The State Council was tasked with advising on legislative proposals including regulations, decrees, etc., but had no
right of initiative, only dealing with proposals that were assigned to it. The State Council had no decision-making authority, but voted for, or against, proposals and could make suggestions for changes. The monarch usually followed this vote. If the monarch attended the meetings of the Council of State, he left the meeting when voting so as not to influence the result. The proportion of laws submitted to the State Council decreased rapidly. In 1818, all 16 of 16 suitable laws were discussed, in 1821, 10 out of 31 and, in 1826, there were 4 out of 30. New members were appointed (former members remained members) and the State Council was invited to deliberate. Some of the members of the State Council formed the "Central Assembly". On July 4, 1854, the full assembly of the State Council met in the
Berlin Palace and the King inaugurated the members into office. From 1854 onwards, he only called meetings of the Central Assembly; for the other members, membership in the State Council was purely an honor. The King only referred a few matters to the Council of State for consideration. In October 1856, he had the Central Assembly meet for the last time, after which it went dormant.
1895 reactivation After
Hans von Kanitz introduced a bill in the
Reichstag to monopolize grain imports and introduce minimum prices for grain, Kaiser
Wilhelm II announced at the meeting of the
State Ministry on 4 January 1895 that he would convene the State Council to discuss the bill. This led to intensive discussions. Bismarck's participation was a constitutional problem because a legal question existed whether his membership expired when he left office or whether he was a member for life due to his appointment in 1854. The political question was Kaiser Wilhelm II's policy of reconciliation towards Bismarck. The then Imperial Chancellor and
Prime Minister Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst visited Bismarck at Kaiser Wilhelm II's request and declared that he would become Vice President of the State Council if he appeared (Wilhelm II himself wanted to chair the meetings). Nevertheless, Bismarck decided not to attend the meeting and Hohenlohe became vice president. The second question was how to secure a majority for the government position. The government considered a peer boost and presented lists of names to Kaiser Wilhelm II. Instead, a "Central Assembly" of the State Council was called. The 16 members of the State Council selected in this way, advised by 26 large agrarians and financial magnates, met from March 12 to 21 under the chairmanship of the Emperor. This was the last meeting of the State Council. It was never convened again, new members were no longer appointed, but the State Council was not abolished either. With the
German Revolution of 1918–1919, its existence
de jure ended. At that point, it only consisted of 8 members, apart from the members by office. The law on the provisional order of state power in Prussia of 20 March 1919 no longer provided for the State Council. The
constitution of the
Free State of Prussia of 30 November 1920 again provided for a
State Council. However, this was not in the tradition of the old State Council, but was the representation of the
Prussian provinces and was more oriented towards the
Reichsrat. ==Presidents of the State Council ==