Grundrechtslaboratorium Weimar

Whereas the work of the constitution-making German national assembly adhered largely to the drafts of the ministerial bureaucracy in the law pertaining to state organization, the Weimar concept of the second main part of the constitution, »Fundamental Rights and Duties of the Germans« deviated from the standards set by Berlin to such an extent that the author of the draft, Hugo Preuß, refused to be associated with the Weimar constitution. What emerged was a laboratory of modern policies for fundamental rights with considerably widespread effects, accompanied by strong criticism. Walter Pauly examines these structural discussions. At the heart of the Weimar laboratory of fundamental rights was the »subcommittee for the preliminary consultation on fundamental rights«, to which Otto v. Gierke and Richard Schmidt were also asked to give statements. These statements are published in their entirety for the first time in the appendix to this book.