Law for the Protection of the Republic

On 18 July 1922, in reaction to the murder of Reich Foreign Minister Walther Rathenau by two members of the right-wing radical „Organisation Consul,“ the Reichstag adopts the „Law for the Protection of the Republic“ over the votes of the communists, the German National Peoples Party (DNVP), and the Bavarian Peoples Party (BVP).

© leipzig-info The former building of the Reich Court in Leipzig

The law creates a specific legal basis for prosecuting political crimes. The spectrum of future punishable deeds extends from „vilification of the Reich flag“ to „murder of a representative of the republic“. To carry out appropriate court procedures, a „National Judicial Court for the Protection of the Republic“ is created at the Reich Court in Leipzig.