King of Prussia
The King of Prussia ( King in Prussia until 1772 ) was the head of state of the Prussian monarchy .
The first kings were called "King in Prussia", to which the Elector Friedrich III was the first. crowned the Mark Brandenburg and simultaneously sovereign Duke of the Duchy of Prussia (capital: Königsberg ) on January 18, 1701. The restrictive title “in Prussia” was necessary because the designation “King of Prussia” could have been understood as a claim to the entire territory of this sovereign. But the Mark Brandenburg was within the Holy Roman Empirein which there could be no crown except that of the emperor. In addition, conflicts with the Polish crown (outside the Holy Roman Empire) were avoided in this way, under whose sovereignty the Warmia and western Prussia ( Pomerania ) were. Their rulers claimed the title of "King of Prussia" until 1742.
Emperor Leopold I agreed that Frederick I should accept the title of King in Prussia for the Duchy of Prussia, which was not part of his realm . Friedrich I had to accept that his new title did not apply to the actually more important part of the country - the Mark Brandenburg. The duchy, now the Kingdom of Prussia (later East Prussia ) only gave its name to all territories of the Prussian monarchy in the course of time . In German usage, the country name Kingdom of Prussia soon became established for all areas ruled by the Hohenzollerns - whether within or outside of the Holy Roman Empire. After the annexation of Polish Prussia in 1772, the title of their ruler was officially changed to "King of Prussia". The coronations always took place in Königsberg, while Berlin (capital) and Potsdam (summer residence) were always the centers of the Hohenzollern state.
Since 1848/50 the king was a constitutional monarch as a result of the enactment of a constitution . He chose the ministers; no law could be passed without his consent. After the Emperor of Austria , the King of Prussia was the most important monarch in the German Confederation from 1815.
In 1867, the constitution of the North German Confederation gave the King the Federal Presidium in the newly founded federal state . Thus, in personal union, he was always king and at the same time head of state of the German federal state. In addition, on January 1, 1871, the new constitution gave him the title of German Emperor .
There was a reigning king until November 9, 1918, when Chancellor Max von Baden arbitrarily announced the abdication of the Emperor and King Wilhelm II (and the Crown Prince). Wilhelm himself did not actually abdicate until November 28th. Prussia became a Free State of Prussia with the new republican constitution of 1920 at the latest .
Coronation 1701
In 1701, the Roman-German Emperor Leopold I from Austria was urgently dependent on the military help of Brandenburg-Prussia in the War of the Spanish Succession. He was ready to make a crown for the Elector recognize . In the corresponding agreement between Vienna and Berlin, the formula that the emperor crowns the elector or creates the Prussian crown was deliberately avoided . The emperor signed the crown contract of November 17, 1700 only after the elector had entered into an alliance with him. The emperor promised that he would work for the recognition of the new royal title in the empire and with other powers.
The elector made sure that his crown expressed his unrestricted sovereignty. The Prussian estates were not consulted and only informed in December 1700 that there would be a coronation festival. For the act of coronation on January 17, 1701, Friedrich made use of various European traditions. He put the crown on himself and then had the Calvinist bishop anoint him. It is estimated that the coronation celebrations cost the state about twice as much as the Hohenzollerns earned annually.
Development until 1848
Friedrich's successor since 1713, Friedrich Wilhelm I , did without expensive and pompous coronation ceremonies. He united the Prussian top management in the General Management, and further restricted the privileges of the estates. He surrounded himself with a personal group of advisors, the Tobacco College .
Frederick II (from 1740), on the other hand, destroyed the uniformity of state management by setting up new authorities next to the General Directory and commissioning commissioners with individual tasks. In addition, he no longer presided over the General Directory, but communicated with the ministers in writing. He ruled "out of the cabinet", his private apartments, over cabinet secretaries, who thereby received great influence. They could topple any decisions made by the ministers.
The new King Friedrich Wilhelm II. Therefore issued an instruction on September 28, 1786, which prescribed weekly plenary deliberations. However, the basic problem remained that thematic and regional responsibilities coexisted on an equal footing. Under Friedrich Wilhelm III. (from 1797) there was a certain improvement in that the heads of department and their departments became de facto more independent. Formally, however, this was not yet a collegial ministerial government.
In the period after the defeat by France in 1807, the famous Stein-Hardenberg reforms took place . An organizational edict of 1808 finally gave rise to a government of ministers. The ministers were given direct access to the king; the king's orders required a ministerial countersignature . In the years 1810-1822, under Hardenberg, Prussia had a chancellor as head of government , otherwise the government was collegial.
Stein's State Council plan was unsuccessful. The Council of State would have been responsible for the legislation and, among other things, controlled the administration (in this respect comparable to a parliament). The king would have presided, but his self-government would have been further restricted. In fact, the State Council met for its first session in 1817, but only as an advisory body. Its members were appointed by the king or were members by birth, like the king's sons, or by virtue of office, like the chancellor. In practice, however, the State Council had the greatest influence, as it was knowledgeable and acted independently and responsibly.
Despite several promises, the king did not issue a constitution and did not establish a Prussian parliament, only provincial estates. The Kingdom of Prussia thus remained a late absolutist or semi-absolutist state. Despite hopes to the contrary, in 1840 Frederick William IV did not appoint a leading head of government, nor did he keep his predecessor's constitutional promise. The unreal idea remained that in the 19th century a king could continue to lead a personal regiment as in the time of Frederick the Great .
Prussian Constitution 1848/1850
In the course of the revolution of 1848/1849 , King Friedrich Wilhelm IV tried to agree a constitution with the Prussian National Assembly . Finally he imposed them on his own initiative. Nevertheless, the introduction of the constitution was a great step forward and the further restriction of royal power.
According to the constitution, royal dignity was hereditary for the firstborn in the agnatic ruler (Art. 53). The king was inviolable (Art. 43) and could therefore not be held politically or criminally responsible. Nor could he be deposed or declared incapable of governing. However, the constitution provided for a reign if the monarch was incapable of government or if he was a minor. (This case occurred in 1858 when Friedrich Wilhelm IV fell ill and his brother Wilhelm became Prince Regent.)
executive
The king appointed and deposed the ministers. In that he was free. All government actions required the countersignature of a minister; even speeches and personal letters had to be at least approved by them. This also applied to actions that did not require the approval of the government or parliament, for example, such as external violence. However, as Commander in Chief of the Army, he was not required to countersign. Although this was not laid down in the constitution, it was considered customary law.
“The free appointment of ministers, artfully linked with ministerial responsibility, was the core of royal power in the constitutional system. It made it possible for the king to hold onto the sovereign power in the state, although it did not hold onto personal rule. Even though the constitutional monarch, according to Hegel's famous word, was only the place that had to put the point on the i, it was just this right of the final decision that made him the bearer of rule over the state and the people. "
Legislative and Judicial
A Prussian law could only be passed if the king and both chambers of the state parliament approved it (Art. 62). Furthermore, the execution and promulgation as well as the sanction was his task. So he had an absolute right of veto in legislation. The king dissolved the chambers and convened them. The king appointed some members of the manor house , one of the state chambers.
Judicial power came from the king, so judgments continued in the king's name. But the exercise was subject to independent judges (Art. 86). Accordingly, the king could no longer intervene in the judiciary. Death sentences no longer had to be confirmed by the king, but he retained his right to pardons and sentences. Despite the separation of powers , this was an expression of the idea that the king was the bearer of overall power in the state.
Further development
In 1861, Prince Regent Wilhelm was about to become king. There was no coronation ceremony after 1701. Wilhelm put an homage to hereditary in his head. The representatives of the estates pledged their loyalty to him. The constitution did not provide for this, but a constitutional oath of the king, while members of the state parliament usually also swore an oath on the constitution and swore allegiance to the king - when they took office. Traditional hereditary homage would have contradicted the constitution and, in the event of a conservative-liberal conflict, would have strengthened the king's position in the provinces. In addition, the tradition of hereditary homage required a trip through the individual provinces, which did not emphasize the unity of the Prussian state.
The Prussian ambassador to Russia, Otto von Bismarck , advised at that time to forego the hereditary homage. On such an occasion for a constitutional struggle, the king would have had broad opposition to him. Finally, there was a coronation ceremony in Königsberg, which was more compatible with the constitution.
Federal Presidium and imperial title
As early as 1848–1850 there was a question about the head of the Reich . At that time, King Friedrich Wilhelm IV rejected the imperial crown of the elected German National Assembly; but he also did not succeed in forming an Erfurt Union , of which he would have become the Union Board. In 1866, however, Prussia signed the August Alliance with other northern and central German states , which led to the establishment of the North German Confederation in 1867. With the accession of the southern states in 1871 , this northern German federal state became the German Empire .
According to the federal constitution , the Prussian king was the holder of the federal presidium , and he was also the federal general of the federal army. The strong position of the king should be concealed by these designations. De facto he had the function of a head of state and federal monarch who appointed the only responsible minister, the Federal Chancellor . With a new constitution of January 1, 1871 , the holder of the Federal Presidium also received the title of German Emperor .
The Prussian king, who otherwise remained a sovereign alongside others, was automatically emperor. Even if it was the same person, it was about two different offices with different powers in the Reich or in Prussia. Since the Federal Constitution hardly said anything about the Federal Presidium, the Prussian rules (such as the succession to the throne) were applied when necessary. Thus Prussian constitutional law affected the empire, but the empire overshadowed the Prussian kingship.
This overshadowing was actually feared by Wilhelm I. In general, Wilhelm had long resisted the imperial title because he felt it to be artificial. After all, the imperial title was only introduced through a parliamentary resolution and a constitution, while the Prussian kingship had already existed before the constitution of 1848/1850.
End of kingship 1918/1919
In November 1918, dissatisfaction with Kaiser and King Wilhelm II had risen so much that even political parties demanded his resignation. On November 9th, Imperial Chancellor Prince Max von Baden urged an abdication to prevent a violent revolution. Wilhelm was at the headquarters in occupied Belgium and communicated with the Chancellor by telegram. He replied by considering resigning as emperor but remaining king. However, this separation of offices would only have been possible after a constitutional amendment.
The Chancellor, against his better judgment, illegitimately and without an imperial mandate, announced the abdication of the emperor and king, which he preferred to a revolution- related dismissal by the people. He wanted to transfer his own office to the SPD leader Friedrich Ebert , which was also not constitutional - but it certainly corresponded to the political reality, which was confirmed by the Ebert-Groener Alliance on November 10, 1918. Prince Max rejected the idea of exercising the powers of the emperor or king as imperial administrator or regent. The offices remained vacant. The Prussian constitution of November 30, 1920 at the latest declared Prussia a republic . Certain powers of the former king were largely transferred to the government.
Personnel unions
The king had been Prince of Neuchâtel since 1707 , an area in what is now Switzerland. The principality was never integrated into the Prussian state, but enjoyed extensive independence. In 1848 an uprising resulted in a republican constitution. After lengthy disputes, the King had to renounce his Neuchâtel sovereignty rights in the Treaty of Paris in 1857 , but was still allowed to use the title.
After the German-Danish War , Austria and Prussia received the duchies of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg on October 30, 1864 . They ruled it as an Austro-Prussian condominium (1864–1866). The Gastein Treaty of 1865 gave Prussia the sole right to Lauenburg. The Prussian king became Duke of Lauenburg. In 1876 Lauenburg was incorporated into the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein .
As a result of the German War , several opposing states were annexed to Prussia in 1866 . At times there was a plan to have it exist under the Prussian king with its own constitutions and administrations. The Prussian state parliament refused to do this, however, because it would have limited its own influence. Therefore, z. B. the annexation of the Kingdom of Hanover in the title of King of Prussia is not an extension of the "King of Hanover".
List of Prussian kings
The following list shows all kings in Prussia (1701–1772) and kings of Prussia (1772–1918). They all come from the noble family of the Hohenzollern .
| Surname | image | birthday | Accession to the throne | Date of death | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friedrich I. |  |
July 11, 1657 | January 18, 1701 | February 25, 1713 | from May 9, 1688 as Friedrich III. Elector of Brandenburg, from January 18, 1701 as Frederick I King in Prussia |
|
Friedrich Wilhelm I the soldier king |
 |
August 14, 1688 | February 25, 1713 | May 31, 1740 | King in Prussia |
|
Frederick II the Great |
 |
January 24, 1712 | May 31, 1740 | 17th August 1786 | initially king in Prussia, following the annexation of Polish Prussia, from 1772 King of Prussia |
| Friedrich Wilhelm II. |  |
September 25, 1744 | 17th August 1786 | November 16, 1797 | King of Prussia |
| Friedrich Wilhelm III. |  |
August 3, 1770 | November 16, 1797 | June 7, 1840 | King of Prussia |
| Friedrich Wilhelm IV. |  |
October 15, 1795 | June 7, 1840 | January 2, 1861 | King of Prussia |
| Wilhelm I. |  |
March 22, 1797 | January 2, 1861 | March 9, 1888 | Regent from October 7, 1858, King of Prussia from January 2, 1861 , President of the North German Confederation from July 1, 1867, and German Emperors from January 18, 1871 |
| Friedrich III. |  |
October 18, 1831 | March 9, 1888 | June 15, 1888 | King of Prussia, in personal union German Emperor |
| Wilhelm II. |  |
January 27, 1859 | June 15, 1888 | June 4, 1941 | King of Prussia, in personal union German Emperor, in exile in the Netherlands from November 9, 1918 |
Remarks
- ↑ From 1871 to 1918, the end of the Prussian monarchy and that of the German Empire , the Prussian king was also German emperor .
- ↑ The name has existed since the late Middle Ages, so it did not change as a result of the royal coronations.
- ↑ Christopher Clark: Prussia. Rise and fall. 1600-1947 . DVA, Munich 2007, p. 105.
- ↑ Christopher Clark: Prussia. Rise and fall 1600–1947 . DVA, Munich 2007, p. 97.
- ↑ Christopher Clark: Prussia. Rise and fall 1600–1947 . DVA, Munich 2007, pp. 93-95.
- ↑ Christopher Clark: Prussia. Rise and fall 1600–1947 . DVA: Munich 2007, pp. 116, 122.
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber : German Constitutional History since 1789. Volume I: Reform and Restoration 1789 to 1830 . 2nd edition, Verlag W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart [u. a.] 1967, pp. 102, 146.
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German Constitutional History since 1789. Volume I: Reform and Restoration 1789 to 1830 . 2nd edition, Verlag W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart [u. a.] 1967, pp. 103/104.
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German Constitutional History since 1789. Volume I: Reform and Restoration 1789 to 1830 . 2nd edition, Verlag W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart [u. a.] 1967, p. 150.
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German Constitutional History since 1789. Volume I: Reform and Restoration 1789 to 1830 . 2nd edition, Verlag W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart [u. a.] 1967, pp. 156-158.
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume II: The struggle for unity and freedom 1830 to 1850 . 3rd edition, Verlag W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart [u. a.] 1988, p. 480.
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the empire. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart [u. a.] 1988, p. 55.
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the empire. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart [u. a.] 1988, pp. 55-57.
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the empire. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart [u. a.] 1988, p. 56/57 (italics in the original).
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the realm. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart [u. a.] 1988, pp. 57/58.
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the realm. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart [u. a.] 1988, pp. 62/63.
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the realm. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart [u. a.] 1988, pp. 288/289.
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the realm. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart [u. a.] 1988, pp. 289/290.
- ↑ Christopher Clark: Prussia. Rise and fall 1600–1947 . DVA: Munich 2007, p. 697.
- ↑ Cf. Melanie Seidenglanz, The Declaration of Abdication - a type of text of the caesura and element of discourse , in: Heidrun Kämper, Peter Haslinger, Thomas Raithel (ed.): Demokratiegeschichte als Zäsurgeschichte. Discourses of the early Weimar Republic , de Gruyter, 2014, pp. 153 ff., Here pp. 172 , 177 .
- ↑ Prince Max von Baden, decree on the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II, November 9, 1918 , in: 100 (0) key documents on German history in the 20th century , accessed on June 8, 2016.
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the empire. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart [u. a.] 1988, pp. 248-253.