Parlamentarischer Rat

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Museum Koenig, Bonn

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 May 1949.

Convening

The Council was implemented by the minister-presidents of the eleven states of Germany within the three Western Allied occupation zones and inaugurated on 1 September 1948.[1] It included 70 state delegates selected by the Landtag parliaments specifically for this purpose (including five non-voting representatives of West Berlin),[2] many of them state ministers, government officials or legal academics. The deputies could rely on a draft document prepared by the constitutional Herrenchiemsee convention held in August.

The Council was officially opened by

Christian Democratic politician Konrad Adenauer, former mayor of Cologne, its president. The regular sessions of the Parliamentary Council were held at the nearby Pedagogical Academy
building.

The delegates of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) already formed a united faction with their

Friederike Nadig (SPD), Helene Weber (CDU) and Helene Wessel (Centre).[4] The SPD deputy Paul Löbe had served as President of the Reichstag parliament from 1925 until 1932, when he was succeeded by Hermann Göring
.

Proceedings

Building of the Pedagogical Academy in Bonn, later the Bundeshaus

The primary purpose of the Council was to prepare a new constitution for

People's Republics behind the Iron Curtain, the draft laid stress on a parliamentary system and the separation of powers, all bound to the constitution. It included a charter of fundamental rights
and the right of access to courts.

The

Saar Protectorate in 1957 and German reunification in 1990. The Western Allies insisted on the special status of Berlin, which is why the Bundestag MPs from West Berlin
were not entitled to vote.

The Council adopted the new constitution on 8 May 1949, with 53 votes for and 12 votes against,

1949 federal election
, which among others the Basic Law had left it as a remaining task.

References

  1. ^ a b Feldkamp 2019, p. 53.
  2. ^ a b Grau, Lepper-Binnewerg & Würz.
  3. ^ Feldkamp 2019, p. 54.
  4. ^ BMFSJ 2019.

Sources

  • 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.
  • BMFSJ, ed. (2019). Mütter des Grundgesetzes (in German) (13th ed.). Berlin: Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend, Referat Öffentlichkeitsarbeit.
  • Feldkamp, Michael F. (2019-04-15). Der Parlamentarische Rat 1948–1949: Die Entstehung des Grundgesetzes (in German). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
    ISBN 978-3-647-10565-9
    .
  • Grau, Andreas; Lepper-Binnewerg, Antoinette; Würz, Markus. "LeMO Kapitel: Entstehung der Bundesrepublik: Parlamentarischer Rat und Grundgesetz". www.hdg.de (in German). Stiftung Deutsches Historisches Museum, Stiftung Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik. Retrieved 2020-03-06.

See also

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