A ''Landtag'' (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

of a

federated state A federated state (also State (polity), state, province, region, Canton (administrative division), canton, Länder, land, governorate, oblast, emirate, or country) is a territorial and constitutional community forming part of a federation ...

or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non-federal matters. The

States of Germany The Federal Republic of Germany is a federation and consists of sixteen partly sovereign ''states''. Of the sixteen states, thirteen are so-called area-states ('Flächenländer'); in these, below the level of the state government, there is a ...

and

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

are governed by ''Landtage''. In addition, the legislature of the Italian autonomous province of

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

is known in German as a ''Landtag''. Historically, states of the German Confederation also established ''Landtage''. The Landtag of Liechtenstein is the nation's unicameral assembly.

Name

The German word Landtag is composed of the words ''Land'' (state, country or territory) and ''Tag'' (day). The German word ''Tagung'' (meeting) is derived from the German word ''Tag'', as such meetings were held at daylight and sometimes spanned several days.

Historic Landtag assemblies

States of the Holy Roman Empire

In feudal society, the formal class system was reflected in the composition of the Imperial States' representative assemblies ('' Landstände''), regardless of their name well described as

estates of the realm The estates of the realm, or three estates, were the broad orders of social hierarchy used in Christendom (Christian Europe) from the Middle Ages to early modern Europe. Different systems for dividing society members into estates developed a ...

: it was not intended as an elected reflection of public opinion, but a fixed expression of established power as recognized in formal privileges, including the right to be seated in person (granted to many nobles (knightage) and

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

s, as well as certain cities) or to be represented as elector in a college that is entitled to one or more seats. Therefore, the representatives primarily defended class interests, and decisions were based on a class-based electoral system. In some of the Imperial States that were known as ''Land'', the name of such estates assembly was ''Landtag'', analogous to the '' Reichstag'' (Imperial Diet), which mainly comprised most of the Princes of the Holy Roman Empire plus '' Reichsgrafen'', Imperial prelates and Free imperial cities. The precise composition obviously varied greatly, and could change over time, as the result of privileges granted or lost, entities split or merged, border changes ''et cetera''.

Prussia

Prussian Landtage were held: *from 1466, in Royal Prussia. Before that, ''Prussian Landtag'' meetings were held in the Monastic state of the Teutonic Order. See also Prussian estates. *from 1525, in Ducal Prussia. See also Preußischer Landtag.

States of the German Confederation

and

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

escaped the French 'exporting the revolution', and

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

was happy to maintain satellite monarchies in most German territories under his control (members of the

Confederation of the Rhine The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine or Rhine Confederation, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austrian Empire, Austria ...

), the more democratic principles of the Enlightenment would have less effect in the German-speaking lands, or only much later. In 1815 the German Confederation ("Deutscher Bund") was founded as successor to the Holy Roman Empire. § 13 of the "Bundesakte" (the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

of the German Confederation) forced the German states to pass constitutions and implement parliaments called Landstände or Landtage. The first constitution was passed in Nassau in 1814. Until 1841 (

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

) all but two states got their constitution and parliaments.

States of the German Empire

In 1871 the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

was founded. All 25 states of the German Empire and Alsace-Lorraine (the " Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen") (from 1911) had Landtage as legislative authorities. The most important one was the '' Prussian Landtag''.

States of the Weimar Republic

In the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

(1919 – 1933) all German states had Landtage that were democratically elected by

universal suffrage Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the " one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion ...

, and to which the state governments were responsible. After the Nazi seizure of power, they embarked on the process of '' Gleichschaltung'' (coordination). On 31 March 1933, the '' Provisional Law on the Coordination of the States with the Reich'' was enacted, which dissolved all the sitting Landtage and reconstituted them on the basis of the recent ''Reichstag'' election results, which had given the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

and its coalition partner the DNVP a working majority. This was followed by the " Law on the Reconstruction of the Reich" of 30 January 1934 that formally abolished all the Landtage and transferred the

sovereignty Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate au ...

of the states to the central government. Although the states themselves continued in existence, the

federalism Federalism is a mode of government that combines a general level of government (a central or federal government) with a regional level of sub-unit governments (e.g., provinces, State (sub-national), states, Canton (administrative division), ca ...

of the Republic was effectively supplanted by a

unitary state A unitary state is a (Sovereign state, sovereign) State (polity), state governed as a single entity in which the central government is the supreme authority. The central government may create or abolish administrative divisions (sub-national or ...

East Germany

Under its original constitution,

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

was a

federal republic A federal republic is a federation of Federated state, states with a republican form of government. At its core, the literal meaning of the word republic when used to reference a form of government means a country that is governed by elected re ...

with five Länder, each with its own Landtag. Each Landtag was responsible for electing the Chamber of States, the

upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

of the national parliament. In 1952, the Länder were dissolved and replaced by (districts). The Landtage were accordingly abolished and their functions transferred to the Bezirke governments. The Länder were eventually restored after the Peaceful Revolution, but their Landtage did not convene until after the

reunification of Germany German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the German Democratic Republic and the integration of i ...

Finland

The Diet of Finland, which was created when the country was ceded from Sweden to Russia in 1809, was called in Swedish until 1906 when it was replaced by the unicameral

Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral and Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that ...

. Parliament continued using the name in Swedish until 1919, when Finland adopted its first constitution following the declaration of independence in 1917. Since then, the official term in Swedish has been , equivalent of the German Reichstag. The Finnish name is .

Baltic countries

The first Landtag of the Livonian Confederation was called by archbishop of Riga Johannes Ambundii in 1419 and reconvened on a regular basis until the incorporation of Livonian lands into the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

in 1561. Separate Landtags for

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

, Courland and

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

continued to exist as bodies of the Duchies of

, Courland and Semigallia, and later the Russian Governorates of

and Courland. After the independence of Estonia and Latvia in 1918, they were ultimately replaced by the

Riigikogu The Riigikogu (, from Estonian ''riigi-'', "of the state", and ''kogu'', "assembly") is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the prime minister and chi ...

and the

Saeima The Saeima () is the parliament of the Latvia, Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated to political parties which gain at least 5% of the p ...

Modern legislatures

In the contemporary Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Austria and the Italian Republic's province of

(with a German-speaking majority), a Landtag is a unicameral legislature for a constitutive federal state (Bundesland). In the Principality of Liechtenstein, the Landtag is the sole national parliament, because Liechtenstein has no federal structure due to its size.

German legislatures

In most of the German constitutive federal states (), the unicameral legislature is called ''Landtag'': * Landtag of Baden-Württemberg * Landtag of Bavaria (until 1999, the large federal state of

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

was the only state with a bicameral legislature, with a lower house called the Landtag, and an upper house called the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

) * Landtag of Brandenburg * Landtag of Hesse * Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern * Landtag of Lower Saxony * Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia * Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate * Landtag of Saarland * Landtag of Saxony * Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt * Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein * Landtag of Thuringia In the German city states, the parliamentary

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

serves the function of the state parliament within the federal system - in the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg it is called the ''Bürgerschaft'' (municipal assembly): * Bürgerschaft of Bremen * Bürgerschaft of Hamburg In the German capital and city state of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, the legislature since 1951 (then of

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

) is called '' Abgeordnetenhaus'' ("House of Representatives"), adopting the tradition of the Prussian Landtag. The national bicameral Parliament comprises the directly elected

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

and the Bundesrat which represents the state governments in Federal matters which affect the ''Länder''.

Austrian legislatures

According to the

Constitution of Austria The Federal Constitution of Austria () is the body of all constitutional law of the Republic of Austria on the federal level. It is split up over many different acts. Its centerpiece is the Federal Constitutional Law (''Bundes-Verfassungsgesetz' ...

, the ''Landtage'' are the unicameral legislatures of the nine

states of Austria Austria is a federal republic consisting of nine federal states. The European Commission calls them provinces. Austrian federal states can pass laws that stay within the limits of the constitution, and each federal state has representatives in ...

(), dealing with all matters not explicitly allotted to federal level: * Landtag of Burgenland * Landtag of Carinthia * Landtag of Lower Austria * Landtag of Upper Austria * Landtag of Salzburg * Landtag of Styria * Landtag of Tyrol * Landtag of Vorarlberg As the Austrian capital

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

(like Berlin) is both a city-state and a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

, the Gemeinderat (municipal assembly) of Vienna also serves as the state Landtag. However, the city constitution states that municipal and state affairs are kept separate, and the two bodies hold separate meetings even though their memberships are identical. The representatives are elected in general, free, secret and direct ballots according to the principle of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

. The largest of the parliamentary groups (called ''Klubs'' in Austria) usually nominates the '' Landeshauptmann'' governor. The modern ''Landtage'' are the democratic successors of the estates assemblies in the corresponding crown lands of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

. Exceptions are the city of Vienna, which belonged to the Lower Austria Kronland until 1920, and Burgenland, ceded to Austria by the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

in 1921.

's national bicameral parliament consists of the directly elected National Council and the Federal Council, which represents the ''Landtage'' parliaments at the federal level. The two chambers meet in the Federal Assembly, held for the ceremonial swearing-in of the Austrian president.

Sources and references

Donaumonarchie

References

{{Authority control Federalism in Germany German feudalism Legislatures of country subdivisions State politics (Germany) Federalism in Austria