Greater Hesse

Greater Hesse was the temporary name for the newly founded in 1945 by the U.S. Military Government Land Hessen. Located in the American occupation zone country was founded on September 19, 1945 by the Proclamation No. 2 of the commander of the American forces in Europe, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, to life. Colonel James R. Newman was head of the military government of Greater Hesse (Office of Military Government Greater Hesse, short OMGGH ). On October 14, 1945, the military government Karl Geiler as a Prime Minister. He held office until 20 December 1946. Became his successor after the first parliamentary election on December 1, 1946 elected as the first Prime Minister Christian Stock. The fundamental law of the State of Great - Hesse, the first state constitution was adopted on 22 November 1945. It was lifted on December 1, 1946 by the new Constitution of the State of Hesse. Since then the country will only be called Hesse, the military government was renamed the Office of Military Government for Hesse ( OMGH ).

Name

The new country was formed from the American-occupied territory parts of the People's State of Hesse and the Prussian provinces of the Electorate of Hesse and Nassau. Electoral Hesse and Nassau were created on 1 April 1944 division of the existing since 1868 the province of Hesse- Nassau. The name Greater Hesse was referring to the fact that the new territory of the country so that the Territories ( almost) all previous Hessian part states united in one country.

The former province of Hesse -Nassau consisted of the territories of five formerly independent states: the Electorate of Hesse (Kassel ), the Duchy of Nassau ( Wiesbaden), of Hesse- Homburg, the Principality of Waldeck and the Free City of Frankfurt.

The states that contributed Hesse behalf, were states of the country in 1567 divided the county of Hesse, which had its origin in the north of the present-day state. Although the term Hessen So historically more to the north ( Lower Hesse ) and the central part of the country ( Upper Hesse ) involved and the residents of South Hesse country team performance were considered as the Rhine Franks, he has now been selected on the basis of territorial history for the whole new country.

Segregated areas

Two major parts of the predecessor territories did not belong to the American, but the French occupation zone and were separated from the newly founded country:

• The western part of Nassau (later Regierungsbezirk Montabaur ), the parts of the background Taunus, Westerwald and the lower reaches of the river Lahn, but no major cities included, as well as
• The previously national Hessian province Rheinhessen, with the exception of six right bank districts of the provincial capital Mainz and Worms district rose garden, as well as the Rhine island Kühkopf who remained in Hesse.

These two territories went instead into the founded on the territory of the French zone of the state of Rhineland -Palatinate, Mainz became his country team performance neutral (neither Rhine still pfälzisch ) capital.

The mountain road to the district belonging Hessian exclave Bad Wimpfen was not mentioned in the proclamation of 19 September 1945. On November 26, 1945 an Order was issued by the military authorities that the church was added to the future district Sinsheim. The local authorities interpreted these available so that the church thus was constitutionally a part of Württemberg -Baden. Because of resistance in the population a referendum was held on 29 April 1951 due to which the community from May 1, 1952 belonged to the district of Heilbronn. It has remained to this day. Although de facto part Bad Wimpfen Baden -Württemberg was and there are no efforts to change this, the constitutional membership is not definitively established.

The in 1944 separated from Hesse -Nassau county Schmalkalden lay in the Soviet Zone of Occupation and became part of the company founded by the local occupying power state of Thuringia.

In 1932, the Hesse- Nassau county Schaumburg had been transferred to the province of Hannover. He was therefore in 1946 part of the Federal State of Lower Saxony.

The Hessian capital question

In Proclamation No. 2 initially no capital has been set for the newly founded country wholesale Hesse. As the state capital four cities were considered: the three former royal cities of Darmstadt, Wiesbaden and Kassel, and by far the largest city in the country, Frankfurt am Main.

Frankfurt was due to his political role of Germany in the 19th century ( the seat of the German Confederation and the National Assembly ) as a promising candidate for the seat of a West German government (see capital question of the Federal Republic of Germany ). The city, a free city, and since then a Prussian provincial town without belonging to a administrative headquarters authorities had been with their civil service until 1866, initially had little identification with the new state and renounced consequently on to compete for the seat of the national government. Moreover, in the air war nearly 70 % of the city had been destroyed; about half of the approximately 500,000 inhabitants was homeless and the city had to leave temporarily, also nearly 10 % of the remaining living space had been seized by the U.S. military.

Even against Kassel and Darmstadt also spoke the heavy war damage, against Kassel peripheral location in the far north of the country and the American occupation zone. The comparatively low destroyed Wiesbaden, also conveniently located in the center of gravity of the country, the Rhine -Main area, was already the seat of the military government for the administrative district of Wiesbaden. With the establishment of Greater Hesse, the competence of the military government was extended under James R. Newman on the whole country. Thus, a preliminary decision for the future seat of government had already fallen. On October 12, 1945 Newman Organization Order No. 1 was promulgated, which states in Section 1: With effect from October 12, 1945, 12 clock, the establishment of the civilian state government is proclaimed for Greater Hesse with headquarters in Wiesbaden.

Wiesbaden and the two other former royal residences have been confirmed as the headquarters of three regional councils.

Regierungsbezirke

For those already in the province of Hesse -Nassau government districts Kassel and Wiesbaden, which were territorially slightly changed, now joined the government district formed from the previous People's State of Darmstadt. The cutting of the three government districts largely corresponded to the earlier part of the three largest states:

• The district Wiesbaden included as before the territories of the former country Nassau (but without the above, fallen to the French zone areas), which until 1944 the Kassel area belonging " Hessian " Circles Hanau, Gelnhausen and Schlüchtern and the city of Hanau, the city of Frankfurt am Main and the former Hesse- Homburg.
• The Region of Darmstadt comprised the former People's State but without Rheinhessen, so the other two former Hessian provinces of Upper Hesse and strong castle.
• The Region of Kassel included the former countries Electorate of Hesse and Waldeck and corresponded to the three votes to Wiesbaden circles the district from the Prussian era.