Constitution of the Free State of Bavaria („Bamberger Verfassung“), 1919

The "Bamberg Constitution", named after its place of origin, came into force on 15 September 1919. It replaced the provisional Basic Law which from the beginning of 1919 and remained formally in force until the adoption of the Constitution of the Free State of Bavaria on 2 December 1946. The draft constitution, which was to be published in the Law and Ordinance Gazette, was adopted by Bavarian Parliament on 12 August 1919. A number of minor amendments were agreed and added in handwriting by Josef von Graßmann (1864-1928) to the text of the constitution. The Bavarian Ministerialrat Graßmann was one of the constitutional fathers along with Robert von Piloty (1863-1926), an expert in constitutional law. The Constitution was based on the principles of a parliamentary-representative democracy; the municipalities were granted the right to self-government. The privileged position of the nobility was abolished, as was the sovereignty of the state church. The council theory as represented during the revolutionary period was almost left aside.

Narrow limits were set to the Bavarian Constitution by the Weimar Constitution, which became valid on 14 August 1919. It established the primacy of imperial law in numerous areas and greatly reduced the importance of the individual states. Nevertheless, it was important to the creators of the Constitution that fundamental rights such as equality before the law, freedom of religion and conscience or personal freedom should be registered in the Bavarian Constitution, although these were already guaranteed by the Reich Constitution. In addition, the eleven sections or 95 paragraphs of the Bamberg Constitution have several peculiarities under regional law, such as a separate Bavarian citizenship or the right of constitutional complaint to which every Bavarian is entitled.

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