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{{Short description|Upper house of the proto-German state}}
{{more citations needed}}
{{Infobox legislature
| name = Prussian House of Lords
| native_name = {{lang|de|Preußisches Herrenhaus}}
| transcription_name =
| coa_pic = Berlin Herrenhaus 1900.jpg
| coa_res = 270px
| coa_caption = Courtyard on Leipziger Straße, circa 1900
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| house_type = Upper house
| houses =
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| established = 31 January 1850
| preceded_by = {{ubl|[[Prussian estates]]|[[Prussian National Assembly]]}}
| disbanded = 15 November 1918
| succeeded_by = [[Prussian State Council]]
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The '''Prussian House of Lords''' ({{lang-de|Preußisches Herrenhaus}}) in [[Berlin]] was the [[upper house]] of the [[Landtag of Prussia]] ({{lang-de|Preußischer Landtag}}), the parliament of [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] from 1850 to 1918. Together with the [[lower house]], the [[Prussian House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] (''Abgeordnetenhaus''), it formed the Prussian [[Bicameralism|bicameral]] legislature. The building is now used as the seat of the [[German Bundesrat]].

== Kingdom of Prussia ==
[[File:Cámara Alta de Prusia, Berlín, Alemania, 2016-04-22, DD 49-51 HDR.jpg|right|thumb|View by night]]
Modeled on the [[House of Lords]] of the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]],{{Citation needed}} the ''Herrenhaus'' was created following the [[Revolutions of 1848 in the German states|1848 revolution]] with the adoption of the [[Constitution of Prussia (1848)|Constitution of the Kingdom of Prussia]] imposed by King [[Frederick William IV of Prussia|Frederick William IV]] on 5 December 1848.

A member of the House of Lords was known as a ''pair'' (see also [[pairie]]), or officially as a ''member of the Prussian House of Lords'' (''Mitglieder des preußischen Herrenhauses'', or MdH). The House consisted of hereditary peers, life peers appointed by the King of Prussia, peers by virtue of position, representatives of cities and universities, etc. The majority of members were [[German nobility|nobles]], although the House also had [[commoner]]s as members, especially among the representatives of cities and universities. The breakdown was as follows:
* Princes of the royal [[house of Hohenzollern]] who had reached their majority
* Members with hereditary right:
** The head of the princely house of Hohenzollern
** The heads of the former German states of the Holy Roman Empire in royal Prussian lands—these were primarily [[German Mediatisation|mediatized]] princely houses (so-called ''Standesherren'', incumbents of [[state country|state countries]]), such as [[Arenberg]], [[Bentheim-Steinfurt]], [[House of Croÿ|Croÿ]], [[County of Isenburg|Isenburg]] (also Ysenburg), [[Salm-Horstmar]], [[Salm-Salm]], [[Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg]], [[Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein]], [[Solms-Hohensolms-Lich]], [[Solms-Rödelheim-Assenheim]], [[Stolberg-Wernigerode]], and [[County of Wied|Wied]].
** Other members with hereditary right—these were primarily princes and counts from lands annexed by Prussia over the centuries, such as the [[duke of Schleswig-Holstein]], Counts of [[:de:Westphalen (noble family)|Westphalen]], and the [[List of rulers of Hesse|landgrave of Hessen-Philippsthal]].
* Life members:
** Holders of the four great court appointments (''große Hofämter'') of the kingdom—these were the state steward (''Landhofmeister''), the chancellor (''Kanzler''), the lord marshal (''Obermarschall''), and the lord burgrave (''Oberburggraf'').
** Members entrusted by the king—these were both nobles and commoners, and included select generals and admirals, senior government officials, business leaders, and philanthropists.
** Members called by presentation—these were primarily holders of noble estates, the university representatives, and the lord mayors of cities given the right of presentation.

== Free State ==
With the [[German Revolution of 1918–1919]] and the fall of the [[House of Hohenzollern|Hohenzollern]] monarchy resulting from [[World War I]], the Prussian House of Lords was dissolved on 15 November 1918 by the revolutionary Implementation Council of the Workers' and Soldiers' Council ({{Lang|de|Vollzugsrat des Arbeiter- und Soldatenrats}}).<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Preußische Gesetzsammlung. 1918, Nr. 38 (7 Dezember) |trans-title=Prussian Law Collection. 1918, Nr. 38 (7 December) |url=https://jbc.bj.uj.edu.pl/dlibra/publication/531645/edition/505982/content |access-date=17 April 2023 |journal=Biblioteka Jagiellońska, 408452 III |page=191 |language=de |last1=Staatsministeriums |first1=Büro des }}</ref> Under to the [[Constitution of Prussia (1920)|1920 constitution]] of the [[Free State of Prussia]] it was replaced by the ''Staatsrat'' (state council) of representatives delegated by the ''[[Landtag]]'' assemblies of the [[Provinces of Prussia|Provinces]]. The [[Cologne]] mayor [[Konrad Adenauer]] served as president of the state council from 1921 until the Nazi ''[[Machtergreifung]]'' in 1933.

== Meeting place ==
[[File:Mendelssohn Berlin Leipziger Strasse.jpg|thumb|Former Mendelssohn residence, Leipziger Str. 3, before 1898]]
Starting in 1856, the House of Lords met at a [[Baroque architecture|Baroque]] city palace on [[Leipziger Straße]] No. 3, near [[Leipziger Platz]], formerly owned by the merchant [[Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky]] (1710–1775) and seat of the [[Royal Porcelain Factory, Berlin|Royal Porcelain Factory]] from 1763. It had been acquired by [[Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy]] (1776–1835), father of [[Felix Mendelssohn|Felix]] and [[Fanny Mendelssohn]], in 1825. In the summer of 1826, young Felix Mendelssohn wrote his ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream (Mendelssohn)|A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'' overture, which premiered at his father's house.

After the Prussian state had purchased the building in 1856, it also served for the meetings of the [[Reichstag (North German Confederation)|Reichstag]] of the [[North German Federation]] from 1867 to 1870. Upon [[German unification]] in 1871, the neighbouring building on Leipziger Straße No. 4 was rebuilt as the seat of the [[Reichstag (German Empire)|Reichstag]] of the [[German Empire]], before it moved into the new [[Reichstag (building)|Reichstag building]] in 1894. Both the Leipziger Str. No. 3 and 4 buildings were demolished in 1898 to make space for a new building for the House of Lords.

The [[Renaissance Revival architecture|Neo-Renaissance]] ''Herrenhaus'' building, designed by the architect [[Friedrich Schulze]], was completed in 1904. Schulze had had also built the adjacent ''Abgeordnetenhaus'' on [[Niederkirchnerstraße|Prinz-Albrecht-Straße]] from 1892 to 1898. Both structures were connected by a common functional wing in the rear, which allowed deputies to move freely between both chambers. Since 1993, the ''Abgeordnetenhaus'' building is the seat of the Berlin [[Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin|state parliament]].

Seat of the Prussian state council from 1921 to 1933, the former ''Herrenhaus'' building from 1933 served for [[Hermann Göring]]'s ''Preußenhaus'' foundation. The former [[debating chamber]] saw the inauguration of the [[People's Court (Germany)|People's Court]] (''Volksgerichtshof'') in 1934 and with the erection of neighbouring [[Ministry of Aviation (Nazi Germany)|Ministry of Aviation]] the next year it was refurbished as the prestigious ''Haus der Flieger'' lobby of Göring's headquarters.

Heavily damaged by [[Bombing of Berlin in World War II|Allied bombing]] and the [[Battle of Berlin]], the building was restored after the war and from 1946 served for the East German [[German Academy of Sciences at Berlin|Academy of Sciences]]. Since 2000, it is the site of the parliamentary sessions of the Federal Council (''[[Bundesrat of Germany|Bundesrat]]'') of [[Germany]].

== Cultural references ==
One of the characters in [[Fyodor Dostoevsky]]'s ''[[Crime and Punishment]]'' references the Prussian Upper House when talking about the main character's sister.

== See also ==
* [[List of presidents of the State Council of Prussia]]
* [[:Category:Members of the Prussian House of Lords|Members of the Prussian House of Lords]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.bundesrat.de/EN/organisation-en/gebaeude-en/gebaeude-node-en.html The Bundesrat building]
* [http://www.luise-berlin.de/Lexikon/Mitte/p/Preussisches_Herrenhaus.htm Preußisches Herrenhaus] {{in lang|de}}

{{coord|52|30|33|N|13|22|53|E|display=title|region:DE-BE_type:landmark_source:dewiki}}
{{National upper houses}}

[[Category:1850 establishments in Prussia]]
[[Category:1850 establishments in Germany]]
[[Category:1918 disestablishments in Germany]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1904|Berlin House of Lords]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Mitte]]
[[Category:Defunct upper houses|Prussia]]
[[Category:Legislative buildings in Europe|Berlin House of Lords]]
[[Category:Political history of Germany]]
[[Category:Politics of Prussia]]
[[Category:Members of the Prussian House of Lords|*]]
[[Category:Peerage]]
[[Category:Prussian nobility]]

Prussian House of Lords - Revision history

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