Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Saarland

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The Saarland Chamber of Commerce and Industry ( IHK Saarland ) is the Chamber of Industry and Commerce for the state of Saarland . It represents 55,585 Saarland companies with almost 300,000 employees. It was founded in 1863. Its main tasks are advising companies, representing political interests and fulfilling state tasks in the hands of the economy. The IHK Saarland is a corporation under public law . The legal basis is Act No. 707 on the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Saarland of March 29, 1960, last amended by the Act of February 15, 2006.

history

On June 4, 1815, Napoleon decreed the formation of a Chambre de commerce de Sarrebruck . Saarbrücken belonged to the Left Bank of the Rhine that was annexed by France during the French era . With the Battle of Waterloo in the same month, Napoleon's rule ended. The Chamber was therefore practically not established.

In 1843, 46 of Saarbrücken's leading merchants and industrialists applied for permission to set up a chamber of commerce, which the Prussian government rejected two years later.

In October 1862 another application was made to set up a chamber of commerce. On November 2, 1863, the highest approval of the Prussian King Wilhelm I was issued, five weeks later the first chamber elections were held. 9 members were elected. The banker Ferdinand Schlachter became the first chamber president ( Eduard Karcher had actually been elected; however, he refused the office after a few days for lack of time). The chamber was limited to the Saarbrücken district. The Prussian neighboring districts remained without representation (the then still Bavarian parts of today's Saarland anyway).

With the Prussian Chamber of Commerce Act 1870, the chamber expanded. While trading companies had previously dominated, mining companies, stock corporations and (in Saarbrücken, a major line of business) beer breweries were given voting rights for the election of the chamber. The number of members of the chamber rose from 9 to 12. However, the chamber remained limited to the Saarbrücken district.

Due to the peripheral location in the German Reich, the chamber was very interested in a liberal foreign trade policy. Accordingly, it was in opposition to Bismarck's protective tariff policy. Another dispute with the Prussian Ministry of Commerce led to the scandal, namely the conflict over the expansion of the consumer associations in the Saarland steel mines. This was contrary to the interests of the trading companies organized in the chamber. With a decree of November 30, 1881, Bismarck restricted the right of the chambers of commerce to take a position on such political questions. In its 1881 annual report, however, the chamber published an extremely harsh criticism of the business conduct of the consumer associations. The Chamber saw a provocation in the reply from the Ministry of Commerce on May 23, 1883. After Bismarck again rejected the Chamber's criticism in a letter dated August 18, 1883, the Chamber of Commerce decided on September 21, 1883 to dissolve itself.

Carl Ferdinand Freiherr von Stumm-Halberg, President of the Chamber after the re-establishment
Emergency money from the Saarbrücken Chamber of Commerce in the First World War

By order of September 26, 1885, Bismarck ordered the re-establishment of the Chamber of Commerce. You should only every four Prussian Saarland counties (county Saarbrücken, district Saarlouis , St. Wendel district and county Ottweiler include). Now 19 members have been elected, 9 of which are from the Saarbrücken district.

The re-establishment was determined from the beginning by the dispute between Theodor Röchling (1823-1885) and Carl Ferdinand Freiherr von Stumm-Halberg . In order to reduce Röchling's influence, the constituency of the Saarbrücken district was divided into two Chamber of Commerce electoral districts on October 11th. Röchling and 5 other chamber members (including the deputy chairman Emil Haldy ) then resigned from the chamber. It was not until 1898 that a representative of the Röchling Group, Paul Röchling, rejoined the Chamber of Commerce.

On May 1, 1909, the “ Commercial College of the Chamber of Commerce ” was founded on the initiative of the Saarbrücken merchants' association .

After the First World War , most of the chamber area was separated from the German Reich as the Saar area from 1920 to 1935 . According to Section 28 of the Saar Statute , the previous organizations (including the Chamber of Commerce) were allowed to remain under the supervision of the Saar Government Commission . The Prussian Chamber of Commerce law also remained in force. However, the chamber area was cut up. The St. Wendel district remained with the German Empire and parts of the Palatinate (Bavaria) had become part of the Saar area. Correspondingly, the chamber district was adapted to the Saar region by exchanging areas with the Trier Chamber of Commerce and the Ludwigshafen Chamber of Commerce . This increased the number of members of the Chamber to 45 (later to 48).

In order to promote the integration of the economy of the Saar region into the French economy, a "Franco-Saarland Chamber of Commerce" was formed as a rival organization with the recognition of the French Ministry of Commerce, which however could not gain any importance. Since many of the measures taken by the government commission aimed at this integration, the Chamber of Commerce, which had to provide expert advice on these measures, often found itself in an opposition role to the government commission. The Chamber resisted the introduction of the French franc as the currency of the Saar region until June 1, 1923. The Saar economy was hit twice by the German inflation from 1914 to 1923 and then by the inflation of the franc in 1925 and 1926.

The next challenge was to create a customs border between Germany and the Saar area. According to the Saar Statute, this was prohibited for the first five years. After the deadline, however, the Saar area was integrated into the French economic area and customs borders to Germany were established. After long negotiations, on May 22, 1925 in Berlin, the Chamber Board succeeded in reaching an agreement with Minister of Economics Neuhaus on the deferral of customs duties. A final solution was found with the Saar Customs Agreement of February 23, 1928.

After the reintegration of the Saar area into the German Reich in 1935, the chamber was renamed Saarbrücken Chamber of Commerce and Industry . The designation as IHK had been common in the Reich for years, but the previous name had been retained in the Saar area.

With the reincorporation of the Saar region to Germany along the left DC circuit of the CCI. The self-administration of the economy was abolished and the IHK was based on the leader principle . In place of the elected chamber there was now an appointed committee. The chamber was subordinate to the Reich Ministry of Economics, the companies in the Saar area were subject to the Nazi command economy. Chamber President Bodo Karcher resigned from office in 1937. In 1943 the IHK was abolished and the tasks of the chamber were taken over by the newly created Gau Wirtschaftskammer Westmark. In addition to the old Chamber of Industry and Commerce, it also included the chambers of skilled trades in these areas.

With the end of the Second World War , the Gau Chamber of Commerce also ended. Saarbrücken was captured by American troops on March 21, 1945. By order of the military government, the Gau Chamber of Commerce was dissolved on June 20, 1945 and the Saarbrücken Chamber of Commerce was re-established. Luitwin von Boch-Galhau was reappointed President of the Chamber. He was joined by HG Scholl and Alfred Anterist as vice-presidents.

The Saarland was again separated from Germany from 1947 to 1956 and formed a semi-sovereign protectorate of France. With Ordinance No. 139 of the military government of December 12, 1947, a 15-member commission was set up to draw up chamber statutes. The new chamber statute was enacted as law on May 28, 1948. The chamber was now again a corporation under public law and subordinated to the Saarland Minister of Economics. An elected advisory board made up of 28 people now elected the top of the chamber, headed by a president, who, however, according to French specifications, bore the official title of “General Secretary”, which is common in France. Frédéric Schlachter became the general secretary.

After the reintegration of the Saarland into the Federal Republic of Germany, the Federal German "Law on the Provisional Regulation of the Law of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of the Saarland" of December 16, 1956 came into effect and the IHK was reintegrated into the Federal Republic of Germany's IHK system . The general assembly now consisted of 22 members. After the first chamber elections on January 15, 1961, the General Assembly on January 24, 1961 confirmed President Kurt Schluppkotten in office.

organization structure

Bureau

At the head of an IHK are the honorary president and the general manager. The entrepreneur Hanno Dornseifer has been President of the Saarland Chamber of Commerce since April 27, 2017. He is supported by eight Vice Presidents: Philipp Gross, Thomas Hempel, Wolfgang Herges, Petra Krenn, David Zimmer, Sonja Anton, Michael Karrenbauer, Carlo Segeth.

General Assembly

The highest body of an IHK is the general assembly. In Saarland, the general assembly has 65 honorary members who are all representatives of a company. The general assembly is elected every five years by companies and small businesses in the Saarland chamber district. The current electoral term ends in 2022.

Main management

Heino Klingen has been the managing director of the Saarland Chamber of Commerce since January 1, 2016.

Business areas

Currently (mid-2015) there are 102 employees at the Saarland Chamber of Commerce. They work in the following business areas:

  • Initial and continuing education
  • Business start-ups and business support
  • Innovation, universities, securing skilled workers
  • International
  • Law and Competition
  • Location policy

Publications

On April 1, 1883, the Saarbrücken Chamber of Commerce published a magazine for the first time, the “Saarbrücker Gewerbeblatt für Industrie, Handel und Verkehr”. The Saar economy today is the magazine of the IHK Saarland. It informs the member companies about news from the regional economy. The magazine appears monthly. The print run is 28,000 copies.

building

Today's chamber building

Until 1901 the chamber was housed in rented rooms. These were initially on Schlossplatz and then "up a flight of stairs" in the waiting room building of the main train station.

From 1901 to 1930 the "Saarindustrie House" in Saarbrücken's Königin-Luisen-Straße 33 (today: Ursulinenstraße) was the seat of the Chamber of Commerce. The chamber acquired the house on October 1, 1901.

In 1930 the new chamber building at Hindenburgstrasse 9 (today: Franz-Josef-Röder-Strasse) was moved into. The house was destroyed by an air raid on October 5, 1944 during the war. The chamber's archive was also destroyed. After the war, the first move was made to the chamber building at Bismarckstraße 106.

From 1953 to 1963 the chamber used the building at An der Christ-König-Kirche 10 as a chamber building.

Today the IHK Saarland has its headquarters at Franz-Josef-Röder-Straße 9, in the Saarbrücken government district. The building was built according to plans by the Schlier / Kugelmann / Alt consortium on behalf of the chamber on the grounds of the chamber building from 1930 and moved into in 1963.

people

President

Ferdinand Schlachter, first President of the Chamber

Other personalities

literature

  • Fritz Hellwig : The Saar economy and its organizations: Since the establishment of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Saarbrücken in 1863/64; on behalf of the Chamber on the occasion of its 75th anniversary, 1939
  • Well positioned: The Saarland economy today: 150 years IHK Saarland, Saarbrücker Zeitung: Special publication from November 13, 2013, online
  • Fritz Hellwig: The Saar economy and its organizations, Saarbrücken, 1939
  • Chamber of Industry and Commerce of the Saarland: 100 years of the Saarland Chamber of Commerce and Industry - economy between borders, 1963/64
  • Hermann Glaser (Ed.): Industriekultur an der Saar, 1989, pp. 144–145

Web links

Commons : Saarland Chamber of Commerce and Industry  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Official Gazette p. 474, 530
  2. ↑ Legal text