Democracy Destroyed The First 100 Days of Nazi Rule

Laws and decrees

Decree Reich President, under Article 48 of the Reich Constitution

Decree of the Reich President on the Reich Commissioner for the State of Prussia

Verordnung des Reichspräsidenten über den Reichskommissar für das Land Preußen

Since the ‘Prussian coup’ of 20 July 1932 the Reich Chancellor had governed Prussia as Reich Commissioner in place of its deposed elected government. This decree passed those powers from the new Chancellor, Hitler, to his Vice-Chancellor, Franz von Papen. It took effect retroactively from 30 January, the day the cabinet was appointed.

Dated
Tuesday 31 January 1933
Published in
Reichsgesetzblatt Teil I, no. 7, Wednesday 1 February 1933, p. 33
Citation
RGBl. I S. 33
In force
Monday 30 January 1933

On the day pages

  1. Signed Day 2, Tuesday 31 January 1933
The Reichsgesetzblatt Teil I page on which the measure was published
RGBl. I S. 33. Commons record

The text

Verordnung des Reichspräsidenten über den Reichskommissar für das Land Preußen.
Decree of the Reich President on the Reich Commissioner for the State of Prussia.
Vom 31. Januar 1933.
Of 31 January 1933.
Auf Grund des Artikels 48 Abs. 2 der Reichsverfassung wird folgendes verordnet:
On the basis of Article 48, para. 2, of the Reich Constitution, the following is decreed:
§ 1 Die nach der Verordnung des Reichspräsidenten, betreffend die Wiederherstellung der öffentlichen Sicherheit und Ordnung im Gebiet des Landes Preußen, vom 20. Juli 1932 (Reichsgesetzbl. I S. 377) dem Reichskanzler in seiner Eigenschaft als Reichskommissar für das Land Preußen zustehenden Befugnisse werden dem Stellvertreter des Reichskanzlers und Reichskommissar für das Land Preußen Reichskanzler a. D. von Papen übertragen.
§ 1 The powers vested in the Reich Chancellor in his capacity as Reich Commissioner for the State of Prussia under the Decree of the Reich President concerning the Restoration of Public Security and Order in the Territory of the State of Prussia of 20 July 1932 (Reich Law Gazette I p. 377) are transferred to the Deputy of the Reich Chancellor and Reich Commissioner for the State of Prussia, former Reich Chancellor von Papen.
§ 2 Diese Verordnung tritt mit Wirkung vom 30. Januar 1933 in Kraft.
§ 2 This decree comes into force with effect from 30 January 1933.
Berlin, den 31. Januar 1933.
Berlin, 31 January 1933.
Der Reichspräsident von Hindenburg
The Reich President von Hindenburg
Der Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler
The Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler
Der Reichsminister des Innern Frick
The Reich Minister of the Interior Frick

About this text

The full text is given. Transcribed from the RGBl. scan (issue 7, p. 33); compared word by word with documentArchiv.de, which prints ‘Reichskommissars’ where the gazette has ‘Reichskommissar’ in § 1; the gazette’s form is kept.

The English translation was made for this site and is not an official translation. ‘Stellvertreter des Reichskanzlers’ is the formal title of the Vice-Chancellor and is translated literally.

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

Terms

Artikel 48
The emergency article of the Weimar constitution, allowing the Reich President to take the measures needed to restore public security and order.
Verordnung vom 20. Juli 1932
The decree of the ‘Prussian coup’ (Preußenschlag), by which Chancellor Franz von Papen deposed the Social Democrat-led Prussian government of Otto Braun and took over its powers as Reich Commissioner.
Reichskanzler a. D.
‘Außer Dienst’: retired or former. Papen had been Reich Chancellor from June to December 1932.
Reichsgesetzbl.
Reichsgesetzblatt, the Reich Law Gazette in which laws and decrees were promulgated.

Sources

  1. Reichsgesetzblatt 1933 Teil I, Nr. 7 (1. Februar 1933), S. 33 (Reichsministerium des Innern; scan on Wikimedia Commons)
  2. Verordnung des Reichspräsidenten über den Reichskommissar für das Land Preußen (transcription) (documentArchiv.de)

Gazette scans: public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.