The State Council of Hanover (German : Staatsrat) was a political body of the Kingdom of Hanover. It was the second chamber of the Parliament of Hanover. It was established in 1839 by King Ernest August I of Hanover and existed until the Prussian invasion and occupation of Hanover in 1866.
German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol in Italy, the German-speaking Community of Belgium, and Liechtenstein. It is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg and a co-official language in the Opole Voivodeship in Poland. The languages which are most similar to German are the other members of the West Germanic language branch: Afrikaans, Dutch, English, the Frisian languages, Low German/Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, and Yiddish. There are also strong similarities in vocabulary with Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, although those belong to the North Germanic group. German is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English.
The Kingdom of Hanover was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and joined 38 other sovereign states in the German Confederation in June 1815. The kingdom was ruled by the House of Hanover, a cadet branch of the House of Welf, in personal union with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until 1837. Since its monarch resided in London, a viceroy handled the administration of the Kingdom of Hanover.
Ernest Augustus was King of Hanover from 20 June 1837 until his death. As the fifth son of King George III of the United Kingdom and Hanover, he seemed unlikely to become a monarch, but none of his elder brothers had a legitimate son who survived infancy.
The first President of the State Council was Major-General Bernhard of Solms-Braunfels, a member of the princely Solms-Braunfels family, who held the office from 1839 to 1848. In 1848 he was succeeded by Prime Minister Alexander Levin von Bennigsen. From 1849 the Prime Minister was ex officio President of the State Council. From 1856 the constitution was changed again, and the President was henceforth appointed at the discretion of the King. Johann Caspar von der Wisch served as President of the council from 1856 to 1865. The last President was Wilhelm von Borries from 1865 to 1866.
Solms-Braunfels was a County with Imperial immediacy in what is today the federal Land of Hesse in Germany.
In addition to its President the State Council consisted of the cabinet ministers and the highest-ranking civil servants as full members. In addition the King appointed other individuals as associate members. [1]
