Section V Economic Life
Article 151
The regulation of economic life must conform to the principles of justice, with the object of assuring humane conditions of life for all. Within these limits the economic liberty of the individual shall be protected.
Legal compulsion is permissible only for safeguarding threatened rights or in the service of predominant requirements of the common welfare.
The freedom of trade and industry is guaranteed in accordance with the national laws.
Article 152
Freedom of contract prevails in economic relations in accordance with the laws.
Usury is forbidden. Legal practices which conflict with good morals are void.
Article 153
The right of private property is guaranteed by the Constitution. Its nature and limits are defined by law.
Expropriation may be proceeded with only for the benefit of the community and by due process of law. There shall be just compensation in so far as is not otherwise provided by national law. If there is a dispute over the amount of the compensation, there shall be a right of appeal to the ordinary courts, in so far as not otherwise provided by national law. The property of the States, municipalities, and associations of public utility may be taken by the Commonwealth only upon payment of compensation.
Property-rights imply property-duties. Exercise thereof shall at the same time serve the general welfare.
Article 154
The right of inheritance is guaranteed in accordance with the civil law.
The share of the state in inheritances is determined in accordance with the laws.
Article 155
The distribution and use of the land is supervised by the state in such a way as to prevent its misuse and to promote the object of insuring to every German a healthful dwelling and to all German families, especially those with numerous children, homesteads corresponding to their needs. War-veterans shall receive special consideration in the enactment of a homestead law.
Landed property, the acquisition of which is necessary to satisfy the demand for housing, to promote settlement and reclamation, or to improve agriculture, may be expropriated. Entailments shall be dissolved.
The cultivation and utilization of the soil is a duty of the land-owner toward the community. An increase of the value of land arising without the application of labor or capital to the property shall inure to the benefit of the community as a whole.
All mineral resources and all economically useful forces of nature are subject to the control of the state. Private royalties shall be transferred to the state, as may be provided by law.
Article 156
The Commonwealth may by law, without impairment of the right to compensation, and with a proper application of the regulations relating to expropriation, transfer to public ownership private business enterprises adapted for socialization. The Commonwealth itself, the States, or the municipalities may take part in the management of business enterprises and associations, or secure a dominating influence therein in any other way.
Furthermore, in case of urgent necessity the Commonwealth, if it is in the interest of collectivism, may combine by law business enterprises and associations on the basis of administrative autonomy, in order to insure the co-operation of all producing elements of the people, to give to employers and employees a share in the management, and to regulate the production, preparation, distribution, utilization and pecuniary valuation, as well as the import and export, of economic goods upon collectivistic principles.
The co-operative societies of producers and of consumers and associations thereof shall be incorporated, at their request and after consideration of their form of organization and peculiarities, into the system of collectivism.
Article 157
Labor is under the special protection of the Commonwealth.
The Commonwealth will adopt a uniform labor law.
Article 158
Intellectual labor, the rights of the author, the inventor and the artist enjoy the protection and care of the Commonwealth.
The products of German scholarship, art, and technical science shall also be recognized and protected abroad through international agreement.
Article 159
The right of combination for the protection and promotion of labor and economic conditions is guaranteed to everybody and to all professions. All agreements and measures which attempt to limit or restrain this liberty are unlawful.
Article 160
Any one employed on a salary or as a wage earner has the right to the leave necessary for the exercise of his civil rights and, so far as the business is not substantially injured thereby, for performing the duties of public honorary offices conferred upon him. To what extent his right to compensation shall continue will be determined by law.
Article 161
For the purpose of conserving health and the ability to work, of protecting motherhood, and of guarding against the economic effects of age, invalidity and the vicissitudes of life, the Commonwealth will adopt a comprehensive system of insurance, in the management of which the insured shall predominate.
Article 162
The Commonwealth commits itself to an international regulation of the legal status of the workers, which shall strive for a standard minimum of social rights for the whole working class of the world.
Article 163
Every German has, without prejudice to his personal liberty, the moral duty so to use his intellectual and physical powers as is demanded by the welfare of the community.
Every German shall have the opportunity to earn his living by economic labor. So long as suitable employment can not be procured for him, his maintenance will be provided for. Details will be regulated by special national laws.
Article 164
The independent agricultural, industrial, and commercial middle class shall be fostered by legislation and administration, and shall be protected against oppression and exploitation.
Article 165
Wage-earners and salaried employees are qualified to co-operate on equal terms with the employers in the regulation of wages and working conditions, as well as in the entire economic development of the productive forces. The organizations on both sides and the agreements between them will be recognized.
The wage-earners and salaried employees are entitled to be represented in local workers’ councils, organized for each establishment in the locality, as well as in district workers’ councils, organized for each economic area, and in a National Workers’ Council, for the purpose of looking after their social and economic interests.
The district workers’ councils and the National Workers’ Council meet together with the representatives of the employers and with other interested classes of people in district economic councils and in a National Economic Council for the purpose of performing joint economic tasks and co-operating in the execution of the laws of socialization. The district economic councils and the National Economic Council shall be so constituted that all substantial vocational groups are represented therein according to their economic and social importance.
Drafts of laws of fundamental importance relating to social and economic policy before introduction [into the National Assembly] shall be submitted by the National Cabinet to the National Economic Council for consideration. The National Economic Council has the right itself to propose such measures for enactment into law. If the National Cabinet does not approve them, it shall, nevertheless, introduce them into the National Assembly together with a statement of its own position. The National Economic Council may have its bill presented by one of its own members before the National Assembly.
Supervisory and administrative functions may be delegated to the workers’ councils and to the economic councils within their respective areas.
The regulation of the organization and duties of the workers’ councils and of the economic councils, as well as their relation to other social bodies endowed with administrative autonomy, is exclusively a function of the Commonwealth.