that his caretaker government would remain in office, he handed over the day-to-day affairs to his deputy Heinrich Hirtsiefer of the Centre Party. 1932 Prussian coup d'état () Behind the scenes, the cabinet of Reich Chancellor Franz von Papen exerted pressure for the quick election of a new Minister President based on cooperation between the NSDAP and the Centre. Coalition negotiations did take place, but the Centre was unwilling to elect a National Socialist Minister President. On 11 June the Reich government threatened for the first time to appoint a Reich commissioner for Prussia. The occasion was the Altona Bloody Sunday of 17 July 1932. In Altona, a town in Prussia adjacent to Hamburg, there were violent clashes between supporters of the KPD, the NSDAP and members of the police that left 18 dead. It prompted the use on 20 July 1932 of an emergency decree, already prepared but not yet dated, entitled "Restoration of Public Safety and Order in the State of Prussia" (). The members of the executive Prussian State Ministry were relieved of their posts, von Papen was appointed Reich Commissioner for Prussia, and Franz Bracht of the Centre Party became his deputy. When von Papen asked Severing whether he was prepared to voluntarily vacate his post, he replied, "According to my understanding of the actions of the Reich government, I cannot think of voluntarily leaving my office. I will therefore yield only to force." A state of emergency was declared in Berlin and the province of Brandenburg. The police were placed under the command of General Gerd von Rundstedt, and high-ranking leaders of the police were arrested. There was no active resistance, such as a general strike by the SPD and trade unions. The Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold – a paramilitary force connected primarily to the SPD – was also not mobilized. Von Papen and Bracht then began removing leading civil servants and other executives who were close to the parties of the Braun government and replacing them for the most part with conservative officials. On the day of the Prussian coup d'état, the caretaker government filed suit with the Reich Constitutional Court in Leipzig. Hermann Heller represented the SPD parliamentary group and Carl Schmitt the Reich government. On 25 October 1932 the court determined that the removal of the Prussian government had been illegal. The caretaker government was given the right to represent Prussia before the state's