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

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) constituted the German state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: ...

implemented in 1849, 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 gro ...

legislature consisting of the upper

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...

(''Herrenhaus'') and the lower

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

(''Abgeordnetenhaus''). After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

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 non- ...

'' diet continued as the parliament of the

Free State of Prussia The Free State of Prussia (german: Freistaat Preußen, ) was one of the constituent states of Germany from 1918 to 1947. The successor to the Kingdom of Prussia after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I, it continued to be the dom ...

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 Frederick William IV (german: Friedrich Wilhelm IV.; 15 October 17952 January 1861), the eldest son and successor of Frederick William III of Prussia, reigned as King of Prussia from 7 June 1840 to his death on 2 January 1861. Also referred to ...

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 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

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 according to the three-class franchise system. Both houses and the

King of Prussia The monarchs of Prussia were members of the House of Hohenzollern who were the hereditary rulers of the former German state of Prussia from its founding in 1525 as the Duchy of Prussia. The Duchy had evolved out of the Teutonic Order, a Roman C ...

had the right to introduce bills. Under the regency of Prince

William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 108 ...

and his liberal prime minister Prince Karl Anton von Hohenzollern from 1858 (the "New Era"), the House of Representatives led by the newly established German Progress Party 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 Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of ...

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'') and openly sidestepped any

power of the purse The power of the purse is the ability of one group to manipulate and control the actions of another group by withholding funding, or putting stipulations on the use of funds. The power of the purse can be used positively (e.g. awarding extra fun ...

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 A government budget is a document prepared by the government and/or other political entity presenting its anticipated tax revenues (Inheritance tax, income tax, corporation tax, import taxes) and proposed spending/expenditure (Healthcare, Educ ...

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: Königgr� ...

, 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 Constitutional convention may refer to: * Constitutional convention (political custom), an informal and uncodified procedural agreement *Constitutional convention (political meeting), a meeting of delegates to adopt a new constitution or revise an e ...

(''Preußische Landesversamlung'') was elected on 26 January 1919, after the introduction of equal franchise for all men and women. After the failed

Kapp Putsch The Kapp Putsch (), also known as the Kapp–Lüttwitz Putsch (), was an attempted coup against the German national government in Berlin on 13 March 1920. Named after its leaders Wolfgang Kapp and Walther von Lüttwitz, its goal was to undo th ...

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 ...

and finally adopted the new Prussian constitution on 30 November. The ''Preußischer Landtag'' was re-established as the parliament of the

in 1921. The provinces were represented in the Prussian State Council, which succeeded the former ''Herrenhaus'' as a kind of upper house. The

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

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 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 ...

. In 1931 just such a

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 ...

took place on the initiative of '' the "Stahlhelm"'' veterans' organization, with the support of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

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. Hi ...

. 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 Potsdamer Platz (, ''Potsdam Square'') is a public square and traffic intersection in the center of Berlin, Germany, lying about south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag ( German Parliament Building), and close to the southeast corn ...

and situated opposite to the Martin Gropius Bau. During the German Revolution of 1918–19 the ''Reichsrätekongress'' (national

Workers' and Soldiers' Council A workers' council or labor council is a form of political and economic organization in which a workplace or municipality is governed by a council made up of workers or their elected delegates. The workers within each council decide on what thei ...

) held its assemblies here from 16 to 20 December 1918. On 1 January 1919, the

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, , KPD ) was a major political party in the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933, an underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and a minor party in West German ...

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 Niederkirchn ...

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

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the German Federalism, 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 Representat ...

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 Bundesstra ...

was inaugurated in 1904. Both buildings were built back-to-back according to plans designed by Friedrich Schulze, they intercommunicate via a common restaurant wing. Upon the Nazi ''

Machtergreifung Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919 when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He rose to a place of prominence in the early years of the party. Be ...

'', 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 Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...

's ''Preußenhaus'' foundation. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

it housed several departments of the (

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

)

German Academy of Sciences German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law ** ...

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 The Landtag of Prussia (german: Preußischer Landtag) was the representative assembly of the Kingdom of Prussia implemented in 1849, a bicameral legislature consisting of the upper House of Lords (''Herrenhaus'') and the lower House of Representa ...

Politics of Prussia 1849 establishments in Prussia