{{short description, Meeting of constitutional experts Kloster Herrenchiemsee 03

The Constitutional Convention at Herrenchiemsee (german: Verfassungskonvent auf Herrenchiemsee) was a meeting of constitutional experts nominated by the

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 ...

s of the Western States of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, held in August 1948 at former

Herrenchiemsee Herrenchiemsee is a complex of royal buildings on Herreninsel, the largest island in the Chiemsee lake, in southern Bavaria, Germany. Together with the neighbouring isle of Frauenchiemsee and the uninhabited Krautinsel, it forms the municipality ...

Abbey in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

. It was part of the process of drafting and adopting the current German constitution, the Basic Law (''Grundgesetz''). The draft document prepared by the Herrenchiemsee convention served as a starting point for the deliberations of the ''

Parlamentarischer Rat The ''Parlamentarischer Rat'' (German for "Parliamentary Council") was the West German constituent assembly in Bonn that drafted and adopted the constitution of West Germany, the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, promulgated on 23 Ma ...

'' in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

during 1948 and 1949.

Proceedings

On 1 July 1948, the Western Allies had officially recommended the implementation of a West German state by handing out the

Frankfurt Documents 200px, Members of the Frankfurt conference The Frankfurt Documents were an important step towards the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany. On July 1, 1948 the representatives of the Western allied occupation forces handed over a number ...

to the minister-presidents and governing mayors of the Western occupation zones. From 8 to 10 July, the minister-presidents met at

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...

and proclaimed the establishment of a Federal Republic of Germany, which should only be a provisional arrangement but not a successor state of the German Reich. Chaired by the representative of the

Bavarian State Chancellery Bavarian is the adjective form of the German state of Bavaria, and refers to people of ancestry from Bavaria. Bavarian may also refer to: * Bavarii, a Germanic tribe * Bavarians, a nation and ethnographic group of Germans * Bavarian, Iran, a villag ...

, the convention was inaugurated on August 10 at the Herrenchiemsee "Old Palace", a former residence of King

Ludwig II Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886) was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He is sometimes called the Swan King or ('the Fairy Tale King'). He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the ...

. The assembly did not adopt an official name, but it was later called Herrenchiemsee Convention by the members of the ''Parlamentarischer Rat''. Every West German state was represented by an expert, and the

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

deputy

Otto Suhr Otto Ernst Heinrich Hermann Suhr (17 August 1894 – 30 August 1957) was a German politician as a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). He served as the Governing Mayor of Berlin (i.e. West Berlin) from 1955 until his death. L ...

, because of Allied reservations, attended the meeting as a non-voting "guest". Three committees were established, which until August 23 drafted a nearly-complete concept of a new German constitution that fixed the basic principles of the Basic Law: *A

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single grou ...

system of a directly-elected federal parliament (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 ...

) and a representation of the German states. No agreement was reached on the configuration of the second chamber; instead of a genuine

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 ...

upper house An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...

", the Bundesrat legislative body was implemented in 1949. *The

Cabinet of Germany The Federal Cabinet or Federal Government (german: link=no, Bundeskabinett or ') is the chief Executive (government), executive body of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It consists of the Chancellor of Germany, Federal Chancellor and m ...

as the federal executive body is dependent on a majority in the parliament if it can fulfil the task of forming a government. The confidence of the parliament is essential but also sufficient for the

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gro ...

(the

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

). *A negative majority shall not prevent the formation of the government nor overthrow it without replacing it (see constructive vote of no confidence). *Beside the head of government is a neutral legitimizing

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

, the

President of Germany The president of Germany, officially the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: link=no, Bundespräsident der Bundesrepublik Deutschland),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international corres ...

, with limited executive powers. *The President is allowed neither to take emergency measures (''Notverordnungen'' as according to

Article 48 Article 48 of the constitution of the Weimar Republic of Germany (1919–1933) allowed the President, under certain circumstances, to take emergency measures without the prior consent of the '' Reichstag''. This power was understood to include t ...

of the 1919

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 ...

) nor to execute

federal laws Federal law is the body of law created by the federal government of a country. A federal government is formed when a group of political units, such as states or provinces join in a federation, delegating their individual sovereignty and many pow ...

in the states; those rights are reserved for the German government and the Bundesrat. *The execution of federal laws is supervised by the federal judicial system. *The states are mainly responsible for legislation, administration, justice and financing. *States and federal government prepare and execute separate

budgets A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environmenta ...

. *The instruments of

direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate decides on policy initiatives without legislator, elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently establishe ...

on federal level are limited: there is no provision of a country-wide

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

, and plebiscite shall be held only to adopt a new constitution. *Any

constitutional amendment A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, t ...

in order to abolish the fundamental principles of human

dignity Dignity is the right of a person to be valued and respected for their own sake, and to be treated ethically. It is of significance in morality, ethics, law and politics as an extension of the Enlightenment-era concepts of inherent, inalienable ...

or the republican, democratic and

federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

form of government is illegal (see

eternity clause Eternity, in common parlance, means infinite time that never ends or the quality, condition, or fact of being everlasting or eternal. Classical philosophy, however, defines eternity as what is timeless or exists outside time, whereas sempitern ...

). The federal character of the Herrenchiemsee draft corresponded with the assignment of the convention by the German States. It was adopted by a minister-presidents' conference before it was forwarded to the ''Parlamentarischer Rat''. The council in Bonn could rely on a highly-qualified conception with several contentious points resolved in advance, but many

Social Democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...

and

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

deputies originally objected against the strong exertion of influence by the states' governments.

References

* Josef Becker/ Theo Stammen/ Peter Waldmann (eds.): ''Vorgeschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland''. München: UTB Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 1979. * Frank R. Pfetsch et al.: ''Ursprünge der Zweiten Republik''. Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag, 1990.

Proceedings

References

See also