Prussian rural community code
In contrast to the urban municipality , the rural municipality is a municipality in the country - that is, outside the urban areas. Thus the rural community is one of the lowest forms of communal organization. It can consist of one or more districts that are divided into different districts , which in turn can be divided into different corridors . Rural communities with several localities , i.e. formerly independent villages , often arise for reasons of economy and the effectiveness of the administration.
Rural community code
The Prussian Landgemeindeordnung of 3 July 1891 regulated the constitution and administration of the rural communities and similar entities in the seven eastern provinces of the State of Prussia : Province of East Prussia , West Prussia , Province of Brandenburg , Province of Pomerania , Province of Posen , Province of Silesia and Province of Saxony . In a modified version of July 4, 1892, it also applied to the province of Schleswig-Holstein . There was a special municipal statute for Heligoland .
History and meaning
After the cities (1808 and 1831), the Prussian state found it difficult to give the “Platten Land”, that is, the approximately 40,000 localities and manor districts in its central and eastern provinces, a municipal constitution in a comparable form. The attempt at a uniform municipality order from 1850 was withdrawn after just three years. The resistance of the conservative and reactionary forces to the attempt to encourage subjects to participate in the public good in the countryside was too violent in those years of the democrat hunt. Even after the "Wars of Freedom", the provisions of the Prussian General Land Law (Part II, Title VII, Sections 18-86) remained, which - although not issued until 1794 - tended to set the status of the beginning of the 18th century. The law on the municipal constitutions in the six eastern provinces of the monarchy of April 14, 1856 merely summarized the then current legal status, but left it at that that the representatives of a rural municipality were not elected, but appointed by the owner of the local police (district administrator or manor owner) .
In contrast, the Rhine Province was initially able to essentially retain the municipal constitution that had been preserved in French times before the transition to Prussia. The province of Westphalia (1841 and 1856) and the Rhine province (1845) already had new rural community regulations before the wars of unification . In the province of Hanover , the Hanoverian Landgemeindegesetz of April 28, 1859 was in effect, in Hessen-Nassau there were the Hessian Municipal Code of October 23, 1834 and the Hessian Law of May 15, 1863, the Nassau Municipal Law of July 26, 1854 and others Regulations, in Schleswig-Holstein the Prussian ordinance of September 22, 1867 applied.
The Prussian-wide reform was prepared by the district order for the eastern provinces (with the exception of Posen) of December 13, 1872. It took away the power of the police and the right to appoint mayors and lay judges from the landlords . The municipalities were empowered to fill these offices through elections. The legal status of the independent manor districts and rural communities was also thoroughly regulated. In terms of public law , the manor district had the same powers and obligations as the municipalities. The crown remained amendments, resolutions and mergers between municipalities or agricultural estates reserved. For the first time, community associations could be formed or enforced by the senior president .
Rural community
Rural communities (formerly village communities) were subject to a common local constitution. Subject to state supervision, they and the community associations were entitled to self-administration as (public) regional authorities . At the head of the administration of the rural communities was the community leader (Schulze, village judge). Two to six lay judges (Schöppen, court men, court or village jury) had to support him and represent him if he was unable to attend. In larger communities, a collegial community board could be introduced through local statutes. Community leaders and lay judges were usually elected for six years from the number of community members. The community leader was the authority of the rural community. He led their administration and representation to the outside, the supervision as well as the chairmanship in the community assembly and community representation . He had to carry out the resolutions of the community assembly. If, in his opinion, such a resolution violated the common good or the interests of the community, he was entitled and obliged to suspend the implementation of the resolution. If it was upheld after another consultation, the decision of the district committee had to be obtained. In communities with more than 40 voters, the community council was replaced by the community assembly. It consisted of the mayor, the lay judges and the town councilors, whose number had to be at least three times the number of lay judges. The head of the community also had the right of veto against the resolutions of the community council . The community leader was also an organ of the police administration with all powers and duties. The landlord had the same position in independent estate districts.
Resident rights
The inhabitants of the rural communities either only had the community membership or also the community citizenship (community law). With the exception of the non- resident military personnel, members of the rural parish were those who had a place of residence within the parish . The community members were entitled to share the public facilities and institutions of the community and obliged to participate in the community taxes and charges. Community citizens (community members) were all community members with community rights. Prerequisites were German nationality , possession of civil rights , residence for one year in the municipality, failure to receive poor relief from public funds, payment of municipal taxes and possession of a house or land in the municipality or obligation to pay state income tax . Municipal law comprised the right to vote in municipal assemblies and municipal elections, as well as the right to hold unpaid offices in the administration and representation of the municipality. Forums , legal entities , joint-stock companies , unions under mining law , registered cooperatives and the tax authorities had voting rights if they owned real estate in the municipality. The municipal taxes were based on the Municipal Tax Act of July 14, 1893. The rural municipal regulations in Hessen-Nassau (1899) and Hohenzollern (1900) were based on similar principles .
crossing
The differences in local law between urban and rural communities decreased and disappeared completely in the 1930s. With the entry into force of the German municipal code on January 30, 1935, Prussia's independent municipal law ended.
Other rural community regulations
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Prussian Landgemeindeordnung (zeno.org)
- ↑ Figures from 1871 Prussian Statistics, Issue 30, 1876, p. 59