Territorial reform in North Rhine-Westphalia

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The municipal territorial reform in North Rhine-Westphalia was carried out in two major phases from 1966 and was largely completed on January 1, 1975 when the six last extensive territorial reform laws came into force in the state's metropolitan areas . The offices were completely abolished as an institution, and the 1953 ordinance regulating their internal organization was repealed with effect from January 1, 1975. Final corrections were made in 1976.

Starting position

As in all other federal states of the Federal Republic with the exception of the city-states , the realization prevailed in North Rhine-Westphalia in the 1960s that the traditional community structures, which essentially went back to the 19th century and were last amended by law in 1929 the municipal reorganization of the Rhenish-Westphalian industrial area had undergone a major reform, was no longer up to date and larger structures had to be created that were adapted to the objectives of spatial planning .

Before the reform began, there were six administrative districts in North Rhine-Westphalia with 38 independent cities and 57 rural districts ; These included 294 offices with 1,877 municipalities belonging to the office as well as 450 municipalities not belonging to the district .

First reorganization program (1966 to 1969)

The beginning at the community level was the law on the merger of the communities Bergkamen, Heil, Oberaden, Rünthe and Weddinghofen, district of Unna . It was announced on November 2, 1965 and restructured five communities in the Unna district . It came into force on January 1, 1966.

The law on the reorganization of the district of Siegen of April 26, 1966 is to be seen as the starting signal for the regional reform at the level of the districts and urban districts . Through this law, the city of Siegen was expanded to include six communities from the offices of Weidenau and Netphen, and further communities in the district of Siegen were merged into the two cities of Hüttental (with the former city of Weidenau) and Eiserfeld. The city of Siegen lost its district freedom, but was given a special status based on the example of Göttingen in Lower Saxony and thus retained a number of rights of a city free from a district. After the circled cities were not given a special status during the further restructuring measures, Siegen lost this status on the occasion of the restructuring on January 1, 1975.

In the following years, municipalities merged largely on a voluntary basis, which required confirmation by a state law in accordance with the provisions of the municipal code for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia . Some of these changes were decided as individual measures. The majority, however, have been grouped together in laws:

At the end of this first phase - including the reorganization of the Bonn area, which still took place in 1969, but according to the concept already belongs to the second reorganization program - the number of independent cities had increased by four (Herford, Lüdenscheid, Viersen and Siegen), which of the districts reduced by one (Bonn district); the number of municipalities belonging to a district had decreased from 2,327 to 1,243, that of civil servants from 1877 to 864, that of non-governmental communities from 450 to 379 and the number of offices from 294 to 149.

Second reorganization program (1969 to 1974)

In the second phase of the reform - partly against bitter resistance from the affected communities and districts - the borders were redrawn, especially in the metropolitan areas. After starting in the peripheral metropolitan areas of Bonn , Aachen and Bielefeld , this phase was concluded in 1974 in the rest of the country.

Bonn law

As a first measure of the second phase, the Bonn metropolitan area was restructured with the law on the municipal reorganization of the Bonn area of June 10, 1969. Today this area corresponds to the independent city of Bonn and the Rhein-Sieg district . The law was initially due to come into force on July 1, 1969, but was suspended by the Constitutional Court for a month and did not take effect until August 1, 1969.

The city of Bonn became with the cities of Beuel (without Hangelar airfield ) and Bad Godesberg as well as six municipalities of the Duisdorf office - Buschdorf , Duisdorf , Ippendorf , Lengsdorf , Lessenich and Röttgen - as well as the municipalities of Holzlar (with the exception of a few properties that came to Sankt Augustin ) and Oberkassel (excluding some properties that came to Königswinter) merged. In addition, the district of Hoholz was incorporated into the community of Stieldorf.

The municipalities Alfter , Bad Honnef (city), Bornheim (city since January 1, 1981), Hennef (Sieg) (city since January 1, 1981), Königswinter (city), Lohmar (city since 1991), Meckenheim (city ), Neunkirchen-Seelscheid , Niederkassel (city since January 1, 1981), Rheinbach (city), Ruppichteroth , Sankt Augustin (city since September 6, 1977), Swisttal , Troisdorf (city), Wachtberg and Windeck were merged New communities formed, the city of Siegburg and the community of Eitorf expanded.

At the district level, the Bonn district was dissolved and the newly formed communities of Alfter, Bornheim, Meckenheim, Rheinbach, Swisttal and Wachtberg were incorporated into the Siegkreis , which was also renamed the Rhein-Sieg district .

Aachen law

As the next reorganization measure, the state parliament passed the law on the reorganization of the municipalities and districts of the reorganization area Aachen (Aachen law) of December 14, 1971. This law reorganized the area of ​​the then administrative district of Aachen and the district of Euskirchen. It came into force on January 1, 1972.

The independent city of Aachen was expanded to include the communities of Brand , Eilendorf , Haaren , Kornelimünster , Laurensberg , Richterich and Walheim . There were border adjustments against Herzogenrath, Würselen and Stolberg.

The municipalities Aldenhoven , Alsdorf (city), Baesweiler (city since January 14, 1975), Erkelenz (city), Geilenkirchen (city), Heinsberg (city), Herzogenrath (city), Hückelhoven (city), Inden , Langerwehe , Mechernich (City since July 23, 1975), Monschau (city), Nideggen (city), Niederkrüchten , Niederzier , Schleiden (city), Simmerath , Titz , Vettweiß , Waldfeucht and Wassenberg (city since June 5, 1973) were merged various communities newly formed, the cities of Düren , Eschweiler , Jülich , Stolberg (Rhld.) , Würselen and Zülpich as well as the communities of Hürtgenwald , Kreuzau , Linnich and Wegberg were expanded by integrating neighboring communities. There were also various border adjustments.

At the district level, the Aachen and Monschau districts became the new Aachen district , the Erkelenz and Selfkant Geilenkirchen-Heinsberg districts became the new Heinsberg district , the Düren and Jülich districts became the new Düren district and finally the Euskirchen and Schleiden districts became the new district Euskirchen merged.

Since the district of Euskirchen had previously belonged to the administrative district of Cologne and the district of Schleiden to the administrative district of Aachen, the administrative districts had to be adapted to the merger. The city of Aachen and the districts of Aachen, Düren and Heinsberg were assigned to the administrative district of Aachen, the new district of Euskirchen to the administrative district of Cologne by ordinance. This measure was only effective for a short time. With effect from August 1, 1972, the two administrative districts of Aachen and Cologne were combined into one administrative district with headquarters in Cologne.

On August 4, 1972, the Constitutional Court for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia ruled that the incorporation of the city of Heimbach into the city of Nideggen and some properties into the municipality of Simmerath was unconstitutional and null and void, while the incorporation of some corridors into the city of Schleiden was approved. The community Heimbach became an independent community in the district of Düren again.

Bielefeld law

By the law on the reorganization of the municipalities and districts of the reorganization area Bielefeld of October 24th, 1972 the north of the administrative district Detmold was reorganized. The law came into force on January 1, 1973.

The independent city of Bielefeld was merged with the cities of Brackwede and Sennestadt and 20 other municipalities to form a new independent city of Bielefeld. As a result, almost the entire previous district of Bielefeld was incorporated into this city.

Furthermore, through the merger of different municipalities - mostly with further border adjustments - the cities of Bad Oeynhausen , Espelkamp , Halle (Westphalia) , Harsewinkel , Lübbecke , Petershagen , Porta Westfalica , Preußisch Oldendorf , Rahden , Versmold and Werther (Westphalia) as well as the municipalities Hille , Hüllhorst , Steinhagen and Stemwede newly formed. The cities of Borgholzhausen , Gütersloh , Minden and Vlotho were expanded to include areas of neighboring communities.

The Bielefeld district was dissolved at the district level. As a successor of the disbanded circles Halle (Westf.) And Wiedenbrück was Gütersloh furnished. The districts of Lübbecke and Minden merged to form the new district of Minden-Lübbecke . The Lippe districts of Detmold and Lemgo were merged to form the new Lippe district.

Ruhr Area Law

On May 8, 1974, the state parliament passed three further major laws, each of which was issued on July 9, 1974 and promulgated shortly afterwards. They came into force on January 1, 1975 along with the three other laws passed during the course of the year.

The law on the reorganization of the municipalities and districts of the Ruhr area reorganized area of July 9, 1974 affected the independent cities of the Ruhr area as well as the Ruhr area districts Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis, Recklinghausen and Unna as well as some adjacent areas.

The city of Duisburg was merged with the neighboring cities of Homberg / Niederrhein, Rheinhausen (Moers district) and Walsum (Dinslaken district) and the municipality of Rumeln-Kaldenhausen to form a new independent city of Duisburg . In addition, there were border adjustments to the neighboring cities.

The city of Moers was able to prevent the incorporation into Duisburg, which was still envisaged in the state government's first draft law, and managed to maintain its independence in the legislative process by merging with the communities of Rheinkamp and Kapellen to form a new district city of Moers .

The independent cities of Bochum and Wattenscheid were merged to form a new independent city of Bochum .

Likewise, the independent cities of Herne and Wanne-Eickel were merged into a new independent city of Herne .

The independent cities of Bottrop and Gladbeck were combined with the municipality of Kirchhellen to form the new independent city of Bottrop . This amalgamation, which was derisively referred to as Glabotki in public , remained controversial and was the subject of one of the few successful constitutional complaints against a forced merger. By judgment of the Constitutional Court for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia of December 6, 1975, this measure was declared null and void and the three municipalities were once again administered as formally independent, transitionally until June 30, 1976.

The city of Haltern and the communities of Flaesheim, parish Haltern , Hullern and Lippramsdorf were combined to form a new city of Haltern , which also incorporated the districts of Hamm and Bossendorf into the dissolved community of Hamm. The municipalities of Selm and Bork were merged to form the new municipality of Selm (city since September 27, 1977). The towns of Schwerte and Westhofen merged with the communities of Geisecke, Villigst and Wandhofen to form a new town of Schwerte .

Furthermore, some smaller communities were incorporated into neighboring cities. This is:

A new Unna district was formed in the area of ​​the districts . The old Unna district was expanded to include the southern municipalities of the Lüdinghausen district , the former city of Lünen and the area of ​​the city of Schwerte, which had previously belonged to the Iserlohn district .

The previously independent cities of Recklinghausen and Castrop-Rauxel were incorporated into the Recklinghausen district, the previously independent city of Witten into the Ennepe-Ruhr district .

Lower Rhine Act

As the second of these major laws, the law on the reorganization of the municipalities and districts of the Lower Rhine area of July 9, 1974 was promulgated on July 24, 1974 .

Independent cities were not affected by this law. The old districts of Kleve and Geldern had already been restructured in terms of their communal structure by the laws of March 11, 1969, the Rees and Moers districts by the laws of June 24, 1969.

The cities of Emmerich , Rheinberg and Wesel were expanded by incorporating neighboring communities and other parts of the community.

By merging several communities, the communities Hünxe , Hamminkeln (city since 1995), Rees (city) and Schermbeck were newly formed.

The cities of Dinslaken , Voerde (Niederrhein) , Kamp-Lintfort , Xanten and the municipality of Alpen were expanded to include parts of neighboring municipalities; sometimes there were also exchanges of territory.

At the district level, the communities of the former Kleve and Geldern districts were essentially united with the cities of Emmerich and Rees to form the new Kleve district . The communities in the districts of Dinslaken , Moers and Rees , which were not incorporated into the city of Duisburg by the Ruhr Area Act, were merged to form the new Wesel district.

Münster / Hamm law

On July 26, 1974, the law on the reorganization of the municipalities and district of the Münster / Hamm reorganization area of July 9, 1974 was promulgated. The subject of the law was the reorganization of the Münsterland, the city of Hamm and the Soest Börde.

The independent city of Münster was expanded to include the surrounding communities of Albachten , Amelsbüren , Angelmodde , Handorf , Hiltrup , Nienberge , Roxel , Sankt Mauritz and Wolbeck .

The cities of Bockum-Hövel , Hamm and Heessen and the communities of Pelkum , Rhynern and Uentrop have been merged to form a new independent city ​​of Hamm .

Neighboring communities or parts of the community were moved to the cities of Ahlen , Bad Sassendorf , Billerbeck , Bocholt , Coesfeld , Drensteinfurt , Emsdetten , Ennigerloh , Greven , Havixbeck , Lengerich , Lippstadt , Oelde , Telgte as well as communities Heiden , Ladbergen , Lienen , Lippetal , Mettingen , Neuenkirchen , Ostbevern , Recke , Reken and Wettringen incorporated.

The cities of Ahaus , Beckum , Dülmen , Erwitte , Geseke , Gronau (Westf.) , Hörstel , Ibbenbüren , Isselburg , Lüdinghausen , Olfen , Rheine , Rüthen , Sendenhorst , Steinfurt , Tecklenburg , Velen , Warendorf and were formed from several cities and municipalities Warstein as well as communities Anröchte , Ascheberg , Everswinkel , Hopsten , Lotte , Nordkirchen , Nottuln , Raesfeld , Rosendahl , Senden and Wadersloh .

In the area the circles were formed

Düsseldorf law

Through the law for the reorganization of the communities and districts of the reorganization area Mönchengladbach / Düsseldorf / Wuppertal of September 10, 1974, the southern administrative district of Düsseldorf was reorganized.

The independent cities of Mönchengladbach and Rheydt , which were briefly united from 1929, as well as the municipality of Wickrath were merged with parts of neighboring municipalities to form a new independent city ​​of Mönchengladbach .

The previously independent city of Neuss was expanded to include the communities of Holzheim, Norf and Rosellen and parts of neighboring communities, but it lost its district freedom and has since been the largest city in the state.

In the independent city Krefeld were out of town Meerbusch the former municipalities Nierst, Lank-Latum Langst-Kierst, Ossum-Bösinghoven and Strümp and the sleeve district incorporated the town of Kempen. The incorporation of the Meerbusch districts was initially suspended on December 21, 1974 - just one and a half weeks before the law came into force - by an injunction of the Constitutional Court for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. On September 13, 1975, the Constitutional Court declared the dissolution of the city of Meerbusch to be unconstitutional and null and void for formal reasons.

The independent city of Düsseldorf was enlarged by incorporating the rest of the city of Meerbusch, the city of Monheim and the municipality of Angermund as well as the municipalities of Hasselbeck-Schwarzbach , Hubbelrath and Wittlaer and parts of Erkrath and Hilden . In this respect, too, the incorporation of Meerbusch was initially suspended and then repealed by the Constitutional Court through the same decisions. In addition, the meanwhile completed incorporation of Monheim was declared unconstitutional by judgment of December 6, 1975. However, the Constitutional Court was unable to determine the nullity of the law, as the Rhein-Wupper district had meanwhile been dissolved, so that the district town of Monheim would otherwise have become a circle.

The independent city of Mülheim an der Ruhr was expanded to include parts of the Breitscheid community. The independent city of Wuppertal received the community Schöller and parts of Neviges and Wülfrath. The city of Burg an der Wupper was incorporated into the independent city of Solingen . The independent city of Remscheid received parts of Wermelskirchen and Hückeswagen .

Furthermore, the cities of Dormagen , Erkrath , Grevenbroich , Jüchen , Kaarst , Korschenbroich , Ratingen and Velbert as well as the municipality of Rommerskirchen were newly formed by amalgamating several municipalities, sometimes including parts of other municipalities. Haan , Heiligenhaus , Hilden , Mettmann and Wülfrath were expanded to include neighboring communities or parts thereof .

In the area of ​​the districts, the community of Niederkrüchten was incorporated into the district of Kempen-Krefeld , which was renamed the district of Viersen and whose district administration was moved from Kempen to Viersen . The formerly independent city of Neuss was incorporated into the Grevenbroich district and its district town, which is why its name was changed to Neuss district . The Düsseldorf-Mettmann district was expanded to include the town of Langenfeld (Rhineland) and renamed the Mettmann district .

Cologne law

The law on the reorganization of the municipalities and districts of the reorganization area of ​​Cologne of November 5, 1974 was adopted by the state parliament on September 27, 1974.

The cities of Porz am Rhein and Wesseling as well as the communities Lövenich , Rodenkirchen and Sinnersdorf were incorporated into the independent city of Cologne , with the exception of Lövenich- Königsdorf and the actual town of Sinnersdorf , which were incorporated into the cities of Frechen and Pulheim. The urban area was supplemented by Frechen- Marsdorf , Brauweiler- Widdersdorf and a few other area reports . The incorporation of Hürth- Efferen , originally proposed by the state government, was abandoned in the course of the legislative process. The incorporation of Wesseling was canceled on July 1, 1976 due to the judgment of the Constitutional Court for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia of December 6, 1975, according to which it was unconstitutional.

Through the amalgamation of the independent city of Leverkusen with the district town of the Rhein-Wupper district of Opladen and the city of Bergisch Neukirchen , a new independent city of Leverkusen was formed, into which the Hitdorf district of the city of Monheim and some parcels of Cologne, Langenfeld, Burscheid and Leichlingen were also incorporated were. This regulation corresponds to the original draft of the state government, while in the meantime the state parliament committee had instead recommended the incorporation of Bergisch Neukirchen into Opladen and the integration of the city of Leverkusen into the Rheinisch-Bergische Kreis. However, in the second reading of the law on September 25, 1974, the proposal of the state government was reinstated in response to requests from members of the CDU and SPD.

Bedburg , Bergheim , Bergisch Gladbach , Elsdorf , Engelskirchen , Kerpen , Kürten , Pulheim , Wermelskirchen and Wipperfürth were newly formed through the amalgamation of various communities .

Area expansions - in some cases with area losses elsewhere - received Brühl , Burscheid , Frechen , Gummersbach , Hürth , Kierspe (which belonged to the Sauerland / Paderborn area), Leichlingen (Rhineland) , Lindlar , Marienheide , Nörvenich (which belonged to the Aachen area), Odenthal , Overath , Rösrath , Solingen (part of the Mönchengladbach / Düsseldorf / Wuppertal reorganization area) and Wiehl .

The existing districts, namely the districts Bergheim (Erft) , Cologne , the Oberbergische Kreis, the Rheinisch-Bergische Kreis and the Rhein-Wupper-Kreis were dissolved. In their place a new Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis , a new Oberbergischer Kreis and the Erftkreis were formed.

The Rheinisch-Bergische Kreis corresponded to the old district of the same name, but without the city of Porz, which was incorporated into Cologne, and the communities of Engelskirchen, Lindlar and Wipperfürth. In return he received the municipalities of Burscheid, Leichlingen and Wermelskirchen from the dissolved Rhein-Wupper district.

The Oberbergische Kreis was created by expanding the old district of this name to include Engelskirchen, Lindlar and Wipperfürth from the Rheinisch-Bergisch district and Hückeswagen and Radevormwald from the Rhein-Wupper district.

The Erftkreis united the communities of the previous Bergheim and Cologne districts - if not incorporated into the city of Cologne - with the city of Erftstadt from the Euskirchen district.

Sauerland / Paderborn law

The last of the reorganization laws of the 2nd reorganization program was the law for the reorganization of the communities and districts of the reorganization area Sauerland / Paderborn (Sauerland / Paderborn law) of November 5, 1974. It affected the current area of ​​the city of Hagen and the districts of Hochsauerlandkreis, Höxter, Märkischer Kreis, Olpe, Paderborn and Siegen-Wittgenstein as well as neighboring areas. However, the Olpe district was hardly affected by the reform.

The city of Hohenlimburg and the municipalities of Berchum and Garenfeld as well as parts of the municipality of Waldbauer and the cities of Breckerfeld (Dahl), Ennepetal (Hasperbach) and smaller areas of Nachrodt-Wiblingwerde and Dortmund were incorporated into the city of Hagen .

By merging several communities, the cities of Arnsberg , Balve , Bad Berleburg , Borgentreich , Brilon , Büren , Delbrück , Erndtebrück , Hallenberg , Hemer , Iserlohn , Laasphe , Lichtenau , Marsberg , Menden (Sauerland) , Meschede , Olsberg , Paderborn , Salzkotten , Schmallenberg , Siegen , Sundern (Sauerland) , Warburg , Willebadessen , Winterberg and Wünnenberg as well as the communities Altenbeken , Bestwig , Borchen and Eslohe (Sauerland) were newly formed.

The towns of Bad Driburg , Brakel , Breckerfeld , Neuenrade and Rietberg as well as the municipality of Hövelhof were expanded by incorporating neighboring communities or parts of the community .

The cities of Bad Lippspringe , Dortmund , Lennestadt and Schwerte as well as the municipalities of Finnentrop and Schlangen experienced border changes .

In the area of ​​the districts, the Hochsauerlandkreis became the successor to the Arnsberg , Brilon and Meschede districts , the Märkische Kreis as the successor to the Iserlohn and Lüdenscheid districts , the Siegen district as the successor to the Siegen and Wittgenstein districts , the Paderborn district as the successor to the Büren and Paderborn and the Höxter district was newly formed as the successor to the Höxter and Warburg districts. At the beginning of 1984 the district of Siegen was given its current name District of Siegen-Wittgenstein .

Final reorganization law

The final reorganization law made provisions for the transition to the new municipal structure. These concerned, in particular, the preliminary budget and financial planning, the continuation of land use and area development plans, the appointment of decision-making bodies and the transfer of municipal staff to the new municipalities. The districts of the district police authorities have been redefined, as has the membership structure of the Ruhr coal district settlement association . Finally, there were changes to the Brown Coal Act and the School Administration Act, as well as the repeal of the official regulations that became obsolete with the dissolution of all offices.

Corrections by the Constitutional Court

Gladbeck

In a judgment of December 6, 1975, the Constitutional Court for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia ruled on the constitutional complaint of the city of Gladbeck that Section 5 of the Ruhr Area Act, which formed the new city of Bottrop, was void. As a result, the independent cities of Bottrop and Gladbeck as well as the municipality of Kirchhellen were re-established with immediate effect - or legally with retroactive effect when the law came into force. Since these had no functioning organs, the court ordered the joint administration by the organs of the new municipality of Bottrop for a transitional period until March 31, 1976 . In the event that a bill for the reorganization of these three municipalities in the state parliament were introduced by the end of this period, this period was extended by a further 3 months.

The state government then proposed that the former town of Bottrop and the Grafenwald district of the Kirchhellen community be incorporated into Essen and the former town of Gladbeck and the rest of Kirchhellen to Gelsenkirchen. This proposal was supported by the city of Gelsenkirchen alone. The cities of Essen, Bottrop and Gladbeck as well as the municipality of Kirchhellen rejected him. However, the state government saw no alternatives to this proposal, since Bottrop and Gladbeck were each too small as independent cities and incorporating these cities into the Recklinghausen district would make them too large with around 750,000 inhabitants, but also a division of the Recklinghausen district - for example in a district of Recklinghausen and a district of Marl - would not make sense.

The affected municipalities also maintained their negative stance in the further legislative process, in particular the hearings by the responsible state parliament committee. However, there was some movement here:

  • Bottrop advocated a new edition of Glabotki or, if a union with Gladbeck were still ruled out, at least a union with Kirchhellen-Grafenwald, or better still with the whole community of Kirchhellen;
  • Gladbeck wanted primarily to remain an independent city ; encircling the Recklinghausen district was preferred to merging with Gelsenkirchen or Bottrop;
  • Kirchhellen wanted to remain an independent municipality in the aforementioned district, but if this were not tenable, at least completely assigned to another municipality, whereby a union of the whole of Kirchhellen with Bottrop was assessed as particularly feasible because of the Grafenwald district;
  • the Recklinghausen district rejected the further integration of communities, including Kirchhellen (which de jure still belonged to the Recklinghausen district at this point).

Because of this, the state parliament committee recommended the creation of an atypical small independent town Bottrop, consisting of Bottrop and (completely) Kirchhellen, as well as the encirclement of Gladbeck to Recklinghausen as a compromise. This solution was confirmed by the state parliament on May 20, 1976, announced on June 16, 1976 and entered into force on July 1, 1976.

Meerbusch

The future of the city ​​of Meerbusch, which was only created in 1970 by the law on the reorganization of the Kempen-Krefeld district and the independent municipality of Viersen , was the subject of particularly changeable opinion-making and decision-making. The affluent city had particularly aroused the desires of the neighboring cities of Düsseldorf and Krefeld .

In the state government's draft law for the Düsseldorf law, it was still provided that the existence of the city of Meerbusch should remain completely unaffected.

In the hearing of the affected communities and districts of the reorganization area on April 29, 1974 in Mönchengladbach, both the city of Krefeld and the city of Düsseldorf expressed their desire to dissolve the city of Meerbusch again and to divide it between these two cities. At the committee meeting on May 28, 1974, there was still no uniform opinion on the future of the city of Meerbusch. On June 5, 1974, too, no trend was discernible. Ultimately, the committee's recommendation for a resolution did not provide for any changes to the existing properties of the city of Meerbusch. In the second reading of the state parliament on June 12, 1974, no corresponding motions were made. However, the CDU member Bernhard Worms announced that "if not today, we will address the question of expanding the city of Düsseldorf in the direction of Meerbusch at the third reading." The FDP member Herbert Neu commented on the city of Meerbusch: "Without Doubt is held by many of the opinion that the city was a wrong decision on the basis of today's knowledge about the reorganization principles. If you judge the city of Meerbusch in connection with the problems surrounding the city of Düsseldorf, you can very well come to the decision to correct the mistake made in 1969. "

Nevertheless, even after the second reading of the law, the city of Meerbusch remained unaffected in its existence. For the third reading, however, the responsible committee submitted a draft resolution in which it said: “The committee unanimously decided to incorporate the city of Meerbusch into the city of Düsseldorf. Exceptions to this are the area south of the autobahn, which is to be included after Neuss, and the districts of Ossum-Bösinghoven, Lank-Latum, Nierst and Langst-Kierst, which are to be included in the city of Krefeld. ”A group around the CDU MP from Korschenbroich At the crucial meeting on July 10, 1974, Hans-Ulrich Klose proposed another amendment not to dissolve the city of Meerbusch. However, this was rejected by 61 votes to 118 with 13 abstentions. This seemed to seal the fate of the Meerbusch community.

The city of Meerbusch then called the constitutional court for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. On December 21, 1974, he decided to temporarily suspend the Düsseldorf law with regard to the city of Meerbusch. The decisive factor for this was that the city of Meerbusch had already been reorganized only five years earlier, so that a provisional integration in the event of a subsequent re-outsourcing was assessed as particularly disadvantageous. With a judgment of September 13, 1975, the Constitutional Court finally ruled that the dissolution of Meerbusch was void. However, only the shortcomings in the legislative procedure were the decisive factor, not the decision itself.

The state government made a renewed attempt to divide the city of Meerbusch into the cities of Düsseldorf and Krefeld in accordance with the earlier law resolution, and introduced a corresponding draft law to the state parliament. In the second reading on May 19, 1976, the motion of a group around MP Hans-Ulrich Klose not to divide the city of Meerbusch between the cities of Düsseldorf and Krefeld was accepted. A group motion to restore the committee's recommendation for a second reading was rejected by a very narrow majority of 92 to 94 votes with 7 abstentions. The city of Meerbusch thus remained.

Monheim

The city of Monheim in the Rhein-Wupper district was at the interface between the greater Düsseldorf and Cologne areas. The state government's draft laws provided for the Hitdorf district to be incorporated into the new city of Leverkusen and the Baumberg district to be incorporated into Düsseldorf; the rest of the city (i.e. the Monheim district itself) was to be merged with the city of Langenfeld . Although alternatives were also discussed in the responsible committee, in particular the preservation of Monheim as an independent city, but also the incorporation not only of Baumberg, but also of Monheim-Mitte to Düsseldorf, the committee's recommendation for a second reading of the law remained that To divide the city of Monheim into three parts, i.e. to incorporate Baumberg to Düsseldorf and Hitdorf to Leverkusen and to merge Monheim with Langenfeld.

For the second reading on June 12, 1974, there was an amendment by 34 SPD members to merge Monheim and Baumberg together with Langenfeld. However, this was rejected by a majority. In order not to separate Baumberg and Monheim-Mitte from each other, the committee proposed for the third reading that all of Monheim (without Hitdorf) be incorporated into Düsseldorf.

Another amendment by 46 SPD members to merge Baumberg and Monheim with Langenfeld was rejected in the 3rd reading on July 10, 1974. Monheim and Baumberg became districts of Düsseldorf on January 1, 1975.

The city of Monheim lodged a constitutional complaint against this at the Constitutional Court for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The latter ruled on December 6, 1975 that the Düsseldorf law, as far as the city of Monheim is concerned, is incompatible with the constitution. Insofar as the constitutional complaint was also directed against the Cologne Act (i.e. the incorporation of Hitdorf into Leverkusen), it was rejected. The court also ordered a new regulation until June 30, 1976. The decisive factor for the Constitutional Court was that the incorporation of Monheim and Baumberg into Düsseldorf was clearly not necessary after the incorporation or the merger with Langenfeld was equally suitable and preferred by the city of Monheim.

The draft law that the state government then introduced to the state parliament on March 21, 1976 provided for the Baumberg and Monheim districts, with the exception of the Urdenbacher Kämpe, to be separated from the city of Düsseldorf and reintegrated into the city of Langenfeld. While the cities of Düsseldorf and Monheim endorsed or approved the relocation of Monheim, Monheim and Langenfeld rejected the incorporation of Monheim into Langenfeld. For the second reading, the state parliament committee submitted a resolution recommendation, which was adopted with a narrow majority of 11:10 (no merger with Langenfeld) or 12: 8 (independent municipality), according to which the districts of Baumberg and Monheim to be spun off from Düsseldorf together form an independent city of Monheim should form in the Mettmann district. In the session of the state parliament on May 19, 1976, the demarcation was corrected again in favor of Monheim. On May 20, 1976, the state parliament approved the law, which was drawn up on June 1, 1976 and promulgated on June 15, 1976, so that it came into force on July 1, 1976. With that, Monheim became an independent town again on July 1, 1976 and was incorporated into the Mettmann district.

Wesseling

On January 1, 1975, the city of Wesseling was incorporated into the city of Cologne by Section 1 (1) of the Cologne Act , but received on July 1, after a successful lawsuit with the judgment of the Constitutional Court for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia of December 6, 1975 In 1976 her independence returned. Since then it has been a district town in the Erftkreis (now Rhein-Erft-Kreis ). At that time, the city of Cologne lost its status as a metropolis that it has now regained.

See also

Area changes in North Rhine-Westphalia

Measures after the completion of the territorial reform

The territorial reform aimed in particular at strengthening the administrative power of the districts and municipalities by creating larger units. Greater specialization could be achieved by creating larger administrations. As a result, more tasks could be transferred from the districts to the communities belonging to the district, as the communities now also had the necessary administrative power. Here the legislature chose a gradual shift of responsibility. Some of the tasks could be transferred to all municipalities belonging to the district, other tasks appeared only suitable for municipalities of medium size and above, and finally there were those that should only be transferred to particularly large cities in the order of the former small independent cities.

These measures were implemented in three functional reform laws in 1978, 1979 and 1984.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sabine Mecking: Citizens will and territorial reform. Democracy development and reorganization of state and society in North Rhine-Westphalia 1965-2000 (= Studies on Contemporary History, Vol. 85), Oldenbourg: Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-486-70314-6 .
  2. ↑ § 18 of the final reorganization law of November 26, 1974, GV. NW. 1974, p. 1474
  3. ↑ a b State Office for Data Processing and Statistics North Rhine-Westphalia , Statistical Yearbook North Rhine-Westphalia, year 2005, p. 28
  4. ^ GV. NW. 1965 p. 328.
  5. ^ GV. NW. 1966, p. 271, printed matter no.V 831
  6. ^ GV. NW. 1967, p. 270, printed matter No. VI 462
  7. ^ GV. NW. 1968, p. 352, printed matter No. VI 479
  8. ^ GV. NW. 1968, p. 358, printed matter No. VI 480
  9. ^ GV. NW. 1968, p. 396, printed matter No. VI 771
  10. ^ GV. NW. 1968, p. 412, printed matter No. VI 806
  11. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 152, printed matter No. VI 845
  12. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 160, printed matter No. VI 846
  13. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 220, printed matter No. VI 852
  14. ↑ a b GV. NW. 1969, p. 236, printed matter No. VI 850
  15. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 264, printed matter No. VI 851
  16. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 284, printed matter No. VI 1201
  17. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 286, printed matter No. VI 1130
  18. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 300, printed matter No. VI 1090
  19. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 336, printed matter No. VI 1192
  20. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 344, printed matter nos.VI 1157 and 1185
  21. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 348, printed matter No. VI 1194
  22. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 355, printed matter No. VI 1186 and 1187
  23. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 358, printed matter No. VI 1188
  24. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 362, printed matter No. VI 1233
  25. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 372, printed matter No. VI 1193
  26. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 379, printed matter No. VI 1204
  27. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 383, printed matter No. VI 1181
  28. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 393, printed matter No. VI 1202
  29. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 404, printed matter No. VI 1195
  30. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 409, printed matter No. VI 1183
  31. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 410, printed matter No. VI 1182
  32. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 418, printed matter No. VI 1236
  33. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 799, printed matter No. VI 1170
  34. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 818, printed matter No. VI 1203
  35. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 772, printed matter No. VI 1342
  36. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 940, printed matter No. VI 1340
  37. ^ GV. NW. 1969, p. 966, printed matter No. VI 1341
  38. ^ GV. NW. 1971, p. 414
  39. ^ Ordinance on the districts of the regional presidents Aachen and Cologne of December 14, 1971, GV. NW. 1971, p. 524
  40. ^ Ordinance on the Association of Regional Presidents in Cologne and Aachen of July 12, 1972, GV. NW. 1972, p. 192
  41. ^ Constitutional Court for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia , judgment of August 4, 1972, VerfGH 13/71, GV. NW. 1972, p. 358 = decisions of the higher administrative courts Münster and Lüneburg (OVGE) 28, 304
  42. ^ GV. NW. 1972, p. 284
  43. ^ GV. NW. 1974, p. 256
  44. ↑ State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia , draft law of the state government, draft of a law for the reorganization of the municipalities and districts of the reorganization area of ​​the Ruhr area, Landtag printed matter No. 7/2800 Volume 1 of July 10, 1973
  45. ^ GV. NW. 1974, p. 344
  46. ^ GV. NW. 1974, p. 416
  47. ^ GV. NW. 1974, p. 890
  48. ^ Constitutional Court for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia , decision of December 21, 1974, VerfGH 44/74, OVGE 30, 276
  49. ^ Constitutional Court for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia , judgment of September 13, 1975, VerfGH 43/74, OVGE 30, 306
  50. ^ Constitutional Court for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia , judgment of December 6, 1975, VerfGH 39/74, GV. NRW. 1975 p. 700 = OVGE 31, 290
  51. ^ GV. NW. 1974, p. 1072
  52. ↑ Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia , plenary protocol 7/112, p. 4631
  53. ^ State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia , draft law of the state government, draft of a law for the reorganization of the municipalities and districts of the reorganization area Cologne (Cologne Law), printed matter No. 7/3870, p. 6, 37
  54. ↑ Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia , report of the committee for administrative reform on the 2nd reading of the draft of a law for the reorganization of the municipalities and districts of the reorganization area Cologne (Cologne law) - printed matter 7/3870 -, printed matter no. 7/4190, p. 48 , 52 f.
  55. ^ Law to restore the independence of the municipality of Wesseling (Wesseling Law) of June 1, 1976, GV. NRW. P. 206
  56. ↑ Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia , printed matter No. 7/3870, p. 24
  57. ↑ Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia , printed matter No. 7/4190, pp. 48, 73 ff., 77
  58. ↑ State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia , amendment by the MPs Kühltau etc. for the 2nd reading of the draft of a law for the reorganization of the municipalities and districts of the Cologne reorganization area (Cologne Law) (draft law of the state government) - printed matter 7/3870 and 7/4190 -, Printed matter no. 7/4202
  59. ↑ State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia , amendment by the MPs Einert, etc. for the 2nd reading of a law on the reorganization of the municipalities and districts of the Cologne reorganization area (Cologne Law) (draft law of the state government) - printed matter 7/3870 and 7/4190 -, printed matter no 7/4203
  60. ↑ Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia , plenary protocol 7/110, p. 4530
  61. ^ GV. NW. 1974, p. 1224
  62. ↑ Law on the final regulation of individual questions on the occasion of municipal reorganization (final reorganization law) of November 26, 1974, GV. NW. 1974, p. 1474
  63. ^ Constitutional Court for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia , judgment of December 6, 1975, VerfGH 13/73, GV. NRW. 1975 p. 700 = OVGE 31, 284
  64. ^ State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia , draft law of the state government, law amending the Ruhr Area Law, Landtag printed matter No. 8/796 of March 22, 1976
  65. ↑ Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia , draft law of the state government, law amending the Ruhr Area Law, Landtag printed matter No. 8/796 of March 22, 1976, pp. 23-25, 28-29
  66. ↑ Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia , draft law of the state government, law amending the Ruhr area law, Landtag printed matter No. 8/796 of March 22, 1976, p. 16 f.
  67. ^ State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia , recommendation for a resolution and report by the Committee for State Planning and Administrative Reform on the State Government's draft law, printed matter 8/796 - 2nd reading -, printed matter No. 8/1002 of May 14, 1976, pp. 12-28
  68. ↑ Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia , draft law of the state government, law amending the Ruhr Area Law, Landtag printed matter No. 8/796 of March 22, 1976, p. 35
  69. ↑ Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia , plenary protocol 8/22 of May 20, 1976, p. 1022
  70. ↑ Law amending the Ruhr Area Law of June 1, 1976 , GV. NRW. P. 221
  71. ^ State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia , draft law of the state government - draft of a law to reorganize the communities and districts of the reorganization area Mönchengladbach / Düsseldorf / Wuppertal, Landtag-Drucksache 7/3700, p. 18
  72. ^ State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia , report of the committee for administrative reform on the 2nd reading of the draft of a law for the reorganization of the municipalities and districts of the reorganization area Mönchengladbach / Düsseldorf / Wuppertal (draft law of the state government) - printed matter 7/3700, state parliament printed matter No. 7 / 3900, p. 9 f.
  73. ↑ Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia , draft law of the state government, law amending the Ruhr Area Law, Landtag printed matter No. 8/796 of March 22, 1976, p. 49
  74. ↑ Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia , draft law of the state government, law amending the Ruhr Area Law, Landtag printed matter No. 8/796 of March 22, 1976, p. 54
  75. ↑ Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia , draft law of the state government, law amending the Ruhr Area Law, Landtag printed matter No. 8/796 of March 22, 1976, p. 61 ff.
  76. ↑ Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia , plenary protocol 7/105, p. 4255
  77. ↑ Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia , draft law of the state government, law amending the Ruhr Area Law, Landtag printed matter No. 8/796 of March 22, 1976, p. 4263
  78. ↑ Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia , report of the committee for administrative reform on the 3rd reading of the draft of a law for the reorganization of the communities and districts of the reorganization area Mönchengladbach / Düsseldorf / Wuppertal, Landtag-Drucksache No. 7/3980, p. 3
  79. ^ State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia , amendment by the MPs Dr. Klose etc. for the 3rd reading of the draft of a law for the reorganization of the municipalities and districts of the reorganization area Mönchengladbach / Düsseldorf / Wuppertal (draft law of the state government) - printed matter 7/3700, 7/3900, 7/3923, 7/3927 and 7/3980 , Landtag printed matter No. 7/4011
  80. ↑ Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia , plenary protocol 7/107, p. 4412
  81. ^ Constitutional Court for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia , decision of December 21, 1974, VerfGH 44/74, OVGE 30, 276
  82. ^ Constitutional Court for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia , judgment of September 13, 1975, VerfGH 43/74, OVGE 30, 306
  83. ↑ State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia , draft law of the state government, law for the reorganization of communities in the reorganization area of ​​Düsseldorf (2nd Düsseldorf law) of March 21, 1976, Landtag printed matter No. 8/797
  84. ^ State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia , amendment by the MPs Dr. Klose etc. on the resolution recommendation of the committee for state planning and administrative reform printed matter 8/1001 on the draft law of the state government printed matter 8/797 - volumes 1 and 2 - 2nd reading, state parliament printed matter No. 8/1006
  85. ↑ Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia , plenary protocol 8/21, p. 992
  86. ^ State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia , amendment by the MPs Dr. Petermann etc. on the resolution recommendation of the Committee for State Planning and Administrative Reform Printed matter 8/1011 on the draft law of the state government printed matter 8/797 - Volumes 1 and 2 - 3rd reading, Landtag printed matter No. 8/1015
  87. ↑ Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia , plenary protocol 8/22, p. 1021
  88. ↑ State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia , draft law of the state government, draft of a law for the reorganization of the municipalities and districts of the reorganization area Cologne (Cologne Law), Landtag printed matter No. 7/3870, p. 25 (§ 18 para. 2 No. 5)
  89. ↑ State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia , draft law of the state government, draft of a law for the reorganization of the communities and districts of the reorganization area Mönchengladbach / Düsseldorf / Wuppertal, Landtag printed matter No. 7/3700, p. 9 (Section 9, Paragraph 2, No. 3 of the draft )
  90. ↑ State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia , draft law of the state government, law amending the Ruhr area law, Landtag printed matter No. 8/796 of March 22, 1976, p. 12 (§ 19)
  91. ↑ State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia , recommendation for a resolution and report by the Committee for Administrative Reform on the 2nd reading of the draft of a law for the reorganization of the communities and districts of the reorganization area Mönchengladbach / Düsseldorf / Wuppertal (draft law of the state government) - printed matter 7/3700 ​​-, state parliament printed matter no 7/3900, pp. 32-34, 50, 58, 67, 72-73
  92. ^ State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia , amendment by the MPs Professor Dr. Lauber etc. for the 2nd reading of the draft of a law for the reorganization of the municipalities and districts of the reorganization area Mönchengladbach / Düsseldorf / Wuppertal (draft law of the state government) - printed matter 7/3700 ​​and 7/3900 -, state parliament printed matter No. 7/3922
  93. ↑ Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia , plenary protocol No. 7/105, p. 4278 f.
  94. ↑ Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia , report of the committee for administrative reform on the 3rd reading of the draft of a law for the reorganization of the municipalities and districts of the reorganization area Mönchengladbach / Düsseldorf / Wuppertal (draft law of the state government) - printed matter 7/3700, 7/3900, 7/3923 and 7/3927 -, Landtag printed matter No. 7/3980, pp. 5, 15, 16, 22
  95. ^ State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia , amendment by the MPs Professor Dr. Lauber etc. for the 3rd reading of the draft of a law for the reorganization of the communities and districts of the reorganization area Mönchengladbach / Düsseldorf / Wuppertal (draft law of the state government) - printed matter 7/3700, 7/3900, 7/3923, 7/3927 and 7/3980 -, Landtag printed matter No. 7/4016
  96. ↑ Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia , plenary protocol No. 7/107, p. 4413
  97. ^ Constitutional Court for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia , judgment of December 6, 1975, VerfGH 39/74, GV. NRW. P. 700 = OVGE 31, 290
  98. ↑ Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia , draft law of the state government, law for the reorganization of communities in the reorganization area of ​​Düsseldorf (2nd Düsseldorf law), Landtag printed matter No. 8/797, pp. 1, 4, 25 f.
  99. ↑ Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia , draft law of the state government, law amending the Ruhr area law, Landtag printed matter No. 8/796 of March 22, 1976, p. 25
  100. ↑ State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia , recommendation for a resolution and report by the Committee for State Planning and Administrative Reform on the State Government's draft law, Drucksache 8/797 - 2nd reading - Law on the reorganization of municipalities in the reorganization area of ​​Düsseldorf (2nd Düsseldorf Act), Landtag-Drucksache No. 8 / 1001, p. 4 f., 48 f.
  101. ↑ Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia , plenary protocol No. 8/21, p. 992
  102. ↑ State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia , Plenary Protocol No. 8/22, p. 1022
  103. ^ Law on territorial changes in the reorganization area of ​​Düsseldorf of June 1, 1976, GV. NRW. P. 214
  104. ↑ Martin Bünermann, Heinz Köstering: The communities and districts after the municipal territorial reform in North Rhine-Westphalia . Deutscher Gemeindeverlag, Cologne 1975, ISBN 3-555-30092-X .
  105. ^ Law to restore the independence of the municipality of Wesseling (Wesseling Law) of June 1, 1976, GV. NRW. P. 206
  106. ↑ State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia , draft law of the state government, First Law on Functional Reform, Landtag printed matter No. 8/3140, pp. 1–2, 60–61
  107. ^ First Act on Functional Reform (1st FRG) of July 11, 1978, GV. NRW. P. 290
  108. ^ Second Act on Functional Reform (2nd FRG) of September 18, 1979, GV. NRW. P. 552
  109. ^ Third Act on Functional Reform (3rd FRG) of June 26, 1984, GV. NRW. P. 370