Territorial reform in Hesse

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The regional reform in Hesse was carried out in several phases between 1969 and 1979. The aim of this regional reform was to create more efficient municipalities and districts by means of larger administrative units. It was an important project of the Hessian state government under the social-liberal cabinet of Prime Minister Albert Osswald ( SPD ) and Interior Minister Hanns-Heinz Bielefeld ( FDP ) , which was in office from 1970 to 1974 . It was politically highly controversial.

As of February 28, 1969, there were 2642 municipalities , 39 rural districts and 9 independent cities in Hesse . The state government set itself the goal of reducing the number of municipalities to 500 and that of the districts to 20. Incentives for a voluntary association were created for the municipalities through discounts in municipal financial equalization . As a result, for many voluntary border changes, December 31st of a year that is coming to an end was determined to be legally effective and not January 1st of the following year. As of December 31, 1971, the number of municipalities had decreased to 1233. A compulsory amalgamation threatened from July 1, 1974. On January 1, 1977, when the last reorganization laws came into force, the territorial reform should be completed. According to this, there were six independent cities and 416 municipalities in 20 districts in Hesse.

The territorial reform was accompanied by many controversial discussions, but with one exception it lasted: The city ​​of Lahn , formed in 1977 from the cities of Gießen and Wetzlar and their surrounding areas 15 km apart , met with fierce resistance, not least in the result the local elections in Hesse in 1977 . After only 31 months, the independent city of Lahn was dissolved and the cities of Gießen and Wetzlar as well as the communities of Heuchelheim, Lahnau and Wettenberg were re-established. Wetzlar and Lahnau were incorporated into the Lahn-Dill district. The district of Gießen was separated from the Lahn-Dill district and expanded to include Gießen, Heuchelheim and Wettenberg. This happened with the law to reorganize the Lahn-Dill area . Since its entry into force on August 1, 1979, there have been five independent cities and 421 municipalities in 21 districts in Hesse.

The last change came over 38 years after the territorial reform was completed. On January 1, 2018, four municipalities in the Odenwaldkreis merged to form the city of Oberzent . As of January 1, 2020, there were five independent cities and 217 municipalities in Hesse.

prehistory

On March 31, 1947, a cabinet commission was set up under the chairmanship of Hermann Brill . This worked out an expert opinion and suggested the dissolution of "dwarf communities" with less than 300 inhabitants and the reduction of the number of rural districts to 31. However, these proposals were not implemented.

Administrative districts

In 1968 and 1981 the Hessian administrative districts were restructured. The borders that had existed since the time of the German Confederation were given a new shape.

Before the reform, there were three administrative districts in Hesse:

On May 6, 1968, the Wiesbaden administrative region was dissolved and its entire area was incorporated into the Darmstadt administrative region, which thus comprised three quarters of the Hessian population.

On January 1, 1981, the districts of Limburg-Weilburg , Lahn-Dill , Gießen and Vogelsberg were spun off from the Darmstadt administrative region, which since then has mainly included southern Hesse and the Rhine-Main area . The districts mentioned together with the district of Marburg-Biedenkopf, which had previously belonged to Kassel, formed the new administrative district of Gießen . Since then, the state of Hesse has again consisted of three administrative districts.

One district cities

As a result of the regional reform, Marburg , Fulda and Hanau lost their status as independent cities and were integrated into the neighboring districts. The independent city of Gießen merged into the new independent city of Lahn , which was dissolved again in 1979. Gießen regained its communal independence, but lost its district freedom.

Thus, only five independent cities remained in the state of Hesse: Frankfurt am Main , Wiesbaden , Kassel , Darmstadt and Offenbach am Main , i.e. only the cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants. Frankfurt gained four communities and the city of Bergen-Enkheim as a result of the regional reform , Wiesbaden took over six communities from the Main-Taunus district and Darmstadt expanded to include Wixhausen , while Kassel and Offenbach remained unchanged.

Cities with a special status

The district towns with more than 50,000 inhabitants received a special status , according to which they can perform various district tasks themselves and only have to pay half of the usual district levy . The cities of Hanau , Gießen , Marburg , Fulda , Bad Homburg , Rüsselsheim and Wetzlar are affected .

District reform

The existing district of Groß-Gerau remained largely unchanged. However, parts of the district had to be assigned to Frankfurt am Main because of the expansion of Frankfurt Airport . The Bergstrasse district was also only slightly changed. The municipality of Laudenau went to the Odenwaldkreis after a public survey and became a district of Reichelsheim (Odenwald) . The outer borders of the Main-Taunus and Offenbach districts have been changed significantly, the administrative headquarters of the Main-Taunus district moved from Frankfurt-Höchst to Hofheim am Taunus and that of the Offenbach district from Offenbach am Main to Dietzenbach (completed in 1987 and 2002, respectively). The district of Erbach was expanded to include the municipalities of Brensbach and Fränkisch-Crumbach from the district of Dieburg and was given the new name of Odenwaldkreis.

The remaining districts that existed before 1972 were merged into new units as follows:

Altkreis Administrative headquarters Vehicle registration number Neukreis Administrative headquarters Vehicle registration number Deadline Reorganization Act Remarks
Alsfeld Alsfeld AS Vogelsbergkreis Lauterbach ALS, LAT;
from 1979 VB
08/01/1972 Law on the reorganization of the districts of Alsfeld and Lauterbach of July 11, 1972
GVBl. I p. 215; GVBl. II No. 330-12
The town of Schotten from the Büdingen district was incorporated into the Vogelsbergkreis.
Lauterbach Lauterbach LAT
Hersfeld Bad Hersfeld HEF Hersfeld-Rotenburg Bad Hersfeld HEF 08/01/1972 Law on the reorganization of the districts of Hersfeld and Rotenburg of July 11, 1972
GVBl. I p. 217; GVBl. II No. 330-13
The town of Sontra went to the district of Eschwege, the community of Rengshausen to the district of Fritzlar-Homberg. The municipality of Haunetal was added from the district of Hünfeld and the municipality of Breitenbach am Herzberg from the district of Ziegenhain .
Rotenburg (Fulda) Rotenburg on the Fulda ROF
Fulda Fulda FD Fulda Fulda FD 08/01/1972,
07/01/1974
Law on the reorganization of the districts of Fulda and Hünfeld and the city of Fulda of July 11, 1972
GVBl. I p. 220; GVBl. II No. 330-14
On July 1, 1974, the previously independent city of Fulda was incorporated into the new district.
Hünfeld Hünfeld HÜN
Hofgeismar Hofgeismar HOG kassel kassel KS 08/01/1972 Law on the reorganization of the districts of Hofgeismar, Kassel and Wolfhagen of July 11, 1972
GVBl. I p. 225; GVBl. II No. 330-17
kassel kassel KS
Wolfhagen Wolfhagen WHERE
Obertaunuskreis Bad Homburg vor der Höhe HG Hochtaunuskreis bad Homburg HG 08/01/1972 Law for the reorganization of the Obertaunuskreis and the district of Usingen
GVBl. I p. 227; GVBl. II No. 330-18
Usingen Usingen USI
Büdingen Büdingen BÜD Wetteraukreis Friedberg FB 08/01/1972 Law on the reorganization of the districts of Büdingen and Friedberg of July 11, 1972
GVBl. I p. 230; GVBl. II No. 330-19
Friedberg Friedberg (Hesse) FB
Eschwege Eschwege ESW Werra-Meißner district Eschwege ESW 01/01/1974 Law on the reorganization of the districts of Eschwege and Witzenhausen of September 28, 1973
GVBl. I p. 353; GVBl. II No. 330-21
Witzenhausen Witzenhausen WIZ
Fritzlar-Homberg Fritzlar FZ Schwalm-Eder district Homberg (Efze) MR 01/01/1974 Law on the reorganization of the districts Fritzlar-Homberg, Melsungen and Ziegenhain of September 28, 1973
GVBl. I p. 356; GVBl. II No. 330-22
Melsungen Melsungen MEG
Goat grove Goat grove ZIG
Frankenberg Frankenberg (Eder) FKB Waldeck-Frankenberg Korbach KB 01/01/1974 Law on the reorganization of the districts of Frankenberg and Waldeck of September 28, 1973
GVBl. I p. 359; GVBl. II No. 330-23
Waldeck Korbach WA
Limburg Limburg on the Lahn LM Limburg-Weilburg Limburg LM 07/01/1974 Law on the reorganization of the district of Limburg and the Oberlahn district of February 6, 1974
GVBl. I p. 101; GVBl. II No. 330-25
Oberlahnkreis Weilburg WEL
Gelnhausen Gelnhausen GN Main-Kinzig district Hanau HU 07/01/1974 Law on the reorganization of the districts of Gelnhausen, Hanau and Schlüchtern and the city of Hanau as well as the recirculation of the cities of Fulda, Hanau and Marburg (Lahn) concerning questions of March 12, 1974
GVBl. I p. 149; GVBl. II No. 330-26
On the key date, the previously independent city of Hanau was incorporated into the new district. It was enlarged to include the town of Steinheim / Main and the community of Klein-Auheim from the Offenbach district.
Hanau Hanau HU
Schluechtern Schluechtern SLÜ
Biedenkopf Biedenkopf BID Marburg-Biedenkopf Marburg MR 07/01/1974 Law on the reorganization of the districts of Biedenkopf and Marburg and the city of Marburg (Lahn) of March 12, 1974
GVBl. I p. 154; GVBl. II No. 330-27
On the key date, the previously independent city of Marburg was incorporated into the new district.
Marburg Marburg (Lahn) MR
Dill circle Dillenburg DIL Lahn-Dill district Lahn L. 01/01/1977 Law on the reorganization of the Dill district, the districts of Gießen and Wetzlar and the city of Gießen of May 13, 1974
GVBl. I p. 237; GVBl. II No. 330-28
The independent city of Gießen was merged with the city of Wetzlar and 14 other municipalities to form the independent city of Lahn by the same law .
to water to water GI
Wetzlar Wetzlar WZ
Rheingau district Rudesheim am Rhein RÜD Rheingau-Taunus district Bad Schwalbach RÜD, SWA;
from 1980 RÜD
01/01/1977 Law on the reorganization of the Rheingau district and the Untertaunus district of June 26, 1974
GVBl. I p. 312; GVBl. II No. 330-31
Untertaunuskreis Bad Schwalbach SWA
Darmstadt Darmstadt THERE Darmstadt-Dieburg Darmstadt THERE 01/01/1977 Law on the reorganization of the districts of Darmstadt and Dieburg and the city of Darmstadt of June 26, 1974
GVBl. I p. 318; GVBl. II No. 330-34
The communities Nieder-Roden, Ober-Roden and Urberach from the district of Dieburg were added to the district of Offenbach as part of the newly founded towns of Rodgau and Rödermark.
The castle The castle DI
Lahn-Dill district Lahn L. to water to water GI 08/01/1979 Law on the reorganization of the Lahn-Dill area of ​​10 July 1979
GVBl I 1979, p. 179
The city of Lahn was dissolved. Their area was divided into five parishes. Giessen, Heuchelheim and Wettenberg came to the rebuilt district of Giessen. Lahnau and Wetzlar were awarded to the Lahn-Dill district. This lost a total of 15 municipalities to the district of Gießen.
Lahn-Dill district Wetzlar L;
from 11/1990 LDK

Territorial reform at the municipal level

The regional reform has brought about organizational changes for almost all cities and municipalities in the form of mergers or integration of neighboring municipalities. Only 31 of the originally over 2,600 municipalities that existed in Hesse after the Second World War and before the regional reform, still consist of a single village and a single district , as they have grown historically. These are the following cities and municipalities (ordered from south to north):

Name creations

When congregations came together, finding a common congregation name was often a major challenge. A well-known example is the city of Lahn , which existed from 1977 to 1979 . One of the municipalities to be merged was not always of such paramount importance that its name would have been accepted by all committees involved as the name of the new large municipality. In one case, an originally intended common name turned out to be so unpopular that it was immediately changed again ( Waldfelden soon became Mörfelden-Walldorf ). Sometimes it was enough to omit parts of the name such as upper or lower, upper or lower case. Often one fell back on the names that the geographic location and regional history had to offer. Made-up words were also created from parts of the names of the communities involved. Hyphenated double names were only used in five cases. In the course of the regional reform, 128 new names were created, which are listed below according to districts from south to north. Minor changes, such as separate and combined spelling (from Gras-Ellenbach became Grasellenbach ) or the addition of distinguishing features (from Hattersheim became Hattersheim am Main ), are not specifically listed .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. H. Voit, The communal territorial reform in: Erwin Stein (Ed.): 30 Years of the Hessian Constitution , Wiesbaden 1976 Pages 412–433 of the PDF file (17.25 MB)
  2. Local elections 1977; Relevant population figures for the municipalities as of December 15, 1976 . In: State Gazette for the State of Hesse. 1976 No. 52 , p. 2283 , point 1668, attachment ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 10.3 MB ]).
  3. ^ Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt: Regional authorities in Hessen ( Memento of December 12, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
  4. Municipalities and districts: There are 422 municipalities and 21 districts in Hesse. Hessian Ministry of the Interior and for Sport, accessed on May 16, 2020 .
  5. ^ The administrative reform in Hesse , published by the cabinet commission for the preparation of the administrative reform, Wiesbaden 1947 (volume 1), Wiesbaden 1948 (volume 2)
  6. Law on the reorganization of the district of Groß-Gerau (GVBl. I 1974, p. 314 / GVBl. II 314–32) of July 26, 1974 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1974 No. 22 , p. 314 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 1.5 MB ]).
  7. Law on the reorganization of the Offenbach district of June 26, 1974, GVBl. I p. 316, § 12 City of Frankfurt am Main
  8. Law on the reorganization of the Bergstrasse district of July 11, 1972, GVBl. I p. 222
  9. Law on the reorganization of the Main-Taunus district and the city of Wiesbaden of June 26, 1974 GVBl. I p. 309
  10. Law on the reorganization of the Offenbach district of June 26, 1974 GVBl. I p. 316
  11. Law on the reorganization of the district of Erbach (GVBl I p. 224 / GVBl. II 330–16) of July 11, 1972 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1972 No. 17 , p. 224 , § 9 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 1,2 MB ]).
  12. Law on the reorganization of the Alsfeld and Lauterbach districts (GVBl. I 1972, p. 215 / GVBl. II 330-12) of August 1, 1972 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1972 No. 17 , p. 215 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 1,2 MB ]).
  13. Law on the reorganization of the districts of Hersfeld and Rotenburg (GVBl. I 1972, p. 217 / GVBl. II 330-13) of July 11, 1972 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1972 No. 17 , p. 217 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 1,2 MB ]).
  14. Law on the reorganization of the districts of Fulda and Hünfeld and the city of Fulda (GVBl. I 1972, p. 220 / GVBl. II 330-14) of July 11, 1972 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1972 No. 17 , p. 220 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 1,2 MB ]).
  15. Law on the reorganization of the districts of Hofgeismar, Kassel and Wolfhagen (GVBl. I 1972, p. 225 / GVBl. II 330-17) of July 11, 1972 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1972 No. 17 , p. 225 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 1,2 MB ]).
  16. Law on the reorganization of the Obertaunus district and the district of Usingen (GVBl. I 1972, p. 227 / GVBl. II 330-18) of July 11, 1972 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1972 No. 17 , p. 227 , § 1 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 1,2 MB ]).
  17. Law on the reorganization of the districts of Büdingen and Friedberg (GVBl. I 1972, p. 230 / GVBl. II 330-19) of July 11, 1972 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1972 No. 17 , p. 230 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 1,2 MB ]).
  18. Law on the reorganization of the districts of Eschwege and Witzenhausen (GVBl. I 1973, p. 353 / GVBl. II 330-21) of September 28, 1973 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1973 No. 25 , p. 353 , § 13 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 2,3 MB ]).
  19. Law on the restructuring of the districts Fritzlar-Homberg, Melsungen and Ziegenhain (GVBl. I 1973, p. 356 / GVBl. II 330-22) of September 28, 1973 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1973 No. 25 , p. 356 , § 27 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 2,3 MB ]).
  20. Law on the reorganization of the districts of Frankenberg and Waldeck (GVBl. I 1973, p. 359 / GVBl. II 330-23) of October 4, 1973 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1973 No. 25 , p. 359 , § 16 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 2,3 MB ]).
  21. Law on the reorganization of the Limburg district and the Oberlahn district. (GVBl. I 1974, p. 101 / GVBl. II 330-25) of March 12, 1974 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1974 No. 5 , p. 101 , § 15 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 809 kB ]).
  22. Law on the reorganization of the districts of Gelnhausen, Hanau and Schlüchtern and the city of Hanau as well as the recirculation of the cities of Fulda, Hanau and Marburg (Lahn) concerning questions (GVBl I 1974, p. 149 / GVBl. II 330–26) of March 12th 1974 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1974 No. 9 , p. 149 , § 18 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 3.0 MB ]).
  23. Law on the reorganization of the Biedenkopf and Marburg districts and the city of Marburg (Lahn) (GVBl I 1974, p. 154 / GVBl. II 330-27) of March 12, 1974 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1974 No. 9 , p. 154 , § 22 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 3.0 MB ]).
  24. ^ Law on the reorganization of the Dill district, the districts of Gießen and Wetzlar and the city of Gießen (GVBl I 1974, p. 237 / GVBl. II 330–28) of May 13, 1974 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1974 No. 17 , p. 237 , § 29 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 1,2 MB ]).
  25. ^ Law on the reorganization of the Rheingau district and the Untertaunus district (GVBl I 1974, p. 312 / GVBl. II 330-30) of June 26, 1974 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1974 No. 22 , p. 312 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 1.5 MB ]).
  26. Law on the reorganization of the districts of Darmstadt and Dieburg and the city of Darmstadt (GVBl I 1974, p. 318 / GVBl. II 330–334) of July 26, 1974 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1974 No. 22 , p. 318 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 1.5 MB ]).