VII. SUPERVISION
Section 106
The State supervises the communes in order to insure that their activities conform with the laws and the aims of national leadership. The supervision shall be exercised in such a way that the initiative and the sense of responsibility of the communal administration are strengthened and not diminished.
* * * * * * *
Section 123
The provisions of this act take effect on April 1, 1935.
Berlin, 30 January 1935.
The Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler
The Reich Minister of the Interior Frick
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2012-PS
1933 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 195
First Regulation for Administration of the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service of 11 April 1933
On the basis of Article 17 of the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service of 7 April 1933 (RGBl I, 175), the following regulation is issued:
1
To Article 2:
Unfit, are all civil servants who belong to the communist party or communist aid- or supplementary organization. They are, therefore, to be discharged.
2
To Article 3:
1. A person is to be regarded as non-Aryan, who is descended from non-Aryans, especially Jewish parents or grandparents. This holds true even if only one parent or grandparent is of non-Aryan descent. This premise especially obtains if one parent or grandparent was of Jewish faith.
2. If a civil servant was not already a civil servant on 1 August 1914, he must prove that he is of Aryan descent, or that he fought at the front, or that he is the son or the father of a man killed during the World War. Proof must be given by submitting documents (birth certificate and marriage certificate of the parents, military papers).
3. If Aryan descent is doubtful, an opinion must be obtained from the expert on racial research commissioned by the Reich Minister of the Interior (Sachverstaendiger fuer Rasseforschung).
3
To Article 4:
1. In determining whether the suppositions of Article 4, sentence (1) are given, the whole political career of the official is to be considered, particularly from 9 November 1918 on.
2. Every official is required on request to attest to the highest Reich or country authority (Article 7) as to what political party he has been a member of until the present. As political parties in the sense of this definition reference is made to the Reichsbanner, Black-Red-Gold, the Republican Judges’ Union and the League for the Rights of Man.
4
All negotiations, documents and official certificates which are requisite for the fulfillment of this law, are free of duty and stamping (gebuehren- und stempelfrei).
Berlin, 11 April 1933
The Reich Minister of the Interior Frick
The Reich Minister of Finance Count Schwerin von Krosigk
PARTIAL TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2014-PS
1934 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 341
Law About Changing the Rules of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure of 24 April 1934
Chapter III
Article 1
(1) A People’s Court is formed as a trial court in cases of high treason and treason.
(2) When the People’s Court sits for trial, the decisions are made by five members; otherwise by three members, including the President. The President and one other member must have the qualifications of judges. Several Senates may be formed.
(3) The Supreme Reich Prosecutor [Oberreichsanwalt] is the prosecuting authority.
Article 2
On the suggestion of the Reich Minister of Justice, the Reich Chancellor appoints the members of the People’s Court and their deputies for a period of five years.
Article 3
(1) The People’s Court has jurisdiction over the investigations and has the power to make the sole and final decision in cases of high treason according to Articles 80-84--, treason according to Articles 89-92--, attacks against the Reich President according to Article 94, paragraph 1 of the Reich Criminal Code: and crimes according to Article 5, paragraph 2, No. 1 of the Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of People and State of February 28, 1933 (Reichsgesetzblatt I, p. 83). In these cases the People’s Court also makes the decisions enumerated in Article 73, paragraph 1 of the Law of the Organization of the German Courts.
* * * * * * *
Article 5
* * * * * * *
(2) There is no appeal from the decisions of the People’s Court.
Chapter IV
* * * * * * *
Article 3
The appointment of a Council of Defense must be approved by the President of the People’s Court.
* * * * * * *
Berlin, April 24, 1934
The Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler
The Reich Minister of Justice also for the Reich Minister of the Interior Dr. Guertner
The Reich Minister of Defense von Blomberg
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2016-PS
1942 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 475
Order concerning the Jurisdiction of SS Courts and Police Courts in the Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia. July 15, 1942
In pursuance of the decree of the Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor concerning the Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia, dated March 16, 1939 (RGBl I, p. 485) and in agreement with the Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, the following order is issued:
Section 1
In case of direct attack by a non-German citizen against the SS or the German Police or against any of their members, the Reich Leader of the SS and Chief of the German Police in the Reich Ministry of the Interior may establish the jurisdiction of a combined SS Court and Police Court, by declaring that special interests of parts of the SS or of the Police require that judgment be given by an SS and Police Court.
This declaration shall be sent to the Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia. The SS and Police Court, which shall have jurisdiction in individual cases, shall be specified by the Reich Leader of the SS and Chief of the German Police in the Reich Ministry of the Interior.
Section 2
If the offense directly injures the interests of the Armed Forces, the Reich Leader of the SS and Chief of the German Police in the Reich Ministry of the Interior, and the Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces shall reach an agreement as to whether the case shall be prosecuted by an SS and Police Court or by a Military Court.
Section 3
This order shall become effective one week after its publication.
Berlin, July 15, 1942.
The Reich Minister of the Interior By deputy: Dr. Stuckart.
The Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces Keitel.
The Reich Minister of Justice Dr. Schlegelberger (in charge)
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2018-PS
1939 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 1539
Fuehrer Decree Establishing a Ministerial Council For Reich Defense, 30 August 1939
For the period of the present foreign political tension, I decree the following for the uniform leadership of administration and economy:
I
(1) A Ministerial Council for Reich Defense shall be established as a standing committee out of the Reich Defense Council.
(2) The standing members of the Ministerial Council for Reich Defense shall include: General Field Marshall Goering as chairman, Fuehrer’s Deputy, Commissioner General for Reich Administration, Commissioner General for the Economy, Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellory, Chief of the High Command for the Armed Forces.
(3) The chairman may draw on other members of the Reich Defense Council including further personalities for advice.
II
The Ministerial Council for Reich Defense may issue decrees with statutory effect, in so far as I have not provided for the passing of a law by the Reich Government or the Reichstag.
III
The authority of General Field Marshall Goering under the Decree for the Administration of the Four-Year Plan of October 13, 1936 (RGBl I, 887) including his power to issue instructions shall remain unaffected.
IV
The Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellory shall supervise the business of the Ministerial Council for Reich Defense.
V
I shall determine the period for the expiration date of this decree.
Berlin, 30 August 1939.
The Fuehrer Adolf Hitler
General Field Marshall Goering
The Reichs Minister and Chief of the Reichs Chancellory Dr. Lammers
PARTIAL TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2022-PS
1933 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 225
Law against overcrowding of German Schools and Higher Institutions of 25 April 1933
The Reich Government has enacted the following law that is promulgated herewith:
* * * * * * *
Article 3
In those special schools and faculties where the number of pupils and students is greatly disproportionate to professional demand, the number of registered students must be reduced during the school year 1933 as far as it is, without excessive rigor, consistent with a proper proportion.
Article 4
The number of non-Aryan Germans, within the meaning of the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, of 7 April 1933 (RGBl I, p 175), who may be admitted to schools, colleges and universities, must not exceed a number proportionate to the Aryan students in each school, college or university compared to the percentage of non-Aryans within the entire German population. This proportion is fixed uniformly for the whole Reich.
If, in accordance with Article 3, the number of pupils and students is to be reduced, there is likewise a proper proportion to be established between the total number of students and the number of non-Aryans. In doing so a somewhat higher proportion may be fixed.
Clauses 1 and 2 do not apply in the case of non-Aryans, whose fathers have fought at the front during the World War for Germany or her allies, or to children whose parents were married before the enactment of this law, if the father or mother or two of the grandparents are of Aryan origin. The number of these students is not to be included when calculating the quota of non-Aryans.
* * * * * * *
Article 7
The decree is valid upon promulgation.
Berlin, 25 April 1933
The Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler
The Reich Minister of the Interior Frick
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2029-PS
1933 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 104
Decree Establishing The Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda of 13 March 1933
A Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda is herewith established for the purpose of enlightening and propagandizing the population with regard to the policies of the Reich Cabinet and the national reconstruction of the German fatherland.
The chief of this agency has the title “Reichsminister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda.”
The Reichschancellor defines in detail the duties of the Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda.
In agreement with the other Reich Ministers concerned, he defines the duties which are transferred from their jurisdiction to that of the new Ministry. This will be done even in cases where the jurisdiction of the Ministries concerned is affected fundamentally.
Berlin, March 13, 1933 The Reich President VON HINDENBURG The Reich Chancellor ADOLF HITLER
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2030-PS
1933 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 449
Decree Concerning the Duties of the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda of 30 June 1933
Based upon the order of the Reich President of 13 March 1933 (Reichsgesetzblatt I, Page 104), I decree in agreement with the Reich Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Reich Minister of the Interior, the Reich Minister of Economics, the Reich Minister of Nutrition and Agriculture, the Reich Post Minister, the Reich Minister of Transportation, and the Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, as follows:
The Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda has jurisdiction over the whole field of spiritual indoctrination of the nation, of propagandizing the State, of cultural and economic propaganda, of enlightenment of the public at home and abroad; furthermore, he is in charge of the administration of all institutions serving these purposes.
Therefore, the Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda takes over the following jurisdictions:
1. From the jurisdiction of the Foreign Office:
News services and enlightenment in foreign countries; art; art exhibitions; moving pictures and sport abroad.
2. From the jurisdiction of the Reich Ministry of the Interior:
General domestic enlightenment;
Academy of Politics;
Establishment and celebration of national holidays and of state celebrations in conjunction with the Reich Minister of Interior;
Press, (including the Institute for Journalism);
Radio;
National anthem;
German Library in Leipzig;
Art (however, with the exclusion of: the Institute for the History of Art in Florence; of protection of rights in literature and art; the catalogue of works of art of national value; German-Austrian agreement on export of art; protection of art and monuments; protection and care of landscape and natural monuments; national parks, maintenance of buildings of historical importance; for the Science of Folkdom; Reich Honor Monument).
Music, including the Philharmonic Orchestra;
Theater;
Moving Pictures;
Campaign against dirty and obscene literature.
3. From the jurisdiction of the Reich Minister of Economics and of the Reich Ministry for Nutrition and Agriculture; Propaganda in the field of business, exhibitions, fairs, and commercial publicity.
4. From the jurisdiction of the Reich Post Ministry and of the Reich Ministry of Transportation:
Propaganda for tourism.
Furthermore, there are transferred from the Reich Post Ministry all radio matters with the exclusion of the technical administration; the administration of the buildings of the Reich Radio Corporation and the Radio Corporation is not included in that exception. However, the Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda must participate in the technical administration to the extent necessary for the execution of his own duties, especially in fixing the conditions for renting radio installations and the regulation of fees.
The representation of the Reich in the Reich Radio Corporation and the Radio Corporation is entirely transferred to the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda.
In the areas designated, the Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda has the predominant jurisdiction, including legislation. The general regulations are valid so far as the other Ministers of the Reich have to participate.
Berlin, 30 June 1933
The Reich Chancellor ADOLF HITLER
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2031-PS
1938 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 112
Decree Concerning the Establishment of a Secret Cabinet Council dated 4 Feb. 1938
To advise me in conducting the foreign policy I am setting up a secret cabinet council.
As president of the secret cabinet council, I nominate: Reichsminister Freiherr von Neurath
As members of the secret cabinet council I nominate: Reichsminister of the Exterior Joachim von Ribbentrop
Prussian Prime Minister, Reichsminister of the Air, Supreme Commander of the Air Forces, General Field Marshall Hermann Goering
The Fuehrer’s Deputy, Reichsminister Rudolf Hess
Reichsminister for the enlightenment of the people and of propaganda, Dr. Joseph Goebbels
Reichsminister and Chief of the Reichs Chancellory, Dr. Hans-Heinrich Lammers
The Supreme Commander of the Army, General Walther von Brauchitsch
The Supreme Commander of the Navy, Grand Admiral Dr. (honorary) Erich Raeder
The Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces, Lt. Gen. Wilhelm Keitel
The current affairs of the secret cabinet council are handled by the Reichsminister and Chief of the Reichs Chancellery.
Berlin, 4 February 1938
The Fuehrer and Reichs Chancellor Adolf Hitler
The Reichsminister and Chief of the Reichs Chancellery Dr. Lammers
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2039-PS
1942 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 419
Decree concerning the conditions of Employment of Eastern Workers of 30 June 1942
The Ministerial Council for Defense of the Reich orders with force of law:
Chapter I
Definition of Eastern Worker
Article 1
Eastern workers are those laborers of non-German national origin who inhabited the Reich Commissariat for the Ukraine, the General Commissariat for White Russia, or territories bordering on these territories to the east or on the former free states of Lithuania and Estonia, and who were brought into the German Reich, including the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, and employed there after the occupation by the German armed forces.
Chapter II
Conditions of Employment
Article 2
General Conditions
The eastern workers employed in the Reich have an employment relationship of a special type. German labor code and labor protection provisions shall be applicable to them only insofar as specifically stated.
Article 3
Compensation
1. The eastern workers employed in the Reich shall receive compensation graded according to their work.
2. The amount of this compensation shall be determined from the tables which are attached as an appendix to this decree.
3. In determining the compensation which is to be paid individual eastern workers under the appended tables, the point of departure shall be the wage-rate (hourly, piece and premium wage-rates) of comparable German workers.
If a part of the reference wage consists of payment in goods, such payment shall be considered equivalent, in determining this wage, to the rate calculated for it for German workers in the enterprise in event of payment in cash.
Social security deductions and payments of all kinds to which the German workers are subject shall not be included in the determination of the reference wage.
With respect to incentive payments, these shall be computed, in determining the reference wage, at the same rate at which they are made to German workers in the enterprise for the same work. If the eastern worker’s production falls behind the average production of a German worker, a correspondingly reduced reference wage will be the point of departure in determining the compensation to be paid him.
Extra pay for difficult work, dirty work, etc. shall be included in determining the proper reference wage for calculating the individual eastern worker’s compensation.
4. The eastern worker shall receive compensation only for work actually performed; but the regulations on idleness resulting from bad weather may be applied in his case.
5. Higher compensation than that determined under those provisions may not be paid to eastern workers.
Article 4
Extra Rates and other Payments
Except as otherwise provided by the General Manpower Authority, eastern workers shall have no claim to extra compensation for overtime or Sunday, holiday, and night work. Per diem and maintenance payments, as well as travel and board expense payments, may not be made.
Article 5
Payment in Goods
1. The compensation due the individual eastern worker according to the tables appended to this decree shall be paid in cash at the end of the regular pay period for the enterprise after deduction of the equivalent of payments made in goods. The board and room furnished by the employer shall be computed according to the rates specified by the tables appended to this decree. Other payment in goods, such as clothing, shoes, etc., shall be computed at proportionate prices.
2. Employers may cover the commutation cost of eastern workers to and from the place of work for the entirety of eastern workers employed by them and make deductions for this expense from the amounts to be paid in cash according to the tables.
Article 6
Compensation in Case of Illness
For days on which the eastern worker is unable to work on account of sickness or accident, free board and room only shall be furnished by the employer, unless hospital care is given. In other respects the sick care of these workers shall be regulated by prescriptions issued by the Reich Minister of Labor.
Article 7
Leave and Family Visits
Leave and family visits will not be granted for the present. Detailed regulations concerning the institution of leave and family visits will be issued by the General Manpower Authority.
Article 8
Pay Invoices
Pay invoices shall not be issued to eastern workers.
Article 9
Exceptions
The Reich Trustee or Special Trustee of Labor may permit exceptions from the provisions of this decree in regard to the calculation of compensations.
Chapter III
Eastern Workers Tax
Article 10
Tax Obligation
1. Employers who use eastern workers within the German Reich, including the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, are subject to a tax in amounts specified by the tables appended to this decree (Eastern Workers Tax).
2. Agricultural employers must pay only one half of this tax.
Article 11
Accruement of the Tax
The Eastern Workers Tax accrues exclusively to the German Reich.
Article 12
Tax Exemption of Eastern Workers
Eastern workers must pay no wage tax nor citizen tax during their employment in the German Reich.
Chapter IV
Savings
Article 13
Eastern workers may lay up their compensation in whole or in part as savings with interest: the sum saved is transferred to the saver’s homeland, and is there available to him or to members of his family according to detailed regulations issued by the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories or by the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces.
Chapter V
Grant of Powers
Article 14
1. The General Manpower Authority shall be empowered to issue, in consultation with the interested Reich Ministers, regulations for the execution, implementation, and revision of Chapters I and II of this decree.
2. The Reich Minister of Finance shall be empowered to issue, in consultation with the General Manpower Authority, the Reich Minister of the Interior, the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories and, so far as eastern workers employed in agriculture are in question, with the Reich Minister for Food and Agriculture, regulations for the execution, implementation and revision of Chapter III of this decree.
3. The Reich Minister of Finance, in consultation with the General Manpower Authority, may change by executive order the amounts of the Eastern Workers Tax as specified in the appended tables.
4. The Reich Minister of Economic Affairs, the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories, and the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces shall be empowered to issue, in consultation with the General Manpower Authority, regulations for the execution and implementation of Chapter IV of this decree.
Chapter VI
Effective Date, Sphere of Validity
Article 15
1. This decree shall become effective 15 June 1942. The provisions of Chapters II and III shall be first applicable to compensation paid after 15 June 1942.
2. Articles 1 to 5 and Article 7, subsection 1, of the decree concerning taxing and treatment under the labor code for workers form the newly occupied eastern territories [StVAOst] of 20 January 1942 (RGBl I, p. 41), as well as the regulation of the Reich Minister of Labor concerning treatment under the labor code for workers from the newly occupied eastern territories of 9 February 1942 (Deutscher Reichsanz. No. 37 of 13 February 1942), shall become invalid on the effective date of this decree.
3. This decree shall be valid also in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and in the incorporated Eastern Territories.
Berlin, 30 June 1942
The Chairman of the Ministerial Council for Defense of the Reich and Commissioner for the Four Year Plan Goering, Reich Marshal
The General Manpower Authority By Deputy: Dr. Stuckart
The Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellory Dr. Lammers
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2047-PS
1937 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 105
Law for the Extension of the Law Concerning the Removal of the Misery of the People and the Reich of 30 January 1937
The Reichstag has decided unanimously to enact the following law which is hereby published:
(1) The validity of the law for the removal of the misery of the people and the Reich of 24 March 1933 (RGBl I, p. 141) is being extended to 1 April 1941.
(2) The law on the reconstruction of the Reich of 30 January 1934 (RGBl p. 75) remains unchanged.
Berlin, 30 January 1937
The Fuehrer and Chancellor of the Reich Adolf Hitler
The Reichs Minister of the Interior Frick
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2048-PS
1939 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 95
Law for the Extension of the Law Concerning the Removal of the Misery of the People and the Reich of 30 January 1939
In completion of the law of 30 January 1937 (RGBl I, p. 105), the Reichstag has decided unanimously to enact the following law which is hereby published:
1. The validity of the law on the removal of the misery of the people and the Reich of 24 March 1933 (RGBl I, p. 141) is being extended to 10 May 1943.
2. The law on the reconstruction of the Reich of 30 January 1934 (RGBl I, p. 75) remains unchanged.
Berlin, 30 January 1939.
The Fuehrer and Chancellor of the Reich Adolf Hitler
The Reichs Minister of the Interior Frick
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2049-PS
1934 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 1189
Second Edict concerning the Reconstruction of the Reich of November 27, 1934.
On the basis of Article 5 of the law concerning the reconstruction of the Reich of January 30, 1934 (Reichsgesetzblatt I page 75) it is ordered in agreement with the Prussian Minister-President:
Article 1
Up to the execution of the reorganization of the Reich, the Prussian Provincial governors [Oberpraesidenten] are, in the Provinces over which they have jurisdiction, simultaneously representatives of the Reich government.
Article 2
The provincial governors [Oberpraesidenten] are empowered to receive instructions from all Reich and federal state authorities as well as from offices supervised by permanent Reich or State public-legal corporations, within the Province, and to call their attention to the authoritative viewpoints and the consequently necessary measures as well as effect temporary regulations in case of danger in delay. These rights they may not transfer to their supplementary officials; their representatives may only practice those rights, when the provincial governors are hindered not merely for a short time in the observation of their business.
Article 3
The Reich ministers may in the execution of Reich missions furnish directly with instructions the Prussian provincial governors and council heads without prejudice to the supervision of the Civil Service of the Reich and Prussian Ministers of the Interior.
Berlin, November 27, 1934.
The Minister of Interior for the Reich and Prussia. Frick
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2050-PS
1919 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 1383
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE GERMAN REICH
August 11, 1919
The German people, united in their racial elements and impelled by the will to renew and strengthen their Reich in freedom and justice, to serve the ends of peace at home and abroad and further social progress, have established this Constitution.
FIRST PART
STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF THE REICH
First Chapter
Reich and Lands
Article 1
The German Reich is a Republic. The state power is derived from the people.
Article 2
The territory of the Reich consists of the territories of the German Member States [Lands]. Other territories may be incorporated in the Reich by Reich statute if the inhabitants of such territory, in exercises of the right of self-determination, so desire.
Article 3
The Reich colors are black, red and gold. The merchant flag is black, white and red, with the Reich colors in the upper inside corner.
Article 4
The generally accepted rules of international law are to be considered as binding integral parts of the law of the German Reich.
Article 5
The state power in respect to matters within the competence of the Reich shall be exercised by the authorities of the Reich on the basis of the Constitution of the Reich; in respect to matters within the competence of the Member States by the authorities of the Lands, on the basis of their respective constitutions.
Article 6
The Reich shall have exclusive legislative competence for:
1. Foreign affairs.
2. colonial matters.
3. questions relating to nationality, freedom of travel and residence, immigration, emigration and extradition.
4. the organization of defense forces.
5. coinage.
6. customs, as well as the unity of customs and trading areas and freedom of commerce.
7. post and telegraph, including the telephone.
Article 7
1. civil law.
2. penal law.
3. judicial procedure, including the execution of penalties and legal aid between authorities.
4. matters relating to passports and police supervision of aliens.
5. poor relief and the care of vagrants.
6. matters relating to the press, associations and assemblies.
7. policies relating to population, maternity relief, welfare of infants, children and youth.
8. public health, veterinary matters and the protection of plants against disease and pests.
9. labor laws, insurance, and the protection of laborers and employees, and employment bureaus.
10. the establishment of Reich organs of vocational representation.
11. provision for war veterans and the surviving dependents of deceased soldiers.
12. laws relating to expropriation.
13. the socialization of natural resources and economic undertakings, and also the production, manufacture, distribution and price regulation of economic wares for the benefit of the general economy.
14. trade and commerce, weights and measures, the issue of paper money, banks and banking and the stock exchanges.
15. traffic in foodstuffs, articles for consumption and luxury, and necessaries of daily life.
16. industries and mining.
17. matters relating to insurance.
18. ocean navigation, deep-sea fishing and coastal fishing.
19. railways, inland navigation, automatic traffic on land, water, and in the air; the construction of highways, insofar as general communication and national defense are concerned.
20. theaters and cinemas.
Article 8
The Reich shall further legislate in regard to taxation and other revenues, insofar as they are partially or wholly utilized for its own purposes. If the Reich claims such taxes or other revenues for its own purposes as have hitherto been available for the Member States (Lands), the Reich shall take into consideration the preservation of the life of the Member States.
Article 9
Insofar as it is necessary to issue uniform rules, the Reich shall legislate for:
1. public welfare.
2. the protection of public order and safety.
Article 10
The Reich may by legislation, establish fundamental principles for:
1. the rights and duties of religious associations.
2. educational matters including high schools and scientific libraries.
3. laws relating to officers of all public corporations.
4. matters relating to the real-estate laws, distribution of the soil, settlements and homesteads, restrictions attached to landed property, housing and the distribution of the population.
5. matters relating to burial.
Article 11
The Reich may by means of legislation establish fundamental principles concerning the admissibility and mode of:
1. injury to the revenues or commercial relations of the Reich.
2. double taxation.
3. excessive or obstructional fees for the use of public means of communication, highways, and other facilities.
4. tax discrimination against imported goods in favor of domestic products in interstate or inter-district commerce, or
5. export premiums,
or in order to preserve important social interests.
Article 12
So long as and so far as the Reich refrains from exercising the right of legislation, the Lands shall retain the right of legislation. This does not apply to matters for which the Reich has exclusive competence of legislation.
The government of the Reich has the right of veto in regard to Lands laws relating to matters within the scope of Article 7, Number 13, so far as the general welfare of the Reich is thereby affected.
Article 13
Reich law takes precedence over Lands law.
Where there are doubts or differences of opinion as to whether a legal provision of a Land is compatible with Reich law, the competent Reich or central authorities of a Land may, in accordance with particulars prescribed by the Reich law, appeal for decision to a Supreme Court of the Reich.
Article 14
The laws enacted by the Lands shall be executed by the authorities of the States, unless the laws of the Reich determine otherwise.
Article 15
The government of the Reich exercises supervision in such matters as are within the legislative competence of the Reich.
So far as the laws of the Reich are to be executed by the authorities of the Lands, the government of the Reich may issue general instructions. The government is empowered to send commissioners to the central authorities of the Lands, and with their permission, to the lower state authorities, to supervise the execution of the laws of the Reich.
It is the duty of the government of the Lands, at the request of the government of the Reich, to rectify defects which have become manifest in the execution of Reich laws. Where differences of opinion arise both the government of the Reich and the government of the Land may appeal for decision to the Constitutional Court, unless a different court is prescribed by Reich law.
Article 16
The officers entrusted with direct Reich administration in any Land shall, as a rule, be citizens of that Land. The officers, employees and laborers of the Reich administration shall be employed in their home districts if they so desire, whenever this is possible and not inconsistent with the requirements of their training or the service.
Article 17
Each Land must have a republican constitution. The people’s representatives must be elected by universal, equal, direct and secret ballot by all German men and women in conformity with the principles of proportional representation. The government of the Land must enjoy the confidence of the people’s representatives.
The principles for the elections of the people’s representatives apply equally to communal elections. A Land law, however, may make the right to vote dependent on residence in the communal district for a period not exceeding one year.
Article 18
The division of the Reich into Lands shall be such as to serve the people to the highest possible economic and cultural attainment, whereby the will of the population affected shall be taken into consideration as far as possible. The alteration of territory of the Lands and the creation of new Lands within the Reich may be effected by means of a Reich law amending the Constitution.
If the Lands directly affected give their consent, an ordinary Reich law is sufficient.
An ordinary Reich law is also sufficient, if one of the Lands affected refuses consent, but the territorial alteration or the creation of a new Land is demanded by the will of the population and the paramount interests of the Reich.
The will of the population shall be ascertained by plebiscite. The Government of the Reich orders the plebiscite if, in the territory to be separated, one-third of the inhabitants qualified to vote for the Reichstag so demand.
Three-fifths of the votes taken, but at least a majority of the enfranchised voters, are necessary for a resolution to alter a boundary or create a new Land. Even if it is only a question of the disconnection of a part of a Prussian administrative district, a Bavarian “county” or a corresponding administrative division in other Lands, the will of the population in the whole district affected must be ascertained. If the territory to be disconnected nowhere adjoins the rest of the district, a specific Reich law may declare that the will of the population in the said district is sufficient.
The consent of the population having been ascertained, the government of the Reich shall introduce an appropriate bill for enactment in the Reichstag.
If the unification or disconnection should give rise to a dispute concerning the distribution of property, the Constitutional Court of the German Reich shall decide the same on the application of one party.
Article 19
Constitutional disputes arising within any Land in which there is no court competent to settle the same, of disputes not governed by private law, arising between different Lands or between the Reich and any Land shall be decided by the Constitutional Court of the German Reich on the application of one party, unless some other court of the Reich is competent to decide such dispute.
The President of the Reich executes the judgment of the Constitutional Court of the Reich.
Second Chapter
The Reichstag
Article 20
The Reichstag is composed of the delegates of the German people.
Article 21
The delegates represent the whole people. They are subject only to their own conscience and are not bound by instructions.
Article 22
The delegates are elected by universal, equal, direct and secret ballot by men and women over twenty years of age, according to the principles of proportional representation. The election day must be a Sunday, or a public holiday.
The Reich Election Law will regulate details.
Article 23
The Reichstag is elected for four years. New elections must take place at the latest on the sixtieth day after this term has run its course.
The Reichstag assembles for the first time at the latest on the thirtieth day following the election.
Article 24
The Reichstag meets every year on the first Wednesday in November at the seat of the government of the Reich. The President of the Reichstag must summon it earlier if the President of the Reich or at least one-third of the members of the Reichstag so demand.
The Reichstag determines the close of its session and the date of reassembly.
Article 25
The President of the Reich may dissolve the Reichstag, but not more than once for the same cause.
The new election takes place not later than the sixtieth day after dissolution.
Article 26
The Reichstag chooses its president, his substitutes and its secretaries. It sets up its own rules of procedure.
Article 27
Between two sessions or terms the President and his substitutes of the preceding session continue in their duties.
Article 28
The President has domiciliary and police authority within the Reichstag building. He controls the house administration; he manages the revenues and expenditure of the house in accordance with the budget of the Reich, and represents the Reich in all legal transactions and disputes arising within his administration.
Article 29
The Reichstag proceedings are public. They may be held in camera, if, on the motion of fifty members, a two-thirds majority so decides.
Article 30
Accurate reports of the proceedings of the public meetings of the Reichstag, the State Diets, and of their committees remain free from all responsibility.
Article 31
An Election Investigation Court shall be established in connection with the Reichstag. It shall also be competent to decide whether a delegate has forfeited his seat.
The Election Investigation Court consists of members of the Reichstag, elected by the latter for the election period and of members of the Reich Court of Administration, appointed by the President of the Reich on the proposal of the presidency of the said court.
The decisions of the Election Investigation Court shall be taken after a public oral hearing by three members of the Reichstag and two judicial members.
Outside of the oral proceedings before the Election Investigation Court such affairs shall be managed by a commission of the Reich, nominated by the President of the Reich. In other respects the procedure is regulated by the Election Investigation Court.
Article 32
A simple majority vote is necessary for decisions of the Reichstag, unless the Constitution prescribes a different proportion of votes. The rules of procedure may make exceptions in the case of elections by the Reichstag.
The rules of procedure regulate the question of a quorum.
Article 33
The Reichstag and its committees may demand the presence of the Chancellor of the Reich and of any Minister of the Reich.
The Chancellor and Ministers of the Reich and the commissioners appointed by them have access to the sittings of the Reichstag and its committees. The Lands are entitled to send delegates to these meetings to state the views of their governments on the subject under discussion.
At their request the governmental delegates must be heard during the deliberations, in the case of the representatives of the government of the Reich, even irrespective of the agenda.
They are subject to the authority of the chairman as regards questions of orders.
Article 34
The Reichstag has the right and--on the application of one-fifth of its members--the duty, of appointing investigation committees. These committees hear such evidence in public sittings as they or the applicants consider necessary. The public may be excluded from the proceedings by a two-thirds majority of the investigation committee. The rules of procedure determine the proceedings of the committee and determine the number of its members.
It is the duty of the judicial and administrative authorities to accede to the requests of the said committees in regard to the taking of evidence; the files of the authorities must be submitted to the committees on request.
The provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure are applicable as far as is appropriate to the investigations of the committees and the authorities approached by them; nevertheless, the secrecy of letters, post, telegraph and telephone remains inviolate.
Article 35
The Reichstag appoints a standing committee for foreign affairs, which may also act when the Reichstag is in recess, and after the parliamentary term has expired, or after the dissolution of the Reichstag, until the new Reichstag meets. The meetings of this committee are not public, unless the committee decides otherwise by a two-thirds vote.
The Reichstag also appoints a standing committee for the maintenance of the right of the people’s representation towards the government of the Reich during the periods of recess, and after the term has expired or the Reichstag is dissolved, until the new Reichstag meets.
These committees have the rights of investigation committees.
Article 36
No member of the Reichstag or of a Land’s Diet may at any time be subjected to criminal or disciplinary prosecution or otherwise held responsible outside the house on account of his vote or of remarks made by him in the execution of his functions.
Article 37
During a session no member of the Reichstag or of a Land’s Diet may be subjected to investigation or arrested on account of any punishable offense, without the consent of the house to which such a delegate belongs, unless he is arrested in the act of committal or at the latest in the course of the following day.
Similar consent must be obtained for every other curtailment of personal freedom which hinders a delegate in the execution of his functions as representative.
Any criminal proceeding against a member of the Reichstag or a Land’s Diet, any detention or other curtailment of his personal liberty must be suspended for the duration of the session at the request of the house to which the delegate belongs.
Article 38
Members of the Reichstag and the Land’s Diets are entitled to refuse to give evidence in respect to persons who have confided matters to them in their capacity as delegates or to whom they have given such confidences in the execution of their functions as delegates, as well as in respect to such facts. In respect also to the seizure of documents they have the same status as persons who are entitled by law to refuse to give evidence.
Any search or seizure may only be carried out within the precincts of the Reichstag or a Land’s Diet with the consent of their President.
Article 39
Public officials and members of the defense forces need no leave for the performance of their functions as members of the Reichstag or a Land’s Diet.
If they are candidates for a seat in one of these bodies, the necessary leave must be extended to them to enable them to prepare for their election.
Article 40
Members of the Reichstag shall have free passes for all German railways and receive a compensation for expenses to be fixed by Reich law.
Third Chapter
The Reich President and the Reich Government
Article 41
The Reich President is elected by the whole German people.
Every German who has completed his thirty-fifth year is eligible for election.
Details will be regulated by a Reich law.
Article 42
The Reich President shall, on assuming office, take the following oath before the Reichstag.
I swear to devote my energies to the well-being of the German people, to further their interests, to protect them from injury, to keep the Constitution and the laws of the Reich, to fulfill my duties conscientiously and to administer justice to all.
It is permissible to add a religious asseveration.
Article 43
The Reich President’s term of office shall last seven years. Re-election is permissible.
At the request of the Reichstag the President may be deposed from office by plebiscite before his term has expired. A two-thirds majority vote is necessary for such a resolution by the Reichstag.
The resolution has the effect of suspending the Reich President from the further exercise of his office. If the deposition is rejected by the plebiscite, this is regarded as a new election and entails the dissolution of the Reichstag.
The Reich President cannot be prosecuted criminally without the consent of the Reichstag.
Article 44
The Reich President may not at the same time be a member of the Reichstag.
Article 45
The Reich President represents the Reich in the sphere of international law. He concludes alliances and other treaties with foreign powers in the name of the Reich. He accredits and receives Ministers.
War is declared and peace concluded by Reich law.
Alliances and treaties with foreign States which relate to matters within the legislative competence of the Reich, require the consent of the Reichstag.
Article 46
The Reich President appoints and dismisses the public officials of the Reich and officers of the defense forces, unless otherwise provided by law. He may allow the right of appointment and dismissal to be exercised by other authorities.
Article 47
The Reich President has supreme command over all the defense forces of the Reich.
Article 48
If a Land fails to fulfill the duties incumbent upon it according to the Constitution or the laws of the Reich, the Reich President can force it to do so with the help of the armed forces.
The Reich President may, if the public safety and order in the German Reich are considerably disturbed or endangered, take such measures as are necessary to restore public safety and order. If necessary he may intervene with the help of the armed forces. For this purpose he may temporarily suspend, either partially or wholly, the Fundamental Rights established in Articles 114, 115, 117, 118, 123, 124 and 153.
The Reich President shall inform the Reichstag without delay of all measures taken under Paragraph 1 or Paragraph 2 of this Article. On demand by the Reichstag the measures shall be repealed.
In case of imminent danger, the government of any Land may take preliminary measures of the nature described in Paragraph 2 for its own territory. The measures are to be revoked upon the demand of the Reich President or the Reichstag.
Details will be regulated by a Reich law.
Article 49
The Reich President exercises the right of pardon for the Reich.
Reich amnesties require a Reich law.
Article 50
All orders and decrees of the Reich President, including those concerning the defense forces, require for their validity the counter-signature of the Chancellor of the Reich or the competent Minister of the Reich. By counter-signature responsibility is assumed.
Article 51
The Reich President shall, when prevented from functioning, be represented in the first place by the Reich Chancellor. When such disability is likely to be of long duration, a Reich law shall regulate the question of representation.
The same applies in the case of a premature termination of the Presidency until the new election takes place.
Article 52
The government of the Reich shall consist of the Chancellor and the Reich Ministers.
Article 53
The Reich Chancellor and at his proposal the Reich Ministers shall be appointed and dismissed by the Reich President.
Article 54
The Chancellor and the Reich Ministers require for the exercise of their office the confidence of the Reichstag. Any of them must retire if the Reichstag by express resolution withdraws its confidence.
Article 55
The Reich Chancellor presides over the government of the Reich and conducts its affairs according to rules of procedure laid down by the government of the Reich and approved by the Reich President.
Article 56
The Reich Chancellor determines the outlines of the policy of the State and is responsible to the Reichstag for the same. Within these outlines each Reich Minister conducts the office entrusted to him independently and on his own responsibility towards the Reichstag.
Article 57
The Reich Ministers shall lay before the Reichstag for deliberation and enactment all bills and all matters for which such a course is prescribed in the Constitution or by law, as well as all differences of opinion in regard to questions within the competence of more than one Minister.
Article 58
The government of the Reich passes its resolutions by majority vote. In the case of tie votes the chairman has a casting vote.
Article 59
The Reichstag is entitled to impeach the Reich President, the Chancellor and Reich Ministers for having culpably violated the Constitution or a statute of the Reich before the Constitutional Court. The motion for impeachment must be signed by at least one hundred members of the Reichstag and be approved by the majority prescribed for amending the Constitution.
Details will be regulated by the Reich statute concerning the Constitutional Court.
Fourth Chapter
The Reich Council
Article 60
A Reich Council shall be constituted to represent the German Lands in the legislature and administration of the Reich.
Article 61
Each Land has at least one vote in the Reich Council. In the case of larger Lands there shall be one vote for every 1,000,000 inhabitants. A surplus, which is equal to at least the population of the smallest Land, will be reckoned equal to 1,000,000. No Land may be represented by more than two-fifths of the total number of votes.
German-Austria, after its union with the German Reich, shall be entitled to participate in the Reich Council with the number of votes proportionate to its population. Until then the representatives of German-Austria may take part in the deliberations.
The number of votes shall be fixed anew by the Reich Council after every general census.
Article 62
No Land shall have more than one vote on the committees formed by the Reich Council from its own members.
Article 63
The Lands shall be represented on the Reich Council by members of their governments. But half the Prussian votes shall belong to the Prussian provincial administrations in accordance with a Land law.
The Lands are entitled to send as many representatives to the Reich Council as they have votes.
Article 64
The government of the Reich must convene the Reich Council on the demand of one-third of its members.
Article 65
A member of the government of the Reich shall preside over the Reich Council and its committees. The members of the government of the Reich have the right and--if so demanded--the duty of attending the deliberations of the Reich Council and its committees. On their own request they must be heard at any time during the proceedings.
Article 66
The government of the Reich and each member of the Reich Council are entitled to lay proposals before the Reich Council.
The Reich Council regulates its procedure by rules of procedure.
The plenary sittings of the Reich Council are public. In compliance with the rules of procedure the public may be excluded for specific subjects of deliberation.
Decisions are taken by a simple majority of those voting.
Article 67
The Reich Council shall be kept informed by the Reich ministries of the conduct of affairs of the Reich. The competent committees of the Reich Council shall be consulted by the ministries of the Reich with regard to important affairs.
Fifth Chapter
Reich Legislation
Article 68
Bills are introduced by the government of the Reich or by members of the Reichstag.
Reich laws shall be enacted by the Reichstag.
Article 69
The introduction of bills by the government of the Reich requires the consent of the Reich Council. If no agreement is reached between the Reich government and the Reich Council, the Reich government may introduce the bill notwithstanding, but must state the contrary opinion of the Reich Council.
If the Reich Council resolves on a bill not assented to by the government of the Reich, the latter must introduce the bill to the Reichstag, stating its own point of view.
Article 70
The Reich President shall promulgate all constitutionally enacted laws and proclaim them in the Reich’s Legal Gazette within one month.
Article 71
Reich laws, unless they provide otherwise, come into force on the fourteenth day after the date on which the Reich’s Legal Gazette is published in the capital of the Reich.
Article 72
The proclamation of a Reich law shall be postponed for two months on the demand of one-third of the Reichstag. Laws stated to be urgent by the Reichstag and the Reich Council may be proclaimed by the Reich President notwithstanding such demand.
Article 73
A law enacted by the Reichstag shall be made the subject of a referendum, if the Reich President so determines within a month.
A law, the proclamation of which has been postponed on the application of at least one-third of the members of the Reichstag, shall be subjected to a referendum, if one-twentieth of the persons qualified to vote so submit.
A referendum shall further be instituted if one-tenth of the persons qualified to vote initiate by petition the introduction of a bill. An elaborated bill must underlie such people’s initiative. The bill shall be submitted to the Reichstag by the government together with a statement of its own point of view. No referendum shall take place if the petitional bill is passed unaltered by the Reichstag.
In regard to the budget, taxation laws and laws relating to pay and salaries, only the Reich President may inaugurate a referendum.
A Reich law shall regulate the procedure for referendum and initiative.
Article 74
The Reich Council is entitled to raise an objection to laws passed by the Reichstag.
The objection must be submitted to the Reich government within two weeks following the final vote in the Reichstag and sustained by reasons at the latest within two further weeks.
When such objection has been raised, the law is again submitted to the Reichstag for redecision. If by this means no agreement is reached between the Reichstag and the Reich Council, the President may, within three months, order that a referendum be taken on the matter in dispute. If the President does not exercise this right, the law is considered not to have been passed. If the Reichstag has passed the law in spite of the objection by the Reich Council by a two-thirds majority, then the President must either proclaim the same within three months in the form approved by the Reichstag or order a referendum to be taken.
Article 75
A referendum can nullify an enactment of the Reichstag only if a majority of those qualified to vote take part in the vote.
Article 76
The Constitution may be amended by law. But acts of the Reichstag amending the Constitution can only take effect if two-thirds of the legal number of members are present and at least two-thirds of those present consent. Resolutions of the Reich Council also require a two-thirds majority of the votes taken, when an amendment to the Constitution is in question. If on a popular initiative an amendment to the Constitution is to be decided by referendum the consent of a majority of those qualified to vote is required.
If the Reichstag has passed an amendment to the Constitution in spite of an objection on the part of the Reich Council, the President may not proclaim such law, if within two weeks the Reich Council demands a referendum.
Article 77
Unless otherwise provided by law the Reich government shall issue the general administrative provisions necessary for putting into execution the laws of the Reich. The approval of the Reich Council is required when the execution of the Reich laws is within the competence of the authorities of the Lands.
Sixth Chapter
Reich Administration
Article 78
The cultivation of the relations with foreign States is exclusively a function of the Reich.
With regard to matters the regulation of which is within the competence of the Lands’ legislatures, the Lands may conclude treaties with foreign States; such treaties require the approval of the Reich.
Agreements with foreign States relating to any alteration of the boundaries of the Reich are concluded by the Reich, after the consent of the Lands concerned has been obtained. Such boundary alterations may only be undertaken on the basis of a Reich law, unless it is simply a case of adjusting the boundaries of uninhabited districts.
All arrangements and measures necessary for safeguarding the interests of individual Lands arising out of their particular economic relations with or their proximity to foreign States shall be undertaken by the Reich in agreement with the Lands concerned.
Article 79
The defense of the Reich is a function of the Reich. The defense organization of the German people shall be uniformly regulated by Reich law with due regard to special peculiarities of the inhabitants of the different Lands.
Article 80
Colonial matters belong exclusively to the competence of the Reich.
Article 81
All German commercial vessels constitute one single merchant marine.
Article 82
Germany constitutes one single customs and trading area surrounded by a customs frontier.
The customs frontier coincides with Germany’s foreign frontier line. At the sea the shore of the mainland and of the islands belonging to the territory of the Reich form the customs boundary. Deviations may be ordered for the course of the boundary line along the sea and other waters.
Foreign territories or parts of territories may be joined to the customs area by means of international treaties or agreements.
Portions may be excluded from the customs area to meet particular necessities. In the case of free ports such exclusion can only be repealed by a law amending the Constitution.
Districts excluded from the customs area may be joined to a foreign customs area by means of international treaties or agreements.
All products of nature and industry and art which are freely traded within the Reich may be transported over the boundaries of the Lands and Communes into, out of, and through them. Exceptions may be allowed by Reich law.
Article 83
Customs duties and consumption taxes are administered by the authorities of the Reich.
The authorities of the Reich, when administering taxes of the Reich, shall take steps to enable the individual Lands to safeguard their own particular interests in regard to agriculture, trade, commerce and industry.
Article 84
The Reich shall provide by law for:
1. the institution of a tax administration of the Lands, so far as is necessary for the uniform and equal execution of the Reich taxation laws
2. the institution and powers of the authorities entrusted with the supervision of the execution of the Reich taxation laws
3. the accounting with the Lands
4. the reimbursement of the costs of administration in executing the Reich taxation laws.
Article 85
All revenues and expenditures of the Reich must be estimated for every fiscal year and entered in the budget.
The budget shall be passed by law before the beginning of the fiscal year.
Appropriations are as a rule made for one year; in special cases they may be granted for a longer period. Other provisions in the budget law which legislate for a period beyond the fiscal year, or which have no reference to the revenues or expenditures of the Reich, may not be incorporated in the budget law.
The Reichstag may not increase existing or incorporate new appropriations in the budget bill without the consent of the Reich Council.
The consent of the Reich Council may be replaced as provided in Article 74.
Article 86
The Reich Minister of Finance shall, in the course of the year, account to the Reich Council and the Reichstag for the expenditure of all the revenues of the Reich for the preceding year in order to release the government of the Reich from its responsibility. The auditing of this account shall be regulated by Reich law.
Article 87
Funds may only be obtained by loans in the case of extraordinary requirements and, as a rule, only for the purpose of productive outlay. A Reich law is required for this method of procuring funds as well as for the creation of a charge on the Reich by way of security.
Article 88
The post and telegraph as well as the whole telephone system are exclusive functions of the Reich.
Postage stamps are uniform for the whole Reich.
Treaties relating to communications with foreign countries may only be concluded by the Reich.
Article 89
It is a function of the Reich to take over the ownership of railways serving as means of general traffic and to operate them as a uniform system of communications.
The rights of the Lands to acquire private railways shall be transferred to the Reich on demand.
Article 90
With the transfer of the railways the Reich acquires the right of expropriation and the sovereign state rights of the Lands over the railway systems. The extent of these rights shall be decided in the case of conflict by the Constitutional Court.
Article 91
With the approval of the Reich Council, the government of the Reich shall issue all decrees relating to the construction of railways, their operation and traffic. With the consent of the Reich Council, the government may transfer this right to the competent Reich Minister.
Article 92
The railways of the Reich, although their budget and accounts are incorporated in the general budget and accounts of the Reich, shall be operated as an independent economic enterprise, with the duty of defraying its own expenditure including interest on and amortization of the railway reserve fund. The amount of the amortization and the reserve fund, and the purposes for which the latter is to be utilized shall be regulated by special law.
Article 93
The government of the Reich with the consent of the Reich Council shall establish advisory councils for the railways of the Reich to assist in an advisory capacity in matters relating to railway traffic and rates.
Article 94
Once the Reich has taken over the administration of the railroads serving the general traffic of a particular district, new railroads serving general traffic may not be constructed within such district except by or with the consent of the Reich. When new railroad systems or alterations in those already existing are so projected as to fall within the police competence of any Land, the Reich railroad administration shall consult the Land authorities before the decision is taken.
Whenever the Reich has not yet taken over the administration of the railroads, it may construct such railroads on its own account as are deemed necessary for general traffic or for national defense by virtue of a Reich law, even against the protest of the Lands whose territory is to be traversed, but without prejudice to the sovereign rights of the Lands; or the Reich may entrust another with the execution of such construction, together with the right of expropriation, if necessary.
All railroad administrations must permit the junction of other lines at the latter’s expense.
Article 95
Railways of general traffic not administered by the Reich shall be supervised by the Reich.
Railways under the supervision of the Reich shall be constructed and equipped according to uniform principles determined by the Reich. They must be kept in safe working order and developed as traffic requirements dictate. Service and equipment for passenger and freight traffic shall be maintained in accordance with their requirements.
The supervision of railway rates shall be directed to securing nondiscriminatory and moderate charges.
Article 96
All railways, including those not serving as means of general traffic, must comply with any demands of the Reich for their utilization for the purpose of national defense.
Article 97
It is the duty of the Reich to take over the ownership and administration of waterways serving the general traffic.
After they have been taken over, waterways serving the general traffic may only be constructed or developed by the Reich or with its consent.
In the administration, development or construction of waterways, the requirements of land and water economy must be safeguarded in agreement with the Lands. Their improvement shall also be taken into consideration.
Every administration of waterways must permit the connection of their own with other inland waterways at the expense of the promoter. The same obligation holds for the construction of a connection between inland waterways and railways.
With the transfer of waterways the Reich acquires the right of expropriation, the control of rates and the police survey over the waterways and navigation.
The duties of the river conservancies in respect to the development of the natural waterways in the Rhine, Weser, and Elbe districts shall be taken over by the Reich.
Article 98
Advisory councils to cooperate in matters concerning Reich waterways shall be formed in compliance with detailed provisions to be issued by the Reich government with the approval of the Reich Council.
Article 99
On natural waterways charges may only be collected for such works, plants and other institutions as are designed to facilitate traffic. In the case of Lands and communal institutions they may not exceed the necessary costs, for construction and upkeep. The construction and maintenance costs of institutions not exclusively devoted to the facilitation of traffic but also destined for the furtherance of other purposes, may only be raised in a proportionate degree by shipping charges. Interest and sinking funds on the invested capital are included as costs of construction.
The provisions of the foregoing paragraph apply also to charges collected for artificial waterways and to works erected thereon and in harbors.
Within the sphere of inland navigation the entire cost of a waterway, a river basin or a system of waterways may be utilized for calculating the shipping charges.
These provisions apply equally to the floating of timber on navigable waterways.
It is within the exclusive competence of the Reich to exact from foreign ships and their cargoes other or higher charges than from German ships and their cargoes.
Article 100
In order to cover the cost of the maintenance and construction of inland navigation routes, contributions may also be levied by virtue of a Reich law from persons enjoying benefits from the construction of dams in other ways than by navigation, if more than one Land is involved, or the Reich bears the costs of construction.
Article 101
It is the duty of the Reich to take over the ownership and administration of all marine signal stations, particularly lighthouses, lightships, buoys, floats, and beacons. After the Reich has taken them over, marine signal stations may only be constructed or developed by the Reich or with its consent.
Seventh Chapter
The Judiciary
Article 102
Judges are independent and subject only to the law.
Article 103
The ordinary judiciary consists of the Reich Supreme Court and the courts of the Lands.
Article 104
The judges of the ordinary judiciary are appointed for life. Against their will they may only be permanently or temporarily suspended from office or transferred to another position or retired by virtue of a judicial decision and only for the reasons and in the form prescribed by law. The legislature may fix an age limit, on reaching which judges shall retire.
A temporary suspension from office as provided by law is not affected hereby.
If a change is effected in the organization of the courts or their districts the judicial administrative authorities of the Lands may order involuntary transfers to another court or removal from office, but only on full pay.
These provisions do not apply to commercial judges, lay judges, and jurors.
Article 105
Exceptional courts are prohibited. No one may be deprived of the right to be heard by his legally prescribed judge. The legal provisions concerning military courts and courts martial are not affected hereby. Military courts of honor are abolished.
Article 106
Military jurisdiction shall be abolished except in time of war and on men-of-war. Details shall be regulated by a Reich law.
Article 107
Both in the Reich and in the Lands, administrative courts shall be established under the laws for the protection of individuals against decrees and orders of the administrative authorities.
Article 108
A Constitutional Court shall be established for the German Reich in accordance with a Reich law.
SECOND PART
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF THE GERMANS
First Chapter
The Individual Person
Article 109
All Germans are equal before the law.
In principle men and women have the same civil rights and duties.
Public-legal privileges or disadvantages of birth or of rank are to be abolished.
Titles of nobility shall be regarded merely as part of the name, and may no longer be bestowed.
Titles may only be bestowed when they indicate an office or profession; academic degrees are not affected hereby.
Orders and decorations may not be conferred by the State.
No German may accept titles or orders from a foreign government.
Article 110
Citizenship of the Reich and the Lands is acquired and lost in accordance with the provisions of a Reich law. Every citizen of a Land is at the same time a citizen of the Reich.
Every German has in every Land of the Reich the same rights and duties as the citizens of that Land.
Article 111
All Germans enjoy liberty of travel and residence throughout the whole Reich. Everyone has the right to sojourn and settle in any place within the Reich, to acquire real estate and to pursue any means of livelihood. Restrictions require a Reich law.
Article 112
Every German is permitted to emigrate to a foreign country. Emigration may only be restricted by a Reich law.
All citizens of the Reich within and without the territory of the Reich are entitled to the protection of the Reich in relation to foreign countries.
No German may be surrendered to a foreign government for prosecution or punishment.
Article 113
No laws or administrative orders may prejudice in their free and characteristic development the elements of the population of the Reich whose mother tongue is other than German, especially in regard to the use of their mother tongue in schools, in matters of internal administration, and the administration of justice.
Article 114
The freedom of the person is inviolable. Curtailment or deprivation of personal freedom by a public authority is only permissible on a legal basis.
Persons who have been deprived of their freedom must be informed at the latest on the following day by whose authority and for what reasons the deprivation of freedom was ordered; opportunity shall be afforded them without delay of submitting objections to their deprivation of freedom.
Article 115
Every German’s home is his sanctuary and is inviolable. Exceptions may only be made as provided by law.
Article 116
An act can only be punishable if its penalty was fixed by law before the act was committed.
Article 117
The secrecy of letters and all postal, telegraphic and telephone communications is inviolable. Exceptions are inadmissible except by Reich law.
Article 118
Every German has the right, within the limits of the general laws, to express his opinions freely in speech, in writing, in print, in picture form or in any other way. No conditions of work or employment may detract from this right and no disadvantage may accrue to him from any person for making use of this right.
Censorship is forbidden, but in the case of moving pictures deviations from this rule may be established by law. Legal provisions are also admissible for combatting pornography and obscene publications and for the protection of young persons at public plays and entertainment.
Second Chapter
The General Welfare
Article 119
Marriage as the cornerstone of family life and the preservation and increase of the nation is placed under the special protection of the Constitution. It is based on the equal rights of both sexes.
It is the duty of the State and the Communes to foster the purity, health, and social advancement of the family. Families with numerous children have a claim to proportionate assistance.
Motherhood has a claim to the protection and care of the State.
Article 120
To provide their children with a thorough physical, spiritual, and social education is the supreme duty and natural right of parents, whose activities shall be supervised by the State.
Article 121
The same conditions shall be created by law for the physical, spiritual and social development of illegitimate as for legitimate children.
Article 122
Youth shall be protected against exploitation and also against neglect of their moral, mental or physical well-being. The States and Communes shall make the necessary arrangements.
Compulsory measures for their welfare may only be ordered on the basis of law.
Article 123
All Germans have the right to assemble peacefully and unarmed without giving notice and without special permission.
A Reich law may make previous notification obligatory for assemblies in the open air, and may prohibit them in the case of immediate danger to the public safety.
Article 124
All the Germans have the right to form associations or societies for purposes not contrary to criminal law. This right may not be curtailed by preventive measures. The same provisions apply to religious associations and societies.
Every association may become incorporated according to the provisions of the civil law. The right may not be refused to any association on the grounds that its aims are political, social-political or religious.
Article 125
The liberty and secrecy of the vote is guaranteed. Details shall be regulated by election laws.
Article 126
Every German has the right to address requests or complaints in writing to the competent authorities or to the people’s representatives. This right may be exercised individually or by several persons collectively.
Article 127
Communes and communal unions have the right of self-administration within the limits of the law.
Article 128
All citizens without distinction shall be eligible for public office in accordance with the laws and according to their capabilities and achievements.
All provisions discriminating against women are abolished.
The principles governing the legal status of the public officials shall be regulated by Reich law.
Article 129
Public officials shall be appointed for life, unless otherwise provided by law. Pensions for retired officials or the surviving dependents of deceased officials shall be regulated by law. The vested rights of public officials are inviolable. Legal steps may be taken by public officials for pecuniary claims.
Public officials may be only temporarily suspended from office, temporarily or permanently relieved or transferred to a different office with a lower salary on the conditions and in the form provided by law.
In every case where a disciplinary sentence is pronounced, the way must be open for appeal and a new trial. Entries unfavorable to a public official may not be made in his official record until opportunity has been afforded him of expressing his own view of the facts. Public officials shall be permitted to inspect their official records.
The inviolability of vested rights and the competence of the civil courts to adjudicate pecuniary claims are also assured particularly to the regular soldiers. In other respects their position shall be regulated by Reich law.
Article 130
Public officials are servants of the whole community, and not of a party.
Liberty of political opinion and freedom to form associations is guaranteed to all public officials.
A Reich law shall provide in detail for the special representation of public officials.
Article 131
If a public official in the execution of the official authority vested in him transgresses his official duty towards a third person, the State or the public body in whose service the officer is, is in principle held responsible. The right of recovery from the officer is reserved. Recourse to the ordinary civil courts may not be excluded.
Details shall be regulated by the competent legislature.
Article 132
It is the duty of every German to accept honorary offices in accordance with the laws.
Article 133
It is the duty of all citizens to render personal services to the State and the Commune in accordance with the laws.
The duty of military service is determined by the provisions of the Reich Defense Law. This shall also stipulate how far single Fundamental Rights of the Constitution shall be restricted in respect to members of the defense forces, in the interest of the fulfillment of their tasks and the maintenance of discipline.
Article 134
All citizens without distinction contribute to all public burdens in proportion to their means and in accordance with the laws.
Third Chapter
Religion and Religious Associations
Article 135
All inhabitants of the Reich enjoy full religious and conscientious freedom. The undisturbed exercise of religion is guaranteed by the Constitution and is under state protection. The general state laws are unaffected hereby.
Article 136
Civil and civic rights and duties are neither contingent upon nor limited by the exercise of religious freedom.
The enjoyment of civil and civic rights and the eligibility for public office are independent of religious belief.
Nobody is obliged to reveal his religious conviction. The authorities are only entitled to ask questions concerning adherence to a religious body so far as rights and duties are dependent thereon or in pursuance of statistical inquiries prescribed by law.
No one may be compelled to attend any church service or ceremony or to participate in religious exercises, or to take oath in religious form.
Article 137
There is no State Church.
Freedom to form religious societies is guaranteed. The combination of religious societies within the territory of the Reich is subject to no restrictions.
Every religious society regulates and administers its affairs independently within the limits of the law, applicable to all. It appoints its officers without the cooperation of the State or the civil community.
Religious societies become incorporated in accordance with the general provisions of civil law.
Religious societies remain bodies of public law if this has been their status hitherto. Similar rights shall be granted to other religious societies on their application, if their constitution and the number of their members offer a guarantee of permanency. If several such religious societies are united as public bodies, this union is also a public body.
Such religious societies as are public bodies are entitled to levy taxes on the basis of the civil tax-roll in accordance with the laws of the respective Lands.
Associations devoted to the common cultivation of a philosophy of life are placed on the same footing as religious societies.
So far as the execution of these provisions requires more detailed regulation, this is within the competence of the Lands’ legislatures.
Article 138
State contributions to religious societies based on laws, contract or special legal titles shall be commuted by Lands legislation. The Reich shall establish the principles therefor.
Property and other rights of religious societies and associations in their institutions, foundations, and other properties for cultural, educational, and charitable purposes are guaranteed.
Article 139
Sundays and public holidays recognized by the State remain under legal protection as days of rest and spiritual edification.
Article 140
Members of the defense forces shall be allowed the necessary free time for performing their religious duties.
Article 141
So far as there is need for divine service and spiritual consolation in the army, in hospitals, prisons or other public institutions, the religious societies shall be permitted to perform the religious offices, but all compulsion shall be avoided.
Fourth Chapter
Education and the Schools
Article 142
Art and science and the teaching thereof are free. The State guarantees them protection and takes part in their cultivation.
Article 143
The education of young persons shall be provided for by means of public institutions. The Reich, Lands and Communes shall cooperate in their establishment.
The training of teachers shall be regulated uniformly for the whole Reich according to the generally recognized principles of higher education.
Teachers in public schools have the rights and duties of state officials.
Article 144
The whole school system is under the supervision of the State, which may cause the Communes to participate therein. The supervision of schools is exercised by trained expert officials as their occupation-in-chief.
Article 145
Attendance at school is universally obligatory.
In principle this duty is fulfilled by attending an elementary school for at least eight school years and a connected continuation school until the completion of the eighteenth year. Instruction and school supplies are supplied free of charge in the elementary and continuation schools.
Article 146
The system of public schools shall be organically developed. The intermediate and secondary school system shall be built upon the basis of common elementary schools. This system shall be determined by the needs of all kinds of vocations, and for the reception of a child into a particular school, his abilities and inclination shall be the deciding factor, not the economic and social status or the religious confession of his parents.
Within the Communes, however, on the petition of parents and guardians, popular schools professing their own faith or philosophy of life shall be established, so far as this does not interfere with an organized school system in the sense, also, of Paragraph 1, supra. As far as possible the will of parents and guardians shall be taken into consideration. Details shall be regulated by Lands legislation based on principles prescribed by a Reich law.
Public funds shall be provided by the Reich, Lands and Communes to make the intermediate and secondary schools available for those possessed of restricted means; in particular shall there be educational grants for the parents of children looked upon as suitable subjects for instruction in intermediate and secondary schools until their schooling is completed.
Article 147
Private schools as substitutes for public schools require the approval of the State and are subject to the laws of the Lands. Approval shall be granted when the private schools are not inferior to the public schools as regards their instructional aims and equipment and the scientific training of the teachers, and a separation of the pupils according to the wealth of their parents is not encouraged. The approval shall be refused if the economic and legal position of the teachers is not sufficiently assured.
Private elementary schools shall only be admitted when for those parents or guardians whose wishes are to be regarded under Article 146, Paragraph 2, no public elementary school of their faith or philosophical persuasion exists in their Commune, or if the educational administrative authorities recognize the existence of a particular educational need.
Private preparatory schools shall be abolished.
The existing law shall continue to apply to private schools not serving as substitutes for public schools.
Article 148
In all schools moral training, a sense of civic responsibility, personal and vocational efficiency in a spirit of national German feeling and international conciliation shall be aimed at.
Care shall be taken that instruction in public schools shall not hurt the feelings of those who differ in opinion.
Civics and manual training form part of the school curriculum. On completing his obligatory schooling every pupil shall receive a copy of the Constitution.
Popular education including popular universities shall be developed by the Reich, Lands and Communes.
Article 149
Religious instruction forms part of the ordinary school curriculum except in the nonconfessional (secular) schools; its form will be regulated by the laws relating to schools. Religious instruction shall be given in conformity with the principles of the religious society concerned, without prejudice to the State’s right of supervision.
The imparting of religious instruction and the performance of religious acts is left to the decision of the teacher, while the participation in religious lessons, acts, and ceremonies is a matter for the decision of those who have the right to determine the religious education of the child.
The theological faculties in the universities shall be maintained.
Article 150
Artistic, historical, and natural monuments and scenery enjoy the protection and care of the State.
It is a function of the Reich to prevent German art treasures from passing to foreign countries.
Fifth Chapter
The Economic Life
Article 151
The regulation of economic life must be compatible with the principles of justice, aiming at the attainment of humane conditions of existence for all. Within these limits the economic liberty of the individual shall be assured.
Legal compulsion is only admissible for the realization of threatened rights or in the service of preponderant requirements of the common welfare.
Freedom of trade and commerce is guaranteed on the basis of the Reich laws.
Article 152
As far as the laws allow, there shall be freedom of contract in business intercourse. Usury is prohibited. Legal transactions contra bonos mores are invalid.
Article 153
Property is guaranteed by the Constitution. Its content and limits are defined by the laws.
Expropriation can only take place for the public benefit and on a legal basis. Adequate compensation shall be granted, unless a Reich law orders otherwise. In the case of dispute concerning the amount of compensation, it shall be possible to submit the matter to the ordinary civil courts, unless Reich laws determine otherwise. Compensation must be paid if the Reich expropriates property belonging to the Lands, Communes, or public utility associations.
Property carries obligations. Its use shall also serve the common good.
Article 154
The right of inheritance is guaranteed according to the civil code.
The share of the State in inherited property is determined by the laws.
Article 155
The distribution and utilization of the land shall be supervised by state authorities in a manner to prevent abuse and with the object of ensuring a healthy dwelling to every German and to all German families, especially those with numerous children, living and working quarters in accordance with their needs. War veterans shall be particularly considered in the enactment of homestead laws.
Real estate, the acquisition of which is necessary for housing purposes, for the promotion of settlements and land cultivation or to improve agriculture, may be expropriated. All entails shall be dissolved.
The cultivation and utilization of the soil is a duty owed by the landowner to the community. An increase in the value of land, which arises without the expenditure of work or capital on the property, shall be utilized for the common benefit.
All treasures of the soil and all natural forces of economic utility are under the supervision of the State. Private mining rights shall be transferred to the State by legislation.
Article 156
The Reich may, without prejudice to the right of compensation, by law transfer to public ownership private economic enterprises suitable for socialization, applying thereby analogously the regulations relating to expropriation. The Reich may allot to itself, the Lands or the Communes a share in the administration of economic enterprises and associations or secure to itself a controlling influence therein in some other way.
The Reich may also in case of urgent necessity for socioeconomic interests, by law effect a combination of economic enterprises and associations on the basis of self-administration with the object of securing the cooperation of all working elements of the population, of allowing employers and employees a share in the management and regulating the production, fabrication, distribution, utilization, price fixing, and the importation and exportation of economic goods according to the principles of national economy.
The cooperative industrial and economic associations and their unions shall at their request be incorporated in the socialized economic system, their constitution and peculiarities being thereby taken into consideration.
Article 157
The ability to work is under the special protection of the Reich. The Reich shall create a uniform labor law.
Article 158
Intellectual labor, the rights of the author, the inventor, and the artist enjoy the protection and care of the Reich.
Recognition and protection in foreign countries also shall be secured to German science, art and technic by means of international agreements.
Article 159
Freedom of association for the preservation and promotion of labor and economic conditions is assured to everyone and to all vocations. All agreements and measures attempting to restrict or restrain such freedom, are unlawful.
Article 160
Persons working as employees or laborers are entitled to the leave necessary for the exercise of their civic rights and, so far as the enterprise is not materially damaged thereby, for performing the duties attached to public honorary offices entrusted to them. The law shall determine to what extent they retain their right to remuneration.
Article 161
For the maintenance of health and capacity to work, for the protection of maternity, and for provision against the economic consequences of age, infirmity, and the vicissitudes of life, the Reich shall organize a comprehensive system of insurance, in which the insured persons shall cooperate to a considerable extent.
Article 162
The Reich shall endeavor to obtain an interstate regulation of the legal status of laborers which shall have as its object the establishment of a general minimum standard of social rights for all working classes of mankind.
Article 163
Every German has, without prejudice to his personal liberty, the moral duty to utilize his intellectual and physical powers in the interest of the general welfare.
The opportunity of earning his living by economic work shall be afforded to every German. So far as suitable work cannot be found for him, he shall be provided with the necessary support. Details shall be regulated by special Reich laws.
Article 164
The interests of the independent middle classes in agriculture, industry and commerce shall be promoted by legislation and administration and protected from oppression and absorption.
Article 165
Laborers and employees are called upon to take part on equal terms and together with the employers in regulating conditions of work and wages and also in the general economic development of productive forces. The organizations on both sides and agreements between them shall be recognized.
Laborers and employees shall be legally represented on the Workmen’s Councils of the Enterprise, as well as in the District Workmen’s Councils organized for each economic area and on a Reich Workmen’s Council.
The District Workmen’s Councils and the Reich Workmen’s Council shall combine with the representatives of the employees and other interested elements of the population to form District Economic Councils and a Reich Economic Council for the purpose of performing all economic tasks and of cooperating in carrying out the socialization laws. The District Economic Councils and the Reich Economic Council shall be so constituted that all important vocational groups are represented thereon in accordance with their economic and social importance.
Social-political and political-economic bills of basic importance shall be submitted to the opinion of the Reich Economic Council by the government of the Reich before being introduced. The Reich Economic Council has itself the right to propose the introduction of such bills. If the government of the Reich does not approve them, it must nevertheless introduce such bills to the Reichstag, stating its own point of view. The Reich Economic Council may have the bill supported in the Reichstag by one of its own members.
Supervision and administrative powers may be conferred on the Workmen’s and the Economic Councils within their own spheres of work.
The regulation of the organization and tasks of the Workmen’s and the Economic Councils as well as their relation to other social self-governing bodies is exclusively a function of the Reich.
Transitional and Concluding Provisions
Article 166
Until the establishment of the Reich Administrative Court the Reich Supreme Court shall take its place in the formation of the Election Investigation Court.
Article 167
Article 18, sect. 3 to 6 are valid 2 years after announcement of the Reichs Constitution.
Article 168
Until--but only for a year--the Landlaw, considered in Article 63 is issued, all Prussian votes in the Reichsrat can be given by the members of the Cabinet.
Article 169
The Reichs Cabinet, will set the date, when Article 83, sect. 1, becomes valid.
Article 170
The postal--and telegraph agencies of Bavaria and Wuertenberg, will be taken over by the Reich on 1 April 1921 the latest.
If, on 1 Oct 1920, no agreement on the points of the taking over has been reached, the supreme constitutional court will decide.
Until the taking over, the present rights and duties of Bavaria and Wuertenberg are in force. The postal and telegraph traffic with neighboring states of foreign countries, will be regulated by the Reich.
Article 171
The State Railroads, Waterways and sea-marks will be taken over by the Reich on April 1, 1921, the latest.
If on 1 Oct 1920 no agreement on the points of the taking over, has been reached, the Supreme Constitutional Court will decide.
Article 172
Until the Reich law concerning the Supreme Constitutional Court comes into force, a Senate shall exercise its powers; this Senate shall consist of seven members of which four are chosen by the Reichstag from its own members and three by the Supreme Court of the Reich from its own members. The Senate shall regulate its own procedure.
Article 173
Until the enactment of a Reich law according to Article 138 the present state contributions to religious societies based on laws, contracts or special legal claims shall be continued.
Article 174
Until the enactment of the Reich law provided in Article 146, Paragraph 2, the present legal situation shall continue. The law shall take into particular consideration those districts of the Reich in which a school where no distinction of creeds is made is established by law.
Article 175
The provision of Article 109 does not apply to orders and decorations to be conferred for merit in the war years 1914-1919.
Article 176
All public officers and members of the defense forces shall take the oath upon the Constitution. Details shall be regulated by an order of the Reich President.
Article 177
Where in the existing laws the oath is prescribed in religious form, the oath shall be legally binding if the person taking the same, leaving out the religious formula, declares: “I swear.” The content of the oath as prescribed in the laws remains otherwise unaltered.
Article 178
The Constitution of the German Reich of April 16, 1871, and the laws of February 10, 1918, concerning the provisional government of the Reich, are repealed.
All other laws and orders of the Reich remain in force, so far as this Constitution is not incompatible with them. The provisions of the Peace Treaty signed at Versailles on June 28, 1919, are not affected by the Constitution. With respect to the negotiations concerning the acquisition of the island of Heligoland a regulation in favor of its inhabitants may be made differing from that of Article 117, Paragraph 2.
Orders by the authorities which have been legally issued in conformity with the present laws, retain their validity until they are repealed by new orders of legislation.
Article 179
So far as laws or orders refer to provisions and institutions which are repealed by this Constitution, the appropriate provisions and institutions of this Constitution shall take their place. In particular, the Reichstag shall take the place of the National Assembly, the Reich Council that of the State Committee, the Reich President elected on the basis of this Constitution that of the Reich President elected on the basis of the law concerning the provisional government of the Reich.
The power, hitherto pertaining to the State Committee, of issuing executive orders is transferred to the government of the Reich, which requires therefor the approbation of the Reich Council in accordance with this Constitution.
Article 180
Until the meeting of the first Reichstag, the National Assembly shall function as Reichstag. The President of the Reich chosen by the National Assembly shall retain his office till 30 June 1925.
Article 181
The German people have passed and adopted this Constitution by means of their National Assembly. It comes into force with the date of its proclamation.
Schwarzburg, 11 August 1919.
The Reich President
EBERT
The Reich Cabinet
BAUER
ERZBERGER HERMAN MUELLER DR. DAVID NOSKE SCHMIDT SCHLICKE GIESBERTS DR. MAYER DR. BELL
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2056-PS
1938 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 1632
Decree concerning the Extension of the Jurisdiction of the Special Courts of 20 November 1938
On authority of Chapter II of the Sixth Section of the decree of 6 October 1931 (RGBl I, page 537), Article II of the law regarding the reunification of Austria with the German Reich of 13 March 1938 (RGBl I, page 237) and Article 7 of the decree of the Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor regarding the administration of the Sudeten German territories of 1 October 1938 (RGBl I, page 1331), the following order is promulgated:
Article I
In cases of criminal acts which belong to the jurisdiction of the Assizes or of a lower court, the prosecuting authorities can bring the charge before the Special Court, if they believe that in consideration of the gravity or the wickedness of the deed, or the possible arousing of popular excitement, an immediate verdict by the Special Court is advisable.
Article II
(1) Under the same supposition in the state of Austria and in the Sudeten German territories the prosecuting authorities can bring the charge before the Court of Appeal in cases of criminal acts which, according to the existing legal procedure in those areas, belongs to the jurisdiction of the Jury Court or of a lower court. This is decided by the appointment of three professional judges.
(2) For the legal procedure the decree of 21 March 1933 (RGBl I, page 136) is applicable. The Reich Minister for Justice is to be consulted for more precise definitions.
Article III
In the proceedings before the Special Court (Court of Appeals) the period of time for summons is limited to 24 hours.
Article IV
As long as the main deliberation has not yet begun in cases of Articles I and II, proceedings which are pending in the Assizes (Jury Court) or a lower court at the time this decree enters into effect, are to be referred to the Special Court of the prosecuting authorities so proposed.
Article V
This decree becomes effective on the date of publication.
Berlin, 20 November 1938
The Reich Minister for Justice Dr. Guertner
The Reich Minister of the Interior Frick
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2057-PS
1934 REICHSGESETZBLATT PART I, PAGE 529
Law Relating to National Emergency Defense Measures of 3 July 1934
The Reich Government has enacted the following law, which is hereby promulgated:
ONLY ARTICLE
The measures taken on 30 June and 1 and 2 July 1934 to counteract attempt at treason and high treason shall be considered as national emergency defense.
Berlin, 3 July 1934.
The Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler
The Reich Minister of the Interior Frick
The Reich Minister of Justice Dr. Guertner
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2058-PS
1933 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 462
Decree for the securing of the State Leadership of 7 July 1933
Based on paragraph 18 of the provisional law about the coordination of the states [Laender] with the Reich of 31 March 1933 (Reichsgesetzblatt I, page 183), I decree:
The Reichstag and houses of delegates of the states
Article 1
The distribution of seats, according to the electoral suggestion of the Social Democratic Party, for the Reichstag and the provincial diets (citizens’ committee), based on the election results of 5 March 1933 or on the results of the coordination action, according to Article 4, Section 2 of the provisional law for the coordination of the states with the Reich of 31 July 1933, is void. An alternate distribution will not take place.
Community self-administrative bodies
Article 2
The distribution of seats, according to the elective suggestion of the Social Democratic Party, for the community self-administrative bodies (county diets, district diets, district councils, council of officials, city councils, city councils of representatives, community councils, etc.) in Prussia based on the results of the election of 12 March 1933, in the other German states based on the results of the coordination action according to article 12, Section 2 of the provisional law for the coordination of the states with the Reich of 31 March 1933 is void.
Article 3
In as much as it may be necessary for the maintenance of a self-administration of the community to fill the seats whose distribution has been nullified, the state supervisory authority can fill these seats again according to the will of the people after the conquering of the republic [Parteienstaat].
Article 4
The members of the community self-administrative bodies will be appointed by the state supervisory authority according to the will of the people after the conquering of the republic in the following additional cases.
1. if a community body of representatives is dissolved, by the state supervisory authority, or if their election or coordination has been declared void in the examination of the election,
2. if a community or an association of communities is newly formed by way of organization,
3. if a regular filling of the community body of representatives is not possible, because, according to the elections, a sufficient number of acceptable alternates is no longer available,
4. if in Prussia, a new election of the community body of representatives has not taken place on 12 March 1933.
Civic honorary positions
Article 5
(1) The elections of honorary members of national administrative resolution authorities, committees and of bearers of national, individual honorary positions, who themselves belong to the Social Democratic Party, or who were elected because of the electoral suggestion of representatives of the Social Democratic Party, are void.
(2) The same applies to the election of honorary chairmen or members of boards of direction of communities and association of communities, deputations, commissions, community councils, as well as bearers of honorary individual positions, who are themselves members of the Social Democratic Party, or who have been elected by bodies of representatives or other organs, entitled to vote, of the community or of the community associations based on electoral suggestion, which have been submitted by the representatives of the Social Democratic Party.
(3) In as much as it is necessary for the maintenance of the national administration or of the community self-administration to fill civic honorary positions, the election of which are void (Section 1 and 2), the alternates will be appointed by the state supervisory authority or by its deputized officials according to the will of the people after the conquering of the republic.
Berlin, 7 July 1933.
The Reich Minister of the Interior Frick
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2059-PS
1933 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 134
Decree of the Reich-President relating to the granting of amnesty of 21 March 1933
Pursuant to Section 48, subsection 2 of the Constitution of the Reich the following is ordered:
Section 1
Amnesty is granted for penal acts committed in the national revolution of the German People, in its preparation or in the fight for the German soil pursuant to the following provisions:
Section 2
Penalties imposed by final judgment at the time this law becomes effective and which have not yet been served, are annulled.
The amnesty applies to additional fines and security measures as long as they have not been executed, to subsidiary legal consequences as well as outstanding fines payable to the Treasury of the Reich or the Landes and to outstanding expenses.
If a sentence has been passed to the effect that something should be confiscated or made unusable it will remain as such.
Section 3
Pending proceedings will be discontinued if the offense has been committed before the 21 March 1933 and further proceedings are not to be instituted.
Section 4
Should a penalty which has not yet been served at the time when this decree becomes effective, include one or several penalties for offences for which amnesty is granted, such part of the entire penalty which is proportionally meted out for the offences mentioned has to be deducted.
If a penalty constituting imprisonment has been transformed into one of penal servitude only on account of simultaneous offences for one of which amnesty is granted, the entire penalty which will be reduced pursuant to subsection 1, has to be commuted into imprisonment of the same length of time.
Judicial findings (Section 458 of Code of Criminal Procedure) relating to whether and to what extent a penalty is to be extenuated pursuant to the provisions of subsections 1 and 2 will be decided upon by the court which has the jurisdiction to impose penalties for the offence mentioned in subsection 1.
Section 5
The Court decides upon the discontinuance of pending proceedings upon application of the parties.
If the proceedings have been instituted upon a private complaint the costs of such proceedings are quashed. The Court may divide the necessary expense of the private complaint and the accused appropriately or may impose the expenses on any one of them.
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2061-PS
1934 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 785
Oath of Reich Officials and of German Soldiers, of 20 August 1934.
Law on attestation of officials and of soldiers of the Armed Forces, of 20 August 1934.
The Reich’s government has enacted the following law which is hereby proclaimed:
Art. 1
The Public officials and the soldiers of the armed forces have to take an oath of service on entering service.
Art. 2
1. The oath of service of public officials will be:
“I swear: I shall be loyal and obedient to Adolf Hitler, the Fuehrer of the German Reich and people; respect the laws, and fulfill my official duties conscientiously, so help me God.”
2. The oath of service of the soldiers of the armed forces will be:
“I swear by God this sacred oath, that I will render unconditional obedience to Adolf Hitler, the Fuehrer of the German Reich and people, supreme commander of the armed forces, and will be ready as a brave soldier to risk my life at any time for this oath.”
Art. 3
Officials already in service are to be given the oath without delay according to Art. 2, number 1.
Art. 4
The law on attestation of officials and of soldiers of the armed forces of 1 Dec. 1933 (RGBl I. P. 1016) and the decree of the second of the same month (RGBl I. P. 1017) are rescinded.
Berlin, 20 August 1934.
The Fuehrer and Reichschancellor Adolf Hitler
The Reichsminister of the Interior Frick
The Reichsminister of Defense von Blomberg.
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2073-PS
1936 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 487
Decree concerning the Appointment of a Chief of German Police in the Reich Ministry of the Interior of 17 June 1936
I
For the unification of police duties in the Reich, a Chief of German Police is instituted for the German Ministry of the Interior, to whom is assigned the direction and conduct of all police affairs within the jurisdiction of the Reich and of the Prussian Ministries of the Interior.
II
(1) For the Chief of German Police in the Reich Ministry of the Interior, the Deputy Chief of the Secret State Police of Prussia is declared to be Reichsfuehrer SS Heinrich HIMMLER.
(2) He is subordinated individually and directly to the Reich and the Prussian Ministries of the Interior.
(3) In their absence he represents for his jurisdiction the Reich and the Prussian Ministries of the Interior.
(4) He bears the service title: Reichsfuehrer SS and Chief of the German Police in the Reich Ministry of the Interior.
III
The Chief of the German Police in the Reich Ministry of the Interior shares in the sessions of the Reich Cabinet, so far as his jurisdiction is concerned.
IV
I commission the Reich and the Prussian Ministries of the Interior with the conduct of this decree.
Berlin, 17 June 1936
The Fuehrer and Chancellor of the Reich Adolf Hitler
The Reich Minister of the Interior Frick
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2075-PS
1937 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 187
Decree
for appointment of a chief of the organization of Germans abroad within the Foreign Office.
30 January 1937.
I
For uniform care for German Nationals abroad a Chief of the Organization of Germans abroad is appointed within the Foreign Office and to whom, at the same time, the leadership and processing of all affairs of German Nationals abroad within the jurisdiction of the Foreign Office will be given over.
II
(1) As chief of the Organization for Germans abroad within the Foreign Office Gauleiter Ernst Wilhelm Bohle, director of the Organization for Germans abroad of the Nazi Party is appointed.
(2) His is a personal appointment and immediately subordinate to the Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs. His field of activity, as chief of the organization of German nationals abroad of the Nazi Party and his subordination to the deputy of the Fuehrer are not affected.
(3) His official title is: Chief of Organization of Germans abroad within the Foreign Office.
III
The Chief of Organization of Germans abroad of the Foreign Office participates in the sessions of the Reich Cabinet so far as his field is concerned.
IV
The Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs in agreement with the deputy of the Fuehrer will issue the implementative regulations of this decree.
Berlin, 30 January 1937.
The Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler
The Reich Foreign Minister Freiherr von Neurath
PARTIAL TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2076-PS
1933 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGES 136-137
Decree of the Reich Cabinet relating to the formation of special courts of March 21, 1933
On the basis of Chapter II, Part 6 of the third decree of the Reich President to safeguard economy and finances and to combat political excesses, of 6 October 1931 (Reichsgesetzblatt I pp. 537, 565) the following is decreed.
Section 1
(1) A special court will be created for the district of each court of appeals.
(2) The special courts are courts of the State [Land].
(3) The legal administration of the State [Land] determines the seats of the special courts.
Section 2
The special courts have jurisdiction over crimes and felonies enumerated in the decree of the President of the Reich for the defense of people and state, of 28 February 1933 (Reichsgesetzblatt I, p. 83) and in the decree relating to the defense against insidious attacks against the government of the national revolution provided that such offenses are not within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court or court of appeals.
Section 3
(1) The special courts also have jurisdiction when a crime or felony which is under their jurisdiction fulfills at the same time the specifications of another offense.
(2) If another offense is directly connected with the crime or felony which comes under the jurisdiction of the Special Courts, then the proceedings against the offenders and accessories of the other offense may be instituted in the Special Courts.
(3) The extended jurisdiction pursuant to Paragraphs 1 and 2 does not apply to offenses for which the Supreme Court or Courts of Appeals have jurisdiction.
* * * * * * *
Section 7
Proceedings may be instituted also before the Special Court in the district of which the defendant was caught or where he is in custody. The release of the defendant does not affect this jurisdiction once it has been established.
* * * * * * *
Section 9
(1) No hearings relating to the warrant of arrest shall be held.
* * * * * * *
Section 11
A preliminary court investigation will not take place. If a preliminary investigation is pending at the time this decree becomes effective, the records are to be transferred at once to the prosecuting official with the Special Court.
* * * * * * *
Section 16
(1) No legal remedy is admissible against the decisions of the Special Courts.
* * * * * * *
Berlin, March 24, 1933
The Reich Chancellor Adolph Hitler
For the Reich Minister of Justice The Deputy of the Reich Chancellor von Papen.
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2078-PS
1934 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 365
Decree concerning the establishment of the Reichs Ministry of Science, Education, and Popular Culture of 1 May 1934
(1) For the entire system of education, training, and instruction of the Reich, as well as for the tasks of science, a Reich Ministry for Science, education, and popular culture is established.
(2) The director of this office bears the title “Reich Minister for Science, Education and Popular Culture.”
(3) The Chancellor of the Reich will determine the various duties of the Reich Ministry for Science, Education, and Popular Culture. He will also determine the duties which are transferred from the sphere of activity of the Reich Ministries affected to the new Ministry and also even if the sphere of activity of the ministries concerned is fundamentally affected hereby.
Berlin, 1 May 1934
The President of the Reich von Hindenburg
The Chancellor of the Reich Adolf Hitler
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2079-PS
1935 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 1145
Reich Flag Law 15 September 1935
The Reichstag has unanimously ratified the following law which is hereby announced:
Article 1
The colors of the Reich are black, white, and red.
Article 2
The Reich and national flag is the swastika flag. It is also the merchant flag.
Article 3
The Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor designates the design of the Reich War Flag and the Reich Service Flag.
Article 4
The Reich Minister of the Interior releases the necessary legal and administrative regulations for the execution and completion of this law as long as it does not interfere with the jurisdiction of the Reich Minister of War.
Article 5
This law becomes valid on the day of announcement.
Nurnberg 15 September 1935 on the Reichparteitag of Freedom
The Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor ADOLF HITLER
The Reich Minister of the Interior FRICK
The Reich Minister of War and Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht VON BLOMBERG
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2082-PS
1933 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 661
Law relating to the Reich Chamber of Culture of September 22nd, 1933.
The Reich Government has decreed the following law which is hereby promulgated:
Section 1
The Reich Minister for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda is ordered and authorized to organize the functions under his jurisdiction into public corporations.
Section 2
Pursuant to section 1, the following chambers are established:
1. a Reich Chamber of Archives, 2. a Reich Press Chamber, 3. a Reich Radio Chamber, 4. a Reich Theater Chamber, 5. a Reich Music Chamber, 6. a Reich Chamber of Creative Arts.
Section 3
In establishing the Chambers mentioned in section 2, the provisions relating to the film industry contained in the Law relating to the Establishment of a Provisional Film Chamber of 14 July 1933 (Reichsgesetzblatt, page 483) and supplementary executive provisions thereunder are to receive corresponding application.
Section 4
The organization of these Chambers must be kept within the framework of the policies laid down by the Reich Government in connection with professional advancement.
Section 5
The corporate bodies listed in Section 2, together with the provisional film Chamber, referred to as the Reich Film Chamber, are united into a Reich Chamber of Culture. The Reich Chamber of Culture is under the supervision of the Reich Minister for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda. It has its seat in Berlin.
Section 6
The Reich Minister for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda and the Reich Minister of Economics are authorized to coordinate the provisions of the Trade Laws with the provisions of this law by means of a combined decree.
Section 7
The Reich Minister for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda is authorized to decree laws and general administrative regulations as well as amendments for the purpose of implementing this law. The laws and general administrative regulations affecting financial or trade interests of the Reich require consent of the Reich Minister of Finance, in agreement with the Reich Minister of Economics.
Berlin, 22 September 1933.
The Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler
The Reich Minister for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda Dr. Goebbels
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2083-PS
1933 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 713
Editorial Law 4 October 1933
The Reich Government has resolved upon the following law, which is hereby published:
Part One
The Editorial Profession
Section 1
The cooperative work carried on as main employment or based upon appointment to the position of chief editor in the shaping of the intellectual contents by written word, dissemination of news or pictures of the newspapers or political periodicals, which are published within the area of the Reich, is a public task, which is regulated as to its professional duties and rights by the state through this law. Its bearers are called editors. Nobody may call himself an editor who is not entitled to do so, according to this law.
Section 2
(1) Newspapers and periodicals are printed matters which appear in regular sequence at intervals of at most 3 months, without limiting their circulation to a certain group of persons.
(2) All reproductions of writings or illustrations, destined for dissemination, which are produced by means of a mass reproduction process are to be considered as printed matter.
Section 3
(1) The provisions of this law relating to newspapers are valid also for political periodicals.
(2) This law does not apply to newspapers and periodicals which are published by official order.
(3) The Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda will determine which periodicals are to be considered as political within the meaning of the law. In case the periodical affects a certain vocational field, he will make the decision in agreement with the highest Reich or State agency concerned.
Section 4
Cooperation in the shaping of the intellectual contents of the German newspapers is also considered as such, if it does not take place in the management of a newspaper, but in an establishment, which is to supply newspapers with intellectual contents, (written word, news, or pictures).
Part Two
Admission to the Profession of Editor
Section 5
Persons who can be editors are only those who:
1. possess the German citizenship,
2. have not lost the civic rights [buergerliche Ehrenrechte] and the qualification for the tenure of public offices,
3. are of Aryan descent, and are not married to a person of non-Aryan descent,
4. have completed the 21st year of age,
5. are capable of handling business,
6. have been trained in the profession,
7. have the qualities which the task of exerting intellectual influence upon the public requires.
Section 6
For the requirement of the Aryan descent and the Aryan marriage, section 1a of the Reich Law for Officials [Reichsbeamtengesetz] and the provisions issued for its implementation will be applied.
Section 7
(1) Whoever has acquired the knowledge of an editor by training for at least one year (editor in apprenticeship) with the editorial staff of a German newspaper or an establishment of the kind mentioned in Section 4 and can prove this by certificate to the editorial staff will be considered as professionally trained. The apprenticeship served with a foreign newspaper may be made equivalent to the apprenticeship served with a German paper by means of the implementation order.
(2) The provisions of this law also pertain to the editors in apprenticeship with the exception of Section 5, Subsections 4, 5, and 6.
Section 8
The admission to the editorial profession will be affected by entry upon request in the professional editors’ list. The professional rosters are kept by the offices of the regional associations [Landesverbaende] of the German press (Section 24, Subsection 2). The registration will be passed upon by the head of Regional association. He must decree the registration, if the requirements which are set forth in Section 5 are fulfilled. He has to reject it if the Reichsminister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda protests.
Section 9
(1) Upon application by the head of the regional association the head of the Reich Association of the German Press (Section 23) with the approval of Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda may permit exceptions from the requirements set forth (Section 5, Nos. 1, 3, and 6). This exception can be limited to certain branches of the activity of an editor. In this case the Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda grants the permission in accordance with the highest competent Reich or State authority.
(2) Exemption from the requirement of German [Reich] citizenship is to be granted to those of German origin if no special objections exist.
Section 10
The nominator must be notified in writing together with a statement of reasons of a decision by the head of the Land Association [Landesverband] rejecting an entry into the professional roster. The nominator may call for a decision by the professional court within four weeks after the notice. The appeal is not permitted if the circumstances fall within the purview of Section 8, 5th sentence.
Section 11
The head of the Land Association is required to decree the deletion of an entry in the professional roster if the requirements set forth in Section 5, Nos. 1, 2, 5, are not present, or the data furnished under Nos. 1-6 has been found incorrect, or the editor has given up his profession. Section 10, sentences 1 and 2 are correspondingly applicable.
Part Three
Exercise of the Profession of an Editor
Section 12
By registration in the professional roster, the editor becomes entitled to execute his profession with German newspapers or with German enterprises of the kind described in Section 4. If he moves into the district of a different Land Association, he will be transferred to the respective professional roster without further examination.
Section 13
Editors are charged to treat their subjects truthfully and to judge them according to the best of their knowledge.
Section 14
Editors are especially bound to keep out of the newspapers anything which:
1. in any manner is misleading to the public, mixes selfish aims with community aims,
2. tends to weaken the strength of the German Reich, outwardly or inwardly, the common will of the German people, the German defense ability, culture or economy, or offends the religious sentiments of others,
3. offends the honor and dignity of Germany,
4. illegally offends the honor or the welfare of another, hurts his reputation, makes him ridiculous or contemptible,
5. is immoral for other reasons.
Section 15
Editors are bound to exercise their profession conscientiously and by their behavior inside or outside their professional activities prove themselves worthy of the respect which this profession demands.
Section 16
The publisher of a newspaper may compel an editor by means of a contract to observe the fundamental policies of a newspaper. The public duties and rights of the editor which derive from Sections 13 to 15, cannot be affected by policies.
Section 17
Contracts for the hiring of an editor must be in writing.
Section 18
The publisher of a newspaper must appoint an editor-in-chief and is required to report his name in writing to the Land Association concerned.
Section 19
The editor-in-chief is required to draw up in writing a plan for distribution of work, from which must be evident what part of the tasks of editing are to be taken by each editor and to what extent he has the authority to issue directions to other editors, in accordance with the terms of the contracts of employment and the supplementary directives of the publisher.
Section 20
(1) Editors of a newspaper are responsible under professional, criminal and civil law, for its intellectual content so far as they themselves wrote or selected it. The responsibility under criminal or civil law of other persons is not thereby excluded.
(2) The chief editor is responsible for the over-all editorial policy of the newspaper.
(3) The editor-in-chief is required:
(a) to take care that only such contributions are accepted as have been written or selected for acceptance by an editor.
(b) to take care that the first and last names as well as the residence of the editor-in-chief and his deputies, as well as that of each editor to whom a specific part of the direction of a newspaper is delegated, is reported.
(c) upon request to give information to anyone establishing a legal interest therein, as to which editor bears the responsibility for a contribution, so far as this is not evident from the data under subdivision b.
Section 21
Editors who cooperate in the shaping of the intellectual contents of a newspaper by their activity with an enterprise of the kind mentioned in Section 4, are responsible for the contents to the extent of their cooperation.
Part Four
Protection of the Editorial Profession Afforded by the Laws Relating to Association.
Section 22
The editorial group as a whole will watch over the fulfillment of duty on the part of individual professional colleagues and will look after their rights and their welfare.
Section 23
Editors are legally united to the Reich Association of the German Press [Reichsverband der Deutschen Presse]. By virtue of his registration on the professional roster every editor belongs to it. By virtue of this law the Reich Association becomes a public corporation. It has its seat in Berlin.
Section 24
(1) The Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda will appoint the head of the Reich Association who will issue a charter for the Reich Association, which will require the approval of the Minister. The head of the Reich Association will appoint an advisory councilor.
(2) The Reich Association is organized in Land Associations. Further details are regulated by the charter. Editors who live abroad must belong to a Land Association in whose district there is a newspaper or an establishment of the kind outlined in Section 4, by which they are employed.
Section 25
(1) The Reich Association is required:
1. to establish educational, advanced training and welfare institutions for the editors,
2. to give expert advice to Reich and Land authorities,
3. to cooperate in the making of stipulations for employment of editors,
4. upon request of one party, to negotiate among editors, and to settle differences in case both parties agree.
5. to maintain professional courts for the press.
(2) The Reich Association may assume additional duties for the achievement of the purposes provided for in Section 22.
(3) The Reich Association is authorized to impose dues on its members in order to meet its expenses. The regulations governing this must have the approval of Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. The dues are to be collected like public taxes.
Section 26
The Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda will exercise supervision to ensure that the Reich Association fulfills tasks which have been assigned to it.
Section 27
(1) Professional Courts [Berufsgerichte] will be established for the protection of the editorial profession.
(2) Professional Courts of the first instance are the District Courts [Bezirksgerichte] of the Press. Professional Courts of the second instance is the Press Court [Pressegerichtshof] in Berlin.
Section 28
The Professional Courts have jurisdiction:
1. to try and to decide whether the registration in the professional roster for cases set forth in Section 10 is to be decreed.
2. to try and to decide upon removals under Section 11.
3. to interpret termination clauses in editors’ contracts of employment [Anstellungsverhaeltnisses] under Section 30.
4. to try and to decide offenses of a professional nature on the part of editors (proceedings of an honor court).
Section 29
The termination of employment must be in writing and must contain a statement of reasons.
Section 30
A publisher may dismiss an editor because of the views expressed by him in the newspaper only if they are in conflict with the public professional duties of an editor or if they contravene the agreed policies. The Professional Court will, at the request of the editor, state whether the dismissal, in its opinion, has been contrary to the provisions of the preceding sentence or amounts to an evasion of them. Legal proceedings before the regular courts, if any have been initiated, are to be deferred until the requested opinion has been obtained.
Section 31
(1) An editor who fails in his public professional duties, as set forth in Sections 13 to 15, 19, 20, subsection 3, commits a professional misdemeanor. In such case the Professional Court may:
1. warn the editor,
2. punish him with a fine not exceeding the sum of one month’s professional earning,
3. decree the removal of his name from the professional roster.
(2) His license to exercise the editorial profession and to call himself an editor is terminated with such removal.
(3) The Professional Court may temporarily deny an editor, against whom proceedings in an honorary court have been instituted, the right to exercise his profession.
Section 32
Professional Courts shall consist of the President and the lay judges [Beisitzer]. Alternates are to be appointed for the President and the lay judges. The President and the lay judges must be eligible for the office of judge or for higher administrative offices. They must possess judicial independence. The lay judges and their alternates have to be editors and publishers in equal numbers. All members of the Professional Courts are appointed by the Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. The head of the Reich Association will nominate the editors, while the head of the Organization of Publishers in the Reich Press Chamber will nominate the publishers.
Section 33
The District Press Courts with five members, the Press Court [Pressegerichtshof] with 7 members, the President being included in both cases.
Section 34
The procedure before the Professional Courts will be regulated by a code of procedure which is decreed by the Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda in agreement with the Reich Minister for Justice after obtaining the opinion of the head of the Reich Association.
Section 35
The Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda may decree the removal of an editor from the professional list independent of the proceedings of the Professional Court, if he deems it necessary for pressing reasons of public welfare.
Part Five
Protection of the Editorial Profession Afforded by the Penal Laws
Section 36
Whosoever works as an editor despite the fact he is not registered in the professional rosters, or despite the fact that the exercise of his profession has been prohibited temporarily, will be punished with imprisonment up to one year, or fined.
Section 37
A publisher who entrusts a person who is not registered in the professional rosters or an editor who has been temporarily suspended from the exercise of his profession with the work of an editor as a main profession, or who maintains a newspaper without having appointed a chief editor, according to Section 18, will be punished by imprisonment of up to 3 months or by a fine.
Section 38
An editor who demands, accepts a promise of, or accepts a remuneration or any other advantage for an action which violates Sections 13 or 14, will be punished with imprisonment or fined.
Section 39
Whosoever attempts to induce an editor or a publisher or his deputy, by an office, promise or granting an advantage, to undertake, bring about or tolerate the shaping of the intellectual content of a newspaper, in violation of Sections 13 or 14, will be punished with imprisonment or fined for bribery of the press.
Section 40
(1) Whosoever attempts to induce an editor or a publisher or his deputy by means of threats to undertake, bring about or tolerate the shaping of the intellectual content of a newspaper in violation of Sections 13 or 14 will be punished with imprisonment or fined for unlawful interference with the press.
(2) If the unlawful interference with the press is exerted by misuse of the dependent employee-status of the editor, then the punishment must be not less than 3 months imprisonment.
Section 41
In cases under Sections 38 to 40 the judgment may include less of civil rights in addition to imprisonment.
Section 42
Whosoever assumes the title of an editor, despite the fact he is not registered in the professional roster, will be punished by fine of up to 150 Reichsmark or by imprisonment [haeft].
Section 43
The license of a publisher against whom there is a final judgment for violation of provisions contained in Sections 37, 39 and 40, may be revoked by the administrative authority having jurisdiction in such matters under the laws of the State.
Part Six
Concluding Provisions
Section 44
Regulations enabling delegates of a law-making body to limit prosecutions are not applicable to cases under sections 31 to 35 of this law.
Section 45
(1) Sections 7, 8, of the Reich Law relating to the Press of 7 May 1874 (RGBl I page 65) are not applicable to newspapers and political periodicals.
(2) Otherwise the provisions of the Reich Press Law relating to the responsible Editor in charge [Redakteur] are applicable to the responsible editor [Schriftleiter or Hauptschriftleiter] of newspapers and political periodicals, insofar as Section 20, subsection 1 and Section 21 of this law are concerned.
Section 46
The Reich Minister for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda in agreement with the other Reich Ministers concerned may issue directives for the execution of these laws and for conversion from the old legal basis to the new one.
Section 47
The Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda will set the date on which this law becomes valid.
Berlin, 4 October 1933
The Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler
The Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda Dr. Goebbels
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2084-PS
1933 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 215
Law on the Formation of Student Organizations at Scientific Universities
22 April 1933.
The Government of the Reich has decreed the following law which is promulgated herewith:
Section 1
Students of German descent and mother tongue, fully registered with a scientific University shall constitute the Student-body of such University, regardless of their citizenship.
Section 2
The Student-body is a part of the University and represents the students as a whole. It shall be instrumental in ensuring that students fulfill their duties towards the people, the State, and the University.
Section 3
Details relating to organization and work of the student-bodies will be determined by Land governments’ Student Regulations and by the by-laws of the Universities and the Student-bodies.
Berlin, 22 April 1933.
The Reich Chancellor ADOLF HITLER
The Reich Minister of the Interior FRICK
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2088-PS
1934 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 375
Decree Relating to Tasks of the Reich Ministry for Education of 11 May 1934
Pursuant to the decree of the Reich President of 1 May 1934 (RGBl I, p. 365) I determine that the following affairs are transferred from the jurisdiction of the Reich Ministry of Interior to the Reich Ministry of Education:
1. Science
German scientific matters, also in their relation to foreign countries,
Physical-Technical Institute,
Chemical-Technical Institute,
Seismographical Institute,
Important Scientific Institutes inside and outside Germany,
Scientific Libraries,
Folklore,
Archeological Institute.
2. Education and Instruction:
High School-matters,
Support of students, “Reichsschaft” leaders of the students in German High Schools and
Craft Schools,
General School matters,
Elementary schools,
Private schools,
Craft and Technical Schools,
German school affairs in foreign countries,
Schools in foreign countries.
3. Youth Organizations.
4. Education of Adults.
The Reich Minister for Education is the authority in the outlined fields for the tasks including legislation. The participation of other Reich-Ministers is governed by general principles.
Berlin, 11 May 1934.
The Reich Chancellor ADOLF HITLER
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2089-PS
1933 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 241
Decree relating to the Reich Air Ministry of 5 May 1933.
A Reich Air Ministry is established as the highest Reich authority for Aviation. The Chief of this office shall have the title “Reich Air Minister.”
Jurisdiction will include the functions of the Reich in Aviation; the functions and authority of the now abolished Reichskommissar [Reich Commissioner] for Aviation are transferred to the “Reich Air Minister.”
This decree is effective from 1 May 1933.
Berlin, 5 May 1933.
The Reichpresident von Hindenburg
The Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler
The Reich Commissioner for Aviation Goering
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2090-PS
1935 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 1029
Decree relating to the Coordination of the Jurisdiction of the Reich and Prussia in relation to Church Affairs of 16 July 1935
Those church affairs, which have hitherto come within the jurisdiction of the Reich and Prussian Ministry of the Interior as well as by the Reich and Prussian Ministry for Science, Education and National Culture, are transferred to the Reich Minister without Portfolio KERRL.
The Reich and Prussian Ministers concerned will issue more specific regulations for the execution of this decree.
Berlin, 16 July 1935.
The Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler
The Reich Minister of the Interior Frick
The Reich Minister for Science, Education and National Culture Rust
The Prussian Minister President By order Koerner
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2091-PS
1940 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 513
Decree of the Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor Appointing a Reich Minister for Armaments and Munitions
17 April 1940
In order to consolidate the highest leadership of all offices engaged in the production of armaments and munitions in the Greater German Reich including the German Government for occupied Polish territories, I am appointing a Reich Minister for Armaments and Munitions. I appoint as Reich Minister for Armaments and Munitions the General Inspector of the German Highways Dr. Engineer Todt. The issuance of administrative regulations are reserved by me.
Berlin, 17 March 1940.
The Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler
The President for the Council of the Ministry for the Defense of the Reich
Goering General Field Marshal
The Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces Keitel
The Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery Dr. Lammers
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2092-PS
1943 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 529
Decree of the Fuehrer for the Concentration of the War Economy 2 September 1943
Considering the closer coordination and the unified employment of all economic forces, demanded by the necessities of war, I order for the duration of the war:
Article 1
The Reich Minister of Economy is competent for the basic economic-political questions of German economy.
Article 2
The competence of the Reich Minister for Economy in the realm of raw materials and production in industry and the trades are transferred to the Reich Minister for Armament and Munitions. The Reich Minister for Armament and Munitions will carry the designation, because of his enlarged realm of activity, of
“Reich Minister for Armament and War Production.”
Article 3
(1) The Reich Minister for Economy remains competent for the supply of civilian population with consumer goods and for their rationing.
(2) The Reich Minister for Economy is competent in the realm of raw materials and of the production in industry and trades and in the realm of commerce for the treatment of foreign commerce questions within the frame of the foreign trade policy of the Reich.
(3) Furthermore, he is responsible within the realm of the entire foreign trade, for the maintenance of the general economic viewpoints in the framework of the active German economic planning, and to direct German economy accordingly.
(4) The competence of the Reich Minister of Foreign Affairs in regard to the foreign trade policy of the Reich, and in regard to the preparation and execution of foreign trade policy conferences, remains untouched.
Article 4
(1) The Reich Minister for Economy is charged with the topmost supervision over the credit institutes, the supervisory and administrative rights, which belong, according to law or constitution, to the subordinated Reich or state authorities, are transferred to him. He delegates the supervisory or administrative rights to the subordinated officials, so far as he is not required to take care of them himself for special reasons.
(2) He is competent for the financial questions of the German economy.
Article 5
The authorities of the Reichsmarshal of the greater German Reich as Commissioner for the Four-Year Plan, remain untouched.
Article 6
This proclamation applies to the area of the greater German Reich including the incorporated Eastern territories and the Protectorate. In the protectorate also, the Reich Minister for Armament and War Production is competent in the realm of raw materials and the production in industry and the trades.
Article 7
The legal and administrative regulations, necessary for the execution and completion of articles 2, 3, and 4, will be issued: For Article 2 by the Reich Minister for Armament and War Production together with the Reich Minister for economy. For Articles 3 and 4 by the Reich Minister for Economy in agreement with the Reich Ministers concerned.
Fuehrer Headquarters, 2 September 1943.
The Fuehrer Adolf Hitler
The Reich Minister and Chief of Reich Chancellery Dr. Lammers
PARTIAL TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2093-PS
1934 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 617
First Executive Order relating to the transfer of Forestry and Hunting Matters to the Reich of 12 July 1934
Article 1
Section (2)
The Reich Conservator of Forests [Reichsforestmeister] has as Chief of the Reich Board of Woods and Forests the position and the authority of a Reichminister.
* * * * * * *
Berlin, 12 July 1934.
The Reichminister of the Interior Frick
The Reich Forester Goering
The Reich Minister for Food and Agriculture R. Walther Darre
PARTIAL TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2094-PS
1937 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 95
Decree of the Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor Concerning the Reich Labor Leader in the Reich Ministry of the Interior of 30 January 1937
* * * * * * *
ARTICLE 3
The Reich Labor leader in the Reich Ministry of the Interior will participate in sessions of the Reich Cabinet, in so far as matters under his jurisdiction are concerned.
Berlin, 30 Jan 1934.
The Fuehrer and Reichs Chancellor Adolf Hitler
The Reich Minister of the Interior Frick
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2095-PS
1943 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 495
Decree of the Fuehrer on the Establishment of a Supreme Reich Authority-- “The Reich Labor Leader” of 20 August 1943.
In Amendment of the Reich Labor Service Law, in the form of the proclamation of 9 September 1939 (RGBl I, p. 1747), and of my decree of 30 January 1937 (RGBl I, p. 95), I ordain:
I
Under the title “The Reich Labor Leader,” a Supreme Reich Authority will be established, with a seat in Berlin.
II
(1) The Reich Labor Service is under the jurisdiction of the Reich Labor Leader.
(2) The powers of the Reichminister of the Interior derived from laws, decrees and orders concerning the Reich Labor Service will be transferred to the Reich Labor Leader. The processing of matters concerning the Reich Labor Service will no longer fall under the competence of the Reichminister of the Interior.
(3) The Reich Labor Leader is under my immediate jurisdiction.
Fuehrer Headquarters, 20 August 1943.
The Fuehrer Adolf Hitler
The Reichminister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery Dr. Lammers
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2097-PS
1937 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 1317
Decree of the Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor relating to Designation of the Chief of the Praesidialkanzlei of 1 December 1937
The State secretary and chief of the Praesidialkanzlei will carry in the future the official designation “State Minister and chief of the Praesidialkanzlei of the Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor.” He will be equal in rank to a Reich Minister.
Berlin, 1 Dec 1937
The Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler
The State Secretary and Chief of the Praesidialkanzlei
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2098-PS
1938 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 215
Decree relating to the Status of the Supreme Commanders of the Army and Navy of 25 Feb 1938
The Supreme Commander of the Army, General von Brauchitsch, carries the equivalent rank of a Minister of the Reich--as has already been the case with the Supreme Commander of the Navy, Admiral Dr. h.c. Raeder.
Following my orders, the Supreme Commanders of the Army and Navy shall participate in the meetings of the Reich Cabinet.
Order No. 461 of April 20, 1936 (Heeresverordnungsblatt page 163) is rescinded.
Munich, 25 Feb 1938
The Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler
The Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery Dr. Lammers
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2099-PS
1941 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 295
Fuehrer Decree Relating to the Chief of the Party Chancellery of 29 May 1941
By order of May 12, 1941, I decree for the National Socialist German Labor Party that the hitherto existing office of Deputy Fuehrer should be designated from then on as Party Chancellery under my personal jurisdiction. In order to guarantee closest collaboration of the Party Chancellery with the Supreme Reich Authorities, I order in this connection:
The Chief of the Party Chancellery, Reich Leader Martin Bormann, has the powers of a Reich Minister; he is member of the Reich Government and the Ministerial Council for Reich Defense. Wherever in connection with laws, orders, decrees, ordinances, and other regulations the term “Deputy Fuehrer” is used, it will be replaced by “Chief of the Party Chancellery.” The instructions necessary for the execution and supplementing of this decree will be given by the Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery in agreement with the Chief of the Party Chancellery.
Headquarters of the Fuehrer, 29 May 1941 The Fuehrer Adolf Hitler
The Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery Dr. Lammers
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2100-PS
1942 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 35
Directive
About the application of the Fuehrer decree regarding the position of the chief of the Party Chancellery, dated 16 January 1942.
Based on the Fuehrer decree about the position of the chief of the Party Chancellery, dated 29 May 1941, (RGBl I, page 295) the following is decreed:
Par. 1
(1) The participation of the Party in legislation is handled exclusively through the chief of the Party Chancellery unless otherwise directed by the Fuehrer. Proposals and suggestions for legislation coming from the Party, its organizations and affiliated associations, may be submitted to the competent supreme Reich authorities only through the chief of the Party Chancellery.
(2) The same procedure regarding collaboration of the Party in personnel questions of civil servants will be used exclusively through the chief of the Party Chancellery.
Par. 2
In legislative functions the position of the chief of the Party Chancellery will be that of a participating Reich Minister in all cases. The supreme Reich authority will therefore include him in the preparations for Reich laws, for decrees and directives of the Fuehrer, for directives of the Counsels of Ministers for the Defense of the Reich, as well as directives of the supreme Reich authorities to include executive directives and general directives. The same applies to his concurrence with laws and directives of the states and directives of the Reich deputies [Reichsstadthalter].
Par. 3
In fundamental and political questions, in particular those which serve to prepare, change or put into effect laws, decrees and directives, the channels between the supreme Reich authorities and the supreme authorities of the states which include several Gaue on the one hand, and the offices of the Party, its organizations and affiliated associates on the other hand, go through the chief of the Party Chancellery. Direct communication between the supreme Reich authorities and the supreme State authorities with other offices of the Party is not permissible in these cases. This applies to personnel matters regarding civil servants in as far as there are no special regulations.
Fuehrer Headquarters, 16 January 1942.
The Reichs Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery Dr. Lammers
The Chief of the Party Chancellery M. Bormann
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2101-PS
1941 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 192
Decree of the Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor concerning the Inspector General of the German Highways Administration of the 3rd of April 1941.
The Inspector General of the German Highways Administration has the power of a Reich Minister.
Berlin, April 3, 1941
The Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler
The Reichminister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery Dr. Lammers
PARTIAL TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2102-PS
1941 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 467
Decree of the Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor concerning the Inspector General for Water and Power of 29 July 1941
In consideration of the special needs of the war and the necessity of unified planning in the Greater German Territory I appoint for the administration and reconstitution of the power development and the Power and Water administration an Inspector General for Water and Power. He has within the field for his activity the position and authority of a Reichminister and a Prussian Minister. His office is the highest Reich authority and the highest Provincial authority in Prussia.
To the office of Inspector General for Water and Power I nominate the Inspector General for the German Highways, Reichsminister Dr. Todt.
I. Power Administration
(1) The responsibilities of the Reichsminister for Economics in the realm of power administration especially according to the law for the advancement of the power administration (Power administration law) of December 13, 1935 (Reichsgesetzblatt I, Page 1451) are transferred to the Inspector General for Water and Power.
(2) Art. 1 Sect. 2 of the power administration law receives the following interpretation:
“(2) The supervision is done by the Inspector General for Water and Power.”
(3) The Reichsminister for Economics remains responsible for
a. the determination of the electrical current demands of the industry and the requesting of the necessary amounts of power;
b. the preparation of the materials and coal required by the power industry;
c. the approval for the use of the stock market for the purpose of the power industry in accordance with the generally valid regulations and the adjustment of the claims of the power industry on the money and stock market with regards to the requirements of the entire industrial economy;
d. the approval for the rearrangement of the legal constitution of enterprises of the power industry especially for registered corporations, and for the introduction of new legal constitution in the field of the registered trade corporation.
II. Water Administration
(1) The responsibilities of the Reichminister and Prussian Minister for Food and Agriculture and of the Reichminister and Prussian Minister for Transportation in the field of Water Administration and the waterways are transferred to the Inspector General for Water and Power.
(2) The Reich--and Prussian Minister for Food and Agriculture remains responsible for the Agricultural matters in the Water Administration, namely for the carrying out of the agricultural accommodations [Folgoeinrichtungen]. The Inspector General for Water and Power decides, in agreement with the Reichminister for Food and Agriculture, concerning the carrying out of improvements in Agriculture and in the Fisheries as well as concerning the bearable burdens of the land owners.
(3) The Reich--and Prussian Minister for Transportation remains responsible for the traffic on the waterways.
(4) The Inspector General for Water and Power may transfer the technical supervision concerning the planning and the carrying out of Water Administrative measures and harbor constructions, to the water construction agencies, in so far as the execution does not lie in the hands of official agencies.
III. Mutual Regulations
(1) The Inspector General for Water and Power takes over at the very latest by April 1, 1942 the personnel of the Reich and of Prussia, which are occupied with the assignments now transferred to him. The Reichminister for Economics, the Reichminister for Food and Agriculture and the Reichminister for Transportation will immediately make available to him the pertinent business groups. Also included in this transfer are the furnishings and office material belonging thereto. The details of the transfer will be agreed upon by the participating Reichministers.
(2) For the execution of his missions the Inspector General for Water and Power may create corporations, institutions of a public legal nature or commercial legal companies, or other institutions in using new legal procedures.
(3) The Reichminister for the Interior and the Inspector for the field of responsibility transferred to them under inclusion of the road administration to prepare the development of a uniform administration within the framework of the general administration
The Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler
The Reichminister and Chief of the Party Chancellory Dr. Lammers
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2103-PS
1943 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 295
Decree of the Fuehrer on the Cabinet Legislation of 10 May 1943
Considering that the law of 24 March 1933 (RGBl I, p. 141) expires formally on 10 May 1943, I ordain:
The Reich Cabinet has to continue to exercise the powers entrusted to it by the law of 24 March 1933.
I reserve it to myself, to bring about the confirmation of these powers of the Reich Cabinet by the Greater German Reichstag.
Headquarters of the Fuehrer, 10 May 1943.
The Fuehrer Adolf Hitler
The Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellory. Dr. Lammers.
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2104-PS
1933 PREUSSISCHE GESETZSAMMLUNG, PAGE 122
Law on the organization of a Secret State Police Office
The State Ministry has resolved on the following law:
Article 1
(1) The Secret State Police, with headquarters in Berlin, is organized in order to carry out the duties of political police with or in place of the ordinary police authorities (Article 2, paragraph 1 of the Code of Police Administration of June 1, 1931, Gesetzsammlung p. 77). The Secret State Police Office has the rank of a higher police authority and is subordinate only to the Minister of the Interior.
(2) The Minister of the Interior determines the functional and territorial jurisdiction of the Secret State Police Office.
(3) The regulations of the Code of Police Administration of June 1, 1931 concerning appeals against orders of the higher police authorities are applicable in so far as the Administrative Court in Berlin has exclusive jurisdiction over court appeals against orders of the Secret State Police Office.
Article 2
Within its jurisdiction, the Secret State Police Office can make requests for police action to all police authorities.
Article 3
The Minister of the Interior is entitled to issue administrative orders for the execution of this law. He acts in agreement with the Minister of Finance in regard to the number and type of officials and employees who should be employed by the Secret State Police Office.
Article 4
The law goes into effect on the day of its promulgation.
Berlin 24 April, 1933
The Prussian Ministry of State /ss/ Goering and by Popitz and for the Minister of the Interior
The above law, resolved by the Prussian State Ministry, is herewith promulgated.
Berlin 26 April 1933 /ss/ For the Reich Chancellor: The Prussian Prime Minister Goering
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2105-PS
1933 PREUSSISCHE GESETZSAMMLUNG, PAGE 413
Law on the Secret State Police of November 30, 1933
The State Ministry has resolved the following law:
Article 1
(1) The Secret State Police is an independent branch of the Administration of the Interior. The Prime Minister is its chief. He appoints an Inspector of the Secret State Police as acting manager of the affairs.
(2) In case of absence, the State Secretary of the State Ministry acts as deputy of the Prime Minister in his capacity as Chief of the Secret State Police.
(3) The Inspector of the Secret State Police is also chief of the Secret State Office.
Article 2
The jurisdiction of the Secret State Police covers all political police matters of the general and interior administration. The Prime Minister as Chief of the Secret State Police, will issue the regulations regarding the matters which must be transferred to the Secret State Police.
Article 3
(1) With the enactment of this law the Secret State Police Office takes over matters of a political nature which were previously handled by the Ministry of the Interior.
(2) The district, county and local police authorities [Landes Kreis und Ortspolizeibehoerden] are subject to the directives of the Secret State Police Office.
Article 4
The Minister of Finance is empowered to make changes in the budget of the State in order to carry out this law.
Article 5
Provisions of the law of April 26, 1933 (Gesetzsammlung 1933, p. 122) which conflict with this law are superseded by this law.
Article 6
This law goes into effect with its promulgation.
Berlin, November 30, 1933
The Prussian State Ministry, /ss/ Goering Popitz and as Minister of Interior
The above law, as resolved by the Prussian State Ministry, is herewith promulgated.
For the Reich Chancellor: For the Prussian Prime Minister Goering
PARTIAL TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2107-PS
1936 PREUSSISCHE GESETZSAMMLUNG, PAGES 21-22.
(No. 14308) Law on the Secret State Police of 10 February 1936
Section VII
Orders in matters of the Secret State Police are not subject to the review of the Administrative Courts.
* * * * * * *
Berlin, 10 February 1936
THE PRUSSIAN STATE MINISTRY GOERING FRICK
PARTIAL TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2108-PS
1936 PREUSSISCHE GESETZSAMMLUNG, PAGES 22-24
Issue No. 5 distributed in Berlin, 12 Feb 1936. No. 14309
Decree for execution of the Law on the Secret State Police of 10 February 1936
On the basis of Articles 1 and 8 of the Law on the Secret State Police of the 10 February 1936 (Prussian Legal Gazette, page 21) is decreed:
Art. 1
The Gestapo is authorized to carry out the police investigations in high treason, treason and explosive cases, as well as other punishable aggressive actions against Party and State.
Art. 2
(1) In the proper competence of the Secret State Police, the Secret State Police Bureau is authorized to undertake measures in the entire territory of Prussia and measures effective for the entire territory.
(2) The Secret State Police Bureau assumes the competence of the Supreme Federal State Authorities in cases of the Law on guns and munitions of the 13 July 1928 (Reichs Legal Gazette I, page 198).
(3) The Secret State Police Bureau is a central collecting agency for political police information.
(4) The Secret State Police Bureau administers the state concentration camps.
(5) In Berlin the Secret State Police Bureau assumes the competence of the Secret State Police for the Federal-State-County and local police affairs. Whether, and to what extent these tasks will be transferred to the State Police office in Berlin--will be determined by the Chief of the Secret State Police.
Art. 3
The State Police offices may, within the framework of the competence of the Secret State Police, take all the measures incumbent upon the Secret State Police with the exception of the prohibition of periodicals in their district.
Art. 4
(1) Insofar as it is necessary for the detection and fighting of aspirations which are directed against the State, the authorities of the county and local police in towns of more than 5000 inhabitants may decree the confiscation of printed material and restrictions regarding the rights of association and assembly for the support of the Secret State Police. The county and local police authorities have to obey within this realm the instructions of the responsible office of the State Police.
(2) The State Police office at its location executes also the functions of the local police within the framework of responsibility of the Secret State Police.
Art. 5
The Secret State Police is an independent branch of the interior administration. Its officials, employees and paid personnel belong to the interior administration. Its highest superior is the Chief of the Secret State Police.
Art. 6
The head of the Secret State Police office will represent the Deputy Chief of the Secret State Police in all official business functions.
Art. 7
The Secret State Police office may, within the framework of responsibility resting upon the Secret State Police, make requests to the heads of provincial and county governments [Ober--und Regierungspraesidenten], as well as to all police agencies. The heads of the provincial and county governments have to obey the instructions of the Secret State Police office with respect to affairs concerning the Secret State Police.
Art. 8
(1) The State Police offices are located at the seat of the government. The chief of the Secret State Police can, in agreement with the Minister of Interior, make exceptions from this principle.
(2) An index of the State Police offices is added in the appendix.
Art. 9
(1) The heads of the State Police offices and political specialists [Sachbearbeiter] of the provincial governors will be determined by the Chief of the Secret State Police in agreement with the Minister of the Interior.
(2) In case the head of the State Police Office is prevented from doing so, the functions of the political specialist of the provincial governor will be taken care of by the official who is destined as permanent deputy of the head of the State Police Office. He will be designated by the Chief of the Secret State Police in agreement with the Minister of Interior.
Art. 10
The State Police offices may make their requests to all police authorities of their district. In counties, the request has, as a matter of principle to be directed to the County Governor [Landrat]; in the urgent cases it will suffice to inform the County Council. The reports of the authorities subordinated to the County Governor have to be sent to the State Police offices through the County Council; in urgent cases it will suffice to inform the County Council at the same time.
Art. 11
The authorities of the County Police have to report directly to the responsible state police office on all important political occurrences and observations.
Art. 12
Insofar as officials of the Secret State Police within the framework of the authority of the Secret State Police, take over the tasks incumbent upon the authorities and officials of the police--and security services according to the regulations of the code for criminal proceedings, they are acting as auxiliary officials of the Chief Prosecutor of the Reich [Oberreichsanwalt] or of the State Prosecutor for the District Court [Oberstaatsanwalt] who is locally responsible.
Art. 13
The Chief of the Secret State Police disposes of the funds set aside for the Secret State Police in the budget of the interior administration.
Art. 14
The Ministerialblatt of the Reich--and Prussian Ministry of the Interior is the official gazette for the Chief and Deputy Chief of the Secret State Police.
Art. 15
This decree will be effective on the day after its publication.
Berlin, 10 February 1936
The Prussian Prime Minister GOERING
The Reich--and Prussian Minister of the Interior FRICK
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2111-PS
1941 VERORDNUNGSBLATT, PAGE 190
Order of the Reich Commissioner for the Occupied Netherlands Territories concerning the Establishment of Administrative Courts Martial
Pursuant to Section 5 of the decree of the Fuehrer concerning the exercise of governmental authority in the Netherlands, of May 18, 1940 (RGBl I, p. 778) I hereby order as follows:
Section 1
(1) The Reich Commissioner for the occupied Netherlands territories may, if he shall deem it necessary for the maintenance or restoration of public order and security, establish administrative courts martial for these territories or for certain areas within these territories.
(2) The establishment of administrative courts martial shall become effective as soon as it is announced. Such announcement shall be made by posters along public roads, streets and squares, by radio, by the press, or according to local custom. The abolition of administrative courts martial shall be made public the same manner.
(3) Simultaneously with the establishment of administrative courts martial, shall be decreed that everyone shall refrain from all activities which might disturb or endanger public order and security, and that everyone must comply with special orders issued by the Reich Commissioner, in which he shall make particular reference to the strictness of the administrative courts martial. Any person acting contrary hereto shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the administrative courts martial.
Section 2
Unless the Reich Commissioner shall order otherwise, the provisions of Sections 3 to 8 shall be effective for the areas in which administrative courts martial have been established, so long as these courts are maintained.
Section 3
(1) The Higher S.S. and the Police Leader shall take all measures deemed necessary by him for the maintenance or restoration of public order and security.
(2) He may promulgate rules and regulations, having the force and effect of laws, which are necessary for the fulfillment of his functions. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7, such rules and regulations may contain penal clauses subjecting a defendant to fines of unlimited amount, imprisonment or jail. They shall be published in accordance with the provisions of Section 1, paragraph 2, sentence 2.
(3) In the fulfillment of his duties, the Higher S.S. and the Police Leader may deviate from existing law.
Section 4
(1) The Reich Commissioner shall appoint a Special Agent for the entire area for which an administrative court martial has been decreed.
(2) The Special Agent shall be the head of the entire public administration, excluding the police administration, unless the Higher S.S. and the Police Leader assumes administrative tasks in accordance with Section 3, paragraph 1.
(3) The Special Agent shall promulgate rules and regulations necessary for the fulfillment of his functions. Notwithstanding the provisions contained in Section 7, they may contain penal clauses subjecting a defendant to fines of unlimited amount, imprisonment, or jail. They shall be published in accordance with the provisions of Section 1, paragraph 2, sentence 2.
(4) In the fulfillment of his duties, the Special Agent may deviate from existing law.
(5) The Reich Commissioner shall have the right to appoint Special Agents, even for certain parts of the area in which administrative courts martial have been established.
Section 5
The activities of all public representative committees which made decisions as a body, shall be suspended. Their powers and duties shall be transferred to the chief administrative authority concerned with the subject matter (for example, commissioner of the province, major, overseer of dikes, etc.).
Section 6
The validity of regulations issued by the Secretaries General in the Netherlands Ministries in accordance with Section 3, paragraph 2, sentence 2, of Order No. 3/1940, or by virtue of Order No. 23/1940, shall be dependent upon prior consent by the Special Agent (Section 4).
Section 7
Any person shall be subject to court martial who, after the establishment of an administrative court martial, shall intentionally participate in activities likely to disturb or to endanger public order and security, or who intentionally violates special orders of the Reich Commissioner issued in accordance with Section 1, paragraph 3. Such person shall be punishable by death or, in less serious cases, by hard labor either for life or for a period of not less than ten years.
Section 8
(1) The German Superior Court shall operate as a court martial in accordance with the procedure established in the Old Reich for proceedings before Special Courts.
(2) The provisions regarding judicial procedure for the German Armed Forces and the jurisdiction of Special Courts in criminal cases concerning members of the S.S. and of the police forces assigned to special duty, shall not be affected by this order; Section 11 of Order No. 52/1940, regarding the possibility of referring certain criminal cases to the jurisdiction of Special Courts, shall likewise remain unaffected.
(3) The judges of the court martial shall be appointed by the Reich Commissioner. The Court Martial shall be considered lawfully constituted even if only one judge has the educational qualifications required for judicial tenure.
(4) Death sentences shall be executed by shooting.
Section 9
This order becomes effective on the day of publication.
The Hague, March 19, 1941 SEYSS-INQUART
Reich Commissioner for the Occupied Netherlands Territories. 2 7 2
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2112-PS
1941 VERORDNUNGSBLATT, PAGE 655
Order of the Reich Commissioner for the Occupied Netherlands Territories concerning Jewish Real Estate--11 August 1941
By virtue of article 5 of the decree of the Fuehrer concerning the exercise of Governmental authority in the Netherlands, of May 18, 1940 (RGBl I, p. 778) I order as follows:
I. DEFINITION
Section 1
(1) Jewish real estate, as defined in this order is any real estate which belongs in whole or in part:
1. To a Jew, as defined in Section 4 of Order No. 189/1940, concerning the registration of enterprises;
2. To an enterprise which is required to register by virtue of Order No. 189/1940;
3. To a private corporation, an association, an institution, a foundation or any other endowment, if one of the conditions of Section 2 of Order No. 189/1940 is fulfilled, although the organization in question is not an enterprise within the meaning of that order.
(2) Jewish real estate for the purpose of this order is, further, any right in real estate, as well as any mortgage, to which a person, an enterprise, an association, an institution, a foundation or any other endowment, as defined in paragraph (1), is entitled in its entirety or in part.
(3) The owner or beneficiary, for the purpose of this order, is the holder of title to the property, the possessor of a right in the real estate, or the mortgage creditor.
Section 2
The provisions of this order shall not apply to real estate covered by the provisions of Order No. 102/1941, concerning the registration and treatment of agricultural real estate in Jewish hands (Order for the Exclusion of Jews from Agriculture).
II. REQUIREMENT OF REGISTRATION
Section 3
(1) Jewish real estate must be registered in writing with the Netherlands Real Estate Administration, The Hague, Juliana van Stolberglaan 45, by the use of a form which may be obtained from the Chambers of Industry and Commerce.
(2) Registration must be made before September 15, 1941. Any real estate acquired only after this order has become effective, must be registered within one month after such acquisition.
(3) The owner or beneficiary of real estate must register it. Any person who is entitled to represent the owner or beneficiary, or who is entitled to administrate such real estate, must also register it.
Section 4
(1) A person required to register must fill out the registration form completely and truthfully.
(2) Copies of the following documents must be filed with registration form, if they are in the possession of the person registering:
1. Excerpts from the Land-Register and the Mortgage-Register;
2. Contracts of sale and other documents concerning the acquisition of the real estate;
3. Contracts of lease or tenancy, or other documents showing an existing use.
(3) The Netherlands Real Estate Administration is empowered to require further information and the production of books, vouchers, and any other documents.
Section 5
(1) Every parcel of real estate, every right in real estate and every mortgage which on or before May 9, 1940, belonged to a person, an enterprise, an association, an institution, a foundation or any other endowment, as defined in Section 1, paragraph 1, or to which such person, enterprise, association, institution, foundation or other endowment was entitled, and which, before this order has become effective, has been transferred to any other person, must likewise be registered.
(2) The owner or beneficiary as defined in paragraph 1, and his representative, as well as his immediate successor in title and the representative of the latter, are required to perform this registration.
(3) Registration must be filed in writing before September 15, 1941, with the Netherlands Real Estate Administration. The registration must be accompanied by excerpts from the Land-Register and the Mortgage-Register, as well as by the contracts of sale and other documents concerning the legal transfer to which reference was made in paragraph 1. Section 4, paragraph 3, shall not be applicable.
Section 6
The registration requirements shall not apply to real estate:
1. Which has been registered pursuant to Order No. 26/1940, concerning the handling of enemy property;
2. Which belongs or did belong to an association or foundation which has been registered by virtue of Order No. 145/1940, concerning the registration of non-commercial associations and endowments;
3. Which has been reported in the registration of an enterprise, pursuant to Section 6 of Order No. 189/1940.
III. ADMINISTRATION
Section 7
(1) The Netherlands Real Estate Administration shall be empowered to take over Jewish real estate for administration.
(2) It shall be empowered to appoint third persons for such administration.
Section 8
(1) As soon as real estate has been taken over for administration, the Netherlands Real Estate Administration shall be empowered to execute all transactions, by court procedure or otherwise, which are necessary in the regular course of administration; it may alienate real estate in its entirety or in part, and may also mortgage it. The Netherlands Real Estate Administration shall be empowered to transfer these powers in their entirety or in part to the persons whom it has appointed for the administration of the real estate.
(2) Dispositions by the owner or beneficiary of the real estate shall be void during the period in which such real estate is being administered by the Netherlands Real Estate Administration. During such period payments by a mortgage debtor to the owner or beneficiary shall have no releasing effect.
Section 9
(1) The taking over of administration by the Netherlands Real Estate Administration shall be recorded in the public register without payment of a fee.
(2) It shall become legally effective on the date on which the request for recording was received by the agency competent to keep the register.
IV. PERMISSIONS
Section 10
(1) Persons, enterprises, associations, institutions, foundations or other endowments, as defined in Section 1, paragraph 1, may acquire real estate by legal transfer, only with the permission of the Reich Commissioner for the occupied Netherlands Territories (Commissioner General for Finance and Economic Affairs).
(2) Acquisition at an execution sale shall also be considered acquisition by legal transfer.
Section 11
(1) Jewish real estate can be alienated, mortgaged, leased, or made subject to other changes in ownership or possession, in part or in its entirety, only with the permission of the Reich Commissioner for the Occupied Netherlands Territories (Commissioner General for Finance and Economic Affairs); mortgages in particular can be paid off entirely or in part only with such permission.
(2) Paragraph 1 shall not apply, if real estate:
1. Is being administered by the Netherlands Real Estate Administration;
2. Is being administered by an administrator appointed pursuant to Order No. 26/1940;
3. Is being administered by a trustee appointed pursuant to Order No. 48/1941 (Order concerning the Exclusion of Jews from Economic Affairs);
4. Belongs to an association or foundation registered pursuant to Order No. 145/1940.
(3) The incurring of an obligation to execute any of the legal acts mentioned in paragraph 1, sentence 1, is also subject to the granting of permission. If permission is granted to incur such obligation, said permission shall also extend to legal acts in performance of the obligation.
Section 12
The request for permission shall be made by the person who intends to conclude a contract subject to permission, or to carry out any legal act subject to such permission.
Section 13
The permission may be made dependent upon the fulfillment of certain conditions or may be connected with certain requirements.
V. COSTS
Section 14
(1) The procedure pursuant to this order may be subject to costs.
(2) Action on applications may be made dependent on advance payment of such costs in part or in their entirety.
VI. PROVISIONS
Section 15
(1) Any person who maliciously violates or circumvents the provisions of this order, or of any order, condition or requirement issued or made by virtue of this order, shall be subject to imprisonment or fine, unlimited as to the amount, or to both of these penalties.
(2) If the act has been committed negligently, the punishment shall be imprisonment not exceeding one year, or a fine not exceeding 100,000 guilders.
Section 16
(1) In addition to such penalty, the confiscation of the property to which the criminal act referred may be ordered.
(2) If no particular person can be prosecuted or convicted, confiscation may be ordered independently.
Section 17
(1) Prosecution shall be initiated only upon request of the Reich Commissioner for the Occupied Netherlands Territories (Commissioner General of Finance and Economic Affairs).
(2) The request for prosecution can be withdrawn until sentence has been pronounced in the court of last resort.
Section 18
Acts punishable pursuant to Section 15 shall be considered criminal acts as defined in Section II, paragraph 2, of Order No. 52/1940, concerning German jurisdiction in Criminal Cases, as revised in Order No. 123/1941.
Section 19
(1) Property involved in the punishable act pursuant to Section 15 may also be confiscated by administrative procedure.
(2) In this case, confiscation takes place upon order of the Reich Commissioner for the Occupied Netherlands Territories (Commissioner General for Security); it becomes effective upon general publication or upon notice to the person concerned. If such confiscation involves property or rights which by virtue of a legal provision have been recorded in a public register, such confiscation shall be immediately recorded free of cost in such register, upon request of the Reich Commissioner (Commissioner General for Security).
(3) The Reich Commissioner for the Occupied Netherlands Territories (Commissioner General for Finances and Economic Affairs) shall decide as to the disposition of confiscated property.