Imperial Germans

Reichsdeutsche was the contemporary, slang term used by the German residents of the German Empire from 1871 to 1945.

Use of language during the German Empire

This term came into use with the establishment of the empire in 1871 (“ small German solution ”), when the majority of the German princely states , which comprised around two thirds of the (then) German-speaking area , had come together. Matters that affected the residents were paraphrased with the word Reichsdeutsch , parallel to those of the still valid state designations Prussia, Bavaria etc. The Germans living in the Reich remained citizens of the individual federal members such as the kingdoms and principalities.

It was not until 1913 that a common national law and nationality law was created in the German Reich (and finally a uniform German nationality was introduced in 1934). This was overlaid by the Reich Citizenship Act in 1935 . The National Socialist category of the "Reich Citizen" served primarily to prepare and carry out the genocide of the Jews and was eliminated again in 1945.

The term "Reichsdeutsche" was used in particular by the German-speaking population who, after the establishment of the Reich in 1871, lived in states outside the Reich (e.g. the Saar area 1920–1935) in order to distinguish between Germans inside and outside the Reich (cf. . also Old Reich Germans ). The abbreviation RD was used
during National Socialism .

Language usage after 1945

After the creation of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany and the constitution of the German Democratic Republic , it naturally took some time and future generations to replace Reich Germans , Reich citizens and the old names in general with other terms, including in the general language of Germans. These were mainly shaped by the names of the newly formed states, i.e. H. the state reorganization of Germany in 1949 and the state restoration of Austria . The people of the Federal Republic of Germany became “federal citizens” or “ federal Germans ”; the residents of the GDR to " GDR citizens ".

Current "Reich Citizens Movement"

More recently, the term has also been used as an ironic collective term for troubled submissions by authors who claim that the states founded on German territory after the Second World War and the Federal Republic of Germany and their respective subdivisions did not have legal effect, mostly private concerns, especially in the driving license and prosecute administrative offense law; they do not recognize decisions made by authorities or courts and also produce, "authorized" by "Reich Chancelleries" or the like, "official documents" that amuse or hinder legal traffic.

Web links

Wiktionary: Reichsdeutscher - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Wiktionary: Reichsdeutsch - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Remarks

↑ In place of "Reich membership" is gem. § 1 Ordinance on German citizenship of February 5, 1934, Article 116 (1) of the Basic Law, the German citizenship entered.
^ Ingo von Münch : The German citizenship. Past - Present - Future , de Gruyter, Berlin 2007, p. 61 f.

[1] In place of "Reich membership" is gem. § 1 Ordinance on German citizenship of February 5, 1934, Article 116 (1) of the Basic Law, the German citizenship entered.

[2] Ingo von Münch : The German citizenship. Past - Present - Future , de Gruyter, Berlin 2007, p. 61 f.