District reform Saxony-Anhalt 2007

The district reform of Saxony-Anhalt 2007 (or district reform 2007 ) was passed on October 6, 2005 by passing a law by the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt . Subsequently, after the district reform in 1994, with effect from July 1, 2007, another district reform took place , after which the number of districts was reduced from 21 to eleven. Nine new districts were created through mergers, while the Altmark district of Salzwedel and the district of Stendal as well as the independent cities of Halle and Magdeburg were retained in their previous form. The area of the district of Anhalt-Zerbst was divided into three districts and the independent city of Dessau-Roßlau .

The new district names and seats of the district administrations have already been determined by a resolution of the state parliament. However, the district councils of the newly formed districts were able to determine a different name in their constituent meeting with a two-thirds majority of the legal members.

One of the most important reasons for the reform is the expected sharp population decline. For more information, see Saxony-Anhalt # population development .

Changes in independent cities and districts in 2007

Overview and key data of the new independent cities and districts 2007

independent city / district	County seat	Area in km²	Inhabitants 2006 ¹	Population density Ew. per km²	Automotive Ind.	Population forecast 2015
Dessau-Rosslau		244.62	91,243	373	DE
Halle (Saale)		135.02	235.720	1,746	HAL
Magdeburg		200.96	229,826	1,144	MD
Altmarkkreis Salzwedel	Salzwedel	2,292.52	94,545	41	SAW
LK Anhalt-Bitterfeld	Koethen (Anhalt)	1,452.71	187.873	129	ABI	136,579 ²
LK Börde	Haldensleben	2,366.19	187.833	79	BK
Burgenland district	Naumburg (Saale)	1,413.46	205.097	145	BLK	182,300
LK resin	Halberstadt	2,104.00	244.248	116	HZ	225,300
LK Jerichower Land	Castle	1,576.66	101.092	64	JL
LK Mansfeld-Südharz	Sangerhausen	1,448.60	160,984	111	MSH	142,700
Saalekreis	Merseburg	1,433.22	206.146	144	SK	186,800
Salzlandkreis	Bernburg (Saale)	1,425.86	222,727	156	SLK	198,600
LK Stendal	Stendal	2,423.00	129,481	53	SDL
LK Wittenberg	Lutherstadt Wittenberg	1,929.89	144.972	75	WB
total		20,446.71	2,441,787	119

¹ The data on the number of inhabitants relate to December 31, 2006. They are calculated by adding the numbers of the old districts, towns and municipalities that make up the new districts.

² Forecast for the year 2025

Independent cities and districts

Map of the district reform

Since the reform there have been three independent cities and eleven rural districts. The vehicle abbreviations ABI , BK , HZ , MSH and SLK were newly introduced. The abbreviations ASL , AZE , BBG , BÖ , BTF , HBS , KÖT , ML , MQ , OK , QLB , SBK , SGH , WR and WSF are expiring .

State capital Magdeburg

The state capital Magdeburg remains unchanged in terms of its regional structure. It has an area of 201 km² and at the end of 2006 had 229,826 inhabitants.

City of Halle

The city of Halle also remains unchanged in terms of its regional structure. It has an area of 135 km² and at the end of 2006 had 235,720 inhabitants.

City of Dessau-Roßlau

Coat of arms of the new city of Dessau-Roßlau

On July 1, 2007, the independent city of Dessau on the southern bank of the Elbe and the city of Roßlau (Elbe) belonging to the district of Anhalt-Zerbst on the northern bank of the Elbe merged to form the independent city of Dessau-Roßlau . Dessau-Roßlau has 91,243 inhabitants (end of 2006). With 244.6 km² the city is one of the largest cities in Germany . In connection with the new district regulation, the city of Wörlitz and the communities of Horstdorf , Quellendorf and Vockerode also wanted to join the new city. The population had agreed to this request in corresponding referendums. In the meantime, the Quellenendorf community has refrained from incorporation, and the majority of the citizens of Horstdorf rejected incorporation into the city of Dessau-Roßlau in a renewed public hearing on October 7, 2007. Only Wörlitz and Vockerode insist on the incorporation, which is supported by broad approval in the population. An important goal of the city of Dessau was to increase the decreasing number of inhabitants through incorporations in order to secure the status as the third regional center in Saxony-Anhalt. This has been achieved with the merger and the draft of the state development plan that has been available for some time.

The license plate is still DE . The merged city is led by the former mayor Roßlaus Klemens Koschig , who won the local elections in 2007 with 56.85% in the first ballot.

Altmarkkreis Salzwedel

This district remained unchanged. It has an area of 2293 km² and at the end of 2006 had around 95,000 inhabitants.

Anhalt-Bitterfeld district

The district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld was created through the merger of the previous districts of Bitterfeld and Köthen . In addition, there were the city of Zerbst / Anhalt and 21 municipalities from the VG Elbe-Ehle-Nuthe of the dissolved Anhalt-Zerbst district .

The new district borders in the south on the new Saalekreis and the federal state of Saxony , in the west on the new Salzlandkreis, in the north on the enlarged district Jerichower Land and in the east on the district Wittenberg and the city of Dessau-Roßlau. The size of the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld is 1453 km².

The seat of the district administration is Köthen (Anhalt) . The former district administrative locations in Zerbst and Bitterfeld are still used by specialist services and citizens' offices. The district town of Köthen with its approx. 30,000 inhabitants contrasts with the newly formed town of Bitterfeld-Wolfen with approx. 48,000 inhabitants on July 1, 2007 from the merger of Bitterfeld, Thalheim, Greppin, Holzweißig and Wolfen .

On July 16, 2006, the citizens of the city of Zerbst voted in favor of incorporation into the future district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld.

In further referendums on August 13, 2006, the 16 municipalities of Bornum, Buhlendorf, Deetz, Dobritz, Grimme, Güterglück, Hohenlepte, Jütrichau, Leps, Lindau, Nedlitz, Nutha, Reuden, Steutz, Straguth and Zernitz also voted for integration into the future Anhalt-Bitterfeld district. On November 16, 2006, five more municipalities (Gehrden, Gödnitz, Moritz, Polenzko and Walternienburg), four of which had previously carried out referendums, were assigned to the Anhalt-Bitterfeld district in an amending law.

The new license plate is ABI .

At the end of 2006, 187,873 inhabitants were determined for this area; for the year 2025 a number of only 136,579 inhabitants was forecast.

Borde district

The district of Börde was created through the merger of the previous Bördekreis and the previous Ohrekreis .

The new district borders in the south on the districts of Salzland and Harz, in the west on Lower Saxony , in the north on the Altmarkkreis Salzwedel and the district of Stendal and in the east on Magdeburg and the new district of Jerichower Land. The size of the district of Börde is 2366 km².

The district administration is based in Haldensleben . Since November 1, 2007, the license plate has been BK instead of “BÖ” and “OK”. The "BÖ", which could also have stood for the new district of Börde, was dispensed with in order to give the residents a new identification and, in particular, to exclude the risk of confusion with the "BO" of the city of Bochum (North Rhine-Westphalia). The identifier "BK" was used until 1972 for the former district of Backnang (today "WN", Rems-Murr-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg). On the reference date (November 1, 2007), 688 vehicles with “BK” were still registered there.

There were proposals to rename the future district in Ostfalenkreis , but these were discarded and the district kept the name "Landkreis Börde".

At the end of 2006, 187,833 inhabitants were determined for this area.

Burgenland district

The Burgenlandkreis was created through the incorporation of the Weißenfels district and the Burgenlandkreis that had already existed up until then. The new district is located in the south of Saxony-Anhalt and has an area of 1413 km². In the north it borders on the Saalekreis, in the west and south on the state of Thuringia and in the east on the state of Saxony .

The district administration is based in Naumburg (Saale) .

The license plate number is BLK , which was already used by the previous Burgenland district.

At the end of 2006, 205,097 inhabitants were determined for this area, for 2015 only 182,300 are forecast.

The majority of the population voted against the name of the Burgenland district in a citizen survey in which, in addition to the name proposed by the state, suggestions such as Saale-Unstrut-Kreis , Saale-Unstrut-Elster-Kreis and others were up for debate . Instead, many advocate adopting the name Burgenlandkreis . Citizens from Weißenfels and other communities see themselves disadvantaged by this name, however, since their position apart from the actual Burgenland is not taken into account in the name. On July 16, 2007 the district council decided to take over the previous name Burgenlandkreis for the new district.

Harz district

This district was created through the merger of the previous districts of Halberstadt , Wernigerode , Quedlinburg and the city of Falkenstein / Harz from the Aschersleben-Staßfurt district .

The new district borders in the south on the district of Mansfeld-Südharz, in the east on the district Salzland, in the north on the district Börde and the state of Lower Saxony . In the west it has a border with Lower Saxony, in the southwest with Thuringia . The size of the new district is 2104 km².

The seat of the district administration was Halberstadt .

The new license plate is HZ . Since the vehicles in the district of Herzberg in the state of Brandenburg used to have this license plate, it is to be expected that only certain number groups will be released for the district of Harz, especially those with two letters and three digits.

At the end of 2006 the district had 244,248 inhabitants, for 2015 only 225,300 were forecast.

Against the name "District Harz" there were protests from Lower Saxony districts, which are also located in the Harz; especially because large parts of the new district are not in the Harz Mountains, but in the northern and eastern Harz foreland.

District of Jerichower Land

The new district of Jerichower Land was originally intended to result from the merger of the previous district of Jerichower Land and the Elbe-Ehle-Nuthe administrative community and the city of Zerbst / Anhalt from the Anhalt-Zerbst district .

Due to referendums, the city of Zerbst and part of the VG Elbe-Ehle-Nuthe did not merge with the Jerichower Land, so that only the seven communities Hobeck, Loburg, Lübs, Prödel, Rosian, Schweinitz and Zeppernick of the VG Elbe-Ehle-Nuthe moved to the district of Jerichower Land.

Because of this, the district name Jerichower Land was preferred to the original planning name Anhalt-Jerichow , as the Anhalt aspect was missing. The license plate remained JL .

The enlarged district borders the Salzlandkreis and the Anhalt-Bitterfeld district in the south, Magdeburg and the Börde district (separated by the Elbe) in the west, the Stendal district in the north and the state of Brandenburg in the east . The size of the district is 1577 km².

The seat of the district administration is in Burg .

At the end of 2006, 102,402 inhabitants were determined for this area.

Mansfeld-Südharz district

The new district was created through the merger of the previous districts of Sangerhausen and Mansfelder Land .

The district borders the Saalekreis in the southeast, the Salzland and Harz districts in the north and Thuringia in the west . The size of the new district is 1449 km².

The district town is Sangerhausen . The license plate is MSH . Dirk Schatz (CDU) was elected as the first district administrator.

At the end of 2006, 160,984 inhabitants were determined for this area, for 2015 only 142,700 are forecast.

Saalekreis

The new district was created through the merger of the previous districts of Merseburg-Querfurt and Saalkreis . It completely encloses the independent city of Halle (Saale) .

The new district borders the Burgenlandkreis in the south, the Mansfeld-Südharz district in the northwest, the Salzland district in the north and the Anhalt-Bitterfeld district in the northeast. In addition, it has a border with Thuringia in the west and one with Saxony in the east ; the size of the Saalekreis is 1433 km².

The seat of the district administration is Merseburg . The license plate is SK .

At the end of 2006, 206,146 inhabitants were determined for this area, for 2015 only 186,800 are forecast.

There was criticism of the linguistic similarity between “Saalekreis” and “Saalkreis”, as there is a certain risk of confusion here.

Salzlandkreis

The plan name of the district was initially Salzland district , but the name Salzlandkreis was chosen at the constituent meeting of the new district council. The Salzlandkreis was created through the merger of the previous districts of Aschersleben-Staßfurt (except for the city of Falkenstein / Harz ), Bernburg and Schönebeck .

The new district is located in the center of Saxony-Anhalt . The Salzlandkreis borders in the south on the district of Mansfeld-Südharz and the Saalekreis, in the west on the district Harz, in the northwest on the district Börde, in the north on the state capital Magdeburg , in the northeast on the district Jerichower Land and in the east on the district Anhalt -Bitterfeld, its size is 1426 km².

The seat of the district administration and recently also the largest city in the district (now before Schönebeck (Elbe) ) is Bernburg (Saale) .

The new license plate is SLK .

At the end of 2006, 222,727 inhabitants were determined for this area, for 2015 only 198,600 are forecast.

District of Stendal

This district remained unchanged. It has an area of 2423 km² and at the end of 2006 had about 129,481 inhabitants.

Wittenberg district

The new district of Wittenberg emerged from the old district of Wittenberg and the administrative communities Coswig (Anhalt) and Wörlitzer Winkel from the district of Anhalt-Zerbst . Lutherstadt Wittenberg remained the county seat .

Although the Wörlitzer Winkel was legally assigned to the district of Wittenberg, this was controversial: The city of Wörlitz spoke out in a hearing in favor of incorporation into Dessau-Roßlau , the city of Oranienbaum against. In November 2006 there were further referendums in some municipalities of the Wörlitzer Winkel administrative community. These communities decided to be assigned to the Wittenberg district. Since - based on the population of the Wörlitzer Winkel administrative community - the majority of citizens voted for Dessau-Roßlau, there was room for political interpretation: the majority of the politically independent municipalities wanted to be assigned to the district of Wittenberg, the numerical majority of citizens to be assigned to the city of Dessau- Rosslau.

The district of Wittenberg borders in the north and east on the state of Brandenburg , in the south on the state of Saxony , in the south-west and north-west on the new district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld and in the west on Dessau-Roßlau.

The license plate remains WB . The district of Wittenberg is 1930 km² and had 144,972 inhabitants at the end of 2006.

Criticism of the district reform

It is questionable whether the hoped-for cost savings can actually be achieved through the mergers. Since when the former individual districts and cities are amalgamated, the authorities required for a district are distributed among all former district towns for reasons of equality. Sometimes considerable (financial and time) additional expenditure for the citizens as well as the staff of the departments concerned and thus ultimately the taxpayer.

From a long-term perspective, however, it seemed necessary to react to the significant decline in population numbers. According to today's forecast, Saxony-Anhalt could reach approx. 500,000 inhabitants (approx. 20% of its total population) are losing.

An important goal of any regional reform, to create new territorial units of comparable size and comparable structures, could not be fully achieved even with this regional reform. The range of population in the individual districts is still relatively large. It was not possible to form a common Altmarkkreis.

literature

Daniel Plogmann: The district area reforms in the new federal states - a comparative analysis . In: Journal for State Constitutional Law and State Administrative Law (ZLVR), 1/2016, pp. 23–30.

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ http://www.stala.sachsen-anhalt.de/gk/fms/fms113.htm with subpages

[1] ttp://www.stala.sachsen-anhalt.de/gk/fms/fms113.htm with subpages