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Prussian House of Lords Preußisches Herrenhaus | |
|---|---|
 Courtyard on Leipziger Straße,c. 1900 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Established | 31 January 1850 |
| Disbanded | 15 November 1918 |
| Preceded by | |
| Succeeded by | Prussian State Council |
| Constitution | |
| Constitution of Prussia (1848) Constitution of Prussia (1850) | |
ThePrussian House of Lords (German:Preußisches Herrenhaus) inBerlin was theupper house of theLandtag of Prussia (German:Preußischer Landtag), the parliament ofPrussia from 1850 to 1918. Together with thelower house, theHouse of Representatives (Abgeordnetenhaus), it formed the Prussianbicameral legislature. The building is now used as the seat of theGerman Bundesrat.
Modeled on theHouse of Lords of theUnited Kingdom,[1] theHerrenhaus was created following the1848 revolution with the adoption of theConstitution of the Kingdom of Prussia imposed by KingFrederick William IV on 5 December 1848.
A member of the House of Lords was known as apair (see alsopairie), or officially as amember of the Prussian House of Lords (Mitglied des preußischen Herrenhauses, or MdH). The House consisted of hereditary peers, life peers appointed by the king of Prussia, peers by virtue of position, representatives of cities and universities, etc. The majority of members werenobles, although the House also hadcommoners as members, especially among the representatives of cities and universities. The breakdown was as follows:
With theGerman Revolution of 1918–1919 and the fall of theHohenzollern monarchy resulting fromWorld War I, the Prussian House of Lords was dissolved on 15 November 1918 by the revolutionaryExecutive Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Councils (Vollzugsrat des Arbeiter- und Soldatenrats).[2] Under to the1920 constitution of theFree State of Prussia it was replaced by theStaatsrat (state council) of representatives delegated by theLandtag assemblies of theProvinces. TheCologne mayorKonrad Adenauer served as president of the state council from 1921 until the NaziMachtergreifung in 1933.
Starting in 1856, the House of Lords met at aBaroque city palace onLeipziger Straße No. 3, nearLeipziger Platz, formerly owned by the merchantJohann Ernst Gotzkowsky (1710–1775) and seat of theRoyal Porcelain Factory from 1763. It had been acquired byAbraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1776–1835), father ofFelix andFanny Mendelssohn, in 1825. In the summer of 1826, young Felix Mendelssohn wrote hisA Midsummer Night's Dream overture, which premiered at his father's house.
After the Prussian state had purchased the building in 1856, it also served for the meetings of theReichstag of theNorth German Federation from 1867 to 1870. UponGerman unification in 1871, the neighbouring building on Leipziger Straße No. 4 was rebuilt as the seat of theReichstag of theGerman Empire, before it moved into the newReichstag building in 1894. Both the Leipziger Str. No. 3 and 4 buildings were demolished in 1898 to make space for a new building for the House of Lords.
TheNeo-RenaissanceHerrenhaus building, designed by the architectFriedrich Schulze, was completed in 1904. Schulze had had also built the adjacentAbgeordnetenhaus onPrinz-Albrecht-Straße from 1892 to 1898. Both structures were connected by a common functional wing in the rear, which allowed deputies to move freely between both chambers. Since 1993, theAbgeordnetenhaus building is the seat of the Berlinstate parliament.
Seat of the Prussian state council from 1921 to 1933, the formerHerrenhaus building from 1933 served forHermann Göring'sPreußenhaus foundation. The formerdebating chamber saw the inauguration of thePeople's Court (Volksgerichtshof) in 1934 and with the erection of neighbouringMinistry of Aviation the next year it was refurbished as the prestigiousHaus der Flieger lobby of Göring's headquarters.
Heavily damaged byAllied bombing and theBattle of Berlin, the building was restored after the war and from 1946 served for the East GermanAcademy of Sciences. Since 2000, it is the site of the parliamentary sessions of the Federal Council (Bundesrat) ofGermany.
52°30′33″N13°22′53″E / 52.50917°N 13.38139°E /52.50917; 13.38139
