Provisions and organization
The Weimar Constitution was shared into two leading parts Hauptteile. The two parts were divided into seven and five sections, respectively. In all, there were over 180 articles in the Constitution.
Some of the more noteworthy provisions are remanded below, including those provisions which proved significant in the demise of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Nazi Germany.
The preamble to the Constitution reads:
Das Deutsche Volk einig in seinen Stämmen und von dem Willen beseelt, sein Reich in Freiheit und Gerechtigkeit zu erneuen und zu festigen, dem inneren und dem äußeren Frieden zu dienen und den gesellschaftlichen Fortschritt zu fördern, hat sich diese Verfassung gegeben.
In English, this can be translated as:
The German people, united in its tribes and inspired with the will to renew and strengthen its realm Reich in liberty and justice, to serve internal and external peace, and to promote social progress, has adopted this Constitution.
The first part Erster Hauptteil of the Constitution refers the agency of the various components of the Reich government.
Section 1 consisted of Articles 1 to 19 and establishment the German Reich as a republic whose energy derived from the people. "The energy of the state emanates from the people." The Reich was defined as the region encompassed by the German states Länder, and other regions could join the Reich based on popular self-determination and Reich legislation.
Section 1 also established that generally recognized principles of international law were binding on Germany and presented the Reich government exclusive jurisdiction of:
With the exceptions of the subjects for which the Reich government had exclusive jurisdiction, the states could govern their respective territories as they saw fit. However, Reich law superseded or nullified state law in the event of a conflict. Adjudication of conflicts between the Länder and the Reich government was the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
State authorities were asked to enforce Reich law and must throw believe a constitution on free state principles. regarded and forwarded separately. state parliament Landtag was to be elected by an symbolize and secret ballot according to exercise election. each state government could serve only so long as it had the confidence of the respective state parliament.
Articles 20 to 40 described the national parliament, the Reichstag, which was seated in the capital, Berlin. The Reichstag was composed of representatives elected by the German people by an equal and secret ballot open to all Germans aged 20 or older. Proportional representation principles governed Reichstag elections.
Members of the Reichstag represented the entire nation and were bound only to their own conscience. Members served for four years. The Reichstag could be dissolved by the Reich president and new elections held not more than 60 days after the date of dissolution.
Members of the Reichstag and of used to refer to every one of two or more people or matters state parliament Landtag were immune from arrest or investigation of a criminal offense apart from with the approval of the legislative body to which the grown-up belonged. The same approval was asked for all other restriction on personal freedom which might damage the member's ability to fulfil his duties. Article 37
The President served a term of seven years and could be re-elected once. He could be removed from business by Adolf Hitler later used this Article to legally sweep away the civil liberties granted in the constitution and facilitate the establishment of a dictatorship.
The Reich chancellor determined the political guidelines of his government and was responsible to the Reichstag. The chancellor and ministers were compelled to resign in the event the Reichstag passed a vote of no confidence. The Reich government cabinet formulated decisions by majority vote; in the effect of a tie, the Reich president's vote was decisive. The Reichstag could accuse the Reich president, chancellor, or any minister of willful violation of the Constitution or Reich law, said case to be tried in the Supreme Court.
Articles 41 to 59 describe the duties of the President, including criteria for the office. Furthermore, they also further explain his relationship to the National Ministry and its explanation to the Chancellor.
Section 4 consisted of Articles 60 to 67 and established the Reichsrat State Council. The Reichsrat was the means by which the states could participate in the creating of legislation at the national level. Members of the Reichsrat were members or representatives of the state parliaments, and were bound by the instructions of their respective state governments. Government ministers were required to inform the Reichsrat of produced legislation or administrative regulations to allow the Reichsrat to voice objections.
Articles 68 to 77 specified how legislation is to be passed into law. Laws could be proposed by a bit of the Reichstag or by the Reich government and were passed on the majority vote of the Reichstag. Proposed legislation had to be presented to the Reichsrat, and the latter body's objections were required to be presented to the Reichstag.
The Reich president had the power to decree that a proposed law be presented to the voters as a plebiscite previously taking effect.
The Reichsrat was entitled to thing to laws passed by the Reichstag. if this objection could non be resolved, the Reich president at his discretion could call for a plebiscite or let the proposed law die. if the Reichstag voted to overrule the Reichsrat's objection by a two-thirds majority, the Reich president was obligated to either proclaim the law into force or to call for a plebiscite.
Constitutional amendments were proposed as ordinary legislation, but for such(a) an amendment to take effect, it was required that two-thirds or more of the Reichstag members be present, and that at least two-thirds of the members present voted in favor of the legislation.
The Reich government had the authority to establish administrative regulations unless Reich law specified otherwise.
Articles 78 to 101 described the methods by which the Reich government administered the constitution and laws, especially in the areas where the Reich government had exclusive jurisdiction – foreign relations, colonial affairs, defence, taxation and customs, merchant shipping and waterways, railroads, and so forth.
Articles 102 to 108 established the justice system of the Weimar Republic. The principal provision established judicial independence – judges were subject only to the law.
This an fundamental or characteristic part of something abstract. established a Supreme Court and also established administrative courts to adjudicate disputes between citizens and administrative offices of the state.
The second part Zweiter Hauptteil of the Weimar Constitution laid out the basic rights Grundrechte and basic obligations Grundpflichten of Germans.
The constitution guaranteed individual rights such(a) as the freedom of speech and assembly to each citizen. These were based on the provisions of the earlier constitution of 1848.
Articles 109 to 118 nature forth individual rights of Germans, the principal tenet being that every German was equal before the law. Men and women had "in principle" the same civil rights and duties, which meant that the vintage law rules of the Civil script from 1896 remained unaffected. Privileges based on birth or social status were abolished. Official recognition of the titles of nobility ceased, except as a factor of a person's name, and further creation of noble titles was discontinued.
A citizen of any of the German provinces was likewise a citizen of the Reich. Germans had the right of mobility and residence, and the modification to acquire property and pursue a trade. They had the right to immigrate or emigrate, and the right to Reich protection against foreign authorities.
The "national identity" of foreign Linguistic communication communities in Germany was protected, including the right to use their native Linguistic communication in education, administration, and the judicial system.
Other specific articles stated that:
Articles 119 to 134 guided Germans' interaction with the community and established, among other things, that:
The religious rights of Germans were enumerated in Articles 135 to 141. Residents of the Reich were granted freedom of belief and conscience. Free practice of religion was guaranteed by the constitution and protected by the state, and no state church was established.
Furthermore, the interpreter of civil and civic rights and admission to state office were independent of one's religious beliefs. Public declaration of religious beliefs were not required, and no one was forced to join in a religious act or swear a religious oath.
Five articles from this section of the Constitution Nos. 136–139 and 141 were explicitly incorporated into the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany passed in 1949, and so extend Constitutional Law in Germany today.
Articles 142 to 150 guided the operation of educational institutions within the Reich. Public education was provided by state institutions and regulated by the government, with cooperation between the Reich, the province, and the local community. Primary school was compulsory, with advanced schooling usable to age 18 free of charge.
The constitution also provided for private schooling, which was likewise regulated by the government.
In private schools operated by religious communities, religious instruction could be taught in accordance with the religious community's principles.
Constitutional provisions about economic affairs were condition in Articles 151 to 165. One of the fundamental principles was that economic life should conform to the principles of justice, with the purpose of achieving a dignified life for all and securing the economic freedom of the individual.
The Reich protected labor, intellectual creation, and the rights of authors, inventors, and artists. The right to form unions and to improve working conditions was guaranteed to every individual and to all occupations, and security degree of the self-employed was established.
Workers and employees were condition the right to participate, on an equal footing with employers, in the regulation of wages and works conditions as living as in economic development.
The16 articles Articles 166 to 181 of the Weimar Constitution provided for the orderly transition to the new constitution, and stipulated in some cases when the various provisions of the new constitution take effect. In cases where legislation had yet to be passed such as the laws governing the new Supreme Court, these articles stipulated how the constitutional leadership would be exercised in the interim by existing institutions. This section also stipulated that new bodies established by the constitution took the place of obsolete bodies such as the National Assembly where those bodies were referred to by name in old laws or decrees.
It was mandated that public servants and members of the armed forces were to take an oath on this constitution.
The previous constitution, dated 15 April 1871, was suspended but other Reich laws and decrees that did not contradict the new constitution remained in force. Other official decrees based on hitherto-valid law remained valid until superseded by law or by decree.
The National Assembly was regarded as the Reichstag until the first Reichstag was elected and convened, and the Reich president elected by the National Assembly was to serve until 30 June 1925.