The German Basic Law was supposed to be provisional, but 73 years later it still applies. The announcement on May 23, 1949 also marked the birth of the Federal Republic.
by Dirk Hempel
On May 8, 1949, the 61 men and four women of the Parliamentary Council meet in Bonn to vote on a provisional constitution - for a new state:the Federal Republic of Germany. Since there is not enough space in the old auditorium of the Pedagogical Academy, chairs are placed outside in front of the open window, the rush of spectators and press representatives is too large.
Months of consultations chaired by Adenauer
For months, the members of parliament, chaired by their President Konrad Adenauer (CDU), deliberated. They were elected by the respective parliaments of the eleven West German states. Five delegates from Berlin are present with an advisory vote. CDU/CSU and SPD are the strongest factions.
There are 17 politicians from the four northern German states, including the Kiel law professor Hermann von Mangoldt (CDU) and Paul de Chapeaurouge (CDU), who was a senator in Hamburg during the Weimar Republic. From Lower Saxony the later SPD chairman Erich Ollenhauer. The Hamburg Social Democrat Adolph Schönfelder opens the first meeting of the Council in September 1948 as senior president. Like his colleague Hermann Schäfer from the Lower Saxony FDP, he is elected Vice-President and chairs the council meetings when Adenauer is unable to attend.
Germany under Allied surveillance
The three western allies USA, Great Britain and France do not really trust their protégés:numerous occupation officers observe the deliberations and discussions. But above all the USA want to stabilize the political order after the currency reform of June 1948. In the beginning of the Cold War, the West Germans are indispensable as allies against the Soviet Union.
Basic Law:originally provisional instead of constitution
However, the prime ministers of the federal states do not want to cement the division of Germany with their own nation state, but rather emphasize its temporary status. Instead of the constituent assembly demanded by the Western Allies, they only convoke a "Parliamentary Council". And instead of a constitution, its members are only working on a provisional arrangement, which they call the Basic Law. This designation was suggested by the Mayor of Hamburg, Max Brauer, before the deliberations began. Later, the members of parliament will therefore only choose the small, provincial Bonn as the "provisional" federal capital.
Lessons from history
The three western victorious powers have given the German politicians the task of developing a political order that draws lessons from the mistakes of the Weimar Republic and the crimes of the Nazi regime. For weeks there were heated debates in Bonn about the reasons for the failure of the first German republic. Then the decisive innovations are decided, which should ensure the stability of the democratic conditions:a strengthening of the parliament and the federal chancellor elected by him against a weak federal president, an emphasis on the federal state structure and the "constructive vote of no confidence", in which a chancellor only with simultaneous election of a successor can be overthrown. In addition, a Federal Constitutional Court will be established as the guardian of the Basic Law.
Basic rights ensure the freedom of citizens
The basic rights laid down in Articles 1 to 19 guarantee the inviolable rights of citizens vis-à-vis the state, including human dignity, free development of personality, equality, freedom of religion and freedom of the press. A preceding preamble also includes the compatriots in the Soviet occupation zone and emphasizes the provisional character of the Basic Law:"The entire German people remains called upon to complete the unity and freedom of Germany in free self-determination."
Basic Law:Birth of the Federal Republic
On May 8, exactly four years to the day after the unconditional surrender, Council President Konrad Adenauer was the first to sign the law. Previously, MEPs accepted the outcome of their negotiations by a vote of 53 to 12. Then the politicians stand up and sing the patriotic song "I surrendered" together. In the following days, the Western Allies approve the Basic Law and ten out of eleven state parliaments (except for Bavaria) also agree. Its announcement on May 23, 1949 also marked the birth of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The Soviets found their own state
The Soviet Union had suspiciously followed the efforts to found a Western state since 1948 and tried to prevent it for almost a year by blocking the access roads to West Berlin. Now, in October 1949, they are responding by proclaiming their own state entity, the German Democratic Republic.
Export hit Basic Law
In the decades that followed, the Basic Law became a success, an export hit for the Federal Republic, and at times replaced the American constitution as a model for democracy. It became the model for new constitutions worldwide, especially in formerly totalitarian states, for example in Spain, Portugal and Greece in the 1970s, and later also in South America and Asia. After 1989, the former socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, such as Poland and the Czech Republic, oriented themselves towards the German Basic Law.
1990:The provisional becomes the constitution
When, with the end of the GDR, the five newly formed East German states acceded to the area of application of the Basic Law and thus fulfilled the mandate of the preamble of 1949, the provisional constitution became a final constitution - but the designation "Basic Law" remained.