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Enabling Act of 1933 (Germany)

A March 1933 law that transferred legislative power from the Reichstag to Adolf Hitler's cabinet, removing constitutional checks and paving the legal groundwork for the Nazi dictatorship.

Author: Leandro Alegsa Creation date: September 6, 2021 Last updated: June 23, 2026

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Overview

The Enabling Act of March 1933 (officially the "Law to Remedy the Distress of People and Reich") was a statute enacted by the German Reichstag that empowered the cabinet—effectively Adolf Hitler—to issue laws without parliamentary consent. Adopted in the immediate aftermath of the Reichstag Fire and a series of emergency measures, the Act suspended ordinary legislative procedures and opened a legal path for rapid centralization of power. Although passed through the Reichstag and signed by President Paul von Hindenburg, it is widely regarded as the decisive legal instrument that dismantled the democratic institutions of the Weimar Republic.

Legal form and key provisions

Rather than a simple decree, the Enabling Act authorized the government to adopt laws, including ones that deviated from the Constitution, for a fixed period. Its principal features included:

transfer of legislative authority from the Reichstag to the Reich government (the cabinet);
permission to enact laws that could conflict with the Weimar Constitution;
authority to conclude international treaties that could affect domestic law;
a formal time limit (four years in the original law) and a nominal requirement that the Reichstag's assent remain necessary to change the law itself.

Crucially, the Act removed customary parliamentary and federal checks: the Reichsrat (the body representing German states) lost effective oversight and regular mechanisms for judicial or legislative review were neutralized. This structure created a legal façade for executive rule while eliminating separation of powers in practice.

Context and parliamentary passage

The Enabling Act must be understood against the background of political crisis in early 1933. Following the Reichstag Fire, the government issued emergency decrees that curtailed civil liberties and allowed mass arrests of political opponents, especially Communists. Many KPD deputies were in custody or in exile and therefore could not participate in the vote. In addition, uniformed SA and SS members were deployed at the legislature and elsewhere, creating an atmosphere of intimidation. The remaining anti-Nazi Social Democratic deputies opposed the law, so Hitler relied on a coalition with conservative forces and the crucial support of the Catholic Centre Party to secure the two-thirds majority required to pass a constitutional-acting law. Parliamentary procedures were also altered—unexcused absentees were counted as present—to help achieve the required majority.

Differences from earlier emergency measures

Emergency powers had been used before in the Weimar era (notably in the early 1920s and under Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution), but the 1933 Act differed in scope and permanence. Earlier enabling laws and presidential emergency decrees tended to be narrowly focused or limited in duration and were generally treated as exceptional. The 1933 statute, by contrast, combined breadth (permitting laws that overrode constitutional guarantees), duration (a multi-year term), and the removal of federal and parliamentary oversight, making it a structural instrument for transformation rather than a temporary crisis tool.

Consequences and consolidation of power

Once in force, the Enabling Act served as the constitutional basis for a string of measures that centralized authority and suppressed dissent. Within months the regime abolished state parliaments, outlawed independent trade unions, and systematically dismantled political parties other than the Nazi Party. The law provided the veneer of legality for these actions and for subsequent decrees expanding executive prerogatives. Over the following years the separation of powers was replaced by administrative and police measures that consolidated totalitarian control, culminating in the merger of presidential and chancellorship offices after President Hindenburg's death in 1934.

Historical assessment and legacy

Historians and legal scholars view the Enabling Act as a turning point that converted the Nazi movement's political gains into durable state power by exploiting and subverting existing legal structures. It is studied as a cautionary example of how constitutional forms can be used to legitimize authoritarian change: laws passed through apparently legal channels can produce outcomes that abolish the rule of law. The Act's passage illustrates the roles of political calculation, institutional vulnerability, and intimidation in the breakdown of democratic government.

Notable distinctions and lessons

The Act illustrates a difference between emergency decrees (short-term executive measures) and enabling legislation (a transfer of lawmaking power that can be sustained and expanded).
Its adoption shows how parliamentary majorities acquired under coercive conditions can undermine the legitimacy of democratic decision-making.
In constitutional theory and practice, the Enabling Act is frequently cited in debates about safeguards against delegation of core legislative functions and protection of fundamental rights under crisis conditions.

Hitler had been appointed chancellor of a coalition government by Reich President Paul von Hindenburg when he seized power on January 30, 1933, in which the National Socialists were clearly in the minority: Apart from Hitler, only Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick and Hermann Göring, as ministers without portfolio, belonged to the NSDAP. In terms of numbers, the conservative, mostly aristocratic specialist ministers who had already formed the Papen and Schleicher governments dominated, as did Alfred Hugenberg, the chairman of the DNVP, and Franz Seldte of the veterans' organization Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten. They were to "frame" Hitler and thereby make him harmless. Vice-Chancellor Franz von Papen rejoiced, "We've got him committed," and Hitler scolded that now "the gang" would not get rid of him until the aged Hindenburg died. To free himself from the conservative grip, he had the Reichstag re-elected on March 5, 1933, but fell short of an absolute majority. Thus he remained dependent on his conservative coalition partner. The National Socialists had abolished the binding to the fundamental rights of the Weimar Constitution with the decree of the Reich President for the protection of the people and the state on 28 February 1933.

Now it was a matter of getting all the power in their hands, even as far as legislation was concerned. They planned an Enabling Act, which, however, required the approval of two-thirds of the Reichstag. Already on March 15, Interior Minister Frick had announced in the Cabinet that the law would be "so broadly formulated that it would be possible to deviate from any provision of the Reich Constitution." Of Hitler's conservative ministers, only Hugenberg expressed reservations and suggested that the laws thus passed should not come into force until the Reich President had given his approval. This, however, was rejected by Hindenburg's Secretary of State Otto Meissner as "not necessary." To pass the bill, a double two-thirds majority was required: two-thirds of the deputies present had to agree, and two-thirds of the legal members of the Reichstag had to be present when the vote was taken. Thus, of the 647 deputies, 432 had to be present. The SPD and KPD had 201 deputies. To prevent the validity of the vote, therefore, in addition to these 201 deputies, only 15 other deputies would have had to stay away from the vote (647-216 = 431). In order to prevent this, the Imperial Government moved an amendment to the Rules of Procedure. According to this, those deputies who stayed away from a Reichstag session without excuse were also to be considered present. These "unexcused" absentees also included deputies who had previously been taken into "protective custody" or expelled.

In order to convince the bourgeois deputies, the National Socialists staged the Day of Potsdam for the opening of the newly elected parliament on March 21, 1933: the Reichstag convened in the Potsdam Garrison Church, black-white-red flags flew, Hitler, all bourgeois in tails, bowed to Hindenburg, who wore his uniform: This was intended to give the impression that the new government did not represent something revolutionarily new, but was continuing the tradition of the Kaiserreich.

Content

Original extract of the Enabling Act, which came into force on 24 March:

The Reichstag has passed the following law, which is hereby promulgated with the consent of the Reich Council, after it has been established that the requirements of constitution-amending legislation have been met:

Article 1 Imperial laws may also be passed by the Imperial Government in addition to the procedure provided for in the Imperial Constitution. This shall also apply to the laws referred to in Articles 85 (2) and 87 of the Reich Constitution.

Article 2 The Imperial laws passed by the Imperial Government may deviate from the Imperial Constitution insofar as they do not deal with the establishment of the Reichstag and the Reich Council as such. The rights of the Reich President shall remain unaffected.

Article 3 The Imperial Laws passed by the Imperial Government shall be executed by the Imperial Chancellor and promulgated in the Imperial Law Gazette. Unless they provide otherwise, they shall enter into force on the day following their promulgation. […]

Article 4 Treaties of the Reich with foreign states which relate to subjects of Reich legislation do not require the consent of the bodies involved in the legislation. The Imperial Government shall issue the regulations necessary for the implementation of these treaties.

Article 5 This law shall enter into force on the day of its promulgation. It shall cease to be in force on 1 April 1937; it shall also cease to be in force when the present Reich Government is replaced by another.

This meant that new laws no longer had to be in conformity with the constitution, in particular that the preservation of fundamental rights no longer had to be ensured, and that laws could also be enacted solely by the imperial government in addition to the constitutional procedure. Thus the executive was also given legislative power. The constitutional articles 85 (2) and 87 mentioned in the first article bound budget and borrowing to the legislative form. Through the Enabling Act, therefore, the budget and borrowing could now be decided without the Reichstag.

The validity of the Enabling Act was four years - thus Hitler's demand "Give me four years and you will not recognize Germany" was realized.

Questions and Answers

Q: What was the name of the Enabling Act in German?

A: The Enabling Act was called Ermächtigungsgesetz in German.

Q: When was the Enabling Act passed by Germany's parliament?

A: The Enabling Act was passed by Germany's parliament (the Reichstag) on 23 March 1933.

Q: What did the Enabling Act enable Chancellor Adolf Hitler and his cabinet to do?

A: The Enabling Act enabled Chancellor Adolf Hitler and his cabinet to enact laws without the participation of the Reichstag.

Q: How did the Nazis obtain dictatorial powers using largely legal means?

A: The Nazis obtained dictatorial powers using largely legal means through two major steps, firstly with the Reichstag Fire Decree, and secondly with the passing of the Enabling Act.

Q: What is another name for the Enabling Act?

A: Another name for the Enabling Act is Gesetz zur Behebung der Not von Volk und Reich ("Law to Remedy the Distress of People and Empire").

Q: Who enacted laws without participation from Reichstag due to passage of this act?

A: Due to passage of this act, Chancellor Adolf Hitler and his cabinet were able to enact laws without participation from Reichstag.