934. Formally, it remained in force and was not repealed until 1947 in the course of the dissolution of the Prussian state by the Control Council Act No. 46 .

content

The constitution finally adopted contained 88 articles. These included sections on the state and state authority, the regulation of finance, the position of religious communities and civil servants. The focus was on the powers of the highest constitutional organs. These were the state parliament , the state council, the state ministry as government and the way of legislating.

Section I.

Section I, headed The State , stated in Article 1 that Prussia was a republic and part of the German Empire .

Section II

Section II (Articles 2-8) was headed Die Staatsgewalt . According to Article 2, the bearer of state power was the entire people. This could exercise its rights directly through plebiscites ( referendum , referendum and popular election ) or indirectly through its members in the state parliament. In contrast to the three-tier suffrage and the election by electors until 1918, Article 4 laid down universal, equal, secret and direct suffrage for men and women over 20 years of age. Article 6 defines the framework for referendums and referendums. These could serve to change the constitution, to pass, change or repeal laws or to repeal the state parliament. Plebiscites were not permitted on financial issues, laws affecting expenditure and questions of salaries. Incidentally, the corresponding implementing law was not passed until 1926. In Article 7, the Ministry of State, i.e. the government, was defined as the highest executive branch. In Article 8, the judiciary was assigned to independent courts only subject to the law.

Section III

Section III (Articles 9–30) regulated the election, composition and competencies of the Landtag. The right to proportional representation was laid down in Article 9 . Article 10 stipulated that Members should not be bound by instructions and orders. An imperative mandate was thus rejected. The length of the legislative period was set (Article 13) at four years. The Diet had (Article 14) the right of self-dissolution . It could also be dissolved by a committee consisting of the Prime Minister and the Presidents of the Council of State and the State Parliament, as well as by referendum. Article 29 stipulated that the state parliament should pass laws on the basis of the constitution, it approved the budget, determined the principles of state affairs and monitored their implementation. State treaties had to be approved by the state parliament. The Landtag (Article 30) was only allowed to change constitutional amendments with a two-thirds majority. It had to meet at the request of at least one fifth of the deputies or at the request of the State Ministry (Article 17). In contrast to the time before 1918, the Landtag basically had the right to self-assembly and was able to determine the conclusion and reassembly itself.

Section IV

Section IV. (Articles 31-43) defined the rights of the Council of State . According to (Article 31), this was the representation of the provinces to have a say in legislation and administration. In Article 32 the following were defined as provinces: East Prussia , Brandenburg , Berlin , Pomerania , Posen-West Prussia , Lower Silesia , Upper Silesia , Saxony , Schleswig-Holstein , Hanover , Westphalia , the Rhine Province and Hesse-Nassau . The Hohenzollern Lands also sent a representative . The members were elected by the provincial parliaments or the Berlin city council and the municipal parliaments in Posen-West Prussia and the Hohenzollersian Lands. Article 40 stipulates that the State Ministry must inform the State Council of state affairs. He had the right to an expert opinion on bills. The State Council was able to introduce bills to the Landtag through the State Ministry. The State Council (Article 41) had the right to object to resolutions of the state parliament. The state parliament then had to deal with the law again and pass it through with a two-thirds majority against the objection of the State Council.

Section V.

Section V. (Articles 44–59) laid down the competences and composition of the State Ministry from (Article 44) the Prime Minister and the State Ministers. The election of the Prime Minister was the task of the Landtag. The Prime Minister appointed the Ministerial (Article 45). The prime minister had the political authority and was responsible to the state parliament. Within their area of responsibility, the ministers worked independently and were responsible to the state parliament (Article 46). The ministerial responsibility and the prime minister were new compared to the constitution of the Kingdom of Prussia. The Prime Minister presided over the State Ministry and directed its affairs. In order to maintain public safety or in the event of an emergency, the State Ministry was able to issue ordinances in cooperation with the then existing permanent Landtag committee, but had to obtain a subsequent approval after the meeting of the Landtag, if this was denied, the ordinance became invalid. This right was not comparable to the emergency ordinance law under Article 48 of the Imperial Constitution. Article 57 stipulated how the State Ministry as a whole or individual ministers could be withdrawn from trust. In the roll-call vote, at least half of the MPs must agree.

Section VI

In Section VI. (Articles 60–62), headed Legislation , regulates the formal entry into force of laws.

Section VII

Section VII. (Articles 63-69) dealt with finance .

Section VIII

Section VIII. (Articles 70–75), entitled Self-Government, regulated the rights of municipalities, counties, provinces and other local authorities. The country was subdivided (Article 71) into counties, cities and rural communities. The right to vote in the representations of the local authorities and provinces essentially followed the provisions for state elections. For the first time, the provincial parliaments were also elected by the people (Article 73).

Section IX

Section IX. Article 76 regulates the possibility of withdrawing from religious communities recognized by public law via religious communities.

Section X

Section X. (Articles 77-80) dealt with the civil service .

Section XI

Transitional and final provisions followed in Section XI (Articles 81–88) .

literature

Horst Möller: Prussia from 1918 to 1947: Weimar Republic, Prussia and National Socialism. In: Handbook of Prussian History. Vol. 3 Berlin, 2000 pp. 214-220
Siegfried Heimann : The Prussian Landtag 1899–1947. A political story. Berlin 2011.
Wilhelm Ribhegge: Prussia in the West. Struggle for parliamentarism in Rhineland and Westphalia. Münster 2008 (special edition for the state center for political education in North Rhine-Westphalia).
Matthias Spindler : The Prussian constitution during the historical breaks in the years 1871, 1918/1919/1920, 1932 and 1933/1934 and the relationship between Prussia and the German Empire during these breaks online version