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Imperial Sovereign
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The question of an Imperial Sovereign or emperor was a central issue in Germany's attempts at unification from 1848 to 1850. Both the draft constitutional act with its provision for centralised power as well as the constitutional plans at that time, laid down how a German head of state would be selected for office and what rights they were to have.
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In the Frankfurt Constitution of 28 March 1849, it was envisaged that an emperor would be the 'imperial sovereign'. Although the National Assembly voted for the first incumbent of this office, thereafter it was assumed that the office would be hereditary. The emperor was to be inviolable as a constitutional monarch, but would appoint responsible ministers.
Frederick William IV, King of Prussia, rejected the imperial dignity which had been proposed to him. Instead, he tried unsuccessfully to unite Germany in his own authority. Under the terms of the Erfurt Union, which he proposed, the Imperial Sovereign was first and foremost the Reichsvorstand (Imperial Executive), and then the Unionvorstand (Union Executive). The Unionvorstand had to share certain rights with other princes, above all, the veto of proposed laws.