Saxon estates

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From 1776 to 1831, the Dresden country house was the last meeting place for the estates.

The Saxon estates represented the estates vis-à-vis the respective monarch in the Wettin Electorate of Saxony or, from 1806, in the Kingdom of Saxony . The meeting of the estates was formalized in 1438, its meetings were also called the state parliament . With the constitution of 1831 , the state estates were replaced by a parliament in the modern sense, which was also called the state parliament or the state assembly. The Oberlausitz that of the Saxon rulers in 1635 from personal union was governed, retained their own country stands up to the 1,831th

Background: Development of the margraviate of Meissen into a Saxon corporate state

Since the house of the Wettins was enfeoffed with the Margraviate of Meissen in 1089 , the prince's power was based on a layer of non-free servants who carried weapons. Since they had a low social rank as unfree, the prince could rely on the loyalty of these unfree ministerials , as they are described in the documents. The ministerials were scattered all over the country in fortified residences, from where they were available to the prince for military use. The prince exercised his rule by traveling from place to place and also making decisions on the spot, holding court and consuming the taxes of the local population in the form of natural produce. The ministerials of the region could also be called in for advice from the prince. In this way, the ministerials became experienced and useful advisers through their service, but they were also able to represent the interests of the landscape in which they were based. In the course of the late 13th century, due to the reputation of the ministerials, the lower nobility emerged from the stratum of formerly unfree, weapon-bearing servants .

Finally, in 1293 an important decision was made jointly by the prince and the community of knightly vassals, because the latter represented the country towards the prince. In contrast to the Magna Carta issued by the English king in 1215 , the Margrave of Meißen probably called his subordinates in voluntarily when making the decision. Nevertheless, this process shows the growing importance of the representatives of the lower nobility, the decision of 1293 is the first step towards co-determination in Saxon constitutional history.

In the 14th century the provincial estates were formed in all territories of the empire , which together with the sovereign rulers determined state politics. The estates held public authority under the sovereign. Since the estates exercised the manorial rule, i.e. were directly dependent on the working people of their countryside or their city, they represented the interests of these people more than the prince himself. The first estate, however, formed the higher clergy of the country, which due to the great importance of the Church were important counselors to the prince. The second class was formed on the one hand by the lower nobility, which arose from the ministerial, and on the other hand by the higher class of the old nobility. The representatives of the cities, which had freed themselves from the aristocratic manorial rule, formed the third estate.

Through the emergence and expansion of the urban system, the importance of the money economy increased in the 12th and 13th centuries. As a result, the circulation of money increased, making money more and more important in the economy and society. The princes, who previously lived on natural produce and the services of their subordinates, also had to look for ways to increase their monetary income in order to secure their power. Therefore the princes of the margraviate asked for a tax levy on the citizens. This concern was probably not addressed directly to the tax-paying citizens and peasants of the third estate, but to the representatives of the lower nobility as owners of the manor who had direct access to the townspeople and villagers. The earliest surviving list of terms dates from 1314.

In order to get a Bede approved, the Margraves of Meißen gathered the representatives of the nobility and the most important cities of the margraviate in Leipzig in 1350 and the entire estates in Meißen in 1376. Margrave Friedrich IV of Meissen from the House of Wettin was enfeoffed in 1423 with the previously Ascanic Electorate of Saxony. In the period that followed, the Mark Meissen merged with the Electorate of Saxony and formed its core territory (even if the electoral dignity was traditionally associated with the Duchy of Saxony-Wittenberg - the Saxon Kurlanden ). Due to the ruler's increased need for money, their dependence on the estates increased. In 1428, for example, the assembled estates complained about sovereign officials who obstructed the jurisdiction of the estates. The sovereigns had to make concessions in order to have the estates behind them when it came to raising money.

1438 to 1586: Formalized assembly as "Landtag"

In 1438, at a meeting in Leipzig, the estates obtained the right to meet for joint meetings without having been called by the sovereigns as compensation for an approved Bede. As a result, the state parliament became an independent body, whose interference in state politics was to be expected on a constant basis. At the Landtag in 1451 in Grimma, the assembly set up a class deputation to monitor tax revenue, consisting of 18 members, including six citizens. In the dispute between the princely brothers Friedrich and Wilhelm over the division of Altenburg in 1445, the estates of both parts of the country stood up for the protection of the interests of the country. In 1458 they achieved a say in war and peace. In all these negotiations the estates showed an independent policy towards the sovereigns.

Due to the dependence of the sovereigns on the estates for the approval of taxes, the power of the princes was restricted by the estates. Thus, at the turn of the 16th century, the unwritten state constitution of the Saxon corporate state was fully developed.

In the division of Leipzig, the Wettin brothers Ernst and Albrecht von Sachsen divided their titles and territories: The Albertines subsequently ruled over the former Mark Meißen (with Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz - i.e. large parts of today's Free State of Saxony) and received the Saxon title of duke; the Ernestines, however, got large parts of today's Thuringia and the Kurlande around Wittenberg, including the associated electoral dignity. Since the state constitution remained unwritten, its application was dependent on the respective character of the ruler. Under the Electors Ernst , Friedrich the Wise , Johann the Steadfast and Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous as well as the Dukes Albrecht , Georg and Heinrich the co-determination right of the estates remained unrestricted.

The Duke and later Elector Moritz, however, felt that his freedom of decision-making was restricted by the rights of the Estates to have a say: He rarely convened the Landtag and preferred to negotiate with smaller committees of the Landtag because he hoped to get approval for his plans sooner. However, he did not fundamentally question the rights of the state parliament. In the summer of 1546 during the Schmalkaldic War and two years later in 1548, when the emperor demanded a change in the church order, he convened the state parliament to obtain advice on its decisions. As a result of the Wittenberg surrender in 1547, a large part of the previously Ernestine areas as well as the electoral dignity passed to the Albertine Moritz. This created the Albertine Electoral Saxony with the capital Dresden, as it essentially existed until the beginning of the 19th century.

In contrast to his predecessor, Moritz's brother and heir August often called the Landtag together. At the Landtag in Torgau in 1577 a formula of concord was adopted, which was worked out by the theologians of the Electorate of Saxony and which should be adopted by most of the Lutheran territories of the empire. This decision made the joint responsibility of the estates in church politics clear. The estates saw it as their task to defend the Lutheran creed of the Saxon church.

1586 to 1806: Assertion of the estate constitution in the absolutist age

August's successor Christian I (government from 1586) posed the question of power over the estates by turning away from the Lutheran faith and towards Calvinism . His Chancellor Nikolaus Krell tried to bypass or break the influence of the Lutheran-minded forces by taking small steps. The aim of Krell's efforts was to eliminate the estates as a political power factor in the country. However, Christian I and Krell's protector died in 1591, even before his efforts had any major success. He was imprisoned and executed after ten years. After Christian I's death, the estates were able to restore their old position during the subsequent government of his son's guardianship.

From the rule of Christian I until Friedrich August I took office in 1694, the rights of the estates were no longer challenged. They met regularly in state parliaments to submit suggestions and complaints about state legislation. They also watched over the collection and administration of taxes. In 1576 a senior tax committee was founded, half of which was appointed by the state parliament and the other half by the elector to watch over the use of the tax money received. Under Johann Georg II , the estates were able to expand their position further, because on the one hand the position of Johann Georg II was weakened by his father's will (in which his inheritance was divided among four brothers) and the new elector struggled despite his formal supremacy Negotiations had to secure his supremacy, and on the other hand Johann Georg II needed large sums of money for the development of cultural splendor and thus had to accommodate the estates.

In contrast to his predecessors, Elector Friedrich August I saw himself as an absolutist ruler who wanted to restrict or completely eliminate the power of the estates. The Polish crown cost large sums of money in bribes, and his princely need for representation and the associated baroque cultural development at the court in Dresden also required continuously high income. The estates could not and would not grant the elector the necessary funds. His change to Catholicism in order to be able to accept the Polish title of king, however, weakened his position in power politics in Saxony too much to eliminate the estates. In order to be financially more independent, Friedrich August I created the excise tax , a consumption tax in which he was not dependent on the estates to manage the income. However, despite the elector's claim to absolute power, the estates were able to assert themselves against him, and so during the reign of Friedrich August I remained a moderate absolutism, which was painstakingly defended against the estates.

After the death of not only Elector Friedrich August II , but also of long-time Prime Minister Count Brühl , and the end of the Seven Years' War , the Augustan era and the connection to the Polish throne ended in 1763. With Elector Friedrich Christian , a ruler came to power who was open to the ideals of the Enlightenment , even if he made his own decisions like his two predecessors. Friedrich Christian saw himself as the first servant of the state. The men who worked as advisers to the elector and who came from the bourgeoisie also endeavored to realize as many ideals of the Enlightenment as possible in their daily work in state life. At that time there were even plans to equip the estates with the right to legislate on the model of the English parliament.

1806 to 1831: Reform efforts and the establishment of a modern parliament

At the beginning of the 19th century, suggestions came from the estates to the Landtag in 1811 to unify the various constitutional and administrative structures of the Kingdom of Saxony, founded by Napoleon in 1806 , and thus to form a modern, centrally administered state. However, at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 the territory of the kingdom was reduced in size due to the loyalty of the Saxon king to Napoleon during the wars of liberation in 1813, which meant that the proposals of the estates could not be implemented.

After the Congress of Vienna, the estates were restored to their original form from before 1806 as part of the restoration . With the onset of industrialization in Saxony, a significant change began within society: the bourgeoisie became the driving force and a growing workforce emerged in the cities. The estates with their medieval roots clearly no longer corresponded in their composition to the structure of society.

The representatives of the estates were seen as representatives of the rich and powerful in the country, although the composition should have been adapted to the changed circumstances. So the resentment of the bourgeoisie about the backward conditions in Dresden in 1830 discharged over an insignificant occasion. King Anton took the expressions of displeasure very seriously. As a first measure he dismissed the arch-conservative minister Count Einsiedel, who was responsible for the crisis, and appointed the liberal Bernhard von Lindenau as his successor . One year later, the new government's reform measures resulted in the written constitution of September 4, 1831.

The last meeting place of the Saxon estates from 1776 to 1831 was the country house built for this purpose in Dresden , today the seat of the Dresden City Museum .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ On the rise of the Ministeriale among the Wettins: Blaschke, pp. 7–9.
  2. ↑ On the significance of the decision of 1293: Blaschke, p. 8 (right column).
  3. ↑ On the development of the estates in the 14th century: Blaschke, pp. 8–9.
  4. ↑ On the importance of the money economy in the Margraviate of Meißen: Blaschke, p. 9 (left column).
  5. ↑ On the expansion of the rights of the Landtag in the 14th and 15th centuries: Blaschke, p. 9 (right column).
  6. ↑ Conclusion of the developments up to 1500: Blaschke, p. 10 (left column above).
  7. ↑ On the position of the estates from Elector Ernst to Duke August: Blaschke, p. 10 (left column).
  8. ↑ On Christian I's religious policy: Blaschke, p. 10 (right column).
  9. ↑ On the position of the estates according to Christian I up to the Augustan era: Blaschke, p. 11 (left column).
  10. ↑ On the reign of Friedrich August I and II and Friedrich Christian: Blaschke, p. 11 f.
  11. ^ On the state parliament during the Napoleonic era in Saxony: Blaschke, p. 12 (right column).
  12. ↑ On the creation of the first written constitution in Saxony: Blaschke, p. 12 f.

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