Hugo Preuß

Hugo Preuß (Preuss) (28 October 1860 – 9 October 1925) was a German lawyer and liberal politician. He was the author of the draft version of the constitution that was passed by the Weimar National Assembly and came into force in August 1919. He based it on three principles: all political authority belongs to the people; that the state should be organized on a federal basis; and that the Reich should form a democratic Rechtsstaat (state based in law) within the international community.

Early life and academic career Hugo Preuß was born in Berlin on 28 October 1860 as the only child of Levin Preuß (1820 or 21 – 1862), a Jewish owner of a lithographic business, and his wife Minna (née Israel, 1826–1899). Hugo's father died in 1862 and in 1863 his mother married her husband's brother, Leopold Preuß (1827–1905), a well-off grain merchant. After growing up in the western part of Berlin, Hugo attended university from 1878 at Berlin and Heidelberg, studying law and political science, with additional courses on history and philosophy. In May 1883, he passed the first state examination and in November was awarded the doctorate of law at Göttingen. He stopped working as a legal trainee in 1886 and chose a career as an academic teacher. In 1889, he was habilitated with his publication ('Municipality, State, Reich as Local Authorities') and began working as a lecturer at the university in Berlin.

In 1895 he became a member of the municipal parliament in Charlottenburg, Berlin. Not until 1906 did Preuß become a full professor, at the Berlin School of Commerce, newly founded by local merchants. He taught there until 1918 when he became headmaster. His main focus was on constitutional law and local self-government. In 1906, the first volume of ('The Development of German Urban Areas') was published. From 1910–1918, he was honorary city councillor for the Progressive People's Party (FVP). The government resigned on 20 June 1919 in protest against the Treaty of Versailles. It was followed by the government of Gustav Bauer (SPD), who appointed Preuß commissioner for constitutional issues. On 14 August 1919, the Weimar Constitution came into force.

The Jewish background of the main author of its constitution was one reason why the Weimar Republic was referred to as the "Jews' Republic" by its detractors on the right.

Works Franz Lieber, ein Bürger zweier Welten. Habel, Berlin 1886 (Digital version) Gemeinde, Staat, Reich, 1889 Das städtische Amtsrecht in Preußen, 1902 Die Entwicklung des deutschen Städtewesens. Vol. 1: Entwicklungsgeschichte der deutschen Städteverfassung, 1906 Stadt und Staat, 1909 Zur preussischen Verwaltungsreform, 1910 Das deutsche Volk und die Politik, 1915 Deutschlands republikanische Reichsverfassung, 1921 Vom Obrigkeitsstaat zum Volksstaat, 1921 Um die Weimarer Reichsverfassung, 1924 Staat, Recht und Freiheit. Aus vierzig Jahren deutscher Politik und Geschichte, 1926 (Collected works, collected by Theodor Heuss) Verfassungspolitische Entwicklungen in Deutschland und Westeuropa, ed. by Hedwig Hintze, Berlin 1927 Reich und Länder. Bruchstücke eines Kommentars zur Verfassung des Deutschen Reiches, ed. by Gerhard Anschütz, Berlin 1928 Gesammelte Schriften. Im Auftrag der Hugo-Preuß-Gesellschaft e.V. 5 Volumes (4 published so far), ed. by Detlef Lehnert, Tübingen 2007-, Vol. 1: Politik und Gesellschaft im Kaiserreich, 2007; Vol. 2: Öffentliches Recht und Rechtsphilosophie im Kaiserreich, 2009; Vol. 3: Verfassungsentwürfe, Verfassungskommentare, Verfassungtheorie [not yet published]; Vol. 4: Politik und Verfassung in der Weimarer Republik, 2008; Vol. 5: Kommunalwissenschaft und Kommunalpolitik, 2012.