republic · Germany and Central Europe
Free State of Brunswick
Origins
Duke Ernest Augustus abdicated on 8 November 1918, and a socialist republic was proclaimed in Brunswick. After a period of councils and unrest, a constitution was adopted in 1922, making Brunswick a parliamentary free state.
Rule and society
Brunswick had industry, canning and the Büssing vehicle works, and its politics were polarised between Social Democrats and the right. From 1930 the Nazis shared government, and in February 1932 the Nazi interior minister Dietrich Klagges appointed Adolf Hitler to a nominal post in the state's Berlin legation, which made the stateless Hitler a German citizen and allowed him to run for president.
Decline and legacy
After 1945 Brunswick was in the British zone. In November 1946 it was merged with Hanover, Oldenburg and Schaumburg-Lippe into the new state of Lower Saxony.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (2)
- Free State of Brunswick was part of Weimar Republic1918 CE – 1933 CE
- Free State of Brunswick was part of Nazi Germany1933 CE – 1945 CE
More states of Germany and Central Europe →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Free State of Brunswick. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/free-state-of-brunswick
- MLA
- “Free State of Brunswick.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/free-state-of-brunswick. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Free State of Brunswick.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/free-state-of-brunswick.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Free State of Brunswick’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/free-state-of-brunswick (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻