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139-605: Under Nazi control, the Transport Ministry expanded exponentially. The Reichsbahn , which had become Germany's largest public asset and also the largest such enterprise in the capitalist world at the time, was taken over by the RVM in 1937. Railroads in the German states , transportation associations, and even private transport companies also came under the Nazi government's direct control through

278-424: A federal state , consists of sixteen states . Berlin , Hamburg and Bremen (with its seaport exclave , Bremerhaven ) are called Stadtstaaten (" city-states "), while the other thirteen states are called Flächenländer ("area states") and include Bavaria , Saxony , and Thuringia , which describe themselves as Freistaaten ("free states"). The Federal Republic of Germany ("West Germany")

417-533: A "suspect person" closely monitored by the Gestapo . Reichsbahn General Director Julius Dorpmüller was then appointed Transport Minister and its board of directors was transferred to the RVM on February 2, 1937. The Ministry grew enormously in size and existing department heads were given the rank of Ministerial Director. A further adjustment to Ministry occurred under the Reichsbahn Act of July 11, 1939, wherein

556-713: A 2.6-meter-thick concrete ceiling began under the Ministry courtyard and was completed in 1940. This was an extension of the Vorbunker under the New Reich Chancellery across the street. The RVM bunker included a passageway to the U2 subway tunnel south of the Kaiserhof station to provide a rail escape route for Nazi leadership. As the intensity of Allied bombing increased in 1944, essential RVM staff were moved southeast of Berlin to

695-501: A more independent status, especially in Bavaria. However, it has no legal significance. All sixteen states are represented at the federal level in the Bundesrat (Federal Council), where their voting power depends on the size of their population. Germany is a federal , parliamentary , representative democratic republic . The German political system operates under a framework laid out in

834-608: A new unit was commissioned in the RVM Rail Operations Department E II: No. 21 Massenbeförderung or "Mass Transport". It was responsible for the organization and timetables of special trains deporting Jews from Germany and the occupied territories , working closely with the SS Reich Security Main Office . Following the Wannsee Conference in 1942, transports also began running directly to

973-571: A plan to divide the German Reich into 14 roughly equal-sized states. His proposal was turned down due to opposition of the states and concerns of the government. Article 18 of the constitution enabled a new delimitation of the German territory but set high hurdles: "Three fifth of the votes handed in, and at least the majority of the population are necessary to decide on the alteration of territory". In fact, until 1933 there were only four changes in

1112-589: A prominent German woman—collected a list of terms employed in everyday speech by the Nazis, which he discussed in his book, LTI – Lingua Tertii Imperii , published in English as The Language of the Third Reich . In this work, Klemperer contends that the Nazis made the German language itself a servant to their ideology through its repetitive use, eventually permeating the very "flesh and blood" of its people. For instance, if it

1251-616: A referendum in the Federal Republic as a whole (paragraph 4) was abolished, which meant territorial revision was no longer possible against the will of the population affected by it. East Germany had originally consisted of five states (i.e., Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia). In 1952, these states were abolished and the East was divided into 14 administrative districts called Bezirke . Soviet -controlled East Berlin – despite officially having

1390-427: A revision, the federal government had to include the proposal into its legislation. Then a referendum was required in each territory or part of a territory whose affiliation was to be changed (paragraph 3). The proposal should not take effect if within any of the affected territories a majority rejected the change. In this case, the bill had to be introduced again and after passing had to be confirmed by referendum in

1529-572: A secret area in Groß Köris on the western shore of the Güldensee , at a special rail siding code-named "Fishing Lodge". By the end of the war, the two ancillary wings of the Ministry were the only parts of the complex left standing - the rest was a ruin. From 7 October 1949 the site was located in East Berlin . The GDR demolished the damaged buildings above ground and filled the basements with rubbish in

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1668-519: A time after the war in the Flensburg Government and was dissolved de facto at the end of May, 1945. The Ministry's headquarters were located in central Berlin on the Wilhelmplatz . Over time it came to occupy a complex of buildings, including underground air-raid shelters built in 1940. Heavily damaged by Allied bombing , the site wound up in East Berlin in 1949. Portions of it served as

1807-592: A travel agency. The West German construction company "Hermann Koehne", mainly active in railroad track construction, had its headquarters there from 1990 to 1996. The building stood empty after that. After a long-running legal dispute between Deutsche Bahn and the Federal Government, the approximately 10,000 m site was sold in April 2012 to Berlin Investor Harald Huth. Demolition of the still existing parts of

1946-420: A very short period they achieved dominance over the administration in every state. The pattern was in each case similar: pressure on the non-Nazi state governments to place a National Socialist in charge of the police; threatening demonstrations from SA and SS troops in the big cities; the symbolic raising of the swastika banner on town halls; the capitulation with hardly any resistance of the elected governments;

2085-429: Is referred to as "Land government" (Landesregierung) . Before 1 January 2000, Bavaria had a bicameral parliament, with a popularly elected Landtag , and a Senate made up of representatives of the state's major social and economic groups. The Senate was abolished following a referendum in 1998. The states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg are governed slightly differently from the other states. In each of those cities,

2224-650: Is sometimes propagated by the richer states as a means to avoid or reduce fiscal transfers . In southwestern Germany, territorial revision seemed to be a top priority since the border between the French and American occupation zones was set along the Autobahn Karlsruhe-Stuttgart-Ulm (today the A8 ). Article 118 stated "The division of the territory comprising Baden , Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern into Länder may be revised, without regard to

2363-404: Is very common to use the term Bundesland (federated Land ). Officially this term Bundesland neither appears in the constitution of 1919 nor in the current one. Three Länder call themselves Freistaaten ("free states", an older German term for "republic"): Bavaria (since 1919), Saxony (originally from 1919 and again since 1990), and Thuringia (since 1994). Of the 17 states at the end of

2502-585: The Jungmädel (Young Maidens) at age ten and at age fourteen were enrolled in the Bund Deutscher Mädel (League of German Maidens). At eighteen, BDM members generally went to the eastern territory for their Pflichtdienst , or Landjahr , a year of labor on a farm. By 1940, membership in the Hitler Youth numbered some eight million. The German trade union movement had a long history, dating to

2641-635: The Congress of Vienna (1815), 39 states formed the German Confederation . The Confederation was dissolved after the Austro-Prussian War in which Prussia defeated Austria and forced Austria to remove itself from the affairs of the German states. Territorial boundaries were essentially redrawn as a result of military conflicts and interventions from the outside: from the Napoleonic Wars to

2780-662: The Congress of Vienna , the number of territories decreased from about 300 to 39; in 1866 Prussia annexed the sovereign states of Hanover , Nassau , Hesse-Kassel , and the Free City of Frankfurt . Prussia and the other states in Northern and Central Germany united as a federal state , the North German Federation , on 1 July 1867. Four of the five southern German states (Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt) entered military alliances with Prussia but Austria did not. In

2919-735: The Deutsche Mark was introduced as legal tender in the Saarland. Paragraph 6 of Article 29 stated that, if a petition was successful, a referendum should be held within three years. Since the deadline passed on 5 May 1958 without anything happening, the Hesse state government filed a constitutional complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court in October 1958. The complaint was dismissed in July 1961 on

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3058-508: The East German Railway headquarters until German Reunification in 1990. Most of the site was left derelict and was demolished in 2012. A large shopping mall was built in its place in 2014, with two small wings historically preserved. The new Reich cabinet established the RVM on October 1, 1919. By the beginning of 1932, the RVM was operating five departments each headed by directors: After

3197-580: The Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, those four states joined the North German Federation which was consequently renamed to German Empire . The parliament and Federal Council decided to give the Prussian king the title of German Emperor (since 1 January 1871). The new German Empire included 25 states (three of them, Hanseatic cities) and the imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine . Within

3336-583: The Gleichschaltung process did not start until after the Nazi seizure of power at the Reich level at the end of January 1933, the table also presents earlier Nazi Party successes in infiltrating and taking charge of several German state administrations during 1930–1932. In most of these instances, they took the portfolio of the state interior ministries from which they controlled the police, installing Nazi adherents and purging opponents. Most coalition cabinets that

3475-513: The Law on the Trustees of Labour that decreed an end to collective bargaining. It established Trustees of Labour , who were appointed by Hitler and charged with regulating labor contracts and maintaining labor peace. Since their decisions were legally binding, strikes were effectively outlawed. An all-embracing recreational organization for workers, called Kraft durch Freude ("Strength Through Joy")

3614-556: The National Socialist Factory Cell Organization . Leipart and other union leaders were taken into "protective custody" and sent to concentration camps. Violence was inflicted on many and, in the most brutal incident, four union officials were beaten to death in Duisburg . Two days later, other non-SPD-aligned union amalgamations, such as the conservative German National Association of Commercial Employees and

3753-721: The Nazi seizure of power in January 1933, among the first steps in National Socialist policy was the removal of all "non- Aryans " from the civil service. The Transport Ministry became subject to the " Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service " on April 7, 1933. As a result, all Jewish employees and political opponents were dismissed or forced to retire. Civil servants already employed in 1914 or who had fought at

3892-661: The Oder-Neisse line fell under either Polish or Soviet administration but attempts were made at least symbolically not to abandon sovereignty well into the 1960s. The former provinces of Farther Pomerania , East Prussia , Silesia and Posen-West Prussia fell under Polish administration with the Soviet Union taking the area around Königsberg (now Kaliningrad), pending a final peace conference with Germany which eventually never took place. More than 8 million Germans had been expelled from these territories that had formed part of

4031-539: The RVM grew in the 1930s, it came to occupy an extensive range of buildings with façades on three streets: Voßstraße , Leipziger Straße and the Wilhelmstraße . It first expanded into the adjacent Imperial era mansion at Leipziger Straße 125 in 1937, then into the Deutsches Reichsbahn headquarters at Voßstraße 33 in 1939. Just before the outbreak of World War II, construction of a large air-raid shelter with

4170-657: The Regierender Bürgermeister (governing mayor) in Berlin. The parliament for Berlin is called the Abgeordnetenhaus (House of Representatives), while Bremen and Hamburg both have a Bürgerschaft . The parliaments in the remaining 13 states are referred to as Landtag (State Parliament). The city-states of Berlin and Hamburg are subdivided into Districts . The City of Bremen consists of two urban districts : Bremen and Bremerhaven , which are not contiguous. In

4309-530: The Reichstag election of 5 March 1933 , violent episodes increased in intensity, with SA stormtroopers ransacking trade union offices, assaulting staff, destroying furniture and equipment, stealing funds and burning documents. By 25 March, union offices in some 45 towns throughout the Reich had been attacked. At this point, the trade unions began to distance themselves from the SPD in an attempt to seek an accommodation with

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4448-578: The Saarland  – which later received a special status – in the French zone; Mecklenburg(-Vorpommern) , Brandenburg , Saxony , Saxony-Anhalt , and Thuringia in the Soviet zone . No single state comprised more than 30% of either population or territory; this was intended to prevent any one state from being as dominant within Germany as Prussia had been in the past. Initially, only seven of

4587-637: The Wehrmacht . Luxembourg was the exception. On November 1, 1941, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was annexed by Germany and its entire infrastructure, including all privately owned railways, were turned over to the Transport Ministry. From 1942 to 1944, the primary task of the RVM was supporting the German war economy and supplying the enormous needs of the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front . The faltering situation in

4726-553: The Weimar Republic , six still exist (though partly with different borders): The other 11 states of the Weimar Republic either merged into one another or were separated into smaller entities: Some territories bordering other states were annexed to the bordering state. Also, Prussia had exclaves that were surrounded by other states. These became part of their surrounding states. All states, except Bavaria , now have territory of

4865-582: The West German constitution thus applied to the entire German people . Article 23, which had allowed "any other parts of Germany" to join, was rephrased. It had been used in 1957 to reintegrate the Saar Protectorate as the Saarland into the Federal Republic, and this was used as a model for German reunification in 1990. The amended article now defines the participation of the Federal Council and

5004-734: The defeat of Poland , the western part of Second Polish Republic was incorporated into Germany and its infrastructure taken over by the RVM . Southeastern Poland was organized into the General Government under Hans Frank , a logistically distinct entity centered in Kraków . The Polish State Railways in this area were organized into the General Directorate of the Eastern Railway ( German : Generaldirecktion der Ostbahn or Gedob or Ostbahn ), financially and operationally separate from

5143-557: The extermination camps . As a result, the RVM became responsible for a substantial part of The Holocaust and was an essential component that made its full scale possible. There is no record that Minister Dorpmüller ever considered the moral implications of this. So long as the Reichsbahn maintained its internal autonomy, he served whatever transport requirements the regime demanded. He was considered one-dimensional, only interested in running railroads. US Army interrogations shortly after

5282-527: The "Law for the Reorganization of Relations between the Reichsbank and the Reichsbahn ", effectively placing the bank and railroads under the regime's direct authority. Ostensibly the law's purpose was to eliminate "foreign influence" from key national infrastructure; in reality it was about the dismissal of remaining Jews and political opponents, as well as the filling of positions with reliable Nazis. During

5421-585: The "co-ordination" effort was the purging of the civil service, both at the Federal and state level. Top Federal civil servants—the State Secretaries—were largely replaced if they were not sympathetic to the Nazi program, as were the equivalent bureaucrats in the states, but Nazification took place at every level. Civil servants rushed to join the Nazi Party, fearing they would lose their jobs if they did not. At

5560-508: The "we-consciousness" of the collective Volk, but the mandates of Nazi "coordination" remained: pay homage to the Führer, expel all foreigners, sacrifice for the German people, and welcome future challenges. While greater German social and economic unity was produced through the Gleichschaltung initiatives of the regime, it was at the expense of individuality and to the social detriment of any nonconformist; and worse—it contributed to and reinforced

5699-544: The 16 German states in matters concerning the European Union . Article 29 was again modified and provided an option for the states to "revise the division of their existing territory or parts of their territory by agreement without regard to the provisions of paragraphs (2) through (7)". Article 118a was introduced into the Basic Law and provided the possibility for Berlin and Brandenburg to merge "without regard to

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5838-435: The 1935 resolutions approved during the Nuremberg Rally , when the symbols of the Nazi Party and the state were fused (see Flag of Nazi Germany ) and German Jews were deprived of their citizenship (see Nuremberg Laws ). The tenets of Gleichschaltung also applied to territories occupied by the Nazis . Gleichschaltung is a compound word that comes from the German words gleich (same) and schaltung (circuit) and

5977-423: The 1949 constitutional document known as the Grundgesetz (Basic Law). By calling the document the Grundgesetz , rather than Verfassung (constitution), the authors expressed the intention that it would be replaced by a true constitution once Germany was reunited as one state. Amendments to the Grundgesetz generally require a two-thirds majority of both chambers of the parliament; the fundamental principles of

6116-442: The 1950s. The usable structure at Voßstraße 33 became the administration building for East German railways until after German reunification in 1990. By 1996 the address was empty, fell into disrepair, and became a site for illegal parties. In 2004 the association "Art and Culture House Voßstraße e.V." began using the building as a gallery and events venue. At Leipziger Straße 125, a library and medical facilities were located next to

6255-459: The American states and regional governments in other federations without serious calls for territorial changes" in those other countries. Arthur B. Gunlicks summarizes the main arguments for boundary reform in Germany: "the German system of dual federalism requires strong Länder that have the administrative and fiscal capacity to implement legislation and pay for it from own source revenues. Too many Länder also make coordination among them and with

6394-480: The Basic Law as a binding order. An expert commission was established, named after its chairman, the former Secretary of State Professor Werner Ernst. After two years of work, the experts delivered their report in 1973. It provided an alternative proposal for the two regions: the north and center-southwest. In the north, either a single new state consisting of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Bremen and Lower Saxony should be created (solution A) or two new states, one in

6533-529: The East began presenting critical transport problems as early as January, 1942. Army Group Center , which alone required 75 supply trains per day, in actuality received only 25 to 40. At the request of Julius Dorpmüller, Hitler ordered the Ostbahn be subordinated to the RVM on 4 January 1942 with a special branch office: Zweigstelle Osten des Reichsverkehrsministeriums . The RVM thus expanded further and became responsible for all rail operations in occupation zones behind army field rail commands. In early 1940,

6672-403: The Federal Minister of the Interior by reference to the referendum of 1951. However, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the rejection was unlawful: the population of Baden had the right to a new referendum because the one of 1951 had taken place under different rules from the ones provided for by article 29. In particular, the outcome of the 1951 referendum did not reflect

6811-399: The Federal Republic as a whole (paragraph 4). The reorganization should be completed within three years after the Basic Law had come into force (paragraph 6). Article 29 states that "the division of the federal territory into Länder may be revised to ensure that each Land be of a size and capacity to perform its functions effectively". In their letter to Konrad Adenauer ,

6950-438: The Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. This was in contrast to the post-war development in Austria , where the national Bund ("federation") was constituted first, and then the individual states were carved out as units of that federal nation. The German use of the term Länder ("lands") dates back to the Weimar Constitution of 1919. Previously, the states of the German Empire had been called Staaten ("states"). Today, it

7089-424: The Federal Territory must be revised (paragraph 1). Moreover, in territories or parts of territories whose affiliation with a Land had changed after 8 May 1945 without a referendum, people were allowed to petition for a revision of the current status within a year after the promulgation of the Basic Law (paragraph 2). If at least one tenth of those entitled to vote in Bundestag elections were in favour of

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7228-399: The French-occupied Saar Protectorate was returned and formed into the Saarland , the Federal Republic consisted of ten states, which are referred to as the " Old States " today. West Berlin was under the sovereignty of the Western Allies and neither a Western German state nor part of one. However, it was in many ways integrated with West Germany under a special status. A new delimitation of

7367-470: The German-speaking lands for centuries and which mostly did not have sizable Polish minorities before 1945. However, no attempts were made to establish new states in these territories, as they lay outside the jurisdiction of West Germany at that time. In 1948, the military governors of the three Western Allies handed over the so-called Frankfurt Documents to the minister-presidents in the Western occupation zones. Among other things, they recommended revising

7506-489: The Ministry, including cellars on the Wilhelmstraße and buried elements of the air-raid bunkers, began in September 2012. The historic Leipziger Straße 125 and Voßstraße 33 were preserved and are today under monument protection. By September 2014 the rest of the site was occupied by a new retail, hotel, office and apartment complex incorporated into the Mall of Berlin , one of the largest shopping centers in Germany. German states The Federal Republic of Germany , as

7645-410: The Ministry. During World War II the RVM took over agencies in conquered nations and provided military rail transport. It also became responsible for the deportation of European Jews to extermination camps. The particular unit involved, "No. 21. Bulk Transport", functioned in close cooperation with the SS . The RVM therefore came to play a pivotal role in The Holocaust . The Ministry lived on for

7784-443: The Nazi regime via the Gleichschaltung process, as the states administratively were largely superseded by the Nazi Gau system . Three changes are of particular note: on 1 January 1934, Mecklenburg-Schwerin was united with neighbouring Mecklenburg-Strelitz ; and, by the Greater Hamburg Act ( Groß-Hamburg-Gesetz ) of 1937, the territory of the city-state was extended, while Lübeck lost its independence and became part of

7923-467: The Nazis came to power at the end of January 1933, there was some sentiment for a general strike by SPD politicians and trade unionists, but the national leadership was wary of such an action in the face of the worst unemployment crisis the nation had experienced. Though there were some sporadic isolated incidents, no general policy of resistance was undertaken. The Nazis embarked on a policy of violence and intimidation against all their opponents, including

8062-412: The Nazis formed were with the participation of their conservative nationalist ally, the German National People's Party (DNVP). The "Law Against the Founding of New Parties" (14 July 1933) banned all parties except the Nazi Party. The DNVP members of the remaining coalition cabinets eventually either joined the Party or were replaced by Nazis, resulting in one-party government in all the Länder . One of

8201-416: The Nazis were surprised. The most highly organized and powerful trade union movement in Europe offered no resistance and disappeared virtually overnight. In its place, the German Labor Front ( German : Deutsche Arbeitsfront or DAF), a Nazi Party organization led by Ley, was established on 10 May. Its goal was coordination of the entire labor force under Nazi leadership. On 19 May, the government enacted

8340-480: The Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein . During the Allied occupation of Germany after World War II , internal borders were redrawn by the Allied military governments. New states were established in all four zones of occupation: Bremen , Hesse , Württemberg-Baden , and Bavaria in the American zone ; Hamburg , Schleswig-Holstein , Lower Saxony , and North Rhine-Westphalia in the British zone ; Rhineland-Palatinate , Baden , Württemberg-Hohenzollern and

8479-463: The Reichsbahn. German policy in the occupied countries of the west were much different. The invasion of Norway and Denmark in April, 1940, placed little burden on the RVM as those countries were allowed to run their railroads as before. On 1 August 1940, after the victory in the West , the Belgian , Dutch and French national railways were returned to local control under German "observation", except in coastal areas where all transport remained with

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8618-401: The SPD-affiliated trade unions. In an effort to safeguard his organization and its members, Leipart declared the ADBG politically "neutral" within weeks of the Nazis coming to power. Meanwhile, Party leaders convinced conservative elements among the police, the judiciary, prison administrators and civil servants that suppression of the labor movement was justified. Following the Nazi gains in

8757-401: The Saarland (solution C), the district of Germersheim would then become part of Baden-Württemberg. The other alternative was that the Palatinate (including the region of Worms ) could be merged with the Saarland and Baden-Württemberg, and the rest of Rhineland-Palatinate would then merge with Hesse (solution D). Both alternatives could be combined (AC, BC, AD, BD). At the same time,

8896-470: The Stresemann II Cabinet on 3 November 1923. The DNVP withdrew from the Luther I Cabinet on 26 October 1925. Staatssekretäre The headquarters of the Ministry were located in the Berlin-Mitte district at Voßstraße 34/35. The historicist central building initially housed the Prussian Ministry of Commerce , then the Prussian Ministry of Public Works , and was greatly enlarged by prominent German architect Richard Lucae between 1875 and 1878. As

9035-406: The Transport Minister retained the role of Director General of the National Railway by the simple virtue of his office. Dorpmüller now controlled the entire national infrastructure, but saw himself as an apolitical technocrat and did not join the Nazi Party even though it would have been advantageous to do so. The chancellery later ordered his induction into the party and he was informed of the fact by

9174-414: The Western Allies, viewed itself as part of the Federal Republic and was largely integrated and considered a de facto state. In 1952, following a referendum , Baden, Württemberg-Baden, and Württemberg-Hohenzollern merged into Baden-Württemberg . In 1957, the Saar Protectorate joined the Federal Republic as the state of Saarland . The next change occurred with German reunification in 1990, in which

9313-402: The affected states, the proposals were shelved. Public interest was limited or nonexistent. The referendum in Baden was held on 7 June 1970. 81.9% of voters decided for Baden to remain part of Baden-Württemberg, only 18.1% opted for the reconstitution of the old state of Baden . The referendums in Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate were held on 19 January 1975 (the percentages given are

9452-407: The boundaries of the West German states in a way that none of them should be too large or too small in comparison with the others. As the premiers did not come to an agreement on this question, the Parliamentary Council was supposed to address this issue. Its provisions are reflected in Article 29 of the Basic Law . There was a binding provision for a new delimitation of the federal territory:

9591-454: The commission developed criteria for classifying the terms of Article 29 Paragraph 1. The capacity to perform functions effectively was considered most important, whereas regional, historical, and cultural ties were considered as hardly verifiable. To fulfill administrative duties adequately, a population of at least five million per state was considered as necessary. After a relatively brief discussion and mostly negative responses from

9730-468: The configuration of the German states: the 7  Thuringian states were merged in 1920, whereby Coburg opted for Bavaria , Pyrmont joined Prussia in 1922, and Waldeck did so in 1929. Any later plans to break up the dominating Prussia into smaller states failed because political circumstances were not favourable to state reforms. After the Nazi Party seized power in January 1933, the Länder were gradually abolished and reduced to provinces under

9869-419: The consent of the federal government (Article 32 of the Basic Law). Typical treaties relate to cultural relationships and economic affairs. Some states call themselves a " free state " ( Freistaat ). It is merely a historic synonym for "republic" and was a description used by most German states after the abolishment of monarchy after World War I . Today, Freistaat is associated emotionally with

10008-401: The constituent states have certain limited powers in this area: in matters that affect them directly, the states defend their interests at the federal level through the Bundesrat ("Federal Council"), and in areas where they have the legislative authority they have limited powers to conclude international treaties "with the consent of the federal government". It was the states that formed

10147-469: The constitution, as expressed in the articles guaranteeing human dignity, the separation of powers, the federal structure, and the rule of law are valid in perpetuity. Despite the original intention, the Grundgesetz remained in effect after the German reunification in 1990, with only minor amendments. The federal constitution stipulates that the structure of each Federated State's government must "conform to

10286-432: The constitution. An appeal against the decision was rejected as inadmissible by the Federal Constitutional Court. On 24 August 1976, the binding provision for a new delimitation of the federal territory was altered into a mere discretionary one. Paragraph 1 of Article 29 was rephrased, with the provision that any state had to be "of a size and capacity to perform its functions effectively" put first. The option for

10425-582: The construction of the Autobahn . It was the largest of the many organizations established by the Nazis and a propaganda success. Workers were also brought in line with the party through activities such as the Reichsberufswettkampf , a national vocational competition. Many unemployed people were also drafted into the Reich Labour Service where they were given uniforms and tools and put to work;

10564-641: The disappearance of unemployed people from the streets contributed to the perception that the Nazis were improving the economic conditions of Germany. Historian Claudia Koonz explains that the word Gleichschaltung stems from the arena of electricity , where it refers to converting power from alternating current to direct current , which is called " rectification " in English; the word Gleichschaltung translates literally as "phasing". Used in its socio-political sense, Gleichschaltung has no equivalent in any other language. The Nazis also used other similar terms, such as Ausschaltung , which constituted

10703-511: The emergency decree of 28 February provided no justification since there was plainly no need for defence from any 'communist acts of violence endangering the state'. The only such acts were those of the Nazis themselves. The following table presents an overview of the process of Gleichschaltung as it was applied to the Nazification of the German Länder governments. While, strictly speaking,

10842-525: The empire, 65% of the territory and 62% of the population belonged to the state of Prussia. After the territorial losses of the Treaty of Versailles , the remaining states continued as republics of a new German federation. The debate on a new delimitation of the German territory started in 1919 as part of discussions about the new constitution. Hugo Preuss , the father of the Weimar Constitution , drafted

10981-642: The end, virtually the only non-Nazi associations left were the army and the Churches with their lay organizations. For example, in 1934, the government founded the Deutscher Reichsbund für Leibesübungen , later the Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen , as the official sports governing body. All other German sport associations gradually lost their freedom and were coopted into it. Besides sports, another more important part of

11120-622: The executive branch consists of a Senate of approximately eight, selected by the state's parliament; the senators carry out duties equivalent to those of the ministers in the larger states. The equivalent of the minister-president is the Senatspräsident (president of the senate), also commonly referred to as Bürgermeister (Mayor) in Bremen, the Erster Bürgermeister (first mayor) in Hamburg, and

11259-412: The expansion of the Reich and wartime demands reached their peak. After the forced retirement of maritime State Secretary Gustav Koenigs in 1940, his responsibilities were transferred to Paul Wülfing von Ditten . The Department of Maritime and Inland Shipping was split into Economic (full name in German : Wirtschaftliche Führung der Seefahrt ) and Naval divisions. On 4 November 1939, one month after

11398-451: The federal system: the legislatures are popularly elected for four or five years (depending on the state), and the minister-president is then chosen by a majority vote among the Landtag ' s members. The minister-president is typically the head of the biggest party of a coalition. The minister-president appoints a cabinet to run the state's agencies and to carry out the executive duties of

11537-487: The federal territory has been discussed since the Federal Republic was founded in 1949 and even before. Committees and expert commissions advocated a reduction of the number of states; academics ( Werner Rutz , Meinhard Miegel , Adrian Ottnad , etc.) and politicians ( Walter Döring , Hans Apel , and others) made proposals – some of them far-reaching – for redrawing boundaries but hardly anything came of these public discussions. Territorial reform

11676-412: The federation more complicated." But several proposals have failed so far; territorial reform remains a controversial topic in German politics and public perception. Federalism has a long tradition in German history. The Holy Roman Empire comprised many petty states , numbering more than 300 in around 1796. The number of territories was greatly reduced during the Napoleonic Wars (1796–1814). After

11815-412: The federation. The states retain residual or exclusive legislative authority for all other areas, including culture, which in Germany includes not only topics such as the financial promotion of arts and sciences, but also most forms of education and job training (see Education in Germany ). Though international relations including international treaties are primarily the responsibility of the federal level,

11954-446: The five " New States " on 3 October 1990. The former district of East Berlin joined West Berlin to form the new state of Berlin. Henceforth, the 10 "old states" plus 5 "new states" plus the new state Berlin add up to current 16 states of Germany. After reunification, the constitution was amended to state that the citizens of the 16 states had successfully achieved the unity of Germany in free self-determination and that

12093-409: The former Free State of Prussia. Other former Prussian territories lying east of the rivers Neisse and Oder were lost in 1945 and are now part of Poland or Russia . They are Silesia (Upper and Lower), Pomerania, West Prussia-Posen, and East Prussia respectively. Possible boundary changes between states continue to be debated in Germany, in contrast to how there are "significant differences among

12232-630: The front in World War I were initially spared. The Reichsbahn , which would not come under formal government authority until 1937, was not obliged to apply the law. However, it implemented the measure anyway, with exceptions granted for employees whose technical skills were thought indispensable. RVM organization also changed during this period. The aviation department was transferred to the Reich Air Ministry , established under Hermann Göring on May 5, 1933. The Motor Transport and Shipping Department

12371-405: The general description provided by historian Jane Caplan, who characterized the term as "the coordination of German institutions into a cohesive, Nazified whole." The Nazis were able to put Gleichschaltung into effect due to multiple legal measures enacted by the Reich government during the 20 months following 30 January 1933, when Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany . When Hitler

12510-576: The grounds that Article 29 had made the new delimitation of the federal territory an exclusively federal matter. At the same time, the Court reaffirmed the requirement for a territorial revision as a binding order to the relevant constitutional bodies. The grand coalition decided to settle the 1956 petitions by setting binding deadlines for the required referendums. The referendums in Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate were to be held by 31 March 1975, and

12649-491: The huge road system quickly, and Transport Minister Paul Freiherr von Eltz-Rübenach thought it prudent not to complain at this obvious bypass of his authority. As was typical of regime, policies were fractured between strong personalities in differing agencies, creating both vertical and horizontal conflicts. On 24 June 1934, Maritime Director Klausener delivered a passionate speech at the Catholic Congress in Berlin that

12788-522: The ideas and prejudices of the Nazis. From March to July 1933 and continuing afterward, the Nazi Party systematically eliminated or co-opted non-Nazi organizations that could potentially influence people. Those critical of Hitler and the Nazis were suppressed, intimidated, or murdered. Every national voluntary association, and every local club, was brought under Nazi control, from industrial and agricultural pressure groups to sports associations, football clubs, male voice choirs, women's organizations—in short,

12927-512: The imposition of a Reich Commissar under the pretext of restoring order … Despite the semblance of legality, the usurpation of the powers of the Länder by the Reich was a plain breach of the Constitution. Force and pressure by the Nazi organizations themselves – political blackmail – had been solely responsible for creating the 'unrest' that had prompted the alleged restorations of 'order'. The terms of

13066-742: The liberal Hirsch-Dunckersche Gewerkvereine  [ de ] , placed themselves under the Action Committee for the Protection of German Labor, headed by Robert Ley , the Stabschef (chief of staff) of the Nazi Party organization. The last remaining union umbrella agency, the Christian-oriented Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (1919–1933)  [ de ] was absorbed at the end of June. Throughout this process, there were no strikes, no demonstrations and no protests. Even

13205-447: The local level, mayors and councils were terrorized by Nazi stormtroopers of the SA and SS into resigning or following orders to replace officials and workers at local public institutions who were Jewish or belonged to other political parties. The Gleichschaltung also included the formation of various organizations with compulsory membership for segments of the population, particularly

13344-483: The meeting Hitler also used the occasion of the 4th anniversary of the seizure of power to offer a Golden Party Badge to those ministers who were still not NSDAP members. Transport Minister Paul Freiherr von Eltz-Rübenach , a devout Catholic, explicitly declined the award to protest the rising conflict between the government and the Church . Hitler was outraged and Eltz-Rübenach was immediately forced to resign, becoming

13483-554: The mid-nineteenth-century. At the time of the Weimar Republic , its largest grouping was the General German Trade Union Federation (ADGB). This was an umbrella organization that was formed in July 1919 and was originally composed of 52 unions with about 8 million workers. It was generally affiliated with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and was on the left of the political spectrum. In March 1920, it

13622-676: The most critical steps towards Gleichschaltung of German society was the introduction of the "Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda" under Joseph Goebbels in March 1933 and the subsequent steps taken by the Propaganda Ministry to assume complete control of the press and all means of social communication. This included oversight of newspapers, magazines, films, books, public meetings and ceremonies, foreign press relations, theater, art and music, radio, and television. To this end, Goebbels said: [T]he secret of propaganda [is to] permeate

13761-453: The necessary majority vote in Brandenburg, while a majority of Berliners voted in favour. Federalism is one of the entrenched constitutional principles of Germany . According to the German constitution , some topics, such as foreign affairs and defence, are the exclusive responsibility of the federation (i.e., the federal level), while others fall under the shared authority of the states and

13900-535: The northeast consisting of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg and the northern part of Lower Saxony (from Cuxhaven to Lüchow-Dannenberg ) and one in the northwest consisting of Bremen and the rest of Lower Saxony (solution B). In the center and southwest, one alternative was that Rhineland-Palatinate (with the exception of the Germersheim district but including the Rhine-Neckar region) should be merged with Hesse and

14039-684: The other states there are the subdivisions below. The most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia is uniquely divided into two area associations ( Landschaftsverbände ), one for the Rhineland , and one for Westphalia - Lippe . This arrangement was meant to ease the friction caused by uniting the two culturally different regions into a single state after World War II . The Landschaftsverbände now have very little power. Gleichschaltung Final solution Parties The Nazi term Gleichschaltung ( German pronunciation: [ˈɡlaɪçʃaltʊŋ] ), roughly " coordination ",

14178-484: The part of the unions were to prove futile, as the Nazis had already begun to plot a complete takeover of the trade union movement, as demonstrated by Goebbels' diary entry of 17 April: On 1 May we shall arrange May Day as a grandiose demonstration of the German people's will. On 2 May the trade union offices will be occupied. Coordination in this area too. There might possibly be a row for a few days, but then they will belong to us. We must make no allowances anymore. … Once

14317-411: The party treasurer. Paul Wülfing von Ditten (1940–1945)    *Additional departments set up in wartime The Transport Ministry's structure and leadership changed only slightly during the war. A new railway construction department E VI was established in 1939 under Willy Meilicke, split off from department E II. In 1940 it was further reinforced by a second building department, E VII, as

14456-421: The percentages of those eligible who voted in favour): The votes in Lower Saxony were successful as both proposals were supported by more than 25% of eligible voters. The Bundestag, however, decided that both Oldenburg and Schaumburg-Lippe should remain part of Lower Saxony. The justification was that a reconstitution of the two former states would contradict the objectives of paragraph 1 of article 29 of

14595-401: The person it aims to grasp, without his even noticing that he is being permeated. Of course propaganda has a purpose, but the purpose must be concealed with such cleverness and virtuosity that the person on whom this purpose is to be carried out doesn't notice it at all. This was also the purpose of "co-ordination": to ensure that every aspect of the lives of German citizens was permeated with

14734-407: The pre-War states remained: Baden (in part), Bavaria (reduced in size), Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse (enlarged), Saxony, and Thuringia. The states with hyphenated names, such as Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt, owed their existence to the occupation powers and were created out of mergers of former Prussian provinces and smaller states. Former German territory that lay east of

14873-473: The principles of republican, democratic, and social government, based on the rule of law" (Article 28). Most of the states are governed by a cabinet led by a Ministerpräsident (minister-president), together with a unicameral legislative body known as the Landtag (State Diet ). The states are parliamentary republics and the relationship between their legislative and executive branches mirrors that of

15012-466: The provisions of Article 29, by agreement between the Länder concerned. If no agreement is reached, the revision shall be effected by a federal law, which shall provide for an advisory referendum." Since no agreement was reached, a referendum was held on 9 December 1951 in four different voting districts, three of which approved the merger ( South Baden refused but was overruled, as the result of total votes

15151-467: The provisions of Article 29, by agreement between the two Länder with the participation of their inhabitants who are entitled to vote". A state treaty between Berlin and Brandenburg was approved in both parliaments with the necessary two-thirds majority, but in a popular referendum of 5 May 1996, about 63% voted against the merger. The German states can conclude treaties with foreign countries in matters within their own sphere of competence and with

15290-482: The public sector. A primary example of this occurred in 1934, when the RVM took over the Association of German Transport Authorities ( German : Verband Deutscher Verkehrsverwaltungen ), effectively stripping all independent transport-related trade associations and non-governmental organizations of their influence. The apex of this process occurred at a cabinet meeting on January 30, 1937. Adolf Hitler declared

15429-623: The public support of Federal German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer for the plan. The rejection of the plan by the Saarlanders was interpreted as support for the Saar to join the Federal Republic of Germany. On 27 October 1956, the Saar Treaty established that Saarland should be allowed to join Germany, as provided by the German constitution. Saarland became part of Germany effective 1 January 1957. The Franco-Saarlander currency union ended on 6 July 1959, when

15568-579: The referendum in Baden was to be held by 30 June 1970. The threshold for a successful vote was set at one-quarter of those entitled to vote in Bundestag elections. Paragraph 4 stated that the vote should be disregarded if it contradicted the objectives of paragraph 1. In his investiture address, given on 28 October 1969 in Bonn, Chancellor Willy Brandt proposed that the government would consider Article 29 of

15707-462: The regime at the Ministry into silence. Max Waldeck was appointed in Klausener's place. During this period the RVM was organized as follows: Between mid-1933 and 1937 the Reich government instituted the policy of Gleichschaltung , loosely translated as "synchronization" or "bringing into line." This was a process by which the state began establishing totalitarian control over all aspects of

15846-470: The regime. On 28 April, the ADGB agreed to move toward unification with the conservative Christian and the bourgeois liberal trade union groups, to form a single national labor organization in the new Nazi state. Leipart also supported the announcement by Goebbels that May Day would be celebrated as a public holiday for the first time, a long-sought goal of the labor movement. However, any efforts at reconciliation on

15985-539: The removal or "switching off" of anyone who stained or soiled the German nation. This seemingly clinical terminology captured both the mechanical and biological meaning for members of German society; as one German citizen visiting London explained, "It means the same stream will flow through the ethnic body politic [ Volkskörper ]." Former University of Dresden professor of romance languages, Viktor Klemperer —dismissed from his post for being Jewish in 1935 and who only survived his time in Germany due to being married to

16124-538: The same status as West Berlin – was declared East Germany's capital and its 15th district. The debate on territorial revision restarted shortly before German reunification . While academics (Rutz and others) and politicians (Gobrecht) suggested introducing only two, three, or four states in East Germany, legislation reconstituted the East German states in an arrangement similar to that which they had had before 1952, as

16263-551: The seeking of Lebensraum , and the violent mass destruction of human life deemed somehow less valuable by the National Socialist government of Germany. The Gleichschaltung measures were used to give the Nazi regime the appearance of legality. Thousands of decrees, including many of the Gleichschaltung laws, were based explicitly on the Reichstag Fire Decree, and hence on Article 48. The Reichstag renewed

16402-470: The social and racial exclusion of anyone deemed an enemy by National Socialist doctrine. The Nazi Gleichschaltung or "synchronization" of German society—along with a series of Nazi legislation —was part and parcel to Jewish economic disenfranchisement, the violence against political opposition, the creation of concentration camps, the Nuremberg Laws, the establishment of a racial Volksgemeinschaft ,

16541-458: The state's government. Like in other parliamentary systems, the legislature can dismiss or replace the minister-president after a successful no-confidence vote . The governments in Berlin , Bremen and Hamburg are referred to as " senates ". In the free states of Bavaria and Saxony , the government is referred to as "state government" (Staatsregierung) ; and in the other states, the government

16680-481: The territory of the former German Democratic Republic ( East Germany ) became part of the Federal Republic, by accession of the re-established eastern states of Brandenburg , Mecklenburg-West Pomerania ( Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ), Saxony ( Sachsen ), Saxony-Anhalt ( Sachsen-Anhalt ), and Thuringia ( Thüringen ), and the reunification of West and East Berlin into a city state. A referendum in 1996 to merge Berlin with surrounding Brandenburg failed to reach

16819-484: The three western military governors approved the Basic Law but suspended Article 29 until such time as a peace treaty should be concluded. Only the special arrangement for the southwest under Article 118 could enter into force. Upon its founding in 1949, West Germany thus had eleven states. These were reduced to nine in 1952 when three south-western states ( South Baden , Württemberg-Hohenzollern , and Württemberg-Baden ) merged to form Baden-Württemberg . From 1957, when

16958-554: The trade unions are in our hands the other parties and organizations will not be able to hold out for much longer. Accordingly, 1 May 1933 was declared the Day of National Labor, a day of parades, speeches and propaganda displays to celebrate the unity of the German labor movement with the nation, featuring SA military bands, swastika flags and fireworks. It culminated with a huge rally and speech by Hitler at Berlin Tempelhof Airport that

17097-642: The untranslated German word to convey its unique historical meaning. In their seminal work on National Socialist vernacular, Nazi-Deutsch/Nazi-German: An English Lexicon of the Language of the Third Reich , historians Robert Michael and Karin Doerr define Gleichschaltung as: "Consolidation. All of the German Volk's social, political, and cultural organizations to be controlled and run according to Nazi ideology and policy. All opposition to be eliminated." This accords with

17236-714: The war assigned little or no personal responsibility to RVM employees. The US further determined that, with limited exceptions, the personnel held only "lukewarm" connections to the Nazi Party. Americans were far more concerned with retaining key staff to rebuild Germany, stating employees were "very cooperative and anxious to help in the reconstruction of the German Railway System." Political party:     Centre     SPD     DDP     DVP     DNVP     BVP     KVP     NSDAP     None The SPD withdrew from

17375-433: The whole fabric of associational life was Nazified. Rival, politically oriented clubs or societies were merged into a single Nazi body. Existing leaders of voluntary associations were either unceremoniously ousted, or knuckled under of their own accord. Many organizations expelled leftish or liberal members and declared their allegiance to the new state and its institutions. The whole process ... went on all over Germany. ... By

17514-533: The wishes of the majority of Baden's population. The two Palatine petitions (for a reintegration into Bavaria and integration into Baden-Württemberg) failed with 7.6% and 9.3%. Further requests for petitions (Lübeck, Geesthacht, Lindau, Achberg, and 62 Hessian communities) had already been rejected as inadmissible by the Federal Minister of the Interior or were withdrawn as in the case of Lindau. The rejection

17653-629: The youth of Germany. Boys first served as apprentices in the Pimpfen (cubs), beginning at the age of six, and at age ten, entered the Deutsches Jungvolk (Young German Boys) and served there until joining the Hitler Youth proper at age fourteen. Boys remained there until age eighteen, at which time they entered into the Arbeitsdienst (Labor Service) and the armed forces . Girls became part of

17792-491: Was appointed Reich Chancellor on 30 January 1933, the Nazi Party had control of only five of the seventeen German Länder (states). However, the Nazis acted swiftly to eliminate any potential centers of opposition arising in the remaining states. Immediately following the Reichstag election of 5 March 1933, the central government began in earnest its campaign to take over the state governments that it did not yet control, and within

17931-521: Was attended by over one million people. Many workers, particularly those in state employment, were compelled to participate by threats of dismissal for not attending. The next day, as Goebbels had indicated, the German labor movement was crushed under a wave of unprecedented violence at the hands of SA and SS troops. All SPD-supported trade union offices were occupied, their newspapers and periodicals were discontinued, their banks and credit unions were closed and their assets were confiscated and turned over to

18070-585: Was confirmed by the Federal Constitutional Court in the case of Lübeck. In the Paris Agreements of 23 October 1954, France offered to establish an independent "Saarland", under the auspices of the Western European Union (WEU), but on 23 October 1955 in the Saar Statute referendum the Saar electorate rejected this plan by 67.7% to 32.3% (out of a 96.5% turnout: 423,434 against, 201,975 for) despite

18209-666: Was created in 1949 through the unification of the three western zones previously under American, British, and French administration in the aftermath of World War II . Initially, the states of the Federal Republic were Baden (until 1952), Bavaria (in German: Bayern ), Bremen , Hamburg , Hesse ( Hessen ), Lower Saxony ( Niedersachsen ), North Rhine-Westphalia ( Nordrhein-Westfalen ), Rhineland-Palatinate ( Rheinland-Pfalz ), Schleswig-Holstein , Württemberg-Baden (until 1952), and Württemberg-Hohenzollern (until 1952). West Berlin , while still under occupation by

18348-502: Was critical of Nazi repression of the church. Viewed as an open challenge to the regime, Klausener was shot inside the Ministry building six days later during the Night of the Long Knives . SS officer Kurt Gildisch , who carried out the assassination on the direct orders of Reinhard Heydrich , was promoted in rank to SS- Sturmbannführer . The act also served to intimidate remaining critics of

18487-411: Was decisive). On 25 April 1952, the three former states merged to form Baden-Württemberg. With the Paris Agreements in 1954, West Germany regained (limited) sovereignty. This triggered the start of the one-year period as set in paragraph 2 of Article 29. As a consequence, eight petitions for referendums were launched, six of which were successful: The last petition was originally rejected by

18626-403: Was derived from an electrical engineering term meaning that all switches are put on the same circuit so that all can be activated by throwing a single master switch. Its first use is credited to Reich Justice Minister Franz Gürtner . It has been variously translated as "coordination", "Nazification of state and society", "synchronization", and "bringing into line". English texts often use

18765-414: Was instrumental in calling a general strike that led to the collapse of the right-wing Kapp Putsch that attempted to overthrow the republic. It was led from January 1921 by Theodor Leipart . Following the economic downturn of 1929 , the resulting sharp rise in unemployment caused a large drop-off in membership but, by 1932, it still represented an estimated 3.5 million workers in some 30 unions. When

18904-475: Was rearranged when Ulrich Stapenhorst left to take up the position of District President of Hannover. Former aviation head Ernst Brandenburg took over Motor Transport and Erich Klausener was appointed Director of Maritime Shipping. The RVM remained sidelined from construction of the largest single Nazi transportation project: the Autobahn . In July 1933, Fritz Todt was directly appointed by Adolf Hitler to build

19043-554: Was set up under the auspices of the German Labor Front. Hobbies were regimented and all private clubs, whether chess, football, or woodworking, were brought under the control of Strength Through Joy, which also provided vacation trips, skiing, swimming, concerts, and ocean cruises. Some 43 million Germans enjoyed trips via the Strength Through Joy initiative. This effort inspired the idea of Germans acquiring automobiles and

19182-429: Was sunny and pleasant, it was described as "Hitler weather", or if you failed to comply with Nazi ideals of racial and social conformity , you were "switched off." When the blatant emphasis on racial hatred of others seemed to reach an impasse in the school system, through radio broadcasts, or on film reels, the overseers of Nazi Gleichschaltung propaganda switched to strategies that focused more on togetherness and

19321-550: Was the process of Nazification by which Adolf Hitler —leader of the Nazi Party in Germany —successively established a system of totalitarian control and coordination over all aspects of German society "from the economy and trade associations to the media, culture and education". Although the Weimar Constitution remained nominally in effect until Germany's surrender following World War II , near total Nazification had been secured by

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