Mindful of the physical devastation which the survivors of the 2nd World War were led into by a godless state and social order lacking in all conscience or respect for human dignity, firmly intending moreover to secure permanently for future German generations the blessing of Peace, Humanity and Law...the Bavarian people hereby bestows upon itself the following Democratic Constitution.
More famous in Munich than “We the People,” the Preamble to the Constitution of the Free State of Bavaria immediately addresses the dire context in which it came to be. Both a recognition of past mistakes and a progressive vision for the future, this legal landmark was the foundation for the rebuilding of Bavaria after World War II, and remains an essential part of its character to this day.
King Max Joseph first established a Bavarian state government through the Constitution of 1818. His bicameral Landtag (Parliament)—in charge of distributing tax revenue—was the seed of parliamentary democracy in the region. After World War I, while German politicians worked to draft a new kind of government, Kurt Eisner declared Munich a free state in 1918. Though the date of his proclamation—November 7, the anniversary of the October Revolution—hinted Soviet ties, Eisner did not intend to build such a relationship. After his assassination in 1919, however, Munich Communists proclaimed the city a Soviet Republic, called the Räterrepublik. Government troops were quick to storm the city, and the Communists were defeated after bitter street fights that left more than 1,000 dead. Lingering resentments from that experience inspired much right-wing extremism during the Weimar period, and Parliament was one of its targets. When Hitler came to power, he quickly acted to dissolve the Bavarian Parliament and appointed a Vice-Regent in 1934. In that same year, the Nazis began construction of Dachau, and former Landtag and Reichstag (national Parliament) members were among the first to be imprisoned.
Social Democrat Wilhelm Hoegner had been a member of the Bavarian Parliament from 1924 to 1930, and had sat on the Reichstag until 1933. As former colleagues were shipped off to Dachau, Hoegner fled to Switzerland in 1934. Hoegner retained hope for the future of Germany, and began work on a draft for a Bavarian Constitution while in exile. Especially in the context of the Nazi debacle, he dreamed of a direct democracy that would require that individual citizens take responsibility for their government’s actions. His draft also stressed the value of the environment and awareness of the common good.
When Hoegner returned to Germany in 1945, American occupying forces named him Minister President of the interim government and charged him with the task of drafting a democratic constitution. Of course, he already had such a draft on hand, and presented it to an exploratory committee with the blessing of local political scientist Professor Hans Nawiasky. After just 14 sessions, the committee accepted Hoegner’s draft, with few substantial changes.
The next step was to bring the document to state-wide critique at a Constitutional Congress in 1946. That summer, in the first free election in more than 13 years, Bavarians chose representatives to attend meetings in a lecture hall at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. The meetings commenced in July. After months of debate—particularly concerning schools, suffrage, and the possible office of a State President—the final vote was taken in October. With 136 affirmative votes, and just 14 oppositions, the representatives accepted the draft.
On December 1, 1946, the Constitution faced popular vote, and the first post-war parliamentary elections took place at the same time. Although some smaller political parties campaigned for the rejection of the Constitution, 71% of Bavarians supported its ratification. On December 8, 1946, the Constitution of the Free State of Bavaria went into effect.
Three years later, the Bavarian government would reject the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany, though that decision had no effect on its implementation. Perhaps they felt that they had already achieved perfection in 1946. Indeed, the Bavarian Constitution is known as one of the most “citizen-friendly” in the world.
Hoegner gave the populace more responsibility, but also more power and more freedoms. The list of basic rights afforded by the document is astounding. Article 101, for example, decrees, “Every individual has the freedom, within the boundaries of law and morality, to do anything that doesn’t harm someone else.” American military powers even expressed concerns at the text’s social democratic bent. Various articles stated that industry should always benefit the common good, that unemployed or handicapped Bavarians were entitled to aid, and that building capital is a national, not personal, goal. Many admire the document’s progressive stance to this day.
The Constitution is also unique for its prescient environmental perspective. The very first draft promised government support for conservation efforts. It also ensured each citizen’s right to the “enjoyment of natural wonders,” and “relaxation in open nature.” These promises were most clearly articulated in the famous Schwammerl (mushroom) paragraph. Article 141 guarantees that every citizen may collect wild fruit in appropriate amounts, and that entry to mountains, lakes, and other extraordinary natural sites may not be restricted—to the disappointment of many a Starnberg chalet owner.
Among the other powers that the Constitution gave to Bavarians was the right to change the document through popular referendum. In 1995, a grassroots effort campaigned for the right for citizen-initiated referenda, and today, Bavaria has the most complete local direct democracy in all of Germany. Between 1995 and 2005, a remarkable 835 referenda took place. In its history, however, the Constitution has only been amended 11 times.
In this, the Constitution’s 60th anniversary year, the House of Bavarian History and Bavarian Parliament present an exhibit on the Constitution “Bollwerk der Freiheit” (Bulwark of Freedom) until February 28 in the Maximilianeum, the current home of the Landtag. (Exhibit open Monday–Friday, 9 am–5 pm. Entry free.)
