Background During the
Weimar Republic, the
Prussian State Council was the second chamber of the bicameral legislature of the
Free State of Prussia. Its members were elected by the Prussian provincial parliaments to represent the interests of the
provinces at the state level. With the
elections to the Prussian state parliament () that were held in parallel with the national
Reichstag elections on 5 March 1933, and also with the elections to the Prussian provincial parliaments held on 12 March 1933, the
Nazi Party was able to secure the necessary majority in the and in the State Council to pass a Prussian
enabling act on 18 May 1933. It gave the Prussian state government the same powers at the state level that the Reich government had received at the national level through the
Enabling Act of 24 March 1933. The Prussian minister president was authorized to make and implement laws without the involvement of the legislature. Through the enabling act, the State Council was deprived of its co-legislative and co-executive functions. Article 15 of the Law on the Prussian State Council of 8 July 1933 dissolved the State Council in its previous form.
The National Socialist State Council and its membership The Law created a new body in line with the
National Socialist worldview. The new State Council was a purely advisory body that by law consisted of (1) members by virtue of office (
ex officio members, § 2 1.) and (2) members who were appointed by
Hermann Göring in his capacity as Prussian
minister president (§ 2 2.). All members were awarded the title of State Councilor (). Members by virtue of office were the Prussian minister president and the government
ministers. Appointed members were to include the Prussian
state secretaries as well as certain other office holders, among whom were the
Stabschef of the SA, the
Reichsführer-SS and all the
Gauleiter of the Prussian
Gaue. Other appointed members were to be drawn from among representatives of churches, business, labor, science, art and other "men of merit". Members had to be males at least 25 years old with German citizenship and a residence in Prussia. For those who were members by virtue of office, membership ended by leaving office. Appointed members' terms were ended by death, resignation, or dismissal by Göring.
Meetings Only six meetings of the State Council were held. It met for the first time on 15 September 1933 for a ceremonial opening in the auditorium of the
Friedrich Wilhelms University in Berlin, before reconvening for a working session the next day at the
New Palace, Potsdam where all subsequent meetings would be held. The second meeting was held on 12 October 1933 and the third on 18 June 1934, with a report by the minister of finance on Prussia's financial situation. The fourth session was convened on 21 March 1935, the second anniversary of
Potsdam Day commemorating the reopening of the
Reichstag building following the
fire of February 1933, and the fifth was on 25 June 1935. The last session was held on 5 March 1936.
End of the State Council After the March 1936 session, the State Council was no longer convened, although it continued to exist. In August 1943,
Albert Hoffmann was the last member appointed. With the fall of the National Socialist state in May 1945, the State Council also effectively came to an end. On 25 February 1947, the
Allied Control Council promulgated Control Council Law No. 46, which stated: "The Prussian State together with its central government and all its agencies is abolished." This formally put an end to the State Council. == Text of the law establishing the State Council ==