House of Lords (Austria)
This article is about the Austrian House of Lords. For other uses, see House of Lords (disambiguation).
| House of Lords Herrenhaus | |
|---|---|
 Lesser coat of arms of Cisleithania (1915–1918) | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
President |
Alfred III, Prince of Windisch-Grätz (1897–1918) |
| Seats | 306 (1917) |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
|
Debating chamber of the House of Lords Austrian Parliament Building Vienna | |
The House of Lords (German: Herrenhaus, Czech: Panská sněmovna, Italian: Camera dei signori, Slovene: Gosposka zbornica, Polish: Izba Panów) was the upper house of the Imperial Council, the bicameral legislature of the Austrian Empire from 1861 and of the Cisleithanian (Austrian) half of Austria-Hungary upon the Compromise of 1867. Created by the February Patent issued by Emperor Franz Joseph I on 26 February 1861, it existed until the end of World War I and the dissolution of the Dual Monarchy, when on 12 November 1918 the transitional National Assembly of German-Austria declared it abolished. It was superseded by the Federal Council of the Austrian Parliament implemented by the 1920 Federal Constituional Law.
History
First attempts to establish a Reichsrat advisory committee had been undertaken by the 1860 October Diploma. As Emperor Franz Joseph's position was weakened by the Second Italian War of Independence and the loss of Lombardy, the Austrian minister-president Count Johann Bernhard von Rechberg und Rothenlöwen sought for a close alliance with the haute bourgeoisie. However, the liberal-minded citzens demanded a parliamentary constitution which finally was promulgated by the 1961 February Patent. Elaborated under Count Rechberg's successor Archduke Rainer and State Minister Anton von Schmerling, it gave way for the transition of Austria to a constitutional monarchy. The newly established bicameral legislature of the Imperial Council included the House of Lords, meant as a class-oriented council to counterbalance the lower House of Deputies, which were sent by the provincial assemblies (Landtage). The Patent was rejected in the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary demanding an own constitution, which eventually led to the creation of the sovereign Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen in 1867.
The House of Lords met for the first time on 29 April 1861 at the Palais Niederösterreich in Vienna's Herrengasse, its venue until the Austrian Parliament Building on the Ringstrasse boulevard was completed. The first session at the new location was held on 4 December 1883. The House of Lords chamber of debates was severely damaged in World War II. Restored in a modern style, it is today is the meeting place of the National Council, the lower house of the Austrian Parliament.
The Hungarian magnates refused to send members to the Austrian House of Lords and insisted on an own parliamentary assembly. Their requests were initially denied by Minister Schmerling ("Austria can wait"), nevertheless, on the eve of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise, the inaugural session of the second legislature took place on 20 May 1867 without Hungarian representatives even being called. Half a year later, the Diet of Hungary (Hungarian: Országgyűlés) was re-established by the December Constitution, including a House of Representatives as well as a House of Magnates, while the Reichsrat legislature was only responsible for the Cisleithanian crown lands. Those common affairs which related to the whole Dual Monarchy, such as foreign policy, national defence and finances, were examined by parliamentary delegations of 60 MPs each; one third of the Austrian delegates were elected by the House of Lords.
In December 1906, the members of the House of Lords led by Archduke Franz Ferdinand bitterly opposed the implementation of universal male suffrage, initiated by the Austrian government of Minister-president Baron Max Wladimir von Beck to meet the demands of the Social Democrats under Victor Adler. Beck could win the support by Emperor Franz Joseph, who sent his chief intendants Prince Rudolf of Liechtenstein and Prince Alfred of Montenuovo to plead for the electoral reform in parliament. The proposal was finally approved and applied to the Cisleithanian legislative elections of 1907 and 1911.
During the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the last session of the House of Lords was held on 30 October 1918. The last Austrian Minister-president Heinrich Lammasch announced that his cabinet, appointed by Emperor Charles I on October 27, would make no policy statement whereupon the meeting was adjourned by Speaker Prince Alfred III of Windisch-Grätz after only five minutes. At the same time, the Provisional National Assembly of German-Austria met at the Palais Niederösterreich and implemented the government of State Chancellor Karl Renner.
Membership
Unlike the elected House of Deputies, most new members of the House of Lords were appointed. Membership of the House of Lords was made up of Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal. There were a number of Lords Spiritual who sat in the house by virtue of their ecclesiastical role in the established Roman Catholic church, as well as Greek Catholic Church. The Lords Temporal made up the rest of the membership; of these, the majority were hereditary peers. A smaller number of life peers were appointed by the monarch on the nominal advice of the Minister-President, or on the advice of the House of Lords Appointments Commission. All archdukes of the imperial family also had a right to a seat.
Membership was a birthright of all hereditary peers. The number of members was not fixed.
Bills could be introduced into either the House of Lords or the House of Deputies. Members of the Lords were also allowed to take on roles as government ministers. The House of Lords had its own support services, separate from the Deputies, including the House of Lords Library.
The House of Lords scrutinised bills that had been approved by the House of Deputies and regularly reviewed and amended them. While it was unable to prevent bills passing into law, except in certain limited circumstances, it could delay them and force the Deputies to reconsider their decisions. In this capacity, the Lords acted as a check on the House of Deputies that was independent from the electoral process.
The Emperor's Speech was delivered in the Hofburg Palace during the State Opening of Parliament. The initial plan to hold the opening ceremonies in the atrium hall of the parliament building was not realised.
Composition
There were many Lords Spiritual. The following clergy of the Roman Catholic Church sat in the House of Lords: the archbishops of Vienna, Salzburg, Prague, Olmütz, Lemberg, Zara and Görz, and the bishops of Seckau, Lavant, Breslau, Trent, Brixen, Triest, Laibach, Königgrätz, Krakau, Premissel, and Transylvania. Also sitting in the House of Lords were the Greek Catholic archbishop Făgăraş and Alba Iulia, the Ukrainian Catholic archeparch of Lemberg, and the Armenian Catholic archbishop of Lemberg.
106 families had hereditary membership in the House of Lords. These were:
Three sovereign houses:
Sixteen mediatised princely houses:
|
Sixteen other princely houses:
|
Four mediatised countships: |
Sixty-four other countships:
Schlik, Lodron, Hardegg, Montecuccoli, Thurn und Valsassina, Buquoy, Tarnowski, Althann, Czernin, Waldstein, Thun, Attems, Des Fours, Herberstein, Nostitz, Ungnad von Weißenwolff, Vetter, Traun, Brandis, Trapp, Serényi, Sternberg, Kaunitz, Lamberg, Kolowrat, Hoyos, Kinský, Falkenhayn, Goëss, Kálnoky, Wratislaw, Zierotin, Podstatzky, Haugwitz, Potocki, Gołuchowski, Lanckoroński, Lewicki, Westphalen, Mensdorff, Miniscalchi, Papafava, Meran, Badeni, Colleoni, Venier, Vrints, Fünfkirchen, Widmann-Sedlnitzky, Dobrženský, Walterskirchen, Gudenus, Sedlnitzky, Ludwigstorff, and Wassilko von Serecki
Nine baronial families:
|
In 1911, there were fourteen princes of the Imperial family, eighteen bishops, ninety hereditary peers, and 169 life peers. These were exclusively men. Some members of the House of Lords appointed as life peers include glass tycoon Ludwig Lobmeyr, cotton tycoon Nikolaus Dumba, Styrian poet Peter Roseggerhaus, and brewery owner Anton Dreher. The House of Lords was presided over by a president, who was supported by two vice-presidents. From 1907, members of the House of Lords could stand for election to the House of Deputies. Nobles that did not sit in the House of Lords were always abled to be elected to the House of Deputies. The last president of the House of Lords was Alfred III, Prince of Windisch-Grätz. The last two vice-presidents were Maximilian Egon II, Prince of Fürstenberg and Ferdinand, Prince of Lobkowitz. The last meeting of the House of Lords, was held on 30 October 1918. The meeting was adjourned within five minutes. The House of Lords chamber of the Parliament Building was destroyed by bombing during the Second World War. It was rebuilt in a contemporary style, and now serves as the chamber of the National Council of the Republic of Austria.
References
- Lanjus, Friedrich Graf. Die erbliche Reichsratswürde in Österreich. Selbstverlag, Schloss Haindorf am Kamp, Langenlois 1939.
- G. Stourzh. Die Entwicklung der ersten Kammer in der österreichischen Verfassung unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Zeit von 1848-61. Dissertation, Vienna 1951.