Democracy Destroyed The First 100 Days of Nazi Rule

Laws and decrees

Law Prussian State Ministry; promulgated by Göring as Prussian Minister President for the Reich Chancellor

Gestapo Law

Gesetz über die Errichtung eines Geheimen Staatspolizeiamts

Law on the Establishment of a Secret State Police Office

Created the Secret State Police Office (Geheimes Staatspolizeiamt, Gestapa) in Berlin to carry out the work of the political police ‘alongside or in place of’ the ordinary police authorities. It was placed directly under the Prussian Minister of the Interior, Göring, who was to fix its powers and area of competence, and it could call on every police authority to act for it. Built out of Department IA of the Berlin police headquarters under Rudolf Diels, it was the origin of the Gestapo. A law of 30 November 1933 made the Gestapo a separate branch under Göring as Minister President, and both laws were repealed by the Gestapo Law of 10 February 1936.

Dated
Wednesday 26 April 1933
Published in
Preußische Gesetzsammlung
Citation
Preuß. Gesetzsamml. 1933 S. 122
In force
on the day of its promulgation (§ 4), dated 26 April 1933 in the promulgation clause

On the day pages

  1. Passed Day 87, Wednesday 26 April 1933

The text

Gesetz über die Errichtung eines Geheimen Staatspolizeiamts
Law on the Establishment of a Secret State Police Office
Das Staatsministerium hat das folgende Gesetz beschlossen:
The State Ministry has enacted the following law:
§ 1 (1) Zur Wahrnehmung von Aufgaben der politischen Polizei neben den oder an Stelle der ordentlichen Polizeibehörden (§ 2 Abs. 1 des Polizeiverwaltungsgesetzes vom 1. Juni 1931 – Gesetzessammlung S.77) wird das Geheime Staatspolizeiamt mit dem Sitze in Berlin errichtet. Es hat die Stellung einer Landespolizeibehörde und untersteht unmittelbar dem Minister des Innern.
§ 1 (1) For the performance of tasks of the political police alongside or in place of the ordinary police authorities (§ 2, para. 1, of the Police Administration Law of 1 June 1931, Gesetzsammlung p. 77), the Secret State Police Office is established with its seat in Berlin. It has the status of a state police authority and is directly subordinate to the Minister of the Interior.
(2) Die sachliche und örtliche Zuständigkeit des Geheimen Staatspolizeiamtes regelt der Minister des Innern.
(2) The Minister of the Interior regulates the subject-matter and territorial competence of the Secret State Police Office.
(3) Die Vorschriften des Polizeiverwaltungsgesetzes vom 1. Juni 1931 über die Anfechtung landespolizeilicher Verfügungen finden mit der Maßgabe Anwendung, daß für Klagen im Verwaltungsstreitverfahren gegen Verfügungen des Geheimen Staatspolizeiamts stets der Bezirksausschuß in Berlin zuständig ist.
(3) The provisions of the Police Administration Law of 1 June 1931 on challenging orders of the state police authorities apply, with the proviso that the District Committee in Berlin is always competent for actions in administrative litigation against orders of the Secret State Police Office.
§ 2 Das Geheime Staatspolizeiamt kann im Rahmen seiner Zuständigkeit alle Polizeibehörden um polizeiliche Maßnahmen ersuchen.
§ 2 Within the scope of its competence, the Secret State Police Office may request all police authorities to take police measures.
§ 3 Die zur Durchführung dieses Gesetzes erforderlichen Vorschriften erläßt der Minister des Innern, und zwar, soweit es sich um Vorschriften über Zahl und Art der dem Geheimen Staatspolizeiamte zuzuteilenden Beamten und Angestellten handelt, im Einvernehmen mit dem Finanzminister.
§ 3 The provisions necessary for the implementation of this law are issued by the Minister of the Interior and, in so far as they concern the number and kind of civil servants and salaried employees to be assigned to the Secret State Police Office, in agreement with the Minister of Finance.
§ 4 Dieses Gesetz tritt mit dem Tage seiner Verkündung in Kraft.
§ 4 This law comes into force on the day of its promulgation.
Berlin, den 24. April 1933.
Berlin, 24 April 1933.
(Siegel.) Das Preußische Staatsministerium. Göring, Popitz zugleich für den Minister des Innern.
(Seal.) The Prussian State Ministry. Göring, Popitz, also for the Minister of the Interior.
Das vorstehende, vom Preußischen Staatsministerium beschlossene Gesetz wird hiermit verkündet.
The above law, enacted by the Prussian State Ministry, is hereby promulgated.
Berlin, den 26. April 1933
Berlin, 26 April 1933
Für den Reichskanzler: Der Preußische Ministerpräsident. Göring
For the Reich Chancellor: The Prussian Minister President. Göring

About this text

The full text is given. No scan of the Preußische Gesetzsammlung 1933, p. 122, is on Wikimedia Commons. The German text follows the transcription published by HISTOX (Ralf Oberndörfer), which prints the title and date only as a heading, so no date line is given here; it was checked against the English translation of the same gazette page in Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression (document 2104-PS), which agrees in every provision, date and signature. It has not been checked against the printed page, so spelling and punctuation (for example ‘Gesetzessammlung S.77’, which the gazette probably abbreviated) may differ from the original. No scan of the original publication was available to check the transcription against.

The English translation was made for this site and is not an official translation. The signature block is given as the transcription prints it; the English translation of 1946 reads it as Göring’s signature with Popitz’s, Göring signing also for the Minister of the Interior, an office he himself held. Prussian laws were at this time promulgated in the name of the Reich Chancellor, who exercised the powers of the Reich Governor in Prussia; Göring signed for him under the Reich Governors Law as amended on 25 April 1933.

German laws and decrees are official works and not protected by copyright (§ 5 UrhG).

Terms

Geheimes Staatspolizeiamt (Gestapa)
The Secret State Police Office, the Berlin headquarters of the Prussian political police; its officers and regional branches became known as the Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei). It was formed from Department IA of the Berlin police headquarters, which already ran the political police, and was headed by Rudolf Diels until April 1934, when Himmler took control.
Landespolizeibehörde
State police authority: under the Prussian Police Administration Law of 1931, the regional tier of police authority (the district presidents and, in Berlin, the police president), above the local and county police authorities.
Bezirksausschuß
The District Committee: in Prussia, the administrative tribunal of first instance. The Gestapo Law of 10 February 1936 excluded review of Gestapo orders by the administrative courts altogether.
Popitz
Johannes Popitz, Prussian Minister of Finance from April 1933, later executed for his part in the resistance of 20 July 1944.

Sources

  1. Gesetz über die Errichtung eines Geheimen Staatspolizeiamts, 26. April 1933, PGS 1933, S. 122 (transcription) (HISTOX – Institut für Geschichtsarbeit (Ralf Oberndörfer))
  2. Translation of Document 2104-PS: 1933 Preussische Gesetzsammlung, page 122 (Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, vol. IV (US Government Printing Office, 1946); Avalon Project, Yale Law School)
  3. Gesetz über die Geheime Staatspolizei vom 10. Februar 1936, § 9 (repeal of the 1933 law, cited as Gesetzsamml. S. 122) (HISTOX – Institut für Geschichtsarbeit (Ralf Oberndörfer))