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CC 523 2024
Blister pack
BU
Blister pack BU
Germany · 175th anniversary of the Paulskirchenverfassung
Mintage19,000
Issue price€20.95
Issue date21 Mar 2024
PackagingBlister pack
Edge letteringEINIGKEIT UND RECHT UND FREIHEIT + Federal Eagle
Market price€24.90
Varieties
1Germany, A · A · Mint mark A · BU · Blister pack · Mintage 19,000
Issue occasion
The coin commemorates the 175th anniversary of the Frankfurter Verfassung (“Paulskirchenverfassung”), the first attempt at a constitution for a united Germany as a nation state. The design shows the Paulskirche as the deputies of the Nationalversammlung enter, as well as the constitution document and a quill pen as symbols of the Frankfurt parliament. Above them are the female allegories of unity, justice and freedom, together with the black-red-gold flag; around the edge is the inscription “PAULSKIRCHENVERFASSUNG 1849”.
The design
The design features thematic elements in several overlapping layers. In the foreground is a perspective depiction of the Paulskirche as the members of the National Assembly enter. It overlaps a depiction of the constitutional document and a quill pen as symbols of the outcome of the Frankfurt Parliament. Above these are the three female allegories of Unity, Justice and Freedom, as well as the tricolor flag (black-red-gold). The powerful three-dimensional coin relief evokes the timelessness of the democratic principles that were fundamentally enshrined in written form for the first time in the Paulskirchenverfassung. The inscription “PAULSKIRCHENVERFASSUNG 1849” runs along the edge of the inner part of the coin. Below are the year of issue “2024”, the abbreviation of the issuing country “D”, the mint mark (“A”, “D”, “F”, “G” or “J”) and the initials of the artist Bodo Broschat from Berlin.
The twelve stars of the European flag are depicted on the outer ring of the coin.
The twelve stars of the European flag are depicted on the outer ring of the coin.
Background on the topic
The Frankfurt National Assembly emerged from the March Revolution of 1848. In many German states, citizens demanded political participation, freedom of the press, fundamental rights and national unity. The delegates, elected according to different state-specific rules, convened on 18 May 1848. They were primarily lawyers, professors, civil servants and other members of the educated middle class; women had neither the right to vote nor the right to stand for election.
The Protestant Paulskirche in Frankfurt am Main served as the venue. Its large, well-arranged interior was better suited to a parliamentary assembly than the city’s existing secular buildings. Since then, the church has been regarded as a place of remembrance in the history of German democracy. The present building was reconstructed after its destruction in the Second World War and reopened in 1948, on the centenary of the National Assembly.
The delegates had to devise a state order while responding to current conflicts. Among the contentious issues were the borders of the future Reich, the relationship with Austria and Prussia, and the question of whether Germany should become a republic or a monarchy. The draft ultimately adopted provided for a federal constitutional state with a parliament, a government, an independent judiciary and a hereditary emperor at its head. A catalogue of fundamental rights regulated, among other things, equality before the law, freedom of religion and conscience, freedom of opinion and the press, and the abolition of privileges based on social estates.
The Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV rejected the imperial dignity offered to him. Several governments of individual German states also refused to recognise the new order. As a result, the National Assembly lost its political foundation; its remnant, relocated to Stuttgart, was dissolved in June 1849.
Although the constitution did not come into force permanently, its conceptions of fundamental rights and parliamentary principles influenced later German constitutions. The anniversary therefore provided an occasion to recall the conflict-ridden beginnings of parliamentarianism, national unification and constitutionally guaranteed freedoms in Germany.
The Protestant Paulskirche in Frankfurt am Main served as the venue. Its large, well-arranged interior was better suited to a parliamentary assembly than the city’s existing secular buildings. Since then, the church has been regarded as a place of remembrance in the history of German democracy. The present building was reconstructed after its destruction in the Second World War and reopened in 1948, on the centenary of the National Assembly.
The delegates had to devise a state order while responding to current conflicts. Among the contentious issues were the borders of the future Reich, the relationship with Austria and Prussia, and the question of whether Germany should become a republic or a monarchy. The draft ultimately adopted provided for a federal constitutional state with a parliament, a government, an independent judiciary and a hereditary emperor at its head. A catalogue of fundamental rights regulated, among other things, equality before the law, freedom of religion and conscience, freedom of opinion and the press, and the abolition of privileges based on social estates.
The Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV rejected the imperial dignity offered to him. Several governments of individual German states also refused to recognise the new order. As a result, the National Assembly lost its political foundation; its remnant, relocated to Stuttgart, was dissolved in June 1849.
Although the constitution did not come into force permanently, its conceptions of fundamental rights and parliamentary principles influenced later German constitutions. The anniversary therefore provided an occasion to recall the conflict-ridden beginnings of parliamentarianism, national unification and constitutionally guaranteed freedoms in Germany.