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Concept
Weimar Constitution
Summary
The Constitution of the German Reich (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 constitution declared Germany to be a democratic parliamentary republic with a legislature elected under proportional representation. Universal suffrage was established, with a minimum voting age of 20. The constitution technically remained in effect throughout the Nazi era from 1933 to 1945, though practically it had been repealed by the Enabling Act of 1933 and thus its various provisions and protections went unenforced for the duration of Nazi rule.
The constitution's title was the same as the Constitution of the German Empire that preceded it. The German state's official name was Deutsches Reich until the adoption of the 1949 Basic Law.
Following the end of World War I, a German National Assembly gathered in the town of Weimar, in the state of Thuringia, after the 19 January 1919 Federal elections, in order to write a constitution for the Reich. The nation was to be a democratic federal republic, governed by a president and parliament.
The constitution was drafted by the lawyer and liberal politician Hugo Preuss, who was then state secretary in the Ministry of the Interior, and later became Minister of the Interior. Preuss criticised the Triple Entente's decision to prohibit the incorporation of Republic of German-Austria into the German Republic after the dissolution of Austria-Hungary and said it was a contradiction of the Wilsonian principle of self-determination of peoples.
Disagreements arose between the delegates over issues such as the national flag, religious education for youth and the rights of the states (Länder) that made up the Reich. The disagreements were resolved by August 1919, but 65 delegates abstained from voting to adopt the Weimar Constitution.
The first President, Friedrich Ebert, signed the new German constitution into law on 11 August 1919.
Official source
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