A Landtag (eng. State Diet) is a representative assembly or parliament in German-speaking countries with some legislative authority.
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The German word Landtag is composed of the words Land (eng. state, country or territory), which stays for Bundesland (eng. federal state), and Tag, which is the shortening of the german word Tagung (eng. meeting). The german word Tagung derives from the german word Tag (eng. day) because such meetings were hold at daylight and did sometimes span over several days. The english word diet (ger. Tag, Tagung) comes likewise from the latin word dies (eng. day).
In feudal society, the formal class system was reflected in the composition of the state's 'representative' assembly (The States ("Landstände")), regardless of its name well described as estates: it was not intended as an elected reflection of public opinion, but a fixed expression of established power as recognized in formal privileges, including the right to be seated in person (granted to many aristocrats and prelates, as well as certain cities) or to be represented as elector in a college that is entitled to one or more seats. In some of the German states that were known as Land, the name of such estates assembly was Landtag, analogous to the Reichstag, or Imperial Diet, mainly comprising most of the princes of the Church and hereditary states plus the Imperial Cities. The precise composition obviously varied greatly, and could change over time, as the result of privileges granted or lost, entities split or merged, border changes et cetera.
Since 1466, Prussian Landtag were held in Royal Prussia. Prior to that, Prussian Landtag meetings were held in the Monastic state of the Teutonic Order. See also Prussian estates.
Since 1525, Prussian Landtag were held in Ducal Prussia. See also Preußischer Landtag.
As Austria and Prussia escaped the French 'exporting the revolution', and Napoleon was happy to maintain satellite monarchies in most German territories under his control (members of the Confederation of the Rhine), the more democratic principles of the Enlightenment would have less effect in the German-speaking lands, or only much later.
1806 the German Confederation ("Deutscher Bund") was founded as successor of the Holy Roman Empire. § 13 of the "Bundesakte" (the constitution of the German Confederation) forced the German states to pass constitutions and implement parliaments called Landstände or Landtag.
The first constitution was passed in Nassau. Until 1841 (Luxembourg) all but 2 states got their constitution and parliaments.
1871 the German Empire was founded. All 25 states of the German Empire and the "Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen" (since 1911) had Landtage as legislative authorities. The most important one was the Prussian Landtag.
In the Weimar Republic 1918 till 1933 all German states had Landtage. In difference to the former Landstände and Landtage the Weimar Republik Landtage have been elected in free an equal elections.
1933 the Nazis abandoned the federal structure of the Weimar Republic and established a unitary state. The Landtage were abolished as a result.
The parliament of Finland, which was created when the country was ceded from Sweden to Russia in 1809, was called lantdag (Swedish for Landtag) until 1919, when Finland adopted its first constitution as an independent country (independence was declared in 1917). Since then, the official term in Swedish is riksdag, equivalent of the German Reichstag. The Finnish name is eduskunta.
The first Landtag of Livonian Confederation was called by archbishop of Rīga Johannes Ambundii in 1419 and continued on regular basis till the incorporation of Livonian lands in Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Sweden and Denmark in 1561. Separate landtags of Livonia, Courland and Estonia continued to exist as legislative authorities of Duchies of Livonia, Estonia, Courland and Semigallia, later Russian Empire Governorates of Livonia, Estonia and Courland.
In the contemporary Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Austria and the Italian Republic's province of South Tyrol (with a German-speaking majority), a Landtag is a unicameral legislature for a constitutive federal state (Bundesland). In the Principality of Liechtenstein, the Landtag is the sole national parliament, because Liechtenstein has no federal structure due to its size.
In most of the German constitutive federal states (Bundesländer), the unicameral legislature is called "Landtag". In the city states the parliamentary city council serves the function of the state parliament within the federal system - in Bremen and Hamburg it's called the Bürgerschaft (short of Stadtbürgerschaft, municipal assembly), and in Berlin it's called "Abgeordnetenhaus" (House of Representatives).
The national bicameral Parliament comprises the directly elected Bundestag and Bundesrat which represents the constitutive states but which has limited competence.
In seven cases the modern Landtage are the democratic successors of the Landtage of the corresponding imperial Kronlands. Exceptions are the city of Vienna (which belonged to the Lower Austria Kronland) and Burgenland (which belonged to the kingdom of Hungary, in personal union).
Austria's national bicameral parliament, the Bundesversammlung (Federal Assembly), consists of a directly elected Nationalrat (National Council) and a Bundesrat (Federal Council).
Italy's predominantly German-speaking province of South Tyrol has its own Landtag.
In the Sovereign principality of Liechtenstein the national parliament is called the Landtag of Liechtenstein.