Jew clause

The Jew clause (Norwegian: Jødeparagrafen)[1] is in the vernacular name of the second paragraph of the Constitution of Norway from 1814 to 1851. The clause, in its original form, banned Jews from entering Norway, and also forbade Jesuits and monastic orders. An exception was made for so-called Portuguese Jews. The penultimate sentence of the same paragraph is known as the Jesuit clause (Norwegian: Jesuittparagrafen).

Nicolai Wergeland, one of the principal authors of the clause.

The clause roughly translates as:

The Evangelical-Lutheran religion is the state's public religion. The inhabitants who practice it are obliged to raise their children in the same. Jesuits and monastic orders may not be tolerated. Jews are excluded from access to the Kingdom.

Christian Magnus Falsen, Georg Sverdrup and Nicolai Wergeland were the central delegates behind the wording of the section's final paragraph. The wording was adopted on May 4, 1814. This paragraph was finalized in Constitutional Committee and adopted after discussion, but without changes in the plenary.

On June 13, 1851,[2] after tireless efforts by the poet Henrik Wergeland (the son of the clause's architect Nicolai Wergeland), as well as politician Peder Jensen Fauchald, school principal Hans Holmboe, and others, the Norwegian parliament deleted the article from the constitution, and thereby lifted the ban against Jews, who were thus awarded religious rights on par with Christian dissenters.

See also

• History of the Jews in Norway

References

1. "A digital dissemination of documents to the history of the Jews Act, § 2, last passus, in the Norwegian Constitution of 17 May 1814".
2. "The abolition of the Jews Act in Norway's Basic Law 1814 - 1851 - 2001. Brief history and description of the documentation".