Reichsminister on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Reichsminister (in German singular and plural; 'minister of the realm') was the title of members of the German Government during two historical periods: during the March revolution of 1848/1849 in the German Reich of that period, and in the modern German federal state from 1919 to the end of the
When the
Reichsminister (in German singular and plural; 'minister of the realm') was the title of members of the German Government during two historical periods: during the March revolution of 1848/1849 in the German Reich of that period, and in the modern German federal state from 1919 to the end of the National Socialist
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
regime in 1945.
The word ''Reich'' refers to the name of the German federal state from 1871 to 1945: ''Deutsches Reich''. In English it is translated to 'Empire' (for the period with an Emperor), and often left untranslated for the time after. A ''Reichsminister'' was a member of the national government, not to be confused with a member of a government of one of the many ''Länder'' (states) of Germany.
The Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
that existed until 1806 did not have a modern government and thus no ministers.
In German, the word ''Reichsminister'' may refer in rare cases to a minister of a different country, such as a Danish ''rigsminister'' or a Dutch ''rijksminister''.
Revolution 1848/1849
In 1848, the first parliament for all of Germany, the National Assembly (orFrankfurt parliament
The Frankfurt Parliament (german: Frankfurter Nationalversammlung, literally ''Frankfurt National Assembly'') was the first freely elected parliament for all German states, including the German-populated areas of Austria-Hungary, elected on 1 Ma ...
in English), voted for a provisional constitutional order. It also installed a ''Reichsverweser
A ''Reichsverweser'' (German pronunciation: ) or imperial regent represented a monarch when there was a vacancy in the throne, such as during a prolonged absence or in the period between the monarch's death and the accession of a successor. The t ...
'' as a kind of provisional head of state. The ''Reichsverweser'' had the task to install the ministers. The Reichsverweser and the Reichsminister together formed the Provisorische Zentralgewalt
The Provisorische Zentralgewalt (, ''Provisional Central Power'') was the provisional government of the Frankfurt Parliament (1848–49). Since this all-German national assembly had not been initiated by the German Confederation, it was lacking not ...
(provisional central power, also called imperial government). The Reichsminister together met as the ''Ministerrat'' or ''Gesamt-Reichsministerium''. Although not mentioned in the constitutional order, usually one of the Reichsminister held the title of ''Ministerpräsident''.
German federal state since 1867
When the North German Confederation
The North German Confederation (german: Norddeutscher Bund) was initially a German military alliance established in August 1866 under the leadership of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was transformed in the subsequent year into a confederated st ...
(1867) and the German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
(1871) were created, the chancellor (''Bundeskanzler'', then ''Reichskanzler'') was the only responsible member of government. The chancellor installed heads of the governmental departments with the title of a ''Staatssekretär''. They developed into ''de facto'' ministers, but they were officially not colleagues of the chancellor.
In the revolution of 1918/1919, the National Assembly of Weimar
The Weimar National Assembly (German: ), officially the German National Constitutional Assembly (), was the popularly elected constitutional convention and de facto parliament of Germany from 6 February 1919 to 21 May 1920. As part of its ...
similarly agreed first on a provisional constitutional order (February 1919). A ''Reichspräsident'' installed ministers; one of them used the title ''Reichsministerpräsident'' in practice. The Weimar Constitution
The Constitution of the German Reich (german: Die Verfassung des Deutschen Reichs), usually known as the Weimar Constitution (''Weimarer Verfassung''), was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic era (1919–1933). The c ...
of August 1919 introduced the title of ''Reichskanzler'' again, now with ''Reichsminister'' (plural) as his colleagues. The National Socialists did not change the titles after 1933, albeit the official cabinet government lost some of its significance due to Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...
installing numerous other office holders with similar tasks. The last ''Reichsminister'' (plural) were imprisoned by Allied forces in May 1945 (' Flensburg Government').
In the German constitution of 1949, the German government consists of the ''Bundeskanzler'' and the ''Bundesminister''.
References