Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach - Constitution and Administration

Constitution and Administration

Under the Constitution of 5 May 1816 (revised 15 October 1850), Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach was a constitutional monarchy, hereditary in the male line. Under the Electoral Act of 1852, the Landtag had 31 members, of whom 21 were elected in general elections. One member was elected by the landed former Imperial Knights, four were elected by other wealthy landowners, and five by voters who had an annual income exceeding 1000 Thaler from other sources. The latter group of voters were popularly called "thousand taler men". The elctoral Act of 17 April 1896 enlarged the parliament to 33 members. The Grand Duchy had one vote in the Bundesrat and three members in the Reichstag.

In 1909, general suffrage was introduced, under the auspices of Alfred Appelius, the later Speaker of the Landtag. The large landowners and the "thousand taler men" retained their extra votes, and five new special members were added to the parliament, representing the University of Jena, the Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber of Trae, the Chamber of Agriculture and the Chamber of Labour

The highest court in the land was the Court of Appeals in Jena, which dealt with appeals from all Thuringian states. There were Regional Courts in Weimar and Eisenach.

The Grand Duchy had one infantry regiment, which was part of the Prussian 11th Army Corps.