The Landtag of Prussia (german: Preußischer Landtag) was the

representative assembly A representative assembly is a political institution in which a number of persons representing the population or privileged orders within the population of a state come together to debate, negotiate with the executive (originally the king or other r ...

of the Kingdom of Prussia implemented in 1849, a bicameral legislature consisting of the upper House of Lords (''Herrenhaus'') and the lower House of Representatives (''Abgeordnetenhaus''). After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–19 the ''

Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in no ...

'' diet continued as the parliament of the Free State of Prussia between 1921 and 1934, when it was abolished by the Nazi regime.

History

Kingdom of Prussia

In the course of the 1848 Revolution, King Frederick William IV of Prussia and his Minister

Gottfried Ludolf Camphausen Gottfried Ludolf Camphausen (10 January 1803 in Geilenkirchen – 3 December 1890 in Cologne) was a Prime Minister of Prussia. Life During the Revolutions of 1848 in Germany, Ludolf Camphausen stepped suddenly from his banker's desk at Colo ...

had agreed to call for the general election of a national assembly in all Prussian provinces. The

Prussian National Assembly The Prussian National Assembly ( German: ''Preußische Nationalversammlung''), came into being after the revolution of 1848 and was tasked with drawing up a constitution for Prussia. It first met in the building of the '' Sing-Akademie zu Berli ...

however was dismissed by royal decree of 5 December 1848 and the king imposed the Constitution of Prussia. The constitution, though reactionary, at least provided a bicameral parliament, consisting of a First Chamber (''Erste Kammer'', called House of Lords from 1855), as well as a Second Chamber (''Zweite Kammer'', from 1855 House of Representatives) whose members were

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a populatio ...

according to the three-class franchise system. Both houses and the King of Prussia had the right to introduce bills. Under the regency of Prince William I and his

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and ...

prime minister Prince Karl Anton von Hohenzollern from 1858 (the "New Era"), the House of Representatives led by the newly established

German Progress Party The German Progress Party (german: Deutsche Fortschrittspartei, DFP) was the first modern political party in Germany, founded by liberal members of the Prussian House of Representatives () in 1861 in opposition to Minister President Otto von Bi ...

gradually developed into a serious political actor, culminating in a constitutional conflict in 1861: William I, who had just acceded to the Prussian throne, and his war minister

Albrecht von Roon Albrecht Theodor Emil Graf von Roon (; 30 April 180323 February 1879) was a Prussian soldier and statesman. As Minister of War from 1859 to 1873, Roon, along with Otto von Bismarck and Helmuth von Moltke, was a dominating figure in Prussia's ...

requested approval for an increment of the military budget, which the deputies refused. Roon urged the king to appoint Otto von Bismarck as

Minister President A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. It ...

. Bismarck acted on an alleged gap in the constitution (''

Lückentheorie "Lückentheorie" (, ''gap theory'') refers to the theory that when the Crown and the Parliament were unable to come to agreement, the Crown could act as it sees fit. It was in reference to the Constitution of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was esta ...

'') and openly sidestepped any power of the purse of the Prussian representatives, saying that "not by speeches and votes of the majority are the great questions of the time decided (...) but by iron and blood." The assembly raised a blistering protest and over the following years Bismarck's cabinet had to govern without a government budget passed by the legislature. In September 1866 the Minister President, at a peak of his power after the

Battle of Königgrätz The Battle of Königgrätz (or Sadowa) was the decisive battle of the Austro-Prussian War in which the Kingdom of Prussia defeated the Austrian Empire. It took place on 3 July 1866, near the Bohemian city of Hradec Králové (German: Königg ...

, reached the passage of the Indemnity Act (''Indemnitätsgesetz'') subsequently legalising his budget management. The balloting led to the split-off of the National Liberal Party which became a loyal supporter of Bismarck's policies.

Free State of Prussia

During the German Revolution of 1918–19 the new Prussian government of Majority Social Democrats (MSPD) and Independent Social Democrats (USPD) under Paul Hirsch had the bicameral legislature abolished. A constitutional convention (''Preußische Landesversamlung'') was elected on 26 January 1919, after the introduction of equal franchise for all men and women. After the failed Kapp Putsch of 1920, the assembly confirmed the first cabinet of Minister-president

Otto Braun Otto Braun (28 January 1872 – 15 December 1955) was a politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) during the Weimar Republic. From 1920 to 1932, with only two brief interruptions, Braun was Minister President of the Free State o ...

and finally adopted the new Prussian constitution on 30 November. The ''Preußischer Landtag'' was re-established as the parliament of the Free State of Prussia in 1921. The provinces were represented in the Prussian State Council, which succeeded the former ''Herrenhaus'' as a kind of upper house. The Cologne mayor

Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a Germany, German statesman who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the fir ...

served as its president until 1933. A legislative period lasted for no longer than four years. The parliament could be dissolved early by joint resolution of the prime minister and the presidents of the Landtag and the State Council or by a plebiscite. In 1931 just such a referendum took place on the initiative of '' the "Stahlhelm"'' veterans' organization, with the support of the Nazi Party and the

German Communist Party The German Communist Party (german: Deutsche Kommunistische Partei, ) is a communist party in Germany. The DKP supports left positions and was an observer member of the European Left. At the end of February 2016 it left the European party. H ...

. Landtag elections took place on 20 February 1921, 7 December 1924, 20 May 1928, 24 April 1932, and 5 March 1933. The last Prussian Landtag convened on 22 March 1933, and again on 18 May 1933 for the final time. A year after coming to power in Germany, the Nazi Party passed the "Law for the Reconstruction of the Reich," effective on 30 January 1934. Directed at replacing the German federal state with a unitary government, this law abolished the Prussian Landtag, along with all other provincial diets.

Building complex

In 1899, the House of Representatives (''Abgeordnetenhaus'') moved into a building on Prinz-Albrecht-Straße No. 5 (present-day Niederkirchnerstraße), close to Potsdamer Platz and situated opposite to the

Martin Gropius Bau Martin-Gropius-Bau, commonly known as Gropius Bau, is an important exhibition building in Berlin, Germany. Originally a museum of applied arts, the building has been a listed historical monument since 1966. It is located at 7 Niederkirchnerstra ...

. During the German Revolution of 1918–19 the ''Reichsrätekongress'' (national Workers' and Soldiers' Council) held its assemblies here from 16 to 20 December 1918. On 1 January 1919, the Communist Party of Germany was founded here. Since 1993 the building has been the seat of the

Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin The Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin (House of Deputies) () is the state parliament (''Landtag'') of Berlin, Germany according to the city-state's constitution. In 1993 the parliament moved from Rathaus Schöneberg to its present house on Niederkirch ...

: colloquially it is still named ''Preußischer Landtag'' just as the nearby building accommodating the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...

is still generally referred to as the Reichstag. The seat of the Prussian House of Lords on

Leipziger Straße Leipziger Straße is a major thoroughfare in the central Mitte district of Berlin, capital of Germany. It runs from Leipziger Platz, an octagonal square adjacent to Potsdamer Platz in the west, to Spittelmarkt in the east. Part of the Bundess ...

was inaugurated in 1904. Both buildings were built back-to-back according to plans designed by

Friedrich Schulze Friedrich Schulze, Friedrich Schulze-Colbitz or Friedrich Schulze-Kolbitz (8 or 18 March 1843 in Colbitz – 30 July 1912 in Steglitz Steglitz () is a locality of the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough in Southwestern Berlin, the capital of Germany. ...

, they intercommunicate via a common restaurant wing. Upon the Nazi '' Machtergreifung'', the ''Herrenhaus'' building served as an annex of the neighbouring

Ministry of Aviation The Ministry of Aviation was a department of the United Kingdom government established in 1959. Its responsibilities included the regulation of civil aviation and the supply of military aircraft, which it took on from the Ministry of Supply. ...

and Hermann Göring's ''Preußenhaus'' foundation. After World War II it housed several departments of the ( East) German Academy of Sciences and since 29 September 2000 is the seat of the German Bundesrat.

Presidents of the Prussian Landtag (Free State of Prussia)

Political Party:

Literature

*Hans Wilderotter: ''Das Haus der Abgeordneten: Ein Denkmal preußischer und deutscher Geschichte in der Mitte Berlins''. Philo Fine Arts, Dresden 2001,

External links

Tabelle zur Geschichte des Preußischen Landtags

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Landtag of Prussia

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

Landtag of Prussia

Politics of Prussia 1849 establishments in Prussia