Hugo Preuss
Also known as: Hugo Preuß
Biography
The jurist who wrote the first draft of the Weimar Constitution — in Berlin, months before the assembly that carried it ever reached Weimar.
Commissioned six days after the monarchy fell, 1918
On 15 November 1918 Friedrich Ebert appointed him State Secretary of the Interior, and the Council of People's Deputies charged him with producing a draft constitution.[1] The republic was days old and had no constitutional text of any kind, and the job went to a jurist rather than to a party man — which shaped the document that resulted.
Written before Weimar, 1918–1919
The drafting was done from Berlin over the winter of 1918–19, before the National Assembly convened in the Nationaltheater on 6 February. What happened in Weimar was the argument over his text and the vote on it — the constitution arrived here as a draft and left as law.
The constitution and after, 1860–1925
The constitution of the Weimar Republic was "maßgeblich von Preuß erarbeitet" — substantially his work.[1] His government resigned in June 1919, before the assembly's final vote at the end of July.[1] He was born in Berlin on 28 October 1860, the son of a Jewish merchant, and died there on 9 October 1925.[1]
Questions visitors ask
- Did Hugo Preuss write the Weimar Constitution in Weimar?
- No — he drafted it in Berlin over the winter of 1918–19, before the National Assembly ever convened in Weimar on 6 February 1919. What happened in Weimar was the debate over his text and the vote on it.
- When was Hugo Preuss commissioned to draft the constitution?
- On 15 November 1918, six days after the monarchy fell, when Friedrich Ebert appointed him State Secretary of the Interior.[1]
- Did Hugo Preuss see the constitution through to its final vote?
- No — his government resigned in June 1919, before the assembly's final vote at the end of July.[1]
Sources (1)
- Hugo Preuß — Deutsches Historisches Museum (LeMO), retrieved 29 August 2026
Notable Works & Achievements
Weimar Constitution (1919)
Constitutional theory writings
Historical Context
He wrote the draft the republic's constitution was built on, commissioned six days after the monarchy fell.[^dhm-lemo-preuss]
Germany's first democracy is named after this town for an almost accidental reason: in 1919 the capital was too dangerous to write a constitution in, and Weimar was quiet.
Read more about this period →Quick Facts
1860
1925
German
Events
Events
A weekend at the end of October, every year
Principal author of the constitution that took the city's name.
In Weimar's history
In Weimar's history
On 31 July 1919 the delegates voted Germany's first democratic constitution through in its final form, in the Nationaltheater. It was signed somewhere else entirely.
The text the delegates carried in the Nationaltheater was substantially his,[^dhm-lemo-preuss] though he had produced it in Berlin and his government had resigned before the vote.