Opening Ceremony for the Parliamentary Council in the Museum König in Bonn (September 1, 1948)

The Parliamentary Council consisted of sixty-five voting members (twenty-seven each for the CDU/CSU and the SPD; five for the FDP; and two each for the KPD, the DP, and the Center). Members had been elected in advance by the parliaments of their Länder. The council also included five non-voting representatives from Berlin. The official opening ceremony for the Parliamentary Council took place on September 1, 1948, in the atrium of Bonn's König Zoological Museum. The picture below shows Karl Arnold, minister president of North Rhine-Westphalia, delivering a speech at the opening ceremony. Representatives of the three Western Allies were invited to participate in the ceremony as guests and can be seen in the front row (left section). CDU leader Konrad Adenauer, who was elected president of the Parliamentary Council on the same day, can be seen in the front row (far right). Social Democrat Carlo Schmid (9th from right), who became head of the Council’s main committee, can also be seen in the front row, along with Theodor Heuss of the FDP (7th from right). The Parliamentary Council began its work that very same day. Its meeting place was Bonn's Pedagogical Academy. Photo by Hanns Hubmann.

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© Bildarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz/ Hanns Hubmann