German District Association

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The German District Association e. V. ( DLT ) is the municipal umbrella association of all 294 districts at the federal level with its headquarters in Berlin . The registered association represents 74 percent of the responsible authorities , 68 percent of the population and 96 percent of the area of Germany .

Federal structure

The association is organized on a federal basis. Its direct members are the district associations in the 13 territorial states of Germany, whose area of ​​responsibility corresponds to that of the German district assembly at federal level:

Further direct members are (November 2005):

tasks

The district area covers around 96% of the area of ​​the Federal Republic of Germany. It is currently home to around 56 million people, around 68% of the population of the Federal Republic of Germany. Like the municipalities, the districts are constitutionally assigned to the states. Nevertheless, there are close relationships in the federal area.

Most federal laws are enforced by local authorities. In order to achieve its political goals, the federal government is dependent on the participation of the municipal level. Modern cooperative federalism therefore also includes the districts and municipalities. While the federal states under the Basic Law have the opportunity to participate in the legislative administration of the federal government through the Federal Council, the local self-government makes its cooperation through the local umbrella organizations available to the organs of the federal legislature - the federal government, the German Bundestag and the Bundesrat.

The cooperation between the federal government and the central municipal associations is regulated in more detail in the joint rules of procedure of the federal ministries. A similar regulation can be found in the rules of procedure of the German Bundestag. Both rules of procedure ensure that the representatives of the central municipal associations are involved and heard in good time by the federal government and the Bundestag committees in legislative projects that affect municipal issues.

With its tasks, the district assembly covers the whole range of municipal functions and represents the interests of the German districts vis-à-vis the federal government, the Bundestag and the Bundesrat.

The day-to-day business of this permanent cooperation is done from the main office in Berlin. The management of the areas of responsibility is the responsibility of the general manager, the deputies and the speakers .

The central municipal associations are involved in a number of federal and state committees and institutions in a number of decisions or in an advisory capacity, partly on the basis of express legal regulations. The financial planning council , the economic council and the federal-state commission for educational planning and research funding as well as the concentrated action in health care are of particular importance .

Within the association, the district council has an information function for its members. It informs the regional associations and - if necessary - also the rural districts about the effects of federal policy and about planned measures at federal level. This includes, for example, information about upcoming legislative proposals. In addition, he organizes the exchange of experiences among the districts and influences the formation of opinions in the municipal area.

In order to accomplish its task of creating understanding among the public for the tasks and facilities of the districts, the German District Association uses its own monthly specialist magazine “Der Landkreis”. He participates in various scientific publications, especially in the area of ​​local law, and maintains contact with the press, radio and television.

Committees and technical committees

The district council's committees include the district assembly, which takes place every five years, the main committee and the executive committee. The main committee is made up of delegates nominated by the regional associations. It defines the basic lines of the association's policy. The Presidium is the political governing body of the association, to which 13 chairmen of the regional associations, another representative of the Bavarian District Assembly, one representative of the other direct members, five other co-opted members for better regional and political balance and the chief executive belong. All matters of local political importance are finally decided by the Presidium - usually after preliminary consultation by the specialist committees.

Seven technical committees belong to the district day:

  • Constitution, administration, europe,
  • Finance, savings banks, services of general interest,
  • Youth, education and culture,
  • Environment and planning,
  • Economy and transport,
  • Work and social, as well
  • Health and Veterinary Services.

Since the cities, districts and municipalities in Europe that is growing closer together have to adjust to the effects of European laws and regulations in good time, the DLT is also present in Brussels with its own office with a total of four speakers.

History of the German District Assembly

Association of the Prussian Districts

It was not until 1916 that the districts founded their own association - later than the other local authorities - to protect their interests. The previous attempts at founding failed mainly because the district administrators, who were still appointed by the king at that time, considered the formation of an association to be incompatible with their position as "organs of state government".

After the founding of the association failed in the first year of the war, in the spring of 1916 Adolf von Achenbach (District Administrator of the Teltow District) and Felix Busch (District Administrator of the Niederbarnim District) attempted again to found an Association of Prussian Districts. On September 8, 1916, the founding assembly took place in the meeting room of the Prussian state parliament in Berlin. There were representatives from 343 Prussian circles - over 70% of the then 487 Prussian circles. 27 members and their deputies were elected to the provisional board of directors, including the royal family. This board of directors met for the first time on November 11, 1916. Dr. Busch was elected as his deputy von Achenbach. District Administrator a. D. Oskar von der Osten became chairman of the association.

When the Association of Prussian Districts began its activity in January 1917, 454 of the Prussian districts were already members. The first office was in what is now Berlin's Mitte district - at Potsdamer Strasse 23a.

The turmoil of the November Revolution of 1918 also reached the Reich capital and impaired the beginning of the association's work.

In the summer of 1919 the political situation calmed down. Due to the Versailles peace treaty (territorial separation), the district association lost 54 of its members.

After the office of the association in Potsdamer Strasse had become too small, the move to the new premises at Königin-Augusta-Strasse 14 took place in September 1919. In a second ordinary general meeting of the district association - in April 1920 - the new managing director complained, Joachim von Bredow , the losses caused by the peace treaty.

The relocation of responsibilities due to the new constitution of the German Reich , which came into force on August 11, 1919, also affected the district association. In his work he had to deal with the Reich authorities much more often. The districts were ignored in the preparation of laws and in the appointment of committees. The logical consequence seemed to be an expansion of the Prussian association to the entire empire.

A committee was formed to agree on the procedure, which met for the first time on November 21 and founded the Association of German Districts while maintaining the previous contracts. At first this only consisted of the regional associations of Prussia, Saxony, Thuringia, Oldenburg and Mecklenburg-Schwerin. On November 26, 1922, the association was entered in the register of associations at the Berlin District Court. The office of managing director of the German and Prussian District Council took over Dr. Otto Constantin .

In December 1924, the Prussian District Association bought the plot of land at Bellevue-Strasse 5a including the commercial building in Berlin and moved into its office, which has now been expanded.

After Otto Constantin's death in 1928, District Administrator Kurt Baron von Stempel was appointed Managing President of the German and Prussian District Council.

The “black Friday” in October 1929 (stock market crash in New York) ended the phase of apparent stability in the German Reich, caused the unemployment rate to skyrocket and also brought the district day into financial distress. Not only did his employees have to accept cuts in salaries, membership fees were also cut.

After the Reich execution against Prussia on July 20, 1932, the district assembly was no longer able to represent its interests in the usual way.

National Socialists take power

The takeover of power by the National Socialists meant the temporary end of the district assembly . The Reichstag and the Prussian Landtag were dissolved, and 36 district administrators were deposed by June 1, 1933 in the western provinces alone. Von Achenbach resigned as chairman of the association on March 29, 1933. The former Reich Minister of the Interior Walter von Keudell was elected as his successor - however, not in accordance with the statutes by the general assembly, but by the self-empowering board. The formal end of the German and Prussian District Assembly was the “ Law on the German Municipal Assembly” of December 15, 1933. The sole legal successor was the newly founded German Municipal Assembly , in which all municipalities and associations of municipalities in the Reich were forcibly united.

1945 to 1990

With the occupation of the German national territory and the extinction of the German Reich authority, all state authorities in the Reich and in the former Reich lands perished. The cities, districts and municipalities were the only German administrative institutions left. With the creation of new countries by the Allies , the reconstruction of a new German statehood began.

The re-establishment was also sought in the district area. Two years after the end of the Second World War , county associations were formed throughout the British and American zones, and in 1948 county councils were also formed in the French occupation zone .

At the meeting of the working committee of the working group of Hessian districts on December 17, 1946 in Fulda (with representatives of Württemberg-Baden districts) it was agreed that the German district association should be established across zones in 1947. The district administrator of the district of Ziegenhain , Heinrich Treibert , gave the decisive impetus .

The DLT was re-established on February 10, 1947 in the District Office in Höchst am Main . The district days or the corresponding associations of Schleswig-Holstein , Württemberg-Baden , Lower Saxony , Hesse , North Rhine-Westphalia and Franconia were represented . District Administrator Heinrich Treibert (Ziegenhain) was appointed President, District Administrator August Dresbach (Gummersbach) as his deputy. The provisional managing director was a vice-president. D. Schlueter.

The first presidential meeting took place on March 23, 1947 in Ziegenhain, the first main committee meeting on May 21, 1947 at Gleiburg near Gießen . District Administrator a. D. August Loos was elected first DLT managing director in the main committee meeting.

The founders of the new German District Assembly were deeply convinced that democracy in Germany must have its chance. They saw local self-government as the foundation of democracy and did everything to strengthen it.

The office of the President of the German District Assembly (Presidential Office) was relocated to Kassel in 1948 - to Wilhelmshöher Allee 2, an EAM building .

The first district assembly on March 23, 1949 in the Paulskirche in Frankfurt , with around 1000 participants, was the most impressive event of the early days of the German district assembly.

In the meantime, the DLT office was in Bad Godesberg , the temporary seat of the new German Association of Cities . When, with the creation of the so-called bizone, the center of administrative activity was oriented towards Frankfurt , the DLT tried to relocate its office to the Frankfurt area. The rooms of the Bolongaropalastes in Frankfurt-Höchst remained the quarters of the main office until 1950. Until the move to the district building of the Siegburg district, the employees of the main office had to commute from Frankfurt-Höchst to Bonn in order to carry out their tasks. It was not until 1959 that the office moved to Bonn and found its permanent home in a house at Adenauerallee 136 .

The period from the Second World War to the reunification of Germany (October 3, 1990) can be broken down as follows:

  • the time of reconstruction;
  • the time of the great reforms of cities, towns and districts;
  • the Federal Republic is a saturated member of the European Community.

In the second half of the 1960s and the first half of the 1970s, reform efforts took center stage. The regional and administrative reform was the central event for the communal area. The development in the 1970s and 1980s was marked by the growing social commitment of the districts. The growing together of Europe during this time also had an increasing impact in the communal area.

1990 until today

After the reunification of Germany, the framework conditions for the association as a whole, but above all for the municipal umbrella organizations, changed significantly. The fall of the wall also meant a new beginning of local self-government in the GDR . The democratization process began there from below in the cities, municipalities and counties.

Soon after the opening of the inner-German borders, the regional associations and the DLT established contact with the districts in the GDR. The GDR districts also sought contact with West German districts. Two goals were striven for: A comprehensive network of direct support from district to district was to be created, and regional associations and regional offices were to be set up in the coming new states. Both goals could be achieved relatively quickly.

Before the new federal states came into being, there were already offices of the corresponding district assembly. The Landkreistage Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia have been part of the DLT since October 3, 1990. The number of eight regional associations of the DLT so far increased to 13. The process of Germany growing together also had repercussions for the DLT and its main office: The organs (main committee, presidium, committees) now had to be tailored to the 13 regional associations.

At the end of November 1990, the first joint conference between West and East German circles took place in reunified Germany - at the annual DLT conference in Bad Münstereifel ( Euskirchen district ). The DLT district assembly in May 1991 in the Rhineland-Palatinate spa and bathing town of Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler was a big event . Around 1100 guests took part.

Since February 21, 2000, the DLT in Berlin can be reached at Lennéstrasse 11 (" Ulrich-von-Hassell -Haus").

President and General Manager of the German District Assembly

President

Chief Executive

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ archive.org: Statutes (of the German District Association) , 14 paragraphs, version of September 14, 2005, accessed on April 11, 2020.
  2. ^ Statute of the German District Assembly. Retrieved April 11, 2020 .
  3. ↑ landkreistag.de: History of the German District Assembly , accessed on April 27, 2020.
  4. ^ Relocation of the office of the President of the German District Assembly to Kassel on July 30, 1948 . In: Hessisches Staatsministerium - The head of the state chancellery (Hrsg.): State gazette for the state of Hessen. 1948 no. 33 , p. 361 , 389 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 1.5 MB ]).
  5. ↑ web.archive.org: Brief CV of Prof. Dr. Hans-Günter Henneke (landkreistag.de) , accessed on April 24, 2020.