The Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg is its own state in the Federal Republic of Germany. Hamburg is a republic, democraticwelfare state and a constitutional state. At the same time Hamburg is a municipality, there is no separation between these two administrative tasks.[2] The power to create a law is restricted by federal law.
The parliament is among other things responsible for the law, the election of the Erster Bürgermeister (First Mayor) for the election period and the control of the Senate (cabinet). The parliament is unicameral and the (currently) 123 deputies are elected in universal, direct, free, equal and secret elections every five years.[3][4]
Executive
The executive is the Senat der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg (Senate of Hamburg / cabinet). Its purpose is to enforce the laws. The senate is responsible for the day-to-day management and head of this branch is the First Mayor. The senate represents Hamburg to the federal government and other states or countries.[5]
The Senat der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg is formed by the first mayor of Hamburg,
Minister President and mayor of Hamburg. The deputy is the second mayor, who at the same time is also the senator of a ministry. The senate is permitted no more than 12 members by law. This law also regulates among other, the remuneration, pension, privilege to refuse to give evidence and the legal position of Hamburg judges. The senators get appointed by the first mayor and thereafter they need to get elected by Hamburg Parliament.[7]
The First Mayor forms the ministries, according to the coalition agreement of the ruling parties.
Until 1860 the government of Hamburg was called Rath or Rat (board/council), the members had been Ratsherrn (councillors) and Bürgermeister (Burgomaster). After a change of the Constitution of Hamburg in 1861 the government was called Hamburger Senat. The terms senate and senator are also sometimes used retrospectively when referring to the body and its members before 1861. During the Napoleonic Wars, when Hamburg was occupied and then annexed into France, the existing Hamburg council was replaced by a municipal council (conseil municipal or Munizipalrat), which existed from 1813 to 1814, when the previous constitution was reinstated.
Prior to the First World War the two mayors were elected for one-year-terms. Until 1997 the First Mayor was Primus inter pares among his colleagues in the Senate, by whom he was elected.[citation needed] Since then, he has been elected by the parliament and been able appoint and to dismiss other senators.[6]
The supreme court consists of a president of the court and 8 judges. The president and 3 judges have to be lifetime judges in Hamburg. The Diet of Hamburg elect the judges for 6 years and they can only serve two terms in total. The schedule of responsibilities are based on the constitution of Hamburg (Art. 65) and the Gesetzes über das Hamburgische Verfassungsgericht (Law of the Constitutional Court of Hamburg) (§ 14).
The professional judges of the other courts are appointed by the senate according to a nomination of a committee.[8]
Ministries
In 2018, there are eleven senators holding ministerial positions and the head of state, the First mayor.[9] A senator is the presiding minister for a Behörde (translated: 'government agency' meaning here is more ministry).
State Chancellery
The State Chancellery (German: Senatskanzlei) coordinate the senate and support the mayor. The First Mayor is head in this government agency. In 2018, the First Mayor of Hamburg is Peter Tschentscher[9] (SPD).
Ministry of Schools and Vocational Training
The Ministry of Schools and Vocational Training (German: Behörde für Schule und Berufsbildung) is responsible for managing the school system of Hamburg.
Ministry of Science, Research and Equal Opportunities
(German: Behörde für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Gleichstellung)
Ministry of the Interior and Sports
Among others the Behörde für Inneres und Sport is the oversight authority for the law enforcement agencies in Hamburg, the fire brigade, for disaster control and its units, the residents registration offices and the State Election Office.[10] The Scientology Task Force (Arbeitsgruppe Scientology) got dissolved at the end of 2010.[11]
Ministry of Finance
(German: Finanzbehörde)
Ministry of Economic Affairs, Transportation and Innovation
(German: Behörde für Wirtschaft, Verkehr und Innovation)
Ministry of Environment and Energy
(German: Behörde für Umwelt und Energie)
Ministry of Justice
The Ministry of Justice (German: Justizbehörde) is in charge of correctional facilities, the courts and the revision of laws.[12] In 2018, Till Steffen (GAL) is the Minister of Justice of Hamburg.[9]
Ministry of Health and Consumer Protection
(German: Behörde für Gesundheit und Verbraucherschutz)
Ministry of Culture, Sports and Media
On May 7, 2008 the former Ministry of Culture was renamed to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Media (German: Behörde für Kultur, Sport und Medien), and is now, among other duties, responsible for tourism, the public record office of Hamburg, the office of the protection of historical monuments, and the memorial site for the Neuengamme concentration camp.[13] In 2005 its annual budget was €212.7 million.[14]
Ministry of Employment, Social Affairs, Family Affairs and Integration
(German: Behörde für Arbeit, Soziales, Familie und Integration)
Spezialeinsatzkommando) and Mobile Surveillance Units (Mobiles Einsatzkommando).[15] The State Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Landesamt für den Verfassungsschutz) is Hamburg's domestic intelligence agency. The Ministry of the Interior has the legal and technical oversight for the law enforcement agencies.[10]
Elections for the state parliament of Hamburg are held every five years, combined with the elections of the diet of the boroughs (Bezirksversammlungen). Since 2013, also minors who are 16 or older are allowed to vote for any elections in Hamburg.[16]
The Statt Party is a minor political party which was founded in 1993. The party was elected to the Hamburg Parliament in the Hamburg state election of 1993.[19] The governing SPD and the new Statt Party formed a coalition to rule until 1997, when the party lost all seats.
The Party for a Rule of Law Offensive (Partei Rechtsstaatlicher Offensive – Offensive D) was a right-wing populist party which was represented in the Hamburg Parliament from 2001 until 2004, receiving 19.4% of votes. It is now defunct.[17][20]
Honours and awards
See also:
List of Honorary Citizens of Hamburg
The highest honour awarded by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg is honorary citizenship (Ehrenbürgerrecht). It is officially given by the senate, although the parliament must also confirm the senate's nominee. Honorary citizenship is comparable to the Freedom of the City, an honour awarded by many nations.[21]
The Golden Book consists of the signatures of especially honoured guests of Hamburg. The book, in actuality, is a golden leather-bound box and doesn't have fixed sheets. It was a gift of the family of the First Mayor
Dalai Lama signed the Golden Book during his 5th visit to Hamburg in February 2007.[25]
Decorations
Historically, Hamburg's citizens have not been legally allowed to receive
Federal Cross of Merit
, stating that he had been a Hamburg senator and, according to Hanseatic tradition, was not permitted to wear decorations.
In 1843 a fire medal was awarded to the volunteer firefighters who assisted Hamburg during the great fire that engulfed the city from 5 May 1842 until 8 May. In total 4,858 medals were awarded. The inscription on the medal states "Das Dankbare Hamburg Seinen Freunden In Der Noth" ("The grateful Hamburg in need to its friends").[28]
During World War I the Hanseatic Cross (German: Hanseatenkreuz) was awarded by the three Hanseatic Cities of Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck, who were member states of the German Empire. Each city-state established its own version of the cross, but the design and award criteria were similar for each. There were approximately 50,000 awards of the Hanseatic Cross of Hamburg.
Medallions
In 2007 the Herbert Weichmann medallion, named for the First Mayor Herbert Weichmann (in office 1965 – 1971), was granted for the first time by the city of Hamburg,[29] honoring "those—both Jewish and non-Jewish—who have contributed to Jewish life in Germany".[30] Its first recipients were Paul Spiegel (posthumous), who was a member of the executive committee of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, and Hinrich Reemtsma, whose foundation contributed €500,000 to the renovation of an old Talmud Torah school into a Jewish community centre.[29]
^Institut für Kultur- und Medienmanagement: Kulturwirtschaftsbericht 2006Archived 2008-11-09 at the Wayback Machine August 2006, Behörde für Kultur, Sport und Medien, Hamburg. Retrieved on August 13, 2008 (in German)
^ abSearch database for Hamburg state elections, Hamburger Wahlergebnisse seit 1965 (in German), Statistisches Amt für Hamburg und Schleswig-Holstein, archived from the original on 2008-06-30, retrieved 2008-09-26
^Bürgerschaftswahl 1993 (in German), Statistical office Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein (Statistisches Amt für Hamburg und Schleswig-Holstein), archived from the original on 2011-07-18, retrieved 2009-07-26
^Büschemann, Karl-Heinz (1988-06-03), "Jenseits von Soll und Haben", Die Zeit (in German) (23), Hamburg: Zeitverlag Gerd Bucerius, archived from the original on 2012-03-03, retrieved 2008-09-26, Er hat später auch viele Orden angenommen. „Sündenfälle" nannte er das.