Provincial Council (British Zone of Occupation)

In 1945 and 1946, the provincial councils were political advisory bodies for the British military government in what would later become the state of North Rhine-Westphalia at the level of the still existing Prussian provinces .

Origin and End

The Provincial Councils in the Province of Westphalia and the Rhine Province (or the North Rhine Province ) were largely the result of an initiative by the Westphalian Upper President Rudolf Amelunxen . Although initially skeptical, the occupation authorities agreed to the creation of political advisory bodies. Its members were proposed by the newly formed parties and appointed by the military government. The distribution key was based on the 1932 elections in the respective areas. The Rhenish Provincial Council was constituted on December 14, 1945 and the Westphalian on April 30, 1946. This was also its only meeting.

The councils are in a certain sense the successor organizations of the old Prussian provincial parliaments . But they were also a forerunner and intermediate step on the way to the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia .

With the announcement of the establishment of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the level of the provinces lost its political importance. This also meant an end to the provincial councils. In their place came an appointed state parliament , which was constituted on October 2, 1946. The Westphalian members of the Provincial Council automatically became members of the first appointed Landtag.

literature

• Uwe Andersen / Rainer Bovermann: The state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia. In: Siegfried Mielke / Werner Reutter (ed.): State parliamentarism in Germany. Wiesbaden 2004. ISBN 3-8100-3893-8 , pp. 307-330