Assembly of the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt

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The Assembly of Estates of the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt was the parliament of the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt between 1810 and 1813.

Grand Duke Carl

requirements

In the Old Reich , estates existed in many countries as representatives of the subjects vis-à-vis the sovereign (in the Grand Duchy, for example, these were the estates of the Fulda Abbey ). With the founding of the Napoleonic model countries in Germany, such assemblies were set up for the first time on the basis of codified constitutions .

In the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt this constitution was the highest organizational patent of the constitution of the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt of August 16, 1810. This regulated in Articles 10 to 21, 26 to 28 and 35 the composition, election and competencies of the assembly of estates.

Tasks and organization

composition

Five members were elected indirectly by electoral colleges from 50 to 90 men from their respective departments. The voters were selected by Grand Duke Karl Theodor von Dalberg from lists of the richest men in each department - one for every 1,000 inhabitants. The voters and those to be elected had to be rich landowners, merchants or manufacturers on the one hand and scholars or artists on the other hand, in a ratio of 4: 1. The electoral colleges in turn elected the actual MPs from among their number, a total of 20, who were then appointed by the Grand Duke. Each of the four departments elected five deputies in October 1810. For the only election, the electors met on October 8, 1810 in the departmental capitals.

Working method

The meeting of the estates should meet once a year. The MPs already received diets . Parliament did not have the right to meet of its own accord. It had to be convened by the Grand Duke and he also appointed the President of Parliament. Johann Georg Engelhard became president in 1810 . The assembly of estates set up 3 committees, each of which consisted of 3 members: the finance commission, the civil justice commission and the embarrassing judiciary commission.

Competencies

The main task was to participate in the legislative process , in particular the budget law. The meeting of the estates had no right of initiative . Laws had to be presented to her by the government in order for her to deal with them. Without the consent of the assembly of estates, laws were possible in the form of provisional regulations through grand ducal decrees.

The legislative process provided that draft laws were drawn up in the State Council and discussed with the responsible commissions. The (possibly revised) draft was then presented to the meeting of the estates and decided there without discussion. If approved, the Grand Duke put it into effect and proclaimed it. In particular, the lack of advice and debate differentiates the way the Assembly of States works from that of later parliaments.

Members

The city palace of Hanau - place of the only meeting of the meeting of the estates (" The old palace in Hanau before demolition "; lithograph by CW Woerishoffer, around 1828)
Surname place class department
Carl Friedrich Buderus von Carlshausen Hanau Landowner Hanau
Georg Gottfried Clausius Frankfurt Manufacturer Frankfurt
Johann Adam Eisenberger Aschaffenburg Manufacturer Aschaffenburg
Johann Georg Engelhard Aschaffenburg Landowner Aschaffenburg
Ludwig Friedrich Wilhelm August Freiherr Gayling von Altheim Hanau Scholar Hanau
Friedrich Maximilian von Günderrode Frankfurt Landowner Frankfurt
Johann Philipp Christoph Erasmus Joseph von Hess Hammelburg Landowner Fulda
Nikolaus Koch Fulda Landowner Fulda
Johann Karl Lavater Hanau Landowner Hanau
Johannes Menz Fulda Manufacturer Fulda
Dr. Bernhard Sebastian von Nau Aschaffenburg Landowner Aschaffenburg
Georg Christoph Röschel Frankfurt Landowner Frankfurt
Ignatz Rüttger Fulda Landowner Fulda
Johann Carl Schnerr Frankfurt Landowner Frankfurt
Leonhard Sickenberger Weiberhöfe Landowner Aschaffenburg
Franz Simon Pus field Scholars Fulda
Dr. Johann Martin Stark Frankfurt Scholars Frankfurt
Ludwig Otto Toussaint Hanau Manufacturer Hanau
Dr. Johann George Wax Bischofsheim Landowner Hanau
Friedrich Count Waldbott von Bassenheim Aschaffenburg Landowner Aschaffenburg

practice

The Grand Duke only called Parliament to one session of the Landtag. This first and only session was opened on October 15, 1810, lasted 11 days and took place in the Hanau City Palace, as it was the easiest to reach from all parts of the country. The meeting was opened with the greatest possible ceremony, trying to orientate oneself on the model of the Kingdom of Westphalia . The gun salutes that took place there at the opening of the meeting of the estates had to be omitted, however, because - as the Grand Duke noted to his greatest regret - the Grand Duchy had no cannons . The representatives of the people were driven to the castle in court equipages , the Grand Duke entered the conference room with a drum roll and bells and then gave a speech. At lunchtime, the delegates were allowed to attend his court table. They were sworn in and deliberations began the next day. These related to three laws: the state budget for 1811, a law on the jurisdiction of the court of cassation and a law on the criminal power of the police authorities. After being referred to "commissions" (committees), these were discussed with government representatives and a few minor changes were agreed. They were then sent back to the plenary and passed unanimously there. The laws were then even published with the formula: " The Estates have issued the following decree " and the co-signature of the President of the Estates.

As early as 1811, however, the government had doubts about re-convening the estates: Apparently, it was feared that they would oppose the introduction of the Napoleonic Code . In 1812 there was a dispute between the Grand Duke and the Departmental Council of Frankfurt, the self-governing body at departmental level, which clearly showed that the subjects were interested in participating in state affairs. However, the Grand Duke disliked this to such an extent that he completely renounced the need to convene the estates.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ GfRegBl. 1810, 1st volume, p. 10 ff.
  2. ↑ Instructions for the electoral or departmental colleges, dated September 16, 1810, GfRegBl. 1810, Volume 1, pp. 25 ff.
  3. ↑ Organization patent, Articles 26 and 35
  4. ↑ Bilz, p. 215.
  5. ↑ Determination of travel money and diets of the estates from October 12, 1810, GfRegBl. 1810, Volume 1, pp. 70 ff
  6. ↑ Bilz, p. 215.
  7. ↑ Darmstaedter, p. 103.
  8. ↑ Darmstaedter, p. 103f.
  9. ↑ Darmstaedter, p. 104.
  10. ↑ Bilz, p. 216 f.
  11. ↑ Bilz, p. 218.