Civil parish of the city of Basel
The civic community of the city of Basel unites two institutions, numerous foundations and funds, the Basel guilds and societies as well as the forestry and central services under one roof. In addition, she oversees the Christoph Merian Foundation . With a total of more than 1,600 employees, the community is one of the largest employers in the city of Basel.
tasks
The services of the Citizens' Community of the City of Basel should benefit everyone in the city of Basel. Her work focuses on social issues, naturalization and integration as well as nature and the environment. Together with her institutions Bürgerspital Basel and Bürgerliches Waisenhaus Basel, as well as the Christoph Merian Foundation , she is committed to a successful coexistence in the city on the knee of the Rhine. In particular, the civil parish of the city of Basel has the following tasks and powers:
- It grants community citizenship .
- She looks after the elderly and the disabled.
- She looks after children and young people.
- It manages its assets and those of its institutions.
- It supervises the foundations and corporations assigned to it.
- It can take on other tasks that are in the interests of the city and that do not fall under the exclusive competence of the federal government and the canton.
In contrast to the canton and the resident commune , the civic commune does not have any tax revenue , so the tasks have to be carried out on a cost-covering basis.
organization
Citizen
The citizens of the city of Basel include everyone who is a citizen of the city of Basel; regardless of where they live. There are currently around 200,000 people worldwide. This makes the civil parish of the city of Basel the largest civil parish in Switzerland .
However, only those who are over 18 years old and who live in their home town of Basel are entitled to vote and vote in matters relating to the community and in committees . That is currently around 50,000 people. This is a large number compared to other Swiss civil parishes. This is why the Basel community cannot conduct its business through community assemblies. It is dependent on a different democratic structure with a parliament, which is elected by and represents the citizens with voting rights.
Citizens Council
The community council is the highest authority of the community. The parliament consists of 40 members. These are elected every six years by the citizens who are eligible to vote in Basel.
The civic council is legislative in matters of the civic community. Its members give service contracts to the two institutions Bürgerspital Basel and Bürgerliches Waisenhaus as well as to the central services and partly to the Christoph Merian Foundation. The citizens' council can actively exert influence through parliamentary initiatives. It also elects the seven members of the Citizens' Council as well as those of the parliamentary commissions and the naturalization commission.
Citizens Council
The citizens' council is the highest governing and executive body of the civil parish. The seven members are elected every six years by the citizens' council.
The members of the Citizens' Council preside over the governing bodies of the institutions, the Naturalization Commission and the Christoph Merian Foundation Commission as president and governor.
The members of the citizens' council represent the community to the outside world. The Citizens' Council issues ordinances and refines the performance mandates given by Parliament to the institutions Citizens Hospital and Orphanage as well as to the Central Services and, in some cases, to the Christoph Merian Foundation. In addition, the members of the citizens' council decide on all naturalization applications. And they oversee the Christoph Merian Foundation and the Basel guilds and societies. In addition to day-to-day business, the citizens' council also pursues its own social projects.
Institutions and the Christoph Merian Foundation
Central Services
The central services are located in the town hall, the seat of the community. The historic building gave its name to the whole street and is located at Stadthausgasse 13 in the immediate vicinity of the market square. The employees are involved in various areas for the city of Basel and its residents. On the one hand, they are the staff unit for the citizens 'council, the citizens' council and their respective commissions. As a modern service center, the employees mainly take on supporting and coordinating tasks. On the other hand, they provide numerous services for the institutions Bürgerspital Basel and Bürgerliches Waisenhaus as well as for the Christoph Merian Foundation . Last but not least, the employees in the central services have a wide range of operational tasks. You care u. a. around:
- the administration of naturalizations
- the implementation of the fide language certificate and the naturalization courses
- forest management with our own forest operation
- the management of foundations and funds
- managing your own assets and those of various foundations
- the management of the property portfolio
The legal service, the central personnel services and communication are also located in the town hall at the central services.
naturalization
In Switzerland , citizenship is divided into three parts. In addition to national citizenship, it includes cantonal and communal citizenship rights. If you want to become a Basel native, up to three communities are involved. The civil parish of the city of Basel is always involved in the naturalization decision .
The naturalization is one of the central tasks of the civil community. The policy followed is just as conscientious as it is open-minded. In order to make naturalization easier for foreign nationals, the community also offers courses in addition to the fide language certificate .
Forest operation
The forest operations team manages a forest area of 700 hectares . That corresponds to almost 1000 football fields. Of these 700 hectares, 433 are own forests . The work of the team includes wood carving, forest maintenance, road and path maintenance, afforestation and new plantings.
In addition to the care and use of the forest, the employees of the community work countless hours year after year for the maintenance of all recreational facilities as well as all paths and streets in Birsfelder Hard. The community provides these services for the general public free of charge.
Townhouse
The town hall is the seat of the civic community.
The building was erected from 1771 to 1776. It was once the post office and the seat of the merchant's board of directors in one. In the 18th century, the postal business in Basel was carried out by this same directory. The authority, at that time the most influential interest group in the Basel wholesale trade, existed from 1682 to 1798.
The town house is one of the most magnificent Basel buildings of the 18th century. The magnificent halls offered space for important occasions. In 1806 and 1812, for example, the Federal Diet , the assembly of delegates from the places of the old Confederation, met here . In 1811, Napoleon was paid homage to the birth of his son with a big party in the town hall.
The postage stamp, which could be bought here for 2.5 cents in 1845: the « Baslerdybli » is also world-famous . It is the first stamp to be produced in three colors and with embossing. In 2014 one copy was auctioned for over CHF 100,000.
In 1853 the newly created Swiss Post Office moved into its own premises on Rüdengasse. 22 years later, the former post office came into the possession of the civil parish that was newly formed in 1875.
Citizens Hospital Basel
The Civil Hospital Basel takes with its socio-medical services tasks that are becoming increasingly important in modern society, such as the monitoring and integration of people with disability, the care of elderly people and the living-with-service offering for the elderly. With over 1,500 employees, the Bürgerspital is also an important employer in the region.
Bourgeois orphanage Basel
Located in the former Carthusian monastery on Theodorskirchplatz, the Basel bourgeois orphanage is today run as a home for children and young people according to modern socio-educational principles. Children and young people who cannot grow up in their families for a certain period of time will find a temporary home here in the form of inpatient care places. The children and young people find care and protection in the residential groups. At the same time, they get space for reorientation, their personal development and their socialization.
Christoph Merian Foundation
The Christoph Merian Foundation (CMS) , founded in 1857, is an independent foundation under the supervision of the community. The foundation for the foundation's activities is based on the assets bequeathed to it by Christoph and Margaretha Merian-Burckhardt . The use of half of the annual income surplus of the CMS is subject to the approval of the civil parish. With these funds - currently around 6 million Swiss francs per year - CMS and the community are committed to helping people in need, a healthy environment and the quality of life and culture in Basel.
Foundations
The community and its affiliated institutions manage numerous foundations and funds . In addition, the Citizens' Council is also the supervisory authority for individual independent foundations. He controls their bookkeeping and checks compliance with and implementation of the foundation's specified purposes .
The foundations and funds pursue charitable purposes. Financial support goes to the city of Basel, its citizens, residents and Basel institutions in various forms. Funds amounting to around CHF 700,000 are awarded every year. These usually come from the annual income of the foundation or fund assets. The funds are always awarded on the basis of an approved written application .
Guilds
From the Middle Ages to the 19th century, traders all over Europe organized themselves in urban cooperations, the guilds . These associations of individual professional groups had an important political as well as a social and economic function. In the age of industrialization, the guilds lost their importance in many places. Nevertheless, around 4,500 members are still involved in Basel guilds and honorary societies . You maintain a future-oriented Basel tradition and do good for the city of Basel. The Basler E. Guilds and E. Societies are corporations under public law and have been under the supervision of the civil parish since 1881.
literature
- Felix Ackermann, Niklaus Röthlin: The town house in Basel. Series 69, No. 688 in the series Schweizerische Kunstführer GSK , ed. by the Society for Swiss Art History GSK in collaboration with the civic community of the city of Basel. Society for Swiss Art History GSK, Bern 2001.
Web links
- Website Civic Community of the City of Basel
- Cantonal collection of laws Basel-Stadt, section "BaB - Bürgergemeinde Basel"
- Website Bürgerspital Basel
- Website Bourgeois Orphanage Basel
- Website Christoph Merian Foundation
- Website guilds and societies of the city of Basel