The Modernity of the Unmodern? The German Emperor in the Constitution of the Kaiserreich

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

The chapter discusses the development of the emperor’s constitutional position, from its roots in the formulation of the ‘presidency’ of a German confederation to the first German Kaiser in 1871. The central argument of this chapter is that it was not primarily ‘the weakness’ of the last emperor’s position (and that of his chancellors after 1890) but the paradoxical constitutional status of the emperor as head of state that made possible the development of a strong Beamtenstaat and the emancipation of the Reichstag. Paradoxically the bombastic façade of the new nationalist Wilhelmine emperorship was intertwined with the growing importance of the emperor’s constitutional function as head of a rational, bureaucratic and modernizing state.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationModernizing Europe's Imperial Monarchies
Subtitle of host publicationGermany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia in the Nineteenth Century
EditorsHeidi Kein-Kircher, Frank Sterkenburgh
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
Chapter9
Pages229-253
ISBN (Electronic)978-3-031-73046-7
ISBN (Print)978-3-031-73045-0
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 29 May 2025

Publication series

NamePalgrave Studies in Modern Monarchy
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
ISSN (Print)2947-5864
ISSN (Electronic)2947-5872

Keywords

  • German Reich
  • Prussia
  • Staatsrecht
  • Constitutionalism
  • Head of state

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The Modernity of the Unmodern? The German Emperor in the Constitution of the Kaiserreich'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this