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Declaration of Heidelberg
On 5 March 1848, opposition politicians and state deputies met at the Heidelberg Assembly to discuss these issues. They resolved to form a Vorparlament (a pre-parliament), which was to prepare the elections for a national constitutional assembly. They also elected a "Committee of Seven" (Siebenerausschuss), which proceeded to invite 500 individuals to Frankfurt. -
Riots in Berlin
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King Frederick William Promises Reforms
In March 1848, crowds of people gathered in Berlin to present their demands in an "address to the king". King Frederick William IV, taken by surprise, yielded verbally to all the demonstrators' demands, including parliamentary elections, a constitution, and freedom of the press. He promised that "Prussia was to be merged forthwith into Germany." -
Meeting of Vorparlament
The Vorparlament was in-session at the Paulskirche (St Paul's Church) in Frankfurt from 31 March to 3 April, chaired by Carl Joseph Anton Mittermaier. With the support of the moderate liberals, and against the opposition of the radical democrats, it decided to cooperate with the Bundestag, to form a national constitutional assembly which would write a new constitution. For the transitional period until the actual formation of that assembly, the Vorparlament formed the Committee of Fifty (Fünfzig -
Meeting of Prussian and Frankfurt Parliament
Finally, on May 18, 1848 the National Assembly opened its session in St. Paul's Church. Of the 586 delegates of the first freely elected German parliament, so many were professors (94), teachers (30) or had a university education (233) that it was called a "professors' parliament" ("Professorenparlament"). -
Frederick William Re-establish Control in Berlin
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New Prussian Constitution
On December 28, the Assembly's press organ, the Reichsgesetzblatt published the Reichsgesetz betreffend die Grundrechte des deutschen Volkes ("Imperial law regarding the basic rights of the German people") of 27 December 1848, declaring the basic rights as immediately applicable.[11]
The catalogue of basic rights included Freedom of Movement, Equal Treatment for all Germans in all of Germany, the abolishment of class-based privileges and medieval burdens, Freedom of Religion -
Frankfurt Parliament Constitution
On March 28, 1849, the draft of the Paulskirchenverfassung constitution was finally passed. The new Germany was to be a constitutional monarchy, and the office of head of state ("Emperor of the Germans") was to be hereditary and held by the respective King of Prussia. The latter proposal was carried by a mere 290 votes in favour, with 248 abstentions. The constitution was recognized by 29 smaller states but not by Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, Hanover and Saxony. -
Frederick William Rejects the Crown
On April 3, 1849, the Kaiserdeputation ("Emperor Deputation"), a group of deputies chosen by the National Assembly, offered Friedrich Wilhelm the office of emperor. He declined, arguing that he could not accept the crown without the agreement of the princes and Free Cities. In reality, Friedrich Wilhelm insisted in the principle of the Divine Right of Kings and thus did not want to accept a crown touched by "the hussy smell of revolution". -
Frankfurt Parliament Dispersed
On June 17, Römer informed the president of the parliament that the Württemberg government was no longer in a position to tolerate the meetings of the National Assembly that had moved to its territory, nor the activities of the regency elected on the 6th, anywhere in Stuttgart or Württemberg". At this point, the rump parliament had only 99 deputies and did not reach a quorum according to its own rules. On June 18, the Württemberg army occupied the parliamentary chamber
