1.
Hamm
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Hamm is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the part of the Ruhr area. As of December 2003 its population was 180,849, the city is situated between the A1 motorway and A2 motorway. Hamm railway station is an important hub for transport and renowned for its distinctive station building. The coat of arms has been in use in its present form for about 750 years and it shows the markish chessboard in red and silver on a golden field. Originally it was the coat of arms, i. e. the Counts of Mark. The chessboard and the colours are displayed in the coats of arms of further towns founded by that family line. Similarly, the colours of the city are red and white, the name Ham means corner in the old Low German dialect spoken at that time. In the old times the name thom Hamme would be used,1350 The Black death killed nearly all of the citizens. 1469 Hamm became a member of the Hanseatic League and it was one of the most powerful towns in the region, while the large cities of the todays Ruhr area still were only tiny villages. Almost all buildings were destroyed, except for the main church St. Georg,1657 Establishment of the Gynasium illustre with three faculties. 1820 The regional appeal court moves from Cleve to Hamm,1944 Coal-mine Maximillian closes after several problems with water drainage of the hole mine. 1945 First meeting of the city council after the war 1946 Establishment of the industrial court,1956 Sport airfield founded in the Lippe meadows. 1976 Coal-mine Sachsen closes 1984 First Landesgartenschau of North Rhine-Westphalia is held in Hamm, the old area of the coal-mine Maximillian was used for this purpose. The world greatest Glasselefant is built as main attraction and until today is one of the landmarks of the city. The Oberbürgermeister is elected directly for a five years term, together with the city council, in 1939,1968 and 1975 Hamm incorporated several towns and municipalities, in 1939 the village Mark and in 1968 the villages of Berge and Westtünnen. The number of more than doubles from 83.000 in 1974 to 173.000 in 1975. The following table shows the situation in 2006, every quarter is named with the prefix Hamm, like Hamm-Bockum-Hövel or Hamm-Mitte
2.
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands
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The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany. The party, led by Chairman Martin Schulz since 2017, has one of the two major contemporary political parties in Germany, along with the Christian Democratic Union. The SPD has governed at the level in Germany as part of a grand coalition with the CDU. The SPD participates in 14 state governments, nine of them governed by SPD Minister-Presidents, the SPD is a member of the Party of European Socialists and of the Socialist International, and became a founding member of the Progressive Alliance on 22 May 2013. Established in 1863, the SPD is the oldest extant political party represented in the German Parliament and was one of the first Marxist-influenced parties in the world. The General German Workers Association, founded in 1863, and the Social Democratic Workers Party, founded in 1869, merged in 1875, under the name Socialist Workers Party of Germany. From 1878 to 1890, any grouping or meeting that aimed at spreading socialist principles was banned under the Anti-Socialist Laws, in 1890, when the ban was lifted and it could again present electoral lists, the party adopted its current name. In the years leading up to World War I, the party remained ideologically radical in official principle, by 1912, the party claimed the most votes of any German party. Despite the agreement of the Second International to oppose the First World War, after 1918 the SPD played an important role in the political system of the Weimar Republic, although it took part in coalition governments only in few years. Adolf Hitler prohibited the party in 1933 under the Enabling Act – party officials were imprisoned, killed or went into exile, in exile, the party used the name Sopade. In the Soviet Zone of Occupation, the Soviets forced the Social Democrats to form a party with the Communists. In the Western zones, the Communist Party was later banned by West Germanys Federal Constitutional Court, since 1949, in the Federal Republic of Germany, the SPD has been one of the two major parties, with the other being the Christian Democratic Union. From 1969 to 1982 and 1998 to 2005 the Chancellors of Germany were Social Democrats whereas the other years the Chancellors were Christian Democrats, the SPD was established as a Marxist party in 1875. After World War II, under the leadership of Kurt Schumacher, the SPD re-established itself as a socialist party, representing the interests of the working class and the trade unions. With the Godesberg Program of 1959, however, the party evolved from a socialist working-class party to a modern social-democratic party working within capitalism. The current party platform of the SPD espouses the goal of social democracy, according to the party platform, freedom, justice, and social solidarity, form the basis of social democracy. The coordinated social market economy should be strengthened, and its output should be distributed fairly, the party sees that economic system as necessary in order to ensure the affluence of the entire population. The SPD also tries to protect the poor with a welfare state
3.
Oberbürgermeister
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The lord mayor is the title of the mayor of a major city in the United Kingdom or Commonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign. In Australia, Lord Mayor is a status granted by the monarch to mayors of major cities. Australian cities with lord mayors, Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Parramatta, Perth, Sydney, see list of cities in Australia. In Canada, the town with a lord mayor in the traditional sense is Niagara-on-the-Lake. Unusually, the council of Brantford, Ontario has taken upon itself to appoint an honorary Lord Mayor Walter Gretzky in addition to the elected mayor. This is the example of a council granting the cachet itself, rather than the cachet being granted by a higher authority. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland it is a ceremonial post conferred by letters patent. See List of lord mayoralties and lord provostships in the United Kingdom, most famously referring to the Lord Mayor of London, who only has jurisdiction over the City of London, as opposed to the modern title of Mayor of London governing Greater London. In Uganda, the jurisdiction with a lord mayor is Kampala. In the Republic of Ireland, the posts of Lord Mayor of Dublin and Lord Mayor of Cork still exist, in Denmark, as the translation of Danish Overborgmester, it is the title of the highest mayor of Denmarks capital city, Copenhagen. In Germany, it is used to translate German Oberbürgermeister. As in Austria, Germanys mayors serve as the executive leaders of their cities and are elected officials. In Romania and Moldova, the mayors of the capitals are named Primar General which means General Mayor, the name is ceremonial and it has no higher powers than mayors of other cities. In Hungary, the mayor of the capital Budapest is called főpolgármester which means chief mayor or grand mayor, only the capital has a főpolgármester. Between 1873 and 1945, the Lord Mayor of Budapest was representative of the Hungarian government at the municipal authority. In ancient China, jīng zhào yĭn was the given to the mayor of capital city. In Estonia, the mayor of the capital, was named Lord Mayor from 1938 to 1940, in Czech Republic, the mayor of the capital Prague and so-called statutory cities is called Primátor. In Sweden, the titles of mayor and lord mayor have no direct equivalent since the 1970s, the executive leader of Swedish municipalities is one of sometimes several Kommunalråd in the function of Chair of the Municipal Board
4.
Nordrhein-Westfalen
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North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with a population of approximately 18 million, and the fourth largest by area. Its capital is Düsseldorf, the most populous city is Cologne, four of Germanys ten largest cities—Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, and Essen—are located within the state, as well as the largest metropolitan area on the European continent, Rhine-Ruhr. North Rhine-Westphalia was formed in 1946 as a merger of the provinces of North Rhine and Westphalia, the state has been run by a coalition of the Social Democrats and Greens since 2010. The Ubii and some other Germanic tribes such as the Cugerni were later settled on the west side of the Rhine in the Roman province of Germania Inferior, North of the Sigambri and the Rhine region were the Bructeri. By the 8th century the Frankish dominion was established in western Germany. But at the time, to the north, Westphalia was being taken over by Saxons pushing south. The Merovingian and Carolingian Franks eventually built an empire which controlled first their Ripuarian kin, the Ottonian dynasty had both Saxon and Frankish ancestry. As the central power of the Holy Roman Emperor weakened, the Rhineland split into small independent principalities, each with its separate vicissitudes. Such struggles as the War of the Limburg Succession therefore continued to create military, Aachen was the place of coronation of the German emperors, and the ecclesiastical principalities of the Rhine bulked largely in German history. Prussia first set foot on the Rhine in 1609 by the occupation of the Duchy of Cleves and about a century later Upper Guelders and Moers also became Prussian. At the peace of Basel in 1795 the whole of the bank of the Rhine was resigned to France. In 1920, the districts of Eupen and Malmedy were transferred to Belgium, around 1 AD there were numerous incursions through Westphalia and perhaps even some permanent Roman or Romanized settlements. The Battle of Teutoburg Forest took place near Osnabrück and some of the Germanic tribes who fought at this came from the area of Westphalia. Charlemagne is thought to have spent considerable time in Paderborn and nearby parts and his Saxon Wars also partly took place in what is thought of as Westphalia today. Popular legends link his adversary Widukind to places near Detmold, Bielefeld, Lemgo, Osnabrück, Widukind was buried in Enger, which is also a subject of a legend. Along with Eastphalia and Engern, Westphalia was originally a district of the Duchy of Saxony, in 1180 Westphalia was elevated to the rank of a duchy by Emperor Barbarossa. The Duchy of Westphalia comprised only an area south of the Lippe River. Parts of Westphalia came under Brandenburg-Prussian control during the 17th and 18th centuries, the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, signed in Münster and Osnabrück, ended the Thirty Years War
5.
Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
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The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is the only federal decoration of Germany. It was created by the first President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Theodor Heuss, on 7 September 1951, and has been awarded to over 200,000 individuals in total, both Germans and foreigners. Since the 1990s the number of awards has declined from over 4,000, first to around 2, 300—2,500 per year. In recent years women have made up a steady 30—31% of recipients, colloquially, the decorations of the different classes of the Order are also known as the Federal Cross of Merit. Most of the German federal states have each their own order of merit as well, with the exception of the Free and Hanseatic Cities of Bremen and Hamburg, the order was established on 7 September 1951 by the decree of the then Federal President Theodor Heuss. It is awarded to him in a ceremony by the President of the Bundestag, attended by the Chancellor of Germany, the President of the Bundesrat, other than the German president, only a foreign head of state and their spouse can be awarded with this highest class. This Grand-Cross Special Issue has been awarded so far only twice, to former German chancellors Konrad Adenauer, the star is a golden star with straight rays, its size and points vary according to class, with the badge superimposed upon it. 8-pointed golden Star, Grand Cross Special Class 6-pointed golden Star, Grand Cross 1st Class 4-pointed golden Star, Grand Cross 2nd Class silver Square-upon-point, the riband is red with gold-black-gold stripes
6.
Verdienstorden des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen
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The Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia is a civil order of merit, of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia was founded on 11 March 1986 and it is awarded to citizens representing all segments of the population who have made extraordinary contributions to the people and state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The order is limited to 2500 living recipients, from its founding through January 2010, a total of 1357 people have been awarded the Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia. Administrative provisions to the Law on the Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia
7.
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
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The German National Library is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. The German National Library maintains co-operative external relations on a national and international level, for example, it is the leading partner in developing and maintaining bibliographic rules and standards in Germany and plays a significant role in the development of international library standards. The cooperation with publishers is regulated by law since 1935 for the Deutsche Bücherei Leipzig, duties are shared between the facilities in Leipzig and Frankfurt am Main, with each center focusing its work in specific specialty areas. A third facility has been the Deutsches Musikarchiv Berlin, which deals with all music-related archiving, since 2010 the Deutsches Musikarchiv is also located in Leipzig as an integral part of the facility there. During the German revolutions of 1848 various booksellers and publishers offered their works to the Frankfurt Parliament for a parliamentary library, the library, led by Johann Heinrich Plath, was termed the Reichsbibliothek. After the failure of the revolution the library was abandoned and the stock of books already in existence was stored at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg. In 1912, the town of Leipzig, seat of the annual Leipzig Book Fair, the Kingdom of Saxony, starting January 1,1913, all publications in German were systematically collected. In the same year, Dr. Gustav Wahl was elected as the first director, the Federal state representatives of the book trade in the American zone agreed to the proposal. The city of Frankfurt agreed to support the planned archive library with personnel, the US military government gave its approval. The Library began its work in the room of the former Rothschild library. As a result, there were two libraries in Germany, which assumed the duties and function of a library for the later GDR. Two national bibliographic catalogues almost identical in content were published annually, with the reunification of Germany on 3 October 1990, the Deutsche Bücherei Leipzig and the Deutsche Bibliothek Frankfurt am Main were merged into a new institution, The German Library. The Law regarding the German National Library came into force on 29 June 2006, the expansion of the collection brief to include online publications set the course for collecting, cataloguing and storing such publications as part of Germanys cultural heritage. The Librarys highest management body, the Administrative Council, was expanded to include two MPs from the Bundestag, the law also changed the name of the library and its buildings in Leipzig, Frankfurt am Main and Berlin to Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. In July 2000, the DMA also assumed the role as repository for GEMA, Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte, since then, music publishers only have to submit copies to DMA, which covers both national archiving and copyright registration. The 210,000 works of printed music previously held by GEMA were transferred to DMA, additionally included in the project were 30 German-language emigrant publications German-language exile journals 1933–1945, consisting of around 100,000 pages. These collections were put online in 2004 and were some of the most frequently visited sites of the German National Library, in June 2012 the German National Library discontinued access to both collections on its website for legal reasons. The digitised versions are then available for use in the reading rooms of the German National Library in Leipzig and Frankfurt am Main only
8.
Landtag Nordrhein-Westfalen
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The parliament is the central legislative body in the political system of North Rhine-Westphalia. In addition to passing of laws, its most important tasks are the election of the Minister-President of the state, the current parties of government are a coalition of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance 90/The Greens, supporting the cabinet of Minister-President Hannelore Kraft. The last state election took place on 13 May 2012, the State Parliament is the central legislative body of the state. It establishes or changes laws that fall within its authority, which includes the regulation of education, police matters. Bills can be brought before the parliament by a group or a group of at least seven members of parliament. Additionally, the government itself can bring relevant bill proposals to parliament for consideration. In practice, most bill proposals originate from the government and these generally are detailed proposals submitted in writing. If necessary, the proposal will also be delivered to external experts that are in contact with lobby groups. The specific parliamentary committees will then pass the bill with recommended decisions back to the parliament at large for a second reading. At this stage, members of parliament again make suggestions regarding the bill, each member has the ability to make suggestions to change the bill, and afterwards, the assembly will vote on each proposed amendment individually before finally voting on the entire bill. Bills are enacted by majority vote, as the constitution does not require any more stringent criteria for passage, the parliament operates by a quorum decision making process, meaning that only half of its legal members must be present. Constitutional amendments and the budget must go through the process three times, instead of the standard two. For any proposed legislature, a reading, deliberation, or committee counseling can be requested either by a party or by at least a quarter of the assembly. The President of the Parliament delivers each ratified law to the Minister-President, the law enters into force after it is written in the Law and Ordinance Record for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. Referendums in Germany are similar to bill proposals from parliament and the government in that they can be submitted by the people to parliament to undergo the same legislative process. If parliament rejects the referendum, then a plebiscite is undertaken in which the people at large can vote, a successful plebiscite leads to the referendum being passed as law. A plebiscite can also be enacted at the request of the government, in practice, this form of direct democracy does not play a large role in the legislative process. The authority of the parliament in numerous legal areas has waned in the last few decades
