Prussian House of Representatives


The Prussian House of Representatives was, until 1918, the second chamber of the Prussian Landtag, the other chamber being the Prussian House of Lords. It was established by the Prussian constitution of 5 December 1848, with members elected according to the three-class franchise. The name "House of Representatives" was introduced in 1855.

Franchise

From 1849, the election of representatives within the Kingdom of Prussia was performed according to the three-class franchise system. The election was indirect. In the primary election, those with the right to vote went to the ballot and, in three separate classes, chose electors, who, in turn, chose the representatives for their constituency.
Several attempts to reform the voting procedure, which heavily favoured the Conservatives, were rebuffed by the House of Lords. The electoral law, which was one of the most progressive in Europe when it was introduced, thus stayed mostly unchanged until 1918. The House of Representatives itself decided to abolish it in 1918, but it had become redundant by the German Revolution of 1918–1919, which founded a republic.
The right to vote was open to every male Prussian over 24 years of age who had been living in a Prussian municipality for at least six months and had not been stripped of his rights by a court of law and was not in receipt of public pauper relief. To stand for election as a representative, one had to be over 30, be a Prussian for at least three years and not be stripped of civil rights by a court.

Legislative periods

The legislative period was at first three years, but, as for the Reichstag, it was changed to five years in 1888. The House was, however, dissolved by the king prematurely several times. From 1849 to 1918, there were 22 legislative periods.

Composition

Its size was first fixed at 350 seats, which changed to 352 with the incorporation of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Hohenzollern-Hechingen in 1849. Following annexations after the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, the number of seats changed to 432 after the election of 1867. In 1876, another seat for the Duchy of Lauenburg was added. In 1906, ten seats were added, bringing the number to 443 for the elections of 1908.
The members of the House received monetary compensation for their work, unlike the members of the Reichstag. Therefore, many Reichstag members also sat in the House of Representatives. In 1903, 110 members of the Reichstag were likewise members of the Prussian House, that is, almost half of the House of Representatives' 236 seats. After 1906, the number of dual office-holders sank significantly, to only 45 in 1913.
From 1862, there was a clear liberal majority in the House. In the Prussian constitutional crisis of 1859–66, however, the Liberals were defeated by chancellor Otto von Bismarck. After the war of 1866, the National Liberals split from the Liberals, and the latter never regained their former strength.
The distribution of seats from 1867, at the beginning of the respective legislative period:
1867187018731876187918821885188818931898190319081913
Conservatives123114912106116134129142145143151149
New Conservatives12525
Free Conservatives54503534575862646358615953
Centre5288889798100999510096104103
National Liberals971111741751036970889073786673
Liberal Union220433293
Progress Party454869673637433293
Free-minded People's Party14242428414
Free-minded Union61298414
Social Democrats710
Poland party16191715191815151713131512
Danes2222222222222
Right centre24
Left centre32
Independent393613151315774673
Total432432432433433433433433433433433443443

Notes: 1 Split from the conservatives; 2 Split from the National Liberals; 3 German Free-minded Party; 4 Progressive People's Party

Presidents

TenureName
1849, 1862–1866Wilhelm Grabow
1866–1873Max von Forckenbeck
1873–1879Rudolf von Bennigsen
1879–1897Georg von Köller
1898–1911Jordan von Kröcher
1912Hermann von Erffa
1913–1918Hans Graf von Schwerin-Löwitz

Abolition

The Prussian revolutionary cabinet, with Social Democrats and Independent Social Democrats, abolished the Abgeordnetenhaus on 15 November 1918. A protest, by its vice-president Felix Porsch, on 24 November 1918 was the last sign of life of the House of Representatives.