Foreign Relations of the United States, 1948, Germany and Austria, Volume II

USPolAd Germany Files: MGMP/P Documents: Box 119

The Ministers President of the Western Zones of Occupation of Germany to the United States Military Governor for Germany (Clay)¹

[Translation]

restricted

[Koblenz, July 10, 1948.]

[Herr General:] The Ministers-President of the Laender of the three Western Zones of Occupation met in Coblenz from 8th to 10th July of this year in order to consider the answers which they were requested to make to the documents handed to them on the 1st of July of this year.² They subjected the mandate of the Military Governors contained therein to a thorough discussion and unanimously arrived at the opinions, expressed in the appendices to this letter, which they ask to be examined.

The proposals are an expression of the intent to collaborate creatively in the solution of the problems posed and to reach the goal set in the documents with all possible speed and effectiveness.

The Ministers-President are convinced that the critical difficulties under which Germany suffers today can be overcome only if the German people are enabled to administer their affairs on the broadest territorial basis possible at any given time. They welcome, therefore, the Occupying Powers’ determination to combine the areas of Germany which are subject to their jurisdiction into a unified territory to which the population itself shall give a vigorous organization which makes it possible to preserve the interest of the whole without prejudicing the rights of the Laender.

The Ministers-President believe, however, that notwithstanding the granting of the fullest possible autonomy to the population of this territory, everything should be avoided that would give the character of a state to the organization which is to be established. They are, therefore, of the opinion that the procedure to be followed for this purpose should make it clear that a provisional establishment only is involved, an institution, furthermore, which owes its formation solely to the temporary state of affairs in relation to the present occupation of Germany.

Because of the inability of the four Occupying Powers to reach unanimity regarding Germany thus far, the Ministers-President must take special care to avoid in the pending reorganization, anything which could widen further the rift between west and east. In the light of the present circumstances, they are convinced that the procedure they suggest is suitable to provide the administration of the area of Germany under the jurisdiction of the three western occupying powers with the instrument best fitted to overcome the present difficulties.

The same considerations were decisive in the proposal of the Ministers-President to refrain from a referendum. A referendum would give to the basic law the kind of weight which should be reserved to a final constitution. The Ministers-President wish once more on this occasion to stress the fact that in their opinion a German constitution cannot be created until the whole German people find it possible to constitute itself through free self-determination; until such time measures for a provisional organization only can be taken.

With regard to the modification of Land boundaries, the Ministers-President unanimously reached the conclusion that a basic and final solution is required and needs thorough examination.

The boundaries of the individual Laender should be reviewed with the purpose of creating for a united Germany the kind of internal structure which takes into account the needs of a well-functioning federal system. Attention should be paid to the needs of the present, and in particular to the development of efficient and well-balanced Laender, as well as to traditional patterns. Such review and reorganization of the Laender in the combined area of administration is a German task. It presupposes the existence of common organs of a democratic parliamentary character. It cannot, therefore, be solved within a short period of time.

This should not prevent the elimination, by the Laender concerned, of the particularly unfavorable territorial conditions which exist in the southwest of Germany.

The Ministers-President gave especially serious consideration to the problems related to the regulation of the exercise of powers by the occupation authority. They noted with satisfaction the intention that their relations to the Occupying Powers be put on a clear legal basis. However, the Ministers-President think that it is an urgent necessity that the Military Governors proclaim an occupation statute before the body which is entrusted to draft the basic law for the area of the three Western Zones starts its activities; only then will this body have a firm foundation for its work. Furthermore, they think that the Occupation Statute should express clearly that the organizational changes which are now intended are ultimately based on the will of the Occupying Powers. This must lead to consequences different from those which would follow if the changes were an act of free self-determination of the German people.

In making these detailed proposals the Ministers-President want to express their conviction that the German organs should have competences in all matters which are not excluded from their competence by the Occupation Statute itself; save for definite exceptions the actions of the Occupying Powers should be in principle limited to the supervision of the activities of the German organs with a view to ensuring the fulfillment of the occupation purposes.

In this connection it seems particularly important that German foreign trade, while continuing under effective supervision by the Occupation Authorities, should be freed from the restrictions under which its productivity is at present suffering. The Ministers-President believe that, over and above the provisions of the Occupation Statute, at an early date the possibility should be granted to German agencies to enter into and conduct trade negotiations, the results of which, however, should be subject to ratification by the Occupying Powers.

Furthermore, they think that it might be appropriate to leave the question of the international Ruhr authority out of the Occupation Statute because of its special functions. Concerning the resumption of full occupation powers by the Military Governors in case of emergencies, the Ministers-President believe that the Military Governors share their opinion that in the case of mere police emergencies it should be left to the German governments to do what is necessary to overcome them.

Finally, the Ministers-President address to the Military Governors the request to consider at regular intervals whether developments permit a further extension of German powers and a further decrease of control.

In conclusion, the Ministers-President express their wish and their expectation that by decision of the Governments of France, Great Britain and the United States the state of war be ended.

In view of the wealth of problems which are posed by the intended reorganization, the Ministers-President could comment only on the most important points in the attached appendices. Therefore, they express their wish for an opportunity to explain orally to the Military Governors the opinions and requests laid down in the appendices and in this letter.

The Ministers-President do not want to end this letter without thanking the Military Governors for, through their initiative, widening the possibilities for a progressive democratic development which can unfold only when a people deciding freely can accept responsibility and determine its own affairs. They affirm that they, as much as the Military Governors, will do everything which can serve the peace of the world and the unity of a free and democratic Germany.

Peter Altmeier

Minister-President

Rhineland–Pfalz

Chairman of the Ministers-President Conference

Leo Wohleb State President Baden	Wilhelm Kaisen President of the Senate Bremen
Dr. Hans Ehard Minister-President Bavaria	Max Brauer Buergermeister Hamburg
Christian Stock Minister-President Hesse	Heinrich Wilhelm Kopf Minister-President Lower Saxony
Karl Arnold Minister-President North–Rhein–Westphalia	Hermann Luedemann Minister-President Schleswig–Holstein
Dr. Reinhold Maier Minister-President Wuerttemberg–Baden	Lorenz Bock State President Wuerttemberg–Hohenzollern

1. The source text was circulated to the Military Governors as document MGMP/P(48)5, July 12, 1948. The text was transmitted to the Department of State by Ambassador Murphy in telegram 1663, July 12, from Berlin, not printed (740.00119 Control (Germany)/7–1248).
2. Regarding the meeting at Frankfurt on July 1, and the documents under reference here, see the editorial note, p. 380.