Press and Information Office of the Federal Government

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Press and Information Office of the Federal Government
- BPA -

logo
State level Federation
position Supreme federal authority
founding September 16, 1949
Headquarters BerlinBerlin Berlin
Authority management Steffen Seibert , State Secretary and Government Spokesman
Servants 480 (June 1, 2019)
Budget volume € 119.3 million (as of 2019)
Web presence Federal Press Office

The Press and Information Office of the Federal Government just Bundespresseamt ( BPA ), informed citizens and the media in the country over the work of the German government and informed the latter of the news situation in Germany and worldwide. 410 employees work at the headquarters in Berlin  and 60 at the old office in Bonn . Steffen Seibert is the head of the Federal Government's Press and Information Office and spokesman for the Federal Government with the rank of (civil servant) State Secretary .

Position and duties

The Federal Government's Press and Information Office is an independent supreme federal authority that reports directly to the Federal Chancellor . As the so-called main office of the federal government for communication with the news carriers and the public opinion- forming bodies , it brings together all information from the individual federal ministries and the Federal Chancellery .

Its tasks include the

  • Informing the Federal President and the Federal Government on the entire news area (including through the Chancellor's portfolio ). Maintaining the necessary connections to news carriers at home and abroad for this purpose;
  • Research and presentation of public opinion as a decision-making aid for the political work of the Federal Government;
  • Government communication : informing citizens and the media about the politics of the federal government by presenting and explaining the activities, projects and goals of the federal government using public relations means (this applies to counter- statements even if the public relations work of federal ministries is also affected);
  • Representation of the Federal Government at press conferences , in particular at the Federal Press Conference ;
  • Coordination of the cross-departmental public relations work of the federal ministries for measures that concern matters of general political importance;
  • Organization of so-called constituency trips , officially BPA information trips for members of the Bundestag.

Political public relations abroad has been a matter for the Federal Foreign Office since the Federal Chancellor's organizational decree of October 22, 2002 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 4206 ) . Together with the Federal Foreign Office, the Press and Information Office is a partner in an administrative partnership with the European Commission and the European Parliament . Under the title action europe, this regularly advertises projects for the implementation of European public relations work in Germany. The Press and Information Office acts as a so-called intermediary and manages the advertised projects on behalf of the European Commission.

Digital image archive

The digital image archive of the Federal Government's Press and Information Office has been continuously expanded since 1949 through the work of the official photographers of the BPA. These photograph around 1200 political events per year, such as state visits, contract signing and ceremonial acts.

Image material on the political activities of the Federal Chancellor, the Federal Ministers and the Federal President, for the press and public relations work of the Federal Government is thus available.

The Federal Photo Agency's picture archive contains around two million photos. The stock of images is supplemented by purchasing or taking over individual photos or entire image archives, such as the estate of Richard Schulze-Vorberg or the archive of Georg Munker. There are currently around 300,000 images from the years since 1949 in the BPA's image database.

The image material is used, among others, by the BPA, the federal ministries and the German representations abroad, in the context of the production of brochures, other publications and for internet information. The photos are also made available for third-party publications, for newspapers, magazines, publishers, foundations and institutions. Standard image fees are payable for use.

history

The press and information office was founded on September 16, 1949, the day after the Federal Republic's first Federal Chancellor election. The first organization chart of the Federal Office of December 3, 1949 had it even as one of two divisions of the Federal Chancellery in, led by an as federal press officer designated Secretary . The press and information office became an independent authority at the latest with the appointment of its head Felix von Eckardt as State Secretary. The organizational decree of the Federal Chancellor of January 18, 1977 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 128 ), with which the separation from the Federal Chancellery was legally concluded, summed up the tasks of the FOPI for the first time.

In March 2003 over 80 employees of the former Foreign Department IV of the BPA were transferred to the Foreign Office as part of the relocation of responsibility for public relations work abroad according to BKOrgErl of October 22, 2002.

organization

The BPA is headed by Steffen Seibert. Subordinate to him are the two deputy government spokespersons, Ulrike Demmer and Martina Fietz. The former is subordinate to the Deputy Head of the BPA, Tilman Seeger ( MinDir ). The following organizational units are subordinate to this:

  • Department 1 - Central Department
    • two sub-divisions with five or four units
    • Bonn / Bonn Administration Group with two units (202 and 213)
  • Department 2 - Agency / Media Evaluation
    • two sub-departments with four sections each
  • Division 3 - Political Information
    • two sub-departments with five units each
  • Department 4 - Communication
    • two subdivisions with one section and the digital editing department or four sections

Head of Office and Government Spokesman

The head of office of the BPA is usually also the government spokesman . His official name is therefore Chief of the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government and Spokesman for the Federal Government ( popularly also Federal Press Chief or Federal Press Spokesman ). The head of the office has the rank of (civil servant) state secretary , and occasionally a federal minister for special tasks is also in charge . According to § 23 Abs. 1 GOBReg he takes part in the meetings of the federal government - if he is federal minister, he also has the right to vote. In addition, he represents the Federal Republic of Germany in and out of court in his division.

Bosses

Name (party, dates of life) Taking office Term expires held rank
Heinrich Böx ( CDU , 1905-2004) September 25, 1949 November 10, 1949
Paul Bourdin (1900–1955) November 10, 1949 February 28, 1950
Heinrich (Heinz) Brand (1887–1971) February 28, 1950 December 15, 1950
Fritz von Twardowski (1890–1970) December 16, 1950 February 15, 1952
Felix von Eckardt (CDU, 1903–1979) December 16, 1952 April 30, 1955
Edmund Forschbach (1903–1988) May 1, 1955 June 30, 1956
Felix von Eckardt (CDU, 1903–1979) July 1, 1956 June 30, 1962 (from 1958) (permanent) State Secretary
Karl-Günther von Hase (CDU, * 1917) July 1, 1962 November 14, 1967 (permanent) State Secretary
Günter Diehl (1916–1999) November 15, 1967 1969 (permanent) State Secretary
Conrad Ahlers ( SPD , 1922–1980) 1969 1972 (permanent) State Secretary
Rüdiger Freiherr von Wechmar ( FDP , 1923-2007) 16th January 1973 May 20, 1974 (permanent) State Secretary
Klaus Bölling (SPD, 1928-2014) May 20, 1974 December 15, 1980 (permanent) State Secretary
Kurt Becker (1920–1987) December 15, 1980 April 28, 1982 (permanent) State Secretary
Klaus Bölling (SPD, 1928-2014) April 29, 1982 4th October 1982 (permanent) State Secretary
Diether Stolze (1929–1990) October 12, 1982 May 19, 1983 (permanent) State Secretary
Peter Boenisch (1927-2005) May 19, 1983 June 14, 1985 (permanent) State Secretary
Friedhelm Ost (CDU, * 1942) June 21, 1985 April 21, 1989 (permanent) State Secretary
Hans Klein ( CSU , 1931–1996) April 21, 1989 December 20, 1990 Federal Minister for Special Tasks
Dieter Vogel (* 1931) 1990 February 28, 1995 (permanent) State Secretary
Peter Hausmann (CSU, * 1951) March 1, 1995 June 14, 1998 (permanent) State Secretary
Friedrich Bohl (CDU, * 1945) 1998 1998 Federal Minister for Special Tasks, Head of the Federal Chancellery and Head of the BPA
Otto Hauser (CDU, * 1952) 1998 1998 Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Chancellor and Spokesman for the Federal Government
Uwe-Karsten Heye (SPD, * 1940) 1998 2002 (permanent) State Secretary
Béla Anda (SPD, * 1963) October 2002 2005 (permanent) State Secretary
Ulrich Wilhelm (CSU, * 1961) 2005 2010 (permanent) State Secretary
Steffen Seibert (* 1960) August 11, 2010 (in office) (permanent) State Secretary

Deputy Government Spokespersons, Deputy Chiefs and Directors

Name (life dates, party) Taking office Term expires rank / function held
Wolfgang Gibowski 1991 1998 Ministerial Director and Deputy Head of the BPA
Charima Reinhardt 1998 October 2002 Deputy Spokeswoman for the Federal Government
Peter Ruhenstroth-Bauer (SPD) 1998 October 2002 Ministerial Director and Deputy Head of the BPA
Béla Anda (SPD, * 1963) February 1999 October 2002 Deputy Spokesman for the Federal Government
Hans-Hermann Langguth ( Alliance 90 / The Greens , * 1965) October 2002 2005 1. Deputy Spokesman for the Federal Government and Deputy Head of the BPA
Thomas Steg (SPD, * 1960) October 2002 October 31, 2009 2. Deputy Spokesman for the Federal Government, since 2005 Deputy Spokesman for the Federal Government and Deputy Head of the BPA
Herbert Mandelartz (SPD) November 2002 2005 Ministerial Director and Deputy Head of the BPA
Michael Sternecker Early 2006 January 2011 Ministerial Director and Deputy Head of the BPA
Klaus Vater (SPD, * 1946) July 2009 October 2009 Deputy Spokesman for the Federal Government
Christoph Steegmans (FDP, * 1971) October 2009 September 2011 Deputy Spokesman for the Federal Government and Deputy Head of the BPA
Sabine Saphörster-Heimbach (CSU) January 2010 February 2014 Deputy Spokeswoman for the Federal Government
Ingeborg Ludewigs February 2011 February 2014 Deputy Head of the BPA (successor to Sternecker)
Georg Streiter (* 1955) September 2011 March 2018 Deputy Spokesman for the Federal Government and Deputy Head of the BPA (successor to Steegmans, from 2014 to 2018 2nd Deputy Spokesman for the Federal Government)
Christiane Wirtz (* 1970) January 2014 May 2016 Deputy Spokesperson for the Federal Government and Deputy Head of the BPA (successor to Streiter as 1st Deputy Spokesperson)
Tilman Seeger April 2014 - Ministerial Director and Deputy Head of the BPA
Ulrike Demmer (* 1973) June 2016 - Deputy Spokesperson for the Federal Government and Deputy Head of the BPA (successor to Wirtz as 1st Deputy Spokesperson)
Martina Fietz (* 1959) April 2018 - Deputy Spokeswoman for the Federal Government

building

Berlin

The building at Dorotheenstrasse 84 in Berlin-Mitte

The Berlin seat of the office is housed in the former Berlin post office on Dorotheenstrasse ( government district ). An adjacent prefabricated office building from GDR times, built on the site of the “Loge Royal York” lodge building destroyed in World War II, was integrated into the office during the renovation of the post office at the end of the 1990s. To the rear, the building borders the Spree ( Reichstagufer ). A modern extension, which connects to the side of the old post office from Dorotheenstrasse to the Reichstagufer, completes the building ensemble . It was inaugurated on February 15, 2001. The office's press and visitor center, which is open to the public, is located on the bank of the Reichstag. a. Brochures from the federal government are available.

Bonn

Second office of the BPA in the federal city of Bonn

From September 1949 to May 1950 the office was located in the Villa Kurt-Schumacher-Straße 10, built in 1922/1923 in Bonn's government district , which served as the residence of the Egyptian ambassador from 1961 to 1999 . Then it moved to the Ermekeil barracks in Bonn's southern part. From 1954 to 1956, a new, two-wing, four to five-storey building was built for the Federal Press Office at Welckerstraße 11 under the direction of the Federal Building Department according to plans by Dirk Denninger . Until the relocation of the government seat to Berlin in 1999, it was the headquarters of the office. It is located in the middle of the federal quarter not far from the Bonn Chancellery (second seat). Only the Bonn / Bonn Administration Group with its subordinate units 202 and 213 are still in Bonn today.

literature

  • Wolfgang Bergsdorf : Public Relations of the Federal Government. In: Dieter Pflaum, Wolfgang Pieper (Ed.): Lexicon of Public Relations. Modern industry, Landsberg am Lech 1989.
  • Walter Henkels : The quiet servants of their masters. Government spokesman from Adenauer to Kohl. Econ Verlag, Düsseldorf 1985 ISBN 3-430-14315-2 .
  • Heinz-Dietrich Fischer (Ed.): Government Spokesman - Between Information and Secrecy. Science and politics, Cologne 1981, ISBN 3-8046-8581-1
  • Frank Böckelmann , Günter Nahr: State public relations in the change of political communication. Spiess, Berlin 1979.
  • Heiko Kretschmer: Government Communication. In: Marco Althaus et al. (Ed.): Handlexikon Public Affairs . Series: Public Affairs and Political Management ( online ).
  • Miriam Melanie Köhler, Christian H. Schuster: Handbook Government PR VS, Wiesbaden 2006 ( abstracts of the book as pdf ).

Web links

Commons : Press and Information Office of the Federal Government  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b History and tasks. In: https://www.bundesregierung.de/ . Press and Information Office of the Federal Government, 2019, accessed on August 19, 2019 .
  2. ↑ https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/service/steffen-seibert-377052
  3. ^ Draft of a law on the establishment of the federal budget for the budget year 2020. In: http://dipbt.bundestag.de/ . Federal Council, August 9, 2019, accessed on September 4, 2019 .
  4. ↑ a b Federal Budget 2019. (pdf) In: https://www.bundeshaushalt.de/ . Federal Ministry of Finance, December 17, 2018, accessed on August 19, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Federal Law Gazette I p. 128
  6. ↑ Action Europe online portal
  7. ↑ Volker Busse: Organization and structure of the Federal Chancellery - historical overview . In: Foundation House of the History of the Federal Republic of Germany (Hrsg.): The Federal Chancellor and their offices . Bonn 2006, ISBN 978-3-937086-14-9 , pp. 208-215.
  8. ^ Frank Hornig: Journalists: Speechless mouthpiece . In: Der Spiegel . tape 47 , November 18, 2002 ( spiegel.de [accessed February 12, 2019]).
  9. ↑ a b organizational chart. In: https://www.bundesregierung.de/ . Press and Information Office of the Federal Government, April 1, 2019, accessed on August 19, 2019 .
  10. ↑ http://www.bundesarchiv.de/cocoon/barch/0000/k/k1972k/kap1_1/kap2_50/index.html
  11. ↑ http://www.bundesarchiv.de/cocoon/barch/0000/k/k1973k/kap1_1/kap2_1/para3_1.html
  12. ↑ http://www.baunetz.de/mektiven/M nearly- Eroeffnung_des_Bundespresseamts_von_KSP_in_Berlin_8223.html

Coordinates: 52 ° 31 '9 "  N , 13 ° 23' 3"  E