Bible Encyclopedias
Prussia, Germany (State)

Provinces.

Area in

Eng. sq. m.

Pop., 1900.

Pop., 1905.

East Prussia

14,284

1,996,626

2,030,176

West Prussia

9,859

1,563,658

1,641,746

Berlin .

29

1,888,848

2,040,148

Brandenburg

15,382

3,108,554

3,531,906

Pomerania .

11,620

1,634, 832

1,684,326

Silesia .

15,568

4,668,857

4,942,611

Posen. .

11,186

1,887,275

1,986,637

Saxony

9,751

2,832,616

2,979,221

Schleswig-Holstein 1 .

7,338

1,387,968

1,504,248

Hanover. .

14,870

2,590,939

2,759,544

Westphalia. .

7,803

3,187,777

3,618,090

Hesse Nassau

6,062

1,897,981

2,070,052

Rhineland

10,423

5,759,798

6,436,337

Hohenzollern

441

66,780

68,282

134,616

34,472,509

37,293,324

1 Including Heligoland.

The increase of population proceeds most rapidly, as would be expected, in Berlin, and next follow Westphalia, the Rhineland, Brandenburg and Saxony, while it is weakest in Hohenzollern, Pomerania and East Prussia. The population is densest in the mining and manufacturing district of the Rhine, which is closely followed by the coal regions of Silesia and parts of Saxony and Westphalia. Both the birth-rate and the death-rate show a tendency to diminish. (For statistical tables under this head, see Germany.) In Prussia, the annual increase in the urban population is about seven times as great as that in the rural communities. In 1905 Prussia contained twenty-two towns each with upwards of Too,000 inhabitants. The annual rate of suicide in Prussia is high, and among German states is only exceeded in the kingdom of Saxony. Divided according to nationalities (by speech), the population of Prussia includes roughly 31,000,000 Germans, over 3,000,000 Poles (in the eastern provinces), 107,000 Lithuanians (in the northeast), 137,000 Danes (in Schleswig-Holstein), 65,000 Wends (in Brandenburg and Silesia), 25,000 Czechs (in Silesia) and 78,000 Walloons (near the Belgian frontier). In the rural districts of Posen and in parts of Silesia the Poles form the predominant element of the population.

Communication

With most internal means of communication Prussia is well provided. Hardly any of its excellent highroads existed in the time of Frederick the Great, and many of them date from the Napoleonic era. The first Prussian railway was laid in 1838, but the railway system did not receive its full development until the events of 1866 removed the obstacles placed in the way by Hanover. Most of the lines were laid by private companies, and the government confined itself to establishing lines in districts not likely to attract private capital. In 1879, however, a measure was passed authorizing the acquisition by the state of the private railways, and in 1884 nine-tenths of the 13,800 m. of railway in Prussia were in the hands of government. The proportion of railway mileage in Prussia (5 m. per 10,000 inhabitants) is nearly as high as in Great Britain, but the traffic is much less. Between 1880 and 1886 the state-owned lines of railway increased by 9240 m., the increase being principally due to the policy of buying up private lines; and since 1886 there has been a further increase. In 1903 the state lines amounted to a total of 18,520 m., and the private lines to 1248 m. The former total includes lines in Hesse-Darmstadt, the railways of this grand duchy having been incorporated with the Prussian railways in 1896. The building of the railways in Prussia has in almost every case been influenced by military requirements; and this applies also to the making of private lines. The most important trunk line of Prussia is that which enters the western frontier at Herbesthal, and runs through Cologne, Dusseldorf, Hanover, Berlin, Dirschau and Konigsberg, and leaves the eastern boundary at Eydtkuhnen for St Petersburg. Generally speaking, the principal lines of the country either radiate from Berlin or run alongside the frontiers and boundaries. To the former category belong the lines which connect the capital with Hamburg and Kiel, with Stettin, with Danzig and Konigsberg, with Posen and Breslau (dividing at Frankfort-on-Oder), with Dresden, with Leipzig and Bavaria, with Frankfort-on-Main via Halle and Erfurt, with Coblenz via Cassel, and with Cologne via Magdeburg and Brunswick. The second category embraces lines from Hamburg to Stettin, from Stettin to Posen and Breslau, and from Breslau to Halle; the ring is again taken up at Frankforton-Main, and continues up the Rhine (on both banks) to Cologne, and thence through Munster and Bremen to Hamburg. Besides these there are two other important lines, one connecting Hamburg with Frankfort-on-Main via Hanover and Cassel, the other linking Hanover with Halle.

Prussia possesses also an extensive system of natural and artificial waterways. In the period1880-1893the Prussian Government spent no less than 11,677,750 upon the maintenance and construction of locks, canals, canal buildings, bridges, roadways, &c. Besides this there was a special vote of 6,197,600 for the construction of the Dortmund-Ems Canal and the improvement of the navigation of the Oder, Vistula, Spree and other waterways in Brandenburg. The most important of the canals are the North Sea and Baltic Canal (officially the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal), the Elbe-Trave Canal (to give Lubeck access to the Elbe), and the Dortmund-Ems Canal, and its continuation, the Dortmund-Rhine Canal (see further, Germany). The largest ship-owning ports are Flensburg, Stettin, Kiel, Rostock and Danzig; and Geestemunde owns the largest deep-sea fishing fleet.

Agriculture

Of the total area of cultivable land in the German Empire fully 66% belongs to Prussia. About 29% of the soil of Prussia consists of good loam or clay, 32% is mediocre or of loam and sand mixed, 31% is predominantly sandy, and 6% is occupied by bogs and marshes. The north-eastern provinces contain a high proportion of poor soil, and in the north-west occur large tracts of heath and moor. The reclaimed marshlands in both districts, as well as the soil in the neighbourhood of the rivers, are usually very fertile, and tracts of fruitful ground are found in the valleys of the Rhine and its affluents and in the plain around Magdeburg, the so-called Bohrde. The most fertile Prussian province is Saxony, while the least productive are East and West Prussia. The principal crop in Prussia is rye, of which the ordinary bread of the country is made; it grows in all parts of the kingdom, especially in the north and east, and occupies about one-fourth of the whole tilled surface. Oats occupy an area equal to about half that devoted to rye, and are also grown most extensively in the north-eastern districts. Wheat, which is chiefly cultivated in the south and west, does not cover more than a fourth as much ground as rye. Barley is most largely grown in Saxony and Silesia. Other grain crops are spelt (chiefly on the Rhine), buckwheat (Hanover and Schleswig-Holstein) and millet; maize is grown for fodder in some districts. The produce of grain does not cover the consumption and is supplemented by imports of rye and other cereals from Russia and Holland. Potatoes, used both as food and for the distillation of spirits, are cultivated over nearly as large an area as rye and are especially predominant in the eastern provinces. The common beet is extensively grown for the production of sugar in the provinces of Saxony, Hanover, Silesia, Pomerania and Brandenburg. Flax and hemp occupy considerable areas in East Prussia, Silesia and Hanover, while hops are raised chiefly in Posen and Saxony. The cultivation of rape-seed for oil has fallen off since the use of petroleum has become general. The tobacco of Silesia, Brandenburg, Hanover and the Rhine province is inferior to that of Germany; the annual value of Prussian-grown tobacco is about £500,000, or one-fourth of the total produce of the empire. Of the total cultivated area less than 5% is divided into farms of less than 5 acres each, about 33% amongst farms ranging from 5 to 50 acres, 32.01% amongst farms ranging from 50 to 250 acres, and the rest amongst farms exceeding 250 acres. The provinces in which large estates (up to 2500 acres and more) are the rule, are Pomerania, Posen, Silesia, East Prussia, Brandenburg, West Prussia and Saxony, in the order named. The estates of the old landed gentry ( Rittergiiter ) of Prussia, taking the estates above 500 acres each, aggregate in all some 13,400,000 acres. Small estates (peasant holdings) prevail principally in the Rhine province, Hesse-Nassau and Westphalia, and to some extent also in Hanover, Silesia and Saxony, but large peasant holdings (50 to 250 acres) exist only in Schleswig-Holstein, Hanover, East Prussia, Westphalia, Saxony and Brandenburg. Notwithstanding the continuous decline in prices, and other drawbacks from which agriculture has suffered throughout Europe, the Prussian farmers have on the whole fairly well maintained their position, owing mainly to the fact that they have been both eager and skilful in availing themselves of the opportunities offered by the progress of agricultural knowledge. One of the latest departures in this field has been the establishment of central stations for the distribution of electric power to the estates in its neighbourhood, the power to be used for driving both fixed and movable machinery (mills, chaff-cutters, threshing-machines, ploughs, &c.), for lighting buildings and houses, for cooking and heating, and on large estates for giving signals and conveying orders. The cultivation of the beetroot for sugar has had a farreaching effect upon Prussian agriculture, especially in the provinces of Saxony, Silesia, Posen, Hanover, West Prussia, Pomerania, Brandenburg, the Rhine province, and other parts of the kingdom, where the beetroot is extensively cultivated. Owing to the deep cultivation of the soil and the incessant hoeing which the beet crop requires, the three or four crops which follow it are invariably good, and the liability to failure of the immediately succeeding crop is reduced to a minimum. Moreover, the fiscal policy of the Prussian government has been of first-rate assistance to the Prussian farmer. Hand in hand with the cultivation of the beetroot has gone the cultivation of barley and chicory, crops of scarcely inferior value from the cultivator's point of view. Barley is grown on more than Hi million acres. The Prussian province of Saxony produces one-half of the total quantity of chicory yielded every year throughout the empire; the principal centres for its manufacture in Prussia are Magdeburg, Berlin and Breslau.

Livestock

The province of East Prussia, with the principal government stud of Trakehnen, is the headquarters of horserearing, and contains the greatest number of horses both relatively 'and absolutely. The horses bred there are generally suitable for the lighter kind of work only, and are in great request for military purposes. Horses of a stouter type are bred in Schleswig-Holstein and on the Rhine, but heavy draught horses have to be imported from France, Holland, Belgium and Denmark. The best cattle are reared in the maritime provinces, whence, as from the marshy lowlands of Hanover, they are exported in large numbers to England.

In the matter of freights the government renders material assistance to the Prussian farmer. As the state owns the railways, it carries agricultural produce, especially such as is destined for export, at lower preferential rates.

Forests

Prussia contains a greater proportion of woodland (23%) than any other large country in the south or west of Europe (France 17%, Italy 12%, Great Britain 3%), though not so large a proportion as Russia, Austria and some of the minor German states. The most extensive forests are in East and West Prussia, Silesia, and Brandenburg, where coniferous trees prevail, and in the Rhenish and Hessian districts, where oaks and beeches are the most prominent growths. The north-west is almost entirely destitute of timber, and peat is there used universally as fuel. The government forests cover about 6,000,000 acres, or upwards of onefourth of the whole, and are admirably managed, bringing in an annual revenue of i 4 millions sterling. The state also controls the management of forests in private possession, and exerts itself to secure the planting of waste lands.

Viticulture

The principal wine-growing districts of Prussia are the Rheingau and the Rhine provinces, though wine is also produced in Silesia, Westphalia and a few other districts. The valleys of the Nahe, Saar, Moselle and Ahr all produce excellent wine. The Prussian state owns several vineyards in the Rhine district. German vine-growers have suffered, in common with vine-growers in other countries of Europe, from the Oidium tuckeri and the Phylloxera, and the government has spent large sums of money in endeavouring to arrest the ravages caused.

Fisheries

The fisheries on the Baltic Sea and its halls, and on the North Sea, are important. In the former the take consists mainly of herrings, flat fish, salmon, mackerel and eels, while the chief objects of the latter are cod and oysters. Inland fishery has been encouraged by the foundation of numerous piscicultural establishments and by the enactment of close-time laws. Carp, perch, pike and salmon, the last-named especially in the Rhine, are the principal varieties; sturgeon are taken in the Elbe and Oder, and the lakes of East Prussia swarm with bream and lampreys. Game of various kinds abounds in different parts of Prussia, and the lakes are frequented by large flocks of waterfowl.

Mining and Metal Industries

Prussia is the largest producer of coal, zinc, salt, lead and copper amongst the states of the German Empire, though in respect of iron she comes second to AlsaceLorraine. Of the aggregate German output of coal Prussia supplies over 93%, viz. the huge total of 101,966,158 tons, valued at £43,9 12 ,5 00 in 1900, as compared with some 47,000,000 tons in 1882, representing an increase of about 117%, and of this the province of Westphalia produces the largest quantity. Next comes the Rhine province, that is, the Saar, Aachen, Dusseldorf and Roer coal-fields; then Silesia. An extremely important role is played in the coal industry of Prussia by the Rhenish-Westphalian Coal Syndicate, which has its headquarters at Essen, and which from the bulk of its output (about 40% of the total German output) has succeeded in regulating the production and price of the coalfields generally. Out of a total output of lignite for the entire German Empire of 40,498,019 tons in 1900, Prussia yielded no less than 84%, or a total of 34,007,542 tons, valued at £4,012,900, showing an annual increase of over 24 million tons and of 31 millions sterling since 1882. Almost all the zinc produced in Germany comes out of the Silesian mines. The chief iron-producing regions are the Rhine province, Westphalia, Hesse-Nassau and Silesia. But in the production of lead and manganese Prussia enjoys almost an unchallenged monopoly. Salt is mined principally in the province of Saxony (Stassfurt, Aschersleben, Erfurt, Halle, Merseburg, Sangerhausen), the kali salts near Magdeburg and Glauber salts in the Rhine province and Hesse-Nassau. Iron is worked principally in the districts of Arnsberg, Dusseldorf, Oppeln in Silesia, Treves and Coblenz, and zinc for the most part near Oppeln in Silesia; lead and silver near Aachen, Oppeln and Wiesbaden, and sulphuric acid in all the mining districts, as well as near Potsdam, Breslau, Magdeburg and Merseburg. Petroleum is extracted to a limited extent at a couple of places in the province of Hanover. Down to 1899, in which year the monopoly was bought out by the Prussian government, 150 to 250 tons of amber were mined in East Prussia. A little is also collected on the coast near Pillau.

Industrial Development

During the last quarter of the 19th century Prussia developed into a great manufacturing country. Among the causes which have been mainly instrumental in fostering the industrial development in Prussia are the fostering care of the government (at once energetic, comprehensive and watchful), co-operation and organization, which has been immensely facilitated by the habits of prompt obedience and order learnt in the course of the military training; the generally high intellectual level and technical and artistic skill of the workmen, due in part to the enforcement of sound elementary education and in part to the excellent technical high schools, trades " continuation schools," and hosts of special schools in which the arts and crafts are thoroughly and systematically taught; the use made of scientific discoveries and the power of taking advantage of scientific progress generally; the national aptitude for giving conscientious attention to minutiae, and for thoroughness and mastery of detail; the extensive employment of commercial travellers, having command of languages, in all parts of the world; and an earnest desire to find out and meet the wants and tastes of customers. Moreover, the social and economic conditions of the people have been in their favour. Wages have on the whole been lower than, for example, in England, though since 1896 they have shown a strong upward tendency, and the standard of comfort, and even in many cases the standard of living, has been lower. Litigation, too, is more expeditious and less costly. But the Prussian manufacturer has derived no small measure of advantage from the fact that he came into the field somewhat later than his foreign rivals. He has been enabled to utilize their experience, to profit from their drawbacks, faults and deficiencies, and to make a clean start in the light of this valuable acquired knowledge. His interests have also been materially promoted by the commercial and fiscal policies of his government. The chief industrial districts are, of course, those which yield coal, with, in addition, the great cities - Berlin, Magdeburg, Hanover, Breslau, G&rlitz, Stettin, Essen, Dortmund, Elberfeld-Barmen, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Aix-la-Chapelle, Crefeld, Halle, Hanover, Frankfort-on-Main, Saarbrucken, Hbchst, Solingen, Remscheid, Hagen, Konigsberg, Danzig and many others. The iron and metal industries, especially the making of machiner y, electrical plant, tramway plant, and the production of articles in wrought copper and brass, rank in the forefront. In these branches Berlin, and more lately its suburbs, as well as Magdeburg and Cologne, have played an active role, though the old centres of the metallurgical and iron and steel industries in the Rhine province and Westphalia have also expanded in an extraordinary degree. The growth of the chemical industries, which are essentially a German speciality, must also be mentioned in the front rank. The branches in which this supremacy stands unrivalled are those which produce aniline dyes, artificial indigo, illuminants (acetylene gas, Welsbach mantles, &c.), explosives, various chemical salts, pharmaceutical preparations, cellulose, glycerine, artificial (chemical) manures, and perfumes. 1 A third branch of industry in which German genius has won triumphs of the highest kind is shipbuilding.

Constitution

The present constitution of Prussia was framed by the government of King Frederick William IV., with the cooperation of a constituent assembly, and was proclaimed on the 31st of January 1850. It consists of an hereditary monarchy with two houses of parliament and was subsequently modified by various enactments, notably that of the 12th of October 1854, reconstituting the upper chamber. The constitution affirms the legal equality of all citizens in the eye of the law, provides for universal military service, and guarantees the personal liberty of the subject, the security of property, immunity from domiciliary visits, the inviolability of letters, toleration of religious sects, freedom of the press, the right of association and public meetings, and liberty of migration.

The monarchy is hereditary in the male line of the house of Hohenzollern, and follows the custom of primogeniture. The king alone exercises the executive power, has the supreme command of the army, and is head of the Church, but shares the legislative power with his parliament. He appoints and discharges the ministers and other officials of the Crown, summons and dissolves parliament, possesses the right of pardon and mitigation of punishment, declares war and concludes peace, confers orders and titles and conducts the foreign policy of the country, though this prerogative has now, constitutionally speaking, passed from the king of Prussia to the German emperor. He is held to be irresponsible for his public actions, and his decrees require the countersign of a minister, whose responsibility, however, is not very clearly defined. The national tradition and feeling lend the Crown considerable power not formulated in the constitution, and the king is permitted to bring his personal influence to bear upon parliament in a way quite at variance with the English conception of a constitutional monarch. The annual civil list of the king of Prussia amounts to £770,554.

The legislative assembly or Landtag, consists of two chambers, which are convoked annually at the same time but meet separately. The right of proposing new measures belongs equally to the king and each of the chambers, but the consent of all three is necessary before a measure can pass into law. The chambers have control of the finances and possess the right of voting or refusing taxes. Financial questions are first discussed in the lower house, and the upper house can accept or reject the annual budget only en bloc. All measures are passed by an absolute majority, but those affecting the constitution must be submitted to a second vote after an interval of at least twenty-one days. Members may not be called to account for their parliamentary utterances except by the chamber in which they sit. No one may at the same time be a member of both chambers. The ministers of the Crown have access to. both chambers and may speak at any time, but they do not vote unless they are actually members. The sittings of both chambers are public.

The general scheme of government, though constitutional, is not exactly " parliamentary " in the English sense of the word, as the ministers are independent of party and need not necessarily represent the opinions of the parliamentary majority. The Herrenhaus, or house of peers, contains two classes of members, the hereditary and non-hereditary. The former consists of the adult princes of the house of Hohenzollern, the mediatized princes and counts of the old imperial nobility, and the heads of the great territorial nobility. The non-hereditary members are chosen for life by the king from the ranks of the rich landowners, manufacturers and men of general eminence, and representatives " presented " for the king's approval by the landowners of the eight old provinces, by the larger towns and by the universities. Every member of the Herrenhaus must be specially summoned by the king. The Abgeordnetenhaus or chamber of deputies, consists of 433 members, elected 1 See Dr Frederick Rose, Chemical Instruction and Chemical Industries in Germany (1901-1902), being Nos. 561 and 573 of the " Miscellaneous Series of British Diplomatic and Consular Reports." 521 for periods of five years by indirect suffrage, exercised by all male citizens who have reached the age of twenty-five and have not forfeited their communal rights. The original electors are arranged in three classes, according to the rate of taxes paid by them, in such a way that the gross amount of taxation is equal in each class. The country is accordingly divided into electoral districts, with the electors grouped in three categories, each of which selects a Wahlmann or electoral proxy, who exercises the direct suffrage. Members of the lower house must be thirty years old and in full possession of their civic rights. They receive a daily allowance ( Diciten ) of fifteen shillings during the sitting of the house, and travelling expenses.

The king exercises his executive functions through an irresponsible Staatsrat, or privy council, revived in 1884 after thirty years of inactivity, and by a nominally responsible cabinet or council of ministers ( Staats-Ministerium). The latter consists of the president and minister of foreign affairs, and ministers of war, justice, finance, the interior, public worship and instruction, industry and commerce, public works and agriculture, domains and. forests. Ministers conduct the affairs of their special departments independently, but meet in council for the discussion of general questions. They represent the executive in the houses of parliament and introduce the measures proposed by the Crown, but do not need to belong to either chamber. The affairs of the royal household and privy purse are entrusted to a special minister, who is not a member of the cabinet.

The Prussian governmental system is somewhat complicated by its relation to that of the empire. The king of Prussia is at the same time German emperor, and his prime minister is also the imperial chancellor. The ministries of war and foreign affairs practically coincide with those of the empire, and the custom-dues and the postal and telegraph service have also been transferred to the imperial government. Prussia has only seventeen votes in the federal council, or less than a third of the total number, but its influence is practically assured by the fact that the small northern states almost invariably vote with it. To the Reichstag Prussia sends more than half the members. The double parliamentary system works in some respects inconveniently, as the Reichstag and Prussian Landtag are often in session at the same time, and many' persons are members of both. Where imperial and Prussian legislation come into conflict the latter must give way.

Local Government

For administrative purposes Prussia is divided into fourteen Provinzen or provinces, Regierungsbezirke or. governmental departments, Stadtkreise or urban districts (circles), and Landkreise or rural districts. The city of Berlin and the district of Hohenzollern form provinces by themselves. Recent legislation has aimed at the encouragement of local government

and the decentralization of administrative authority by admitting lay or popularly elected members to a share in the administration alongside of the government officials. Certain branches of administration, such as the care of roads and the poor, have been handed over entirely to local authorities, while a share is allowed them in all. In the province the government is represented by the Oberprdsident, whose jurisdiction extends over all matters affecting more than o'ne department. He is assisted by a council. ( Provinzialrat ) consisting, besides himself as chairman, of one member appointed by government and five members elected by the provincial committee (Provinzialausschuss). The latter forms the permanent executive of the provincial diet ( Provinzial-Landtag ), which consists of deputies elected by the kreise or circles, and forms the chief provincial organ of local government. The Regierungsbezirk is solely a government division and is only indirectly represented in the scheme of local administration. The government authorities are the Regierungs-Prcisident, who is at the head of the general internal administration of the department, and the Regierung or government board, which supervises ecclesiastical and educational affairs and exercises the function of the state in regard to the direct taxes and the domains and forests. The departmental president is also assisted by a Bezirksrat or district council, consisting of one official member and four others selected from inhabitants of the department by the provincial committee. Each. Landkreis has a Landrat, an office which existed in the mark of Brandenburg as early as the 16th century. He is aided by the Kreissausschuss, or executive committee of the Kreistag (the diet of the circle). The Landkreise include towns having less than 25,000 inhabitants, rural communes ( Landgemeinden ) and manors (Gutsbezirke). Stadtkreise are towns with more than 25,000 inhabitants; they have each a town council ( Stadtverordnetenversammlung ) elected on a three-class property suffrage. The practical executive is entrusted to the magistracy (Magistrat ), which usually consists of a burgomaster, a deputy burgomaster (both paid officials), several unpaid members, and, where necessary, a few other paid members. The unpaid members hold office for six years; the paid members are elected for twelve years, and their election requires ratification from the state.

Justice

Down to the 1st of January 1900 (when the German civil code - Burgerliches Gesetzbuch - was introduced) a threefold system of civil law had prevailed in Prussia, viz. the common law of Prussia ( Landrecht ), codified in 1794, in eastern and central xxii. 17 a Prussia, the German common law (Gemeines deutsches Recht ) in Schleswig-Holstein, Hanover, and parts of the Rhine provinces, and the Code Napoleon generally on the Rhine and in Alsace-Lorraine. The biirgerliches Gesetzbuch has now put an end to the former anomalies. The criminal law was unified by the penal code ( Strafgesetzbuch ) of 1871 and the military penal code (militcir. Strafgesetzbuch) of 1872. A new penal code, promulgated in 1850, did away with the old patrimonial or seigniorial jurisdiction, and the administration of justice is now wholly in the hands of government. The courts of lowest instance are the Amtsgerichte, in which sits a single judge, accompanied in penal cases by two Schoffen or lay assessors (a kind of jurymen, who vote with the judge). Cases of more importance are decided by the Landgerichte or county courts, in which the usual number of judges is three, while in important criminal cases a jury of twelve persons is generally empanelled. From the Landgerichte appeals may be made to the Oberlandesgerichte or provincial courts. The Oberlandesgericht at Berlin is named the Kammergericht and forms the final instance for summary convictions in Prussia, while all other cases may be taken to the supreme imperial court at Leipzig. The judges ( Richter ) are appointed and paid by the state, and hold office for life. After finishing his university career the student of law who wishes to become a judge or to practise as qualified counsel (Rechtsanwalt, barrister and solicitor in one) passes a government examination and becomes a Referendarius. He then spends at least four years in the practical work of his profession, after which he passes a second examination, and, if he has chosen the bench instead of the bar, becomes an Assessor and is eligible for the position of judge. A lawyer who has passed the necessary examinations may at any time quit the bar for the bench, and a judge is also at liberty to resign his position and enter upon private practice. In all criminal cases the prosecution is undertaken by government, which acts through Staatsanweilte, or directors of prosecutions, in the pay of the state.

Army

The military organization of the monarchy dates from 1814 and provides that every man capable of bearing arms shall serve in the army for a certain number of years. The peace strength of the Prussian contingent of the imperial German army consisted, in 1905, of 20,646 officers (including surgeons), 448,365 men and 82,786 horses. There were also 2196 farriers and shoesmiths. (For Navy, see Germany).

Religion

The centre of the kingdom is solidly Protestant, the proportion of Roman Catholics increasing towards east and west and reaching its maximum on the Rhine and in the Slavonic provinces. East Prussia, however, with the exception of Ermeland, is Protestant. The Roman Catholics greatly outnumber the Protestants in the Rhine provinces (3 to 1), Posen, Silesia and West Prussia. All religious bodies are granted freedom of worship, and civil rights are not conditional upon religious confession.

The Evangelical or Protestant State Church of Prussia consists as it now stands of a union of the Lutherans and Calvinists, effected under royal pressure in 1817. According to the king this was not a fusion of two faiths but an external union for mutual admission to the Eucharist and for the convenience of using the same liturgy, prepared under the royal superintendence. Those who were unable from conscientious scruples to join the union became Separatist or Old Lutherans and Old Calvinists, but their numbers were and are insignificant. The king is " summus episcopus " or supreme pontiff of the Church, and is represented in the exercise of his ecclesiastical functions by the minister of public worship and instruction. The highest authority for the ordinary management of the Church is the Oberkirchenrat or supreme church council at Berlin, which acts through provincial consistories and superintendents appointed by the Crown. Recent legislation has made an effort to encourage self-government and give a congregational character to the Church by the granting of a presbyterial constitution, with parish, diocesan, provincial and general synods. The clergy are appointed by the Crown, by the consistories, by private or municipal patronage, or by congregational election.

The hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church in Prussia consists of two archbishops (Cologne, Gnesen-Posen) and ten bishops. The prince-bishop of Breslau and the bishops of Ermeland, Hildesheim and Osnabruck are directly under the pope, and the bishoprics of Fulda and Limburg are in the archiepiscopal diocese of Freiburg in Baden. The higher ecclesiastics receive payment from the state, and the annual appropriation appearing in the budget for the Roman Catholic Church is as high as that made for the State Church. All the Roman Catholic religious orders in Prussia have been suppressed except those occupied with attendance on the sick.

The relations of the state with the dissenting Christian sects, such as the Baptists, Mennonites and Moravian Brethren, are practically confined to granting them charters of incorporation which ensure them toleration. The Mennonites were formerly allowed to pay an extra tax in lieu of military service, which is inconsistent with their belief, but this privilege has been withdrawn. The Old Catholics number about 30,000, but do not seem to be increasing.

The Jews belong mainly to the urban population and form 20 to, 30% of the inhabitants in some of the towns in the Slavonic provinces. (For more exact details of the various religious creeds, see Germany.) Education. - In Prussia education is compulsory, and the general level attained _s very high. Every town or community must maintain a school, supported by local rates and under the supervision of the state. By the constitution of 1850, all persons are permitted to instruct, or to found teaching establishments, provided they can produce to; the authorities satisfactory proofs of their moral, scientific and technical qualifications. Both public and private educational establishments are under the surveillance of the minister of public instruction, and all public teachers are regarded as servants of the state ( Staatsbeamte). No compulsion exists in reference to a higher educational institution than primary schools. All children must attend school from their sixth to their fourteenth year. At the head of the administration stands the minister of public instruction and ecclesiastical affairs, to whom also the universities are directly subordinated. The higher (secondary) schools are supervised by provincial Schulcollegia or school boards, appointed by government,

while the management of the elementary and private schools falls within the jurisdiction of the ordinary Regierungen or civil government. This is carried out through qualified school inspectors, frequently chosen from among the clergy.

The expenses of the primary schools (Volksschulen ) are borne by the communes (Gemeinden ), aided when necessary by subsidies from the state. The subjects of instruction are theology, reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, the elements of geometry, history, geography and natural science, singing, drawing, sewing and gymnastics. All fees in the elementary schools are abolished. The number of illiterate recruits among those called upon each year to serve in the army affords a good test of the universality of elementary education. In 1899 the proportion of Analphabeti, or men unable to read or write, among the recruits levied was only 0.12%. The teachers for the elementary schools are trained in normal seminaries or colleges established and supervised by the state, and much has been done of late years to improve their position. In most of the larger towns the elementary schools are supplemented by middle schools ( Biirgerschulen, Stadtschulen ), which carry on the pupil to a somewhat more advanced stage, and are partly intended to draw off the unsuitable elements from the higher schools.

The secondary schools of Prussia may be roughly divided into classical and modern, though there are comparatively few in which Latin is quite omitted. The classical schools proper consist of Gymnasia and Progymnasia, the latter being simply gymnasia wanting the higher classes. In these boys are prepared for the universities and the learned professions, and the full course lasts for nine years. In the modern schools, which are divided in the same way into Realgymnasia and Realprogynanasia, and also have a nine years' course, Latin is taught, but not Greek, and greater stress is laid upon modern languages, mathematics and natural

science. The three lower classes are practically identical with those of the gymnasia, while in the upper classes the thoroughness of training is assimilated as closely as possible to that of the classical schools, though the subjects are somewhat altered. Ranking with the realgymnasia are the Oberrealschulen, which differ only in the fact that Latin is entirely omitted, and the time thus gained devoted to modern languages. The Hohere (or upper) Biirgerschulen, in which the course is six years, rank with the middle schools above mentioned, and are intended mainly for those boys who wish to enter business life immediately on leaving school. All these secondary schools possess the right of granting certificates entitling the holders, who must have attained a certain standing in the school, to serve in the army as one-year volunteers. The gymnasial " certificate of ripeness" ( Maturitcitszeugniss ), indicating that the holder has passed satisfactorily through the highest class, enables a student to enroll himself in any faculty at the university, but that of the realgymnasium qualifies only for the general or " philosophical " faculty, and does not open the way to medicine, the Church or the bar. Considerable efforts are, however, now being made to have the realgymnasium certificate recognized as a sufficient qualification for the study of medicine at least. At any of these schools a thoroughly good education may be obtained at a cost seldom exceeding, in the highest classes, £5 per annum. The teachers are men of scholarship and ability, who have passed stringent government examinations and been submitted to a year of probation. The great majority of the secondary schools have been established and endowed by municipal corporations.

Prussia possesses ten of the twenty German universities (not including the lyceum at Braunsberg and the Roman Catholic seminary at Munster). The largest Prussian university is that of Berlin, while Breslau, Bonn, Gottingen and Halle are the next in size. The oldest is the university of Greifswald, founded in 1456. Like the schools the universities are state institutions, and the professors are appointed and paid by government, which also makes liberal annual grants for apparatus and equipment. The full obligatory course of study extends over three, and in the case of medicine, four years. It is, however, not unusual for non-medical students also to spend four years at the university, and there is an agitation to make this compulsory. Students qualifying for a 10 20 30 40 50 ro ? o ?Fehtnarn iibeck oWisma'r a $alzwedel LL }, s DsaA iic Mme ? [? 8. iburs Htldes eim ?

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Spandau r 5 Lebus a Prussian government appointment are required to spend at least three terms or half-years (Semester ) at a Prussian university.

Ranking with the universities are the large technical high schools at Berlin, Hanover, Aix-la-Chapelle and Danzig, the mining academies of Berlin and Klausthal, and the academies of forestry at Eberswalde and Munden; the agricultural high schools of Berlin and Poppelsdorf (Bonn) and the two veterinary high schools of Berlin and Hanover. Music is taught at several conservatoria, the best known of which are at Berlin and Frankfort-on-Main.

The science and art of Prussia find their most conspicuous external expression in the academies of science and art at Berlin, both founded by Frederick I.; and each town of any size throughout the kingdom has its antiquarian, artistic and scientific societies. Recognized schools of painting exist at Berlin and Dusseldorf, and both these towns, as well as Cassel, contain excellent picture galleries. The scientific and archaeological collections of Berlin are also of great importance. Besides the university collections, there are numerous large public libraries, the chief of which is the royal library at Berlin (i,000,000 volumes).

Finance

As in all civilized countries, the national accounts of Prussia expand by leaps and bounds, and they do this in spite of the advantage which the state derives from the possession of valuable revenue-yielding properties. Of these the most important are the railways. Next in point of revenue come the mines and salines. Then follow the state forests and the landed domains, though the income from this source is rapidly decreasing as agriculture declines. For1905-1906the public revenue and expenditure were estimated at £135,914,080. The principal sources of revenue are the railways, £81,268,493; domains and forests, £5,982,911; state lottery, £4,840,665; mines, &c., £10,585,875; direct taxes (principally income-tax), £11,505,365; indirect taxes, £4,7 8 9,9 6 5; administrative receipts, £8,410,684; and from the general financial control, £8,356,636. The chief items of the expenditure consist of payments for religion and education, £8,201,632; for justice, £6,260,330; working expenses, including £50,280,525 for working the state railways, £69,626,542; interest, &c., on public debt, £12,375,380; the ministry of finance, £6,585,722, and the ministry of the interior, £4,313,780. The public debt grew from £64,363,000 in 1872 to £360,447,654 in 5905. The greater part of this debt has been incurred in the purchase of the state railways.

See Jahrbuch far die amtliche Statistik des preussischen Staats, the Statistisches Jahrbuch far das deutsche Reich, and other publications of the statistical offices of Prussia and Germany. Good general accounts of the natural, social and political features of the country are given in Eiselen's Der preussische Staat (Berlin, 1862) and in Daniel's Handbuch der Geographie (several editions). The Prussian constitution and administrative system are concisely described in the Handbuch der Verfassung and Verwaltung in Preussen, by Graf Hue de Grais, and are treated at length in Von Ronne's Staatsrecht der preussischen Monarchie (4th ed., 1881-1884), and in Arndt, Verfassungs-Urkunde far den preussischen Staat (Berlin, 1900). In addition, see Landeskunde Preussens (Berlin, 1901), edited by Beuermann. Various volumes of Forschungen zur deutschen Landesand Volkskunde, edited by Kirchhoff; British Diplomatic and Consular Reports; and James Baker, Report on Technical and Commercial Education in East Prussia, &c. (London, 1900).

History

The name of Prussia is derived from the dukedom of Prussia (the present province of East Prussia), which was raised into a kingdom by the emperor in favour of Frederick III., elector of Brandenburg, on the 18th of January 1701. The title " king of Prussia " 1 applied at the outset only to Prussia proper, which formed no part of the Empire; in respect of his other dominions the king continued to bear titles (margrave, duke, &c.) which implied feudal subordination to the emperor. The extension of the style " kingdom of Prussia " so as to cover the whole of the territories, by whatever title held, of the electors of Brandenburg, was not, however, an empty assumption, but symbolized a new fact of first-class historic importance: the rise in Germany and in Europe of a new great power. The consolidation of this power had been the work of the Great Elector, the work of whose reign (1640-1688) laid the foundations of the modern Prussian state (see Frederick William I., elector of Brandenburg, and Brandenburg: History). The Great Elector's son Elector Frederick III. was an ostentatious and somewhat frivolous prince, who hazarded the acquisitions of his father by looking on his position as assured 1 Strictly speaking, the title assumed was " king in Prussia " (Konig in Preussen), this apparently being meant to indicate that there was still a Prussia (West Prussia) of which he was not king, though it has also been otherwise explained.

and by aiming rather at external tokens of his dignity than at a further consolidation of the basis on which it rested. The Brandenburg troops fought in the war of the Frederick 1., second coalition against Louis XIV. and in that of Frederick the Spanish Succession; but neither the peace of Ryswick (1697) nor that of Utrecht (1713) brought the country any very tangible advantage. Brandenburg soldiers also helped the emperor in his wars with the Turks, and it was Frederick's action in covering the Dutch frontier with 6000 troops which left William of Orange free scope in his expedition to England. The most notable incident in Frederick's reign was, however, his acquisition of the title of king of Prussia, which had long formed the principal object of his policy. The emperor's consent was finally purchased by the promise of a contingent of 8000 men to aid him in the War of the Spanish Succession, and on the 18th of January 1701 Frederick crowned himself at Konigsberg with accompanying ceremonies of somewhat inflated grandeur. Elector Frederick III. of Brandenburg became henceforth King Frederick I. of Prussia. 2 Superficial as this incident may at first sight appear, it added considerably to the moral and political momentum of the country, if only by giving to the subjects of the Prussian crown a common name, and its advantages were reaped by Frederick's two vigorous successors. About the same time (1697) the elector of Saxony also acquired the kingly dignity by his election to the throne of Poland, but in doing so he had to become a Roman Catholic, and thus left the Hohenzollerns without a rival among the Protestant dynasties of Germany. Frederick was extravagant; but he also did much for the intellectual life of the country, patronizing learned men, and founding the university of Halle (1694) and at Berlin the Academy of Arts (1699) and the Academy of Sciences (1700). Moreover, even under this improvident king the territory of Prussia increased. From Saxony the king bought the hereditary advocateship ( Erbvogtei ) of the Reichsstift of Quedlinburg, as well as the imperial city of Nordhausen, the bailiwick of Petersberg and the countship of Tecklenburg, while in 1702 he inherited from William III., of Orange-Lingen, Mors and Neuenburg.

The court of Vienna consoled itself for the growing power of Prussia under the Great Elector by the reflection that it was probably temporary and due mainly to the vigorous individuality of that prince. The events of Frederick I.'s reign seemed to justify this view. At his accession Prussia might fairly claim to rank as the second state of Germany, but before the death of Frederick, Bavaria, Saxony and Hanover all raised themselves to at least a level with Prussia. Frederick's preoccupation in the western wars had allowed Sweden to reassert her pre-eminence in northern Europe, and it was Russia, and not Prussia, that now impeded her progress. The internal soundness of the country had also suffered: the finances were in a state of complete disorganization, and the burden of taxation was almost insupportable. If Frederick's son and successor had not been a man of vigorous character the downhill progress might have continued until it had removed Prussia altogether from the list of important states.

The accession, on the 25th of February 1713, of Frederick William I. produced at once a complete change of system. The new king, whose literary education had been neglected, shared none of his father's artistic tastes and had a complete contempt for the trappings of 1713-1740.. royalty. On the other hand, he possessed administrative talents of no mean order and was singularly painstaking, industrious and determined in carrying out his plans. By carefully husbanding his finances Frederick William filled his treasury and was able to keep on foot one of the largest and best disciplined armies in Europe, thereby securing for Prussia an influence in European councils altogether disproportionate to its size and population. In internal management he made Prussia the model 2 By the treaty of Utrecht, to which King Frederick William I. acceded on the 15th of May 1713, Prussia received upper Gelderland in exchange for the principality of Orange, and the king's title was acknowledged by

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