1.
Deutsche Bank
–
Deutsche Bank AG is a German global banking and financial services company with its headquarters in the Deutsche Bank Twin Towers in Frankfurt. It has more than 100,000 employees in over 70 countries, and has a presence in Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific. In 2009, Deutsche Bank was the largest foreign exchange dealer in the world with a share of 21 percent. The company was a component of the STOXX Europe 50 stock market index until being replaced on that index on August 8,2016, the bank offers financial products and services for corporate and institutional clients along with private and business clients. Deutsche Bank’s core business is investment banking, which represents 50% of equity, 75% of leverage assets, in January 2014, Deutsche Bank reported a €1.2 billion pre-tax loss for the fourth quarter of 2013. This came after analysts had predicted a profit of nearly €600 million, revenues slipped by 16% versus the prior year. On 7 June 2015, the then co-CEOs, Juergen Fitschen and Anshu Jain, Anshu Jains resignation took effect on 30 June 2015, but he provided consultancy to the bank until January 2016. Juergen Fitschen temporarily continued as joint CEO until 19 May 2016, the appointment of John Cryan as joint CEO was announced, effective 1 July 2016, he became sole CEO at the end of Juergen Fitschens term. In January 2016, Deutsche Bank pre-announced a 2015 loss before income taxes of approximately €6.1 billion, Deutsche Bank was founded in Berlin in 1870 as a specialist bank for foreign trade. The banks statute was adopted on 22 January 1870, and on 10 March 1870 the Prussian government granted it a banking licence, three of the founders were Georg Siemens whose fathers cousin had founded Siemens and Halske, Adelbert Delbrück and L. Bamberger. Its first foray overseas came shortly afterwards, in Shanghai and London followed sometime by South America, major projects in the early years of the bank included the Northern Pacific Railroad in the US and the Baghdad Railway. In Germany, the bank was instrumental in the financing of bond offerings of steel company Krupp, the second half of the 1890s saw the beginning of a new period of expansion at Deutsche Bank. The bank formed alliances with large banks, giving itself an entrée into Germanys main industrial regions. Joint ventures were symptomatic of the then under way in the German banking industry. In addition, the bank rapidly perceived the value of specialist institutions for the promotion of foreign business, the immediate postwar period was a time of liquidations. Having already lost most of its assets, Deutsche Bank was obliged to sell other holdings. A great deal of energy went into shoring up what had been achieved, but there was new business, too, some of which was to have an impact for a long time to come. The bank played a significant role in the establishment of the production company, UFA
Deutsche Bank
–
The
Deutsche Bank Twin Towers, the headquarters of Deutsche Bank in the banking district of
Frankfurt
Deutsche Bank
–
Passion to Perform
Deutsche Bank
–
Deutsche Bank,
Sydney
Deutsche Bank
–
The
New York Stock Exchange on 9 August 2011, when Deutsche Bank's db-X Group commenced trading on
NYSE Arca.
2.
Deutsche Postbank
–
Deutsche Postbank AG is a German retail bank with headquarters in Bonn. Postbank was formed from the demerger of the postal division of Deutsche Bundespost in 1990. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Post in 1999, Deutsche Post retained a controlling stake of 50% plus one share until September 2008, when 30% of this was sold to Deutsche Bank for €2.8 billion. Deutsche Bank gained a majority stake in the firm through a tender offer completed in December 2010, in the end, the total purchase cost Deutsche Bank €6 billion. The Postscheckdienst was introduced in 1909 by the German Reich establishing accounts for payment transactions by mail and linking postal, in 1990, following the German Postal Services Restructuring Act of 1989, the German Postal Service was divided into three companies, Deutsche Post, Deutsche Telekom and Postbank. Later that year, Deutsche Post Postbank of the former East Germany was merged with Postbank, from 1990 to 1997, Dr. Guenter Schneider was chairman of the board. The first board of Postbank consisted of Guenter Schneider, Rudolf Bauer, on 1 January 1995, following the new postal reform legislation of 1994, Postbank became an independent, joint stock company. Postbank then extended operations, and engaged in loans, insurance, in 1999, Deutsche Post became the owner of Postbank. In that same year, Postbank acquired DSL Bank by the sale of the governments shares, Postbank subsidiary easytrade began offering on-line brokerage services in 2000. Postbank purchased BHF Holdings Inc. in 2001, by 2003, Postbank had 11.5 million customers, more than any other bank in Germany. On 1 January 2004 the postal bank took over the banking of the Deutsche Bank. From then on Postbank executed the clearing and settlement of Deutsche Bank and this agreement strengthened the bank’s new business field Transaction Bank in the apron of the announced Initial Public Offering. The IPO of Postbank on 23 June 2004 was the largest stock market launch in Germany for the past 2 years, on 25 October 2005 Postbank announced its intention to acquire a 76.4 percent stake of the home financing specialist, Beamten-Heimstättenwerk. With the acquisition of BHW Deutsche Postbank became Germany’s leading financial services provider for retail customers, on 1 January 2006 the purchase of BHW Holding by Deutsche Postbank was concluded. Beyond that Deutsche Postbank took over 850 branches from Deutsche Post, along with the change in ownership, around 9,600 employees switched employer, bringing Postbanks workforce to over 25,000 employees. In October 2010, Postbank put its Indian finance business up for sale
Deutsche Postbank
–
Headquarters in Bonn
3.
Frankfurt
–
The city is at the centre of the larger Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, which has a population of 5.8 million and is Germanys second-largest metropolitan region after Rhine-Ruhr. Since the enlargement of the European Union in 2013, the centre of the EU is about 40 km to the east of Frankfurts CBD. Frankfurt is culturally and ethnically diverse, with half of the population. A quarter of the population are foreign nationals, including many expatriates, Frankfurt is an alpha world city and a global hub for commerce, culture, education, tourism and traffic. Its the site of many global and European headquarters, Frankfurt Airport is among the worlds busiest. Automotive, technology and research, services, consulting, media, Frankfurts DE-CIX is the worlds largest internet exchange point. Messe Frankfurt is one of the worlds largest trade fairs, major fairs include the Frankfurt Motor Show, the worlds largest motor show, the Music Fair, and the Frankfurt Book Fair, the worlds largest book fair. Frankfurt is home to educational institutions, including the Goethe University, the UAS, the FUMPA. Its renowned cultural venues include the concert hall Alte Oper, Europes largest English Theatre and many museums, Frankfurts skyline is shaped by some of Europes tallest skyscrapers. In sports, the city is known as the home of the top football club Eintracht Frankfurt, the basketball club Frankfurt Skyliners, the Frankfurt Marathon. Its the seat of German sport unions for Olympics, football, Frankfurt is the largest financial centre in continental Europe. It is home to the European Central Bank, Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is one of the worlds largest stock exchanges by market capitalization and accounts for more than 90 percent of the turnover in the German market. Frankfurt is considered a city as listed by the GaWC groups 2012 inventory. Among global cities it was ranked 10th by the Global Power City Index 2011, among financial centres it was ranked 8th by the International Financial Centers Development Index 2013 and 9th by the Global Financial Centres Index 2013. Its central location within Germany and Europe makes Frankfurt a major air, rail, Frankfurt Airport is one of the worlds busiest international airports by passenger traffic and the main hub for Germanys flag carrier Lufthansa. Frankfurter Kreuz, the Autobahn interchange close to the airport, is the most heavily used interchange in the EU, in 2011 human-resource-consulting firm Mercer ranked Frankfurt as seventh in its annual Quality of Living survey of cities around the world. According to The Economist cost-of-living survey, Frankfurt is Germanys most expensive city, Frankfurt has many high-rise buildings in the city centre, forming the Frankfurt skyline. It is one of the few cities in the European Union to have such a skyline and because of it Germans sometimes refer to Frankfurt as Mainhattan, the other well known and obvious nickname is Bankfurt
Frankfurt
–
Collage of Frankfurt, clockwise from top of left to right: Facade of the
Römer and
Frankfurt Cathedral, statue of
Charlemagne in
Frankfurt Historical Museum, view of Frankfurt skyline and
Main River
Frankfurt
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The legend of the Frankenfurt (ford of the Franks)
Frankfurt
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Frankfurt in 1612
Frankfurt
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Frankfurt in 1872
4.
Hesse
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Hesse or Hessia is a federal state of the Federal Republic of Germany, with just over six million inhabitants. The state capital is Wiesbaden, the largest city is Frankfurt am Main, the English name Hesse originates in the Hessian dialects. The variant Hessia comes from the medieval Latin Hassia, the German term Hessen is used by the European Commission because their policy is to leave regional names untranslated. The term Hesse ultimately derives from a Germanic tribe called the Chatti, an inhabitant of Hesse is called a Hessian. The synthetic element hassium, number 108 on the table, is named after the state of Hesse. As early as the Paleolithic period, the Central Hessian region was inhabited, due to the favorable climate of the location, people lived there about 50,000 years ago during the last glacial period, as burial sites show from this era. Finds of paleolitical tools in southern Hesse in Rüsselsheim suggest Pleistocene hunters about 13,000 years ago, the Züschen tomb is a prehistoric burial monument, located between Lohne and Züschen, near Fritzlar, Hesse, Germany. Classified as a grave or a Hessian-Westphalian stone cist, it is one of the most important megalithic monuments in Central Europe. Dating to the fourth millennium BC, it belongs to the Late Neolithic Wartberg culture. An early Celtic presence in what is now Hesse is indicated by a mid-fifth-century BC La Tène style burial uncovered at Glauberg, the region was later settled by the Germanic Chatti tribe around the first century BC, and the name Hesse is a continuation of that tribal name. The ancient Romans had a camp in Dorlar, and in Waldgirmes directly on the eastern outskirts of Wetzlar was a civil settlement under construction. Presumably, the government for the occupied territories of the right bank of Germania was planned at this location. The governor of Germania, at least temporarily, likely had resided here, the settlement appears to have been abandoned by the Romans after the devastating Battle of the Teutoburg Forest failed in the year 9 AD. The Chatti were also involved in the Revolt of the Batavi in 69 AD, Hessia occupies the northwestern part of the modern German state of Hesse, its borders were not clearly delineated. Its geographic center is Fritzlar, it extends in the southeast to Hersfeld on the Fulda river, in the north to past Kassel and up to the rivers Diemel, to the west, it occupies the valleys of the rivers Eder and Lahn. It measured roughly 90 kilometers north-south, and 80 north-west, the area around Fritzlar shows evidence of significant pagan belief from the first century on. Excavations have produced a horse burial and bronze artifacts, a possible religious cult may have centered on a natural spring in Geismar, called Heilgenbron, the name Geismar itself may be derived from that spring. By 650, the Franks were establishing themselves as overlords, which is suggested by evidence of burials
Hesse
–
Arms of
Grand Duchy of Hesse
Hesse
–
Flag
Hesse
–
State chancellery building in the capital city
Wiesbaden
Hesse
–
Frankfurt am Main
5.
Germany
–
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
Germany
–
The
Nebra sky disk is dated to c. 1600 BC.
Germany
–
Flag
Germany
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Martin Luther (1483–1546) initiated the
Protestant Reformation.
Germany
–
Foundation of the
German Empire in
Versailles, 1871.
Bismarck is at the center in a white uniform.
6.
Jens Weidmann
–
Jens Weidmann is a German economist, president of the Deutsche Bundesbank, and Chairman of the Board of the Bank for International Settlements. Before assuming the top Bundesbank position in 2011, from February 2006 and he was the chief negotiator of the Federal Republic of Germany for both the summits of the G8 and the G20. He received his Diplom in economics in 1993, from 1993 to 1994, he commenced his Ph. D studies on European monetary policy under the supervision of professor Roland Vaubel at the University of Mannheim, but later transferred back to Bonn again. He received his degree under the auspices of monetary theorist Manfred J. M. Neumann in 1997. During his studies Weidmann had internships at the Banque de France, due to the resulting knowledge of the French financing sector his later career in German financial politics was welcomed in France and seen as a support of the Franco-German twin engine. His education has been characterized as specialising in monetarist economics, from 1997 to 1999, Weidmann worked at the International Monetary Fund. Until 2004 he worked as Secretary of the German Council of Economic Experts, during his time at the Council, he played a key role in compiling a 20-point plan for boosting growth and employment that formed the basis of then-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder’s Agenda 2010 reforms. From there he moved to the Bundesbank, where until 2006 he was the head of the Monetary Policy, when he started, he was the youngest department head in the German government. In February,2011, Weidmann was designated to succeed Axel A. Weber as president of the Deutsche Bundesbank. In September, with the ongoing European sovereign debt crisis, Weidmann was observed by a British commentator, David Marsh, Marsh wrote that Weidmann was saying the European Monetary Union has to go in one of two directions. Weidmann says, coolly, this is somewhat unlikely, Marsh also noted that Merkel is committed to the first course and so may come into conflict with her one-time economic adviser Weidmann. Draghi was said in the report to be courting Weidmann by, among others, Julian Callow, in May,2012, Weidmanns stance was characterized by US economist and columnist Paul Krugman as amounting to wanting to destroy the Euro. to stabilize the system. Natural Resources, Corruption, and Economic Growth, the Information Content of German Discount Rate Changes. New Hope for the Fisher Effect, asymmetry in the EMS Revisited, Evidence from the Causality Analysis of Daily Eurorates. Merkel wirbt Bundesbank Volkswirt ab, Handelsblatt,2, ehrlich, von Peter, and Mark Schieritz, Jens Weidmann, Merkels Ordnungspolitiker, FTD,2
Jens Weidmann
–
Jens Weidmann
7.
European Central Bank
–
The European Central Bank is the central bank for the euro and administers monetary policy of the eurozone, which consists of 19 EU member states and is one of the largest currency areas in the world. It is one of the worlds most important central banks and is one of the seven institutions of the European Union listed in the Treaty on European Union, the capital stock of the bank is owned by the central banks of all 28 EU member states. The Treaty of Amsterdam established the bank in 1998, and it is headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. As of 2015 the President of the ECB is Mario Draghi, former governor of the Bank of Italy, former member of the World Bank, the bank primarily occupied the Eurotower prior to, and during, the construction of the new headquarters. The primary objective of the ECB, mandated in Article 2 of the Statute of the ECB, is to price stability within the Eurozone. The ECB has, under Article 16 of its Statute, the right to authorise the issuance of euro banknotes. Member states can issue euro coins, but the amount must be authorised by the ECB beforehand, the ECB is governed by European law directly, but its set-up resembles that of a corporation in the sense that the ECB has shareholders and stock capital. Its capital is €11 billion held by the central banks of the member states as shareholders. The initial capital allocation key was determined in 1998 on the basis of the population and GDP. Shares in the ECB are not transferable and cannot be used as collateral, the European Central Bank is the de facto successor of the European Monetary Institute. The EMI itself took over from the earlier European Monetary Co-operation Fund, the bank was the final institution needed for EMU, as outlined by the EMU reports of Pierre Werner and President Jacques Delors. It was established on 1 June 1998, the first President of the Bank was Wim Duisenberg, the former president of the Dutch central bank and the European Monetary Institute. The French argued that since the ECB was to be located in Germany and this was opposed by the German, Dutch and Belgian governments who saw Duisenberg as a guarantor of a strong euro. Tensions were abated by an agreement in which Duisenberg would stand down before the end of his mandate. Trichet replaced Duisenberg as President in November 2003, there had also been tension over the ECBs Executive Board, with the United Kingdom demanding a seat even though it had not joined the Single Currency. Under pressure from France, three seats were assigned to the largest members, France, Germany, and Italy, Spain also demanded and obtained a seat. Despite such a system of appointment the board asserted its independence early on in resisting calls for interest rates, when the ECB was created, it covered a Eurozone of eleven members. On 1 December 2009, the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force, ECB according to the article 13 of TEU, on 1 November 2011, Mario Draghi replaced Jean-Claude Trichet as President of the ECB
European Central Bank
–
Seat
European Central Bank
–
Seat of the European Central Bank
European Central Bank
–
Wim Duisenberg, first President of the ECB
European Central Bank
–
Mario Draghi, the current President of the ECB
8.
East Germany
–
East Germany, formally the German Democratic Republic, was an Eastern Bloc state during the Cold War period. The Soviet zone surrounded West Berlin, but did not include it, as a result, the German Democratic Republic was established in the Soviet Zone, while the Federal Republic was established in the three western zones. East Germany, which lies culturally in Central Germany, was a state of the Soviet Union. Soviet occupation authorities began transferring administrative responsibility to German communist leaders in 1948, Soviet forces, however, remained in the country throughout the Cold War. Until 1989, the GDR was governed by the Socialist Unity Party, though other parties participated in its alliance organisation. The economy was centrally planned, and increasingly state-owned, prices of basic goods and services were set by central government planners, rather than rising and falling through supply and demand. Although the GDR had to pay war reparations to the USSR. Nonetheless it did not match the growth of West Germany. Emigration to the West was a significant problem—as many of the emigrants were well-educated young people, the government fortified its western borders and, in 1961, built the Berlin Wall. Many people attempting to flee were killed by guards or booby traps. In 1989, numerous social and political forces in the GDR and abroad led to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the following year open elections were held, and international negotiations led to the signing of the Final Settlement treaty on the status and borders of Germany. The GDR was dissolved and Germany was unified on 3 October 1990, internally, the GDR also bordered the Soviet sector of Allied-occupied Berlin known as East Berlin which was also administered as the states de facto capital. It also bordered the three sectors occupied by the United States, United Kingdom and France known collectively as West Berlin. The three sectors occupied by the Western nations were sealed off from the rest of the GDR by the Berlin Wall from its construction in 1961 until it was brought down in 1989, the official name was Deutsche Demokratische Republik, usually abbreviated to DDR. West Germans, the media and statesmen purposely avoided the official name and its abbreviation, instead using terms like Ostzone, Sowjetische Besatzungszone. The centre of power in East Berlin was referred to as Pankow. Over time, however, the abbreviation DDR was also used colloquially by West Germans. However, this use was not always consistent, for example, before World War II, Ostdeutschland was used to describe all the territories east of the Elbe, as reflected in the works of sociologist Max Weber and political theorist Carl Schmitt
East Germany
–
GDR leaders: President
Wilhelm Pieck and Prime Minister
Otto Grotewohl, 1949
East Germany
–
Flag (1959–1990)
East Germany
–
SED First Secretary,
Walter Ulbricht, 1950
East Germany
–
Head of State:
Erich Honecker (1971–89)
9.
Reunification of Germany
–
The end of the unification process is officially referred to as German unity, celebrated on 3 October. Following German reunification, Berlin was once designated as the capital of united Germany. The East German regime started to falter in May 1989, when the removal of Hungarys border fence with Austria opened a hole in the Iron Curtain and it caused an exodus of thousands of East Germans fleeing to West Germany and Austria via Hungary. The united Germany is the continuation of the Federal Republic. For political and diplomatic reasons, West German politicians carefully avoided the term reunification during the run-up to what Germans frequently refer to as die Wende, after 1990, the term die Wende became more common. The term generally refers to the events led up to the actual reunification, in its usual context. When referring to the events surrounding unification, however, it carries the connotation of the time. However, anti-communist activists from Eastern Germany rejected the term Wende as it was introduced by SEDs Secretary General Egon Krenz, the capital city of Berlin was divided into four occupied sectors of control, under the Soviet Union, the United States, the United Kingdom and France. Germans lived under such imposed divisions throughout the ensuing Cold War, into the 1980s, the Soviet Union experienced a period of economic and political stagnation, and they correspondingly decreased intervention in Eastern Bloc politics. In 1987, US President Ronald Reagan gave a speech at Brandenburg Gate challenging Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down this wall that had separated Berlin. The wall had stood as an icon for the political and economic division between East and West, a division that Churchill had referred to as the Iron Curtain. In early 1989, under a new era of Soviet policies of glasnost, perestroika and taken to more progressive levels by Gorbachev. Further inspired by images of brave defiance, a wave of revolutions swept throughout the Eastern Bloc that year. In May 1989, Hungary removed their border fence and thousands of East Germans escaped to the West, however, events rapidly came to a head in early 1990. First, in March, the Party of Democratic Socialism—the former Socialist Unity Party of Germany—was heavily defeated in East Germanys first free elections. A grand coalition was formed under Lothar de Maizière, leader of the East German wing of Kohls Christian Democratic Union, on a platform of speedy reunification, second, East Germanys economy and infrastructure underwent a swift and near-total collapse. While East Germany had long been reckoned as having the most robust economy in the Soviet bloc, the East German mark had been practically worthless outside East Germany for some time before the events of 1989–90 further magnified the problem. Discussions immediately began for a merger of the German economies
Reunification of Germany
–
Berlin Wall at the
Brandenburg Gate, 10 November 1989
Reunification of Germany
–
Map showing the division of
East and
West Germany until 1990, with
West Berlin in yellow.
Reunification of Germany
–
Brandenburg Gate in
Berlin, national symbol of today's
Germany and its reunification in 1990.
Reunification of Germany
–
Police officers of the East German
Volkspolizei wait for the official opening of the
Brandenburg Gate on 22 December 1989.
10.
Central bank
–
A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages a states currency, money supply, and interest rates. Central banks also usually oversee the commercial banking system of their respective countries, Central banks in most developed nations are institutionally designed to be independent from political interference. Still, limited control by the executive and legislative bodies usually exists, prior to the 17th century most money was commodity money, typically gold or silver. However, promises to pay were widely circulated and accepted as value at least five hundred years earlier in both Europe and Asia. The Song dynasty was the first to issue generally circulating paper currency, in 1455, in an effort to control inflation, the succeeding Ming Dynasty ended the use of paper money and closed much of Chinese trade. The Bank of Amsterdam, established in the Dutch Republic in 1609, is considered to be the forerunner to modern central banks. The Wisselbanks innovations helped lay the foundations for the birth and development of the banking system that now plays a vital role in the worlds economy. Along with a number of local banks, it performed many functions of a central banking system. Lucien Gillard calls it the European guilder, and Adam Smith devotes many pages to explaining how the bank guilder works, the model of the Wisselbank as a state bank was adapted throughout Europe, including the Bank of Sweden and the Bank of England. Established by Dutch-Latvian Johan Palmstruch in 1668, Sveriges Riksbank is often considered by many as the worlds oldest central bank, the lenders would give the government cash and also issue notes against the government bonds, which could be lent again. A Royal Charter was granted on 27 July through the passage of the Tonnage Act 1694, the bank was given exclusive possession of the governments balances, and was the only limited-liability corporation allowed to issue banknotes. The £1. 2M was raised in 12 days, half of this was used to rebuild the Navy and these modern central banking functions evolved slowly through the 18th and 19th centuries. The currency crisis of 1797, caused by panicked depositors withdrawing from the Bank led to the government suspending convertibility of notes into specie payment. The bank was accused by the bullionists of causing the exchange rate to fall from over issuing banknotes. Nevertheless, it was clear that the Bank was being treated as an organ of the state, henry Thornton, a merchant banker and monetary theorist has been described as the father of the modern central bank. An opponent of the real bills doctrine, he was a defender of the bullionist position, thorntons process of monetary expansion anticipated the theories of Knut Wicksell regarding the cumulative process which restates the Quantity Theory in a theoretically coherent form. Until the mid-nineteenth century, commercial banks were able to issue their own banknotes, many consider the origins of the central bank to lie with the passage of the Bank Charter Act of 1844. Under this law, authorisation to issue new banknotes was restricted to the Bank of England, at the same time, the Bank of England was restricted to issue new banknotes only if they were 100% backed by gold or up to £14 million in government debt
Central bank
–
Public finance
Central bank
–
The old town hall in Amsterdam where the
Bank of Amsterdam was founded in 1609, painting by
Pieter Saenredam.
Central bank
–
The sealing of the Bank of England Charter (1694).
Central bank
–
The
Bank of England, established in 1694.
11.
European System of Central Banks
–
The European System of Central Banks consists of the European Central Bank and the national central banks of all 28 member states of the European Union. The ESCB is not the authority of the eurozone, because not all EU member states have joined the euro. That role is performed by the Eurosystem, which includes the central banks of the 19 member states that have adopted the euro. The ESCBs objective is price stability throughout the European Union, secondarily, the ESCBs goal is to improve monetary and financial cooperation between the Eurosystem and member states outside the eurozone. The process of decision-making in the Eurosystem is centralized through the bodies of the ECB, namely the Governing Council. As long as there are EU member states which have not adopted the euro, a third decision-making body, the General Council comprises the President and the Vice-President and the governors of the NCBs of all 28 Member States. The ESCB is composed of the European Central Bank and the central banks of all 28 member states of the European Union. The first section of the following list lists member states and their central banks that form the Eurosystem, the second section lists member states and their central banks that maintain separate currencies. European Central Bank ECB – The General Council Organisation and operation of the ECB CVCE
European System of Central Banks
–
ESCB
12.
Deutsche Mark
–
The Deutsche Mark, abbreviated DM or D-Mark, was the official currency of West Germany and unified Germany until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, but not in German, it is called the Deutschmark. Mark coins and banknotes continued to be accepted as valid forms of payment in Germany until 28 February 2002. However, in 2012, it was estimated that as many as 13.2 billion marks were in circulation, with polls showing a narrow majority of Germans favouring the currencys restoration. The Deutsche Bundesbank has guaranteed that all German marks in form may be changed into euros indefinitely. Banknotes and coins can even be sent to the Bundesbank by mail, on 31 December 1998, the Council of the European Union fixed the irrevocable exchange rate, effective 1 January 1999, for German mark to euros as DM1.95583 = €1. One Deutsche Mark was divided into 100 Pfennig, a mark had been the currency of Germany since its original unification in 1871. Before that time, the different German states issued a variety of different currencies, though most were linked to the Vereinsthaler, a silver coin containing 16 2⁄3 grams of pure silver. Although the mark was based on rather than silver, a fixed exchange rate between the Vereinsthaler and the mark of 3 marks =1 Vereinsthaler was used for the conversion. The first mark, known as the Goldmark, was introduced in 1873, with the outbreak of World War I, the mark was taken off the gold standard. The currency thus became known as the Papiermark, especially as inflation, then hyperinflation occurred. The Papiermark was replaced by the Rentenmark from November 15,1923, due to the strains between the Allies each zone was governed independently as regards monetary matters. The US occupation policy was governed by the directive JCS1067, as a consequence a separate monetary reform in the U. S. zone was not possible. Each of the Allies printed its own occupation currency, the Deutsche Mark was officially introduced on Sunday, June 20,1948 by Ludwig Erhard. Large amounts were exchanged for RM10 to 65 Pfennig, in addition, each person received a per capita allowance of DM60 in two parts, the first being DM40 and the second DM20. A few weeks later Erhard, acting against orders, issued an edict abolishing many economic controls which had been implemented by the Nazis. He did this, as he confessed, on Sunday because the offices of the American, British. He was sure if he had done it when they were open
Deutsche Mark
–
DM 10
banknote.
Deutsche Mark
–
100 trillion mark in
German papiermark, the highest denomination issued.
Deutsche Mark
–
Obverse view of the 2001 special gold issue of the DM 1 coin
Deutsche Mark
–
One Deutsche Mark (1948), first series,
Allied military issue.
13.
Reichsbank
–
The Reichsbank was the central bank of Germany from 1876 until 1945. It was founded on 1 January 1876, the Reichsbank was a privately owned central bank of Prussia, under close control by the Reich government. Its first president was Hermann von Dechend, before unification in 1871, Germany had 31 central banks – the Notenbanken. Each of the independent states issued their own money, in 1870, a law was passed that forbade the formation of further central banks. In 1874, a banking law was introduced in the Reichstag. After several changes and compromises, the law was passed in 1875, despite the creation of the Reichsbank, however, four of the Notenbanken – Baden, Bavaria, Saxony and Württemberg – continued to exist until 1914. The history of the Reichsbank was volatile, until World War I it produced a very stable currency called the Goldmark. The expenses of the war caused inflationary pressure and the mark started to decrease in value, the mark, formerly backed by gold, evolved into the Papiermark, backed by nothing. One of the key reforms caused by the Dawes Plan was the establishment of the Reichsbank as an independent of the Reich government. On 30 August 1924, the Reichsbank began issuing the Reichsmark, the seizure and consolidation of power by the Nazis during the years of the Third Reich also greatly affected the Reichsbank. The defeat of Nazi Germany in May 1945 also resulted in the dissolution of the Reichsbank, along with other Reich ministries, the explanation of the disappearance of the Reichsbank reserves in 1945 was uncovered by Bill Stanley Moss and Andrew Kennedy, in post War Germany. Similarly the Abwehr cash reserves were hidden nearby in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, shortly after the American forces overran the area, the reserves and money disappeared. Funk would be tried and convicted of war crimes at the Nuremberg trials, not least for receiving money and goods stolen from Jewish, gold teeth extracted from the mouths of victims were found in 1945 in the vaults of the bank in Berlin. The Allied occupation authorities became responsible for German monetary policy in the postwar years. In this role, the Allies continued to issue Reichsmarks as the German banking system was gradually restored, in 1948, the Reichsmark ceased to exist owing to the introduction of the Deutsche Mark in the West and the East German mark in the East. In West Germany, monetary policy was taken over by the Bank deutscher Länder and later by the Deutsche Bundesbank, in East Germany, this role was assumed by the Deutsche Notenbank (later renamed as the Staatsbank der DDR
Reichsbank
–
A 100-
Goldmark banknote issued by the German Reichsbank in 1908 (http://www.germannotes.com)
Reichsbank
–
A 10000 Mark banknote issued by the German Reichsbank in 1922. A watermark is present, but not visible in scanned image.
Reichsbank
–
As Minister of Economics,
Walther Funk accelerated the pace of rearmament and as Reichsbank president banked for the SS the confiscated
gold rings of
Buchenwald prisoners
Reichsbank
–
Nazi gold in
Merkers Salt Mine
14.
Reichsmark
–
The Reichsmark was subdivided into 100 Reichspfennig. The Mark is an ancient Germanic weight measure, traditionally a half pound, from 1871 to 1918 Germany was called the Kaiserreich, or the Deutsches Reich. Although Germany became a republic in 1919, the term Reich remained part of the official name. The Reichsmark was introduced in 1924 as a permanent replacement for the Papiermark and this was necessary due to the 1920s German inflation which had reached its peak in 1923. The exchange rate between the old Papiermark and the Reichsmark was 1 ℛℳ =1012 Papiermark, the Reichsmark was put on the gold standard at the rate previously used by the Goldmark, with the U. S. dollar worth 4.2 ℛℳ. As the market crash of 1929 expanded into the Great Depression and it retained a gold peg at that time. Hyper inflation ensued to the point it was cheaper to burn reichsmark paper notes than to buy fire wood, a number of companies were created with inadequate capital for their operations and authorized to issue bonds exchangeable at a 1,1 rate for Reichsmarks and sold at a discount. The Reichsbank rediscounted the bills of these companies creating a monetary expansion without formally renouncing the link to gold, Deutsche Gesellschaft für öffentliche Arbeiten AG, founded 1 August 1930, ended up issuing 1.26 billion Reichsmarks of Öffa bills to finance public construction. It formed the model for further fraudulent issues of bills. MEFO was a company that was formed with relatively small amounts of capital that was used to finance German rearmament off the books. It issued bills without backing by its own resources but which were guaranteed redeemable at 1,1 for Reichsmarks for five years by the government, the MEFO bills amounts were considered a state secret and were an important element in the impression that Hitlerian economics was a success. This company essentially created an amount of Reichsmarks off the books. With the unification of Germany and Austria in 1938, the Reichsmark replaced the Schilling in Austria. The rates were as follows, After the Second World War, the Reichsmark continued to circulate in Germany, in practice, massive inflation dating back to the latter stages of the war had rendered the Reichsmark nearly worthless. For all intents and purposes, it was supplanted by a barter economy, the Reichsmark was replaced in June 1948 by the Deutsche Mark in the Trizone and later in the same year by the East German Mark in East Germany. Tenenbaum of the US military government, and was executed abruptly on 21 June 1948, three days later, the new currency also replaced the Reichsmark in the three Western sectors of Berlin. In November 1945, the Reichsmark was superseded by the Allied Military Schilling in Austria, in 1947 a local currency was introduced in the Saar. In 1924, coins were introduced in denominations of 1,2,5,10, and 50 Reichspfennig, the 1 and 2 Reichspfennig were struck in bronze, and depicting a wheat sheaf
Reichsmark
–
2 ℛℳ—coin with
Paul von Hindenburg
Reichsmark
–
Prewar bronze Reichspfening. (obverse)
15.
Western Powers
–
The Western world or the West is a term usually referring to different nations, depending on the context, most often including at least part of Europe. There are many accepted definitions about what they all have in common, the Western world is also known as the Occident. The concept of the Western part of the earth has its roots in Greco-Roman civilization in Europe, before the Cold War era, the traditional Western viewpoint identified Western Civilization with the Western Christian countries and culture. Its political usage was changed by the antagonism during the Cold War in the mid-to-late 20th Century. The term originally had a literal geographic meaning, Western culture was influenced by many older great civilizations of the ancient Near East, such as Phoenicia, Minoan Crete, Sumer, Babylonia, and also Ancient Egypt. It originated in the Mediterranean basin and its vicinity, Greece, over time, their associated empires grew first to the east and west to include the rest of Mediterranean and Black Sea coastal areas, conquering and absorbing. Later, they expanded to the north of the Mediterranean Sea to include Western, Central, numerous times, this expansion was accompanied by Christian missionaries, who attempted to proselytize Christianity. There is debate among some as to whether Latin America is in a category of its own, specifically, Western culture may imply, a Biblical Christian cultural influence in spiritual thinking, customs and either ethic or moral traditions, around the Post-Classical Era and after. European cultural influences concerning artistic, musical, folkloric, ethic and oral traditions, the concept of Western culture is generally linked to the classical definition of the Western world. In this definition, Western culture is the set of literary, scientific, political, artistic, much of this set of traditions and knowledge is collected in the Western canon. The term has come to apply to countries whose history is marked by European immigration or settlement, such as the Americas, and Oceania. The geopolitical divisions in Europe that created a concept of East and West originated in the Roman Empire, Roman Catholic Western and Central Europe, as such, maintained a distinct identity particularly as it began to redevelop during the Renaissance. Even following the Protestant Reformation, Protestant Europe continued to see itself as more tied to Roman Catholic Europe than other parts of the civilized world. Use of the term West as a cultural and geopolitical term developed over the course of the Age of Exploration as Europe spread its culture to other parts of the world. Additionally, closer contacts between the West and Asia and other parts of the world in recent times have continued to cloud the use, herodotus considered the Persian Wars of the early 5th century BC a conflict of Europa versus Asia. The terms West and East were not used by any Greek author to describe that conflict, the Great Schism and the Fourth Crusade confirmed this deviation. The Renaissance in the West emerged partly from currents within the Roman Empire, Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a city-state founded on the Italian Peninsula about the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. In its 12-century existence, Roman civilization shifted from a monarchy, to a republic, nonetheless, despite its great legacy, a number of factors led to the eventual decline of the Roman Empire
Western Powers
–
The
Parthenon (
Athens).
Western Powers
–
The
Roman Forum (
Rome).
Western Powers
–
The
Supreme Court of the United States (
Washington, D.C.).
Western Powers
–
The
National Assembly (
Paris).
16.
Frankfurt am Main
–
The city is at the centre of the larger Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, which has a population of 5.8 million and is Germanys second-largest metropolitan region after Rhine-Ruhr. Since the enlargement of the European Union in 2013, the centre of the EU is about 40 km to the east of Frankfurts CBD. Frankfurt is culturally and ethnically diverse, with half of the population. A quarter of the population are foreign nationals, including many expatriates, Frankfurt is an alpha world city and a global hub for commerce, culture, education, tourism and traffic. Its the site of many global and European headquarters, Frankfurt Airport is among the worlds busiest. Automotive, technology and research, services, consulting, media, Frankfurts DE-CIX is the worlds largest internet exchange point. Messe Frankfurt is one of the worlds largest trade fairs, major fairs include the Frankfurt Motor Show, the worlds largest motor show, the Music Fair, and the Frankfurt Book Fair, the worlds largest book fair. Frankfurt is home to educational institutions, including the Goethe University, the UAS, the FUMPA. Its renowned cultural venues include the concert hall Alte Oper, Europes largest English Theatre and many museums, Frankfurts skyline is shaped by some of Europes tallest skyscrapers. In sports, the city is known as the home of the top football club Eintracht Frankfurt, the basketball club Frankfurt Skyliners, the Frankfurt Marathon. Its the seat of German sport unions for Olympics, football, Frankfurt is the largest financial centre in continental Europe. It is home to the European Central Bank, Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is one of the worlds largest stock exchanges by market capitalization and accounts for more than 90 percent of the turnover in the German market. Frankfurt is considered a city as listed by the GaWC groups 2012 inventory. Among global cities it was ranked 10th by the Global Power City Index 2011, among financial centres it was ranked 8th by the International Financial Centers Development Index 2013 and 9th by the Global Financial Centres Index 2013. Its central location within Germany and Europe makes Frankfurt a major air, rail, Frankfurt Airport is one of the worlds busiest international airports by passenger traffic and the main hub for Germanys flag carrier Lufthansa. Frankfurter Kreuz, the Autobahn interchange close to the airport, is the most heavily used interchange in the EU, in 2011 human-resource-consulting firm Mercer ranked Frankfurt as seventh in its annual Quality of Living survey of cities around the world. According to The Economist cost-of-living survey, Frankfurt is Germanys most expensive city, Frankfurt has many high-rise buildings in the city centre, forming the Frankfurt skyline. It is one of the few cities in the European Union to have such a skyline and because of it Germans sometimes refer to Frankfurt as Mainhattan, the other well known and obvious nickname is Bankfurt
Frankfurt am Main
–
Collage of Frankfurt, clockwise from top of left to right: Facade of the
Römer and
Frankfurt Cathedral, statue of
Charlemagne in
Frankfurt Historical Museum, view of Frankfurt skyline and
Main River
Frankfurt am Main
–
The legend of the Frankenfurt (ford of the Franks)
Frankfurt am Main
–
Frankfurt in 1612
Frankfurt am Main
–
Frankfurt in 1872
17.
Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany
–
The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany is the constitutional law of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Basic Law was approved on 8 May 1949 in Bonn and its original field of application comprised the states of the Trizone that were initially included in the then West German Federal Republic of Germany, but not West Berlin. As part of the Two Plus Four Agreement of 1990 between the two parts of Germany and all four Allied Powers, a series of amendments were agreed to be implemented. In the subsequent Unification Treaty of 1990, this amended Basic Law was adopted as the constitution for a united Germany, the German word Grundgesetz may be translated as either Basic Law or Fundamental Law. Nevertheless, although the amended Basic Law was finally to be approved in 1990 by the full Allied Powers, the authors of the Basic Law sought to ensure that a potential dictator would never again have the chance to come into power in the country. Although some of the Basic Law is based on the Weimar republic constitution, Fundamental rights are guaranteed in Germany by the Federal Constitution and in some state constitutions. In the Basic Law, most fundamental rights are guaranteed in the first section of the same name and they are subjective public rights with constitutional rank which bind all authorities of the state. Hence, these rights are called the rights identical to fundamental rights, since initially the Basic Law did not apply for all of Germany, its legal provisions were only valid in its field of application. This legal term was used in West German legislation when West German laws did not apply to the entirety of Germany. Article 23 of the Basic Law provided other de jure German states, initially not included in the field of application of the Basic Law, therefore, although the Basic Law was considered provisional, it allowed more parts of Germany to join its field of application. In other parts of Germany it shall be put into force on their accession, the Saar held no separate referendum on its accession. The Communist regime in East Germany fell in 1990, East Germanys declaration of accession included the East German territories into the field of application of the Basic Law. After the changes of the Basic Law, mostly pertaining to the accession in 1990, the negotiations ended with the conclusion that a democratic and federal West German state was to be established. These papers—amongst other points—summoned the Ministerpräsidenten to arrange a constitutional assembly, with the specific request of a federal structure of a future German state the Western Powers followed German constitutional tradition since the foundation of the Reich in 1871. The Ministerpräsidenten were reluctant to fulfill what was expected from them, a few days later they convened a conference of their own on Rittersturz ridge near Koblenz. They decided that any of the Frankfurt requirements should only be implemented in a formally provisional way, so the constitutional assembly was to be called Parlamentarischer Rat and the constitution given the name of Grundgesetz instead of calling it a constitution. The Ministerpräsidenten prevailed and the Western Powers gave in concerning this highly symbolic question, the draft was prepared at the preliminary Herrenchiemsee convention on the Herreninsel in the Chiemsee, a lake in southeastern Bavaria. The delegates at the Convention were appointed by the leaders of the newly formed Länder, on 1 September 1948 the Parlamentarischer Rat began working on the exact wording of the Grundgesetz
Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany
–
Article 1, sentence 1: "Human dignity is inviolable".
Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany
–
The West German
minister-presidents debating the Frankfurt Documents in Koblenz
Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany
–
German stamp commemorating the work of the Parlamentarischer Rat
Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany
–
Shielded from any public on the secluded
Herreninsel (Isle of Lords) in a
Bavarian lake the
Constitutional Convention at Herrenchiemsee, held in summer 1948 at the monastery
Herrenchiemsee Abbey, draw up the draft for the basic law, central part of the constitution of
Germany.
18.
Fall of the Berlin Wall
–
The Berlin Wall was a guarded concrete barrier that physically and ideologically divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. Its demolition officially began on 13 June 1990 and was completed in 1992, the barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area that contained anti-vehicle trenches, fakir beds and other defenses. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the Wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the will of the people in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that had marked East Germany, the West Berlin city government sometimes referred to it as the Wall of Shame—a term coined by mayor Willy Brandt—while condemning the Walls restriction on freedom of movement. Between 1961 and 1989, the Wall prevented almost all such emigration, during this period, around 5,000 people attempted to escape over the Wall, with an estimated death toll ranging from 136 to more than 200 in and around Berlin. After several weeks of civil unrest, the East German government announced on 9 November 1989 that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany, crowds of East Germans crossed and climbed onto the Wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere. Over the next few weeks, euphoric people and souvenir hunters chipped away parts of the Wall, contrary to popular belief the Walls actual demolition did not begin until the summer of 1990 and was not completed until 1992. The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification, the capital of Berlin, as the seat of the Allied Control Council, was similarly subdivided into four sectors despite the citys location, which was fully within the Soviet zone. Within two years, political divisions increased between the Soviets and the occupying powers. Property and industry was nationalized in the East German zone, if statements or decisions deviated from the described line, reprimands and punishment would ensue, such as imprisonment, torture and even death. Indoctrination of Marxism-Leninism became a part of school curricula, sending professors. The East Germans created a political police apparatus that kept the population under close surveillance. In 1948, following disagreements regarding reconstruction and a new German currency, Stalin instituted the Berlin Blockade, preventing food, materials and supplies from arriving in West Berlin. The United States, Britain, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and several countries began a massive airlift, supplying West Berlin with food. The Soviets mounted a public campaign against the Western policy change. Communists attempted to disrupt the elections of 1948, preceding large losses therein, in May 1949, Stalin lifted the blockade, permitting the resumption of Western shipments to Berlin. The German Democratic Republic was declared on 7 October 1949, by a secret treaty, the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs accorded the East German state administrative authority, but not autonomy. The Soviets permeated East German administrative, military and secret police structures and had full control, East Germany differed from West Germany, which developed into a Western capitalist country with a social market economy and a democratic parliamentary government
Fall of the Berlin Wall
–
View from the West Berlin side of
graffiti art on the wall in 1986. The wall's "death strip", on the east side of the wall, here follows the curve of the
Luisenstadt Canal (filled in 1932).
Fall of the Berlin Wall
–
Satellite image of Berlin, with the wall's location marked in yellow
Fall of the Berlin Wall
–
East German
Combat Groups of the Working Class close the border on 13 August 1961 in preparation of the Berlin Wall construction.
Fall of the Berlin Wall
–
East German construction workers building the Berlin Wall, 20 November 1961.
19.
West Germany
–
West Germany is the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation on 23 May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990. During this Cold War era, NATO-aligned West Germany and Warsaw Pact-aligned East Germany were divided by the Inner German border, after 1961 West Berlin was physically separated from East Berlin as well as from East Germany by the Berlin Wall. This situation ended when East Germany was dissolved and its five states joined the ten states of the Federal Republic of Germany along with the reunified city-state of Berlin. With the reunification of West and East Germany, the Federal Republic of Germany, enlarged now to sixteen states and this period is referred to as the Bonn Republic by historians, alluding to the interwar Weimar Republic and the post-reunification Berlin Republic. The Federal Republic of Germany was established from eleven states formed in the three Allied Zones of occupation held by the United States, the United Kingdom and France, US and British forces remained in the country throughout the Cold War. Its population grew from roughly 51 million in 1950 to more than 63 million in 1990, the city of Bonn was its de facto capital city. The fourth Allied occupation zone was held by the Soviet Union, as a result, West Germany had a territory about half the size of the interbellum democratic Weimar Republic. At the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided among the Western and Eastern blocs, Germany was de facto divided into two countries and two special territories, the Saarland and divided Berlin. The Federal Republic of Germany claimed a mandate for all of Germany. It took the line that the GDR was an illegally constituted puppet state, though the GDR did hold regular elections, these were not free and fair. For all practical purposes the GDR was a Soviet puppet state, from the West German perspective the GDR was therefore illegitimate. Three southwestern states of West Germany merged to form Baden-Württemberg in 1952, in addition to the resulting ten states, West Berlin was considered an unofficial de facto 11th state. It recognised the GDR as a de facto government within a single German nation that in turn was represented de jure by the West German state alone. From 1973 onward, East Germany recognised the existence of two German countries de jure, and the West as both de facto and de jure foreign country, the Federal Republic and the GDR agreed that neither of them could speak in the name of the other. The first chancellor Konrad Adenauer, who remained in office until 1963, had worked for an alignment with NATO rather than neutrality. He not only secured a membership in NATO but was also a proponent of agreements that developed into the present-day European Union, when the G6 was established in 1975, there was no question whether the Federal Republic of Germany would be a member as well. With the collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, symbolised by the opening of the Berlin Wall, East Germany voted to dissolve itself and accede to the Federal Republic in 1990. Its five post-war states were reconstituted along with the reunited Berlin and they formally joined the Federal Republic on 3 October 1990, raising the number of states from 10 to 16, ending the division of Germany
West Germany
–
Konrad Adenauer in parliament, 1955
West Germany
–
Flag
West Germany
–
Rudi Dutschke, student leader.
West Germany
–
The
Volkswagen Beetle – for many years the most successful car in the world – on the assembly line in Wolfsburg factory, 1973.
20.
German Democratic Republic
–
East Germany, formally the German Democratic Republic, was an Eastern Bloc state during the Cold War period. The Soviet zone surrounded West Berlin, but did not include it, as a result, the German Democratic Republic was established in the Soviet Zone, while the Federal Republic was established in the three western zones. East Germany, which lies culturally in Central Germany, was a state of the Soviet Union. Soviet occupation authorities began transferring administrative responsibility to German communist leaders in 1948, Soviet forces, however, remained in the country throughout the Cold War. Until 1989, the GDR was governed by the Socialist Unity Party, though other parties participated in its alliance organisation. The economy was centrally planned, and increasingly state-owned, prices of basic goods and services were set by central government planners, rather than rising and falling through supply and demand. Although the GDR had to pay war reparations to the USSR. Nonetheless it did not match the growth of West Germany. Emigration to the West was a significant problem—as many of the emigrants were well-educated young people, the government fortified its western borders and, in 1961, built the Berlin Wall. Many people attempting to flee were killed by guards or booby traps. In 1989, numerous social and political forces in the GDR and abroad led to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the following year open elections were held, and international negotiations led to the signing of the Final Settlement treaty on the status and borders of Germany. The GDR was dissolved and Germany was unified on 3 October 1990, internally, the GDR also bordered the Soviet sector of Allied-occupied Berlin known as East Berlin which was also administered as the states de facto capital. It also bordered the three sectors occupied by the United States, United Kingdom and France known collectively as West Berlin. The three sectors occupied by the Western nations were sealed off from the rest of the GDR by the Berlin Wall from its construction in 1961 until it was brought down in 1989, the official name was Deutsche Demokratische Republik, usually abbreviated to DDR. West Germans, the media and statesmen purposely avoided the official name and its abbreviation, instead using terms like Ostzone, Sowjetische Besatzungszone. The centre of power in East Berlin was referred to as Pankow. Over time, however, the abbreviation DDR was also used colloquially by West Germans. However, this use was not always consistent, for example, before World War II, Ostdeutschland was used to describe all the territories east of the Elbe, as reflected in the works of sociologist Max Weber and political theorist Carl Schmitt
German Democratic Republic
–
GDR leaders: President
Wilhelm Pieck and Prime Minister
Otto Grotewohl, 1949
German Democratic Republic
–
Flag (1959–1990)
German Democratic Republic
–
SED First Secretary,
Walter Ulbricht, 1950
German Democratic Republic
–
Head of State:
Erich Honecker (1971–89)
21.
Deutschmark
–
The Deutsche Mark, abbreviated DM or D-Mark, was the official currency of West Germany and unified Germany until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, but not in German, it is called the Deutschmark. Mark coins and banknotes continued to be accepted as valid forms of payment in Germany until 28 February 2002. However, in 2012, it was estimated that as many as 13.2 billion marks were in circulation, with polls showing a narrow majority of Germans favouring the currencys restoration. The Deutsche Bundesbank has guaranteed that all German marks in form may be changed into euros indefinitely. Banknotes and coins can even be sent to the Bundesbank by mail, on 31 December 1998, the Council of the European Union fixed the irrevocable exchange rate, effective 1 January 1999, for German mark to euros as DM1.95583 = €1. One Deutsche Mark was divided into 100 Pfennig, a mark had been the currency of Germany since its original unification in 1871. Before that time, the different German states issued a variety of different currencies, though most were linked to the Vereinsthaler, a silver coin containing 16 2⁄3 grams of pure silver. Although the mark was based on rather than silver, a fixed exchange rate between the Vereinsthaler and the mark of 3 marks =1 Vereinsthaler was used for the conversion. The first mark, known as the Goldmark, was introduced in 1873, with the outbreak of World War I, the mark was taken off the gold standard. The currency thus became known as the Papiermark, especially as inflation, then hyperinflation occurred. The Papiermark was replaced by the Rentenmark from November 15,1923, due to the strains between the Allies each zone was governed independently as regards monetary matters. The US occupation policy was governed by the directive JCS1067, as a consequence a separate monetary reform in the U. S. zone was not possible. Each of the Allies printed its own occupation currency, the Deutsche Mark was officially introduced on Sunday, June 20,1948 by Ludwig Erhard. Large amounts were exchanged for RM10 to 65 Pfennig, in addition, each person received a per capita allowance of DM60 in two parts, the first being DM40 and the second DM20. A few weeks later Erhard, acting against orders, issued an edict abolishing many economic controls which had been implemented by the Nazis. He did this, as he confessed, on Sunday because the offices of the American, British. He was sure if he had done it when they were open
Deutschmark
–
DM 10
banknote.
Deutschmark
–
100 trillion mark in
German papiermark, the highest denomination issued.
Deutschmark
–
Obverse view of the 2001 special gold issue of the DM 1 coin
Deutschmark
–
One Deutsche Mark (1948), first series,
Allied military issue.
22.
States of Germany
–
Germany is a federal republic consisting of sixteen federal states. Since todays Germany was formed from a collection of several states, it has a federal constitution. The remaining 13 states are called Flächenländer, the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949 was through the unification of the western states created in the aftermath of World War II. West Berlin, while not part of the Federal Republic, was largely integrated and considered as a de facto state. In 1952, following a referendum, Baden, Württemberg-Baden, in 1957, the Saar Protectorate rejoined the Federal Republic as the Saarland. Federalism is one of the constitutional principles of Germany. After 1945, new states were constituted in all four zones of occupation, in 1949, the states in the three western zones formed the Federal Republic of Germany. This is in contrast to the development in Austria, where the Bund was constituted first. The use of the term Länder dates back to the Weimar Constitution of 1919, before this time, the constituent states of the German Empire were called Staaten. Today, it is common to use the term Bundesland. However, this term is not used officially, neither by the constitution of 1919 nor by the Basic Law of 1949, three Länder call themselves Freistaaten, Bavaria, Saxony, and Thuringia. He summarizes the arguments for boundary reform in Germany. The German system of dual federalism requires strong Länder that have the administrative and fiscal capacity to implement legislation, too many Länder also make coordination among them and with the federation more complicated. But several proposals have failed so far, territorial reform remains a topic in German politics. Federalism has a tradition in German history. The Holy Roman Empire comprised many petty states numbering more than 300 around 1796, the number of territories was greatly reduced during the Napoleonic Wars. After the Congress of Vienna,39 states formed the German Confederation, the new German Empire included 25 states and the imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine. The empire was dominated by Prussia, which controlled 65% of the territory, after the territorial losses of the Treaty of Versailles, the remaining states continued as republics of a new German federation
States of Germany
23.
Maastricht Treaty
–
The Maastricht Treaty undertaken to integrate Europe was signed on 7 February 1992 by the members of the European Community in Maastricht, Netherlands. On 9–10 December 1991, the city hosted the European Council which drafted the treaty. The Maastricht Treaty and all pre-existing treaties, has subsequently been amended by the treaties of Amsterdam, Nice. The treaty led to the creation of the euro, one of the obligations of the treaty for the members was to keep sound fiscal policies, with debt limited to 60% of GDP and annual deficits no greater than 3% of GDP. The treaty also created what was referred to as the pillar structure of the European Union. The first pillar was where the EUs supra-national institutions—the Commission, the European Parliament, the other two pillars were essentially more intergovernmental in nature with decisions being made by committees composed of member states politicians and officials. All three pillars were the extensions of existing policy structures, the European Community pillar was the continuation of the European Economic Community with the Economic being dropped from the name to represent the wider policy base given by the Maastricht Treaty. In addition, the treaty established the European Committee of the Regions, coR is the European Unions assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities with a direct voice within the EUs institutional framework. The Maastricht criteria are the criteria for European Union member states to enter the stage of European Economic and Monetary Union. The four criteria are defined in article 121 of the treaty establishing the European Community and they impose control over inflation, public debt and the public deficit, exchange rate stability and the convergence of interest rates. Inflation rates, No more than 1.5 percentage points higher than the average of the three best performing member states of the EU.2. Government finance, Annual government deficit, The ratio of the government deficit to gross domestic product must not exceed 3% at the end of the preceding fiscal year. If not, it is at least required to reach a level close to 3%, only exceptional and temporary excesses would be granted for exceptional cases. Government debt, The ratio of government debt to GDP must not exceed 60% at the end of the preceding fiscal year. Even if the target cannot be achieved due to the specific conditions, as of the end of 2014, of the countries in the Eurozone, only Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Luxembourg, and Finland still met this target. Long-term interest rates, The nominal long-term interest rate must not be more than 2 percentage points higher than in the three lowest inflation member states, the purpose of setting the criteria is to maintain price stability within the Eurozone even with the inclusion of new member states. The signing of the Treaty of Maastricht took place in Maastricht, Netherlands, representatives from the twelve member states of the European Communities were present, and signed the treaty as plenipotentiaries, marking the conclusion of the period of negotiations. The process of ratifying the treaty was fraught with difficulties in three states, in Denmark, the first Danish Maastricht Treaty referendum was held on 2 June 1992 and ratification of the treaty was rejected by a margin of 50. 7% to 49. 3%
Maastricht Treaty
–
Stone memorial in front of the entry to the Limburg Province government building in Maastricht, Netherlands, commemorating the signing of the Maastricht Treaty
Maastricht Treaty
–
ESCB
Maastricht Treaty
–
Government
24.
German Bundesrat
–
The German Bundesrat is a legislative body that represents the sixteen Länder of Germany at the national level. The Bundesrat meets at the former Prussian House of Lords in Berlin and its second seat is located in the former West German capital of Bonn. For its similar function, it is described as an upper house of parliament along the lines of the US Senate. Bundesrath was the name of similar bodies in the North German Confederation and its predecessor in the Weimar Republic was the Reichsrat. The political makeup of the Bundesrat is affected by changes in power in the states of Germany, each state delegation in the Bundesrat is essentially a representation of the state government and reflects the political makeup of the ruling majority or plurality of each state legislature. The German Bundesrat was first founded, together with the North German Confederation and it was continued under the same name and with the same functions by the German Empire, in 1871. Under the Weimar Constitution,1919, it was replaced by the Reichsrat, whilst appointed by state governments just as today, the delegates of the original Bundesrat—as those of the Reichsrat—were usually high-ranking civil servants, not cabinet members. The original Bundesrat was very powerful, every bill needed its consent and it could also, with the Emperors agreement, dissolve the Reichstag. The Reichsrat of the Weimar Republic had considerably less influence, since it could only veto bills—and even then be overruled by the Reichstag, however, overruling the Reichsrat needed a majority of two-thirds in the Reichstag, which consisted of many parties differing in opinion. So, in most cases, bills vetoed by the Reichsrat failed due to the lack of unity among the Reichstags constituent parties. The Bundesrat met in the building as the Reichstag and Bundestag from 1871 until 2000. The composition of the Bundesrat, 1871–1919, was as follows, Bundesrat members are not elected—either by popular vote or by the state parliaments—but are delegated by the respective state government. Normally, a state consists of the Minister President and other cabinet ministers. The state cabinet may appoint as many delegates as the state has votes, in any case, the state has to cast its votes en bloc, i. e. without vote splitting. As state elections are not coordinated across Germany and can occur at any time, the number of votes a state is allocated is based on a form of degressive proportionality according to its population. This way, smaller states have more votes than a proportional to the population would grant. The allocation of votes is regulated by the German constitution, all of a states votes are cast en bloc—either for or against or in abstention of a proposal. Each state is allocated at least three votes, and a maximum of six, states with more than 2 million inhabitants have 4 votes,6 million inhabitants have 5 votes,7 million inhabitants have 6 votes
German Bundesrat
German Bundesrat
–
German Bundesrat Deutscher Bundesrat
German Bundesrat
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The
House of Lords of Prussia on Leipziger Straße, seat of the Bundesrat.
25.
Politics of Germany
–
Germany is a democratic, federal parliamentary republic, and federal legislative power is vested in the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. There is a multi-party system that, since 1949, has been dominated by the Christian Democratic Union, the judiciary of Germany is independent of the executive and the legislature. The political system is out in the 1949 constitution, the Grundgesetz. West Germany was a member of the European Community in 1958. It is part of the Schengen Area, and has been a member of the eurozone since 1999 and it is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20 and the OECD. After 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany had Christian Democratic chancellors for 20 years until a coalition of Social Democrats, since 1982, Christian Democratic leader Helmut Kohl was chancellor in a coalition with the Liberals for 16 years. In this period fell the reunification of Germany, in 1990, on the GDR territory, five Länder were established or reestablished. The two parts of Berlin united as one Land, the political system of the Federal Republic remained more or less unchanged. Specific provisions for the former GDR territory were enabled via the treaty between the Federal Republic and the GDR prior to the unification day of October 3rd,1990. After 16 years of the Christian–Liberal coalition, led by Helmut Kohl, SPD vice chairman Gerhard Schröder positioned himself as a centrist candidate, in contradiction to the leftist SPD chairman Oskar Lafontaine. The Kohl government was hurt at the polls by slower growth in the East in the previous two years, and constantly high unemployment. The final margin of victory was high to permit a red-green coalition of the SPD with Alliance 90/The Greens. Initial problems of the new government, marked by disputes between the moderate and traditional left wings of the SPD, resulted in some voter disaffection. Lafontaine left the government in early 1999, the CDU won in some important state elections but was hit in 2000 by a party donation scandal from the Kohl years. As a result of this Christian Democratic Union crisis, Angela Merkel became chair, the next election for the Bundestag was on 22 September 2002. Gerhard Schröder led the coalition of SPD and Greens to a victory over the Christian Democrat challengers headed by Edmund Stoiber. In its second term, the coalition lost several very important state elections. On 20 April 2003, chancellor Schröder announced massive labor market reforms, called Agenda 2010, on 22 May 2005 the SPD received a devastating defeat in its former heartland, North Rhine-Westphalia
Politics of Germany
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Gerhard Schröder in the 2002 elections
Politics of Germany
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The political system of Germany.
Politics of Germany
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Joschka Fischer in the 2005 elections
Politics of Germany
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Chancellor since 2005:
Angela Merkel of the
Christian Democrats
26.
Human rights in Germany
–
Human rights in Germany are protected extensively by the Grundgesetz. The country has ratified most international human rights treaties, the 2008 Freedom in the World report by US-funded Freedom House gives Germany a score of 1 for both political rights and civil liberties. The constitution of Germany, the Grundgesetz, which came into effect in May 8,1949 and its first sentence, Human dignity is inviolable, is being interpreted as protecting the sum of human rights. This paragraph is protected by an eternity clause and cannot be changed, however, following experiences from the Weimar Republic, Germany sees itself as a wehrhafte Demokratie, actions targeted towards removing the democratic order are not covered by human rights. The constitution guarantees all rights from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ratification of the European Convention on Human Rights allows citizens to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. Mandatory military service for citizens was established in 1956. At any time, conscientious objectors can opt to do Zivildienst instead, for the time of both services, many human rights such as freedom of movement are suspended. Since 1 July 2011, the government no longer has the ability to exercise the right under this article, however, there are no plans to abolish laws allowing conscription. Germany is also a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council and it recognizes the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. The 2008 Freedom in the World report by US-funded Freedom House gives Germany a score of 1 for both political rights and civil liberties, remand must be ordered by a judge. Usually, a suspect cannot be detained for more than six months without a conviction, the German citizen Khalid El-Masri was abducted by the CIA in 2005 and interred without trial for months, although innocent. German intelligence was informed early about this, but undertook nothing, Freedom of speech is guaranteed by the constitution. However, Volksverhetzung is a crime, defined as spreading hate against or insult against a part of the population, in 1994, a paragraph explicitly forbidding denial of Nazi crimes was added. Open-air public rallies require prior announcement to the authorities. Local authorities can prohibit rallies only on grounds of safety concerns or involvement of outlawed organizations. Freedom of press is very established in Germany, the 2009 Press Freedom Index of Reporters Without Borders rates Germany at place 18 of 175 countries. The scandal led to the dismissial of Strauß from office and severely damaged the reputation of Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. In 2005, minister of the interior Otto Schily authorized a raid of offices of the periodical Cicero, the raid was based on a substantiated suspicion of leaking of state secrets
Human rights in Germany
–
Germany
27.
Federal Constitutional Court of Germany
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The Federal Constitutional Court is the supreme constitutional court for the Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law of Germany. The main task of the court is judicial review, and it may declare legislation unconstitutional, the courts jurisdiction is focused on constitutional issues and the compliance of all governmental institutions with the constitution. Article 20 Section 3 of the Basic Law stipulates that all three branches of the state are bound directly by the constitution, as a result, the court can rule acts of any branches unconstitutional, whether as formal violations or as material conflicts. The powers of the Federal Constitutional Court are defined in article 93 of the Grundgesetz and this constitutional norm is set out in a federal law, the Federal Constitutional Court Act, which also defines how decisions of the court on material conflicts are put into force. Although only a fraction of these are actually successful, several have resulted in major legislation being invalidated. The large majority of the courts procedures fall into category,135,968 such complaints were filed from 1957 to 2002. Abstract regulation control, Several political institutions, including the governments of the Bundesländer, a well-known example of this procedure was the 1975 abortion decision, which invalidated legislation intended to decriminalise abortion. Federal dispute, Federal institutions, including members of the Bundestag, state–federal dispute, The Länder may bring disputes over competences and procedures between the states and federal institutions before the court. Investigation committee control Federal election scrutiny, Violations of election laws may be brought before the court by political institution or any involved voter, prohibition of a political party, Only the Constitutional Court has the power to ban a political party in Germany. This has happened just twice, both times in the 1950s, the Socialist Reich Party, a group, was banned in 1952. Three judges objected to continuing which was sufficient as banning a party requires a two-thirds-majority, the court did not decide on the ban itself. Up to 2009, the Constitutional Court had struck down more than 600 laws as unconstitutional, the court consists of two senates, each of which has eight members, headed by a senate’s chairman. The members of each senate are allocated to three chambers for hearings in constitutional complaint and single regulation control cases, each chamber consists of three judges, so each senate chairman is at the same time a member of two chambers. Decisions by a senate require a majority, in some cases a two-thirds vote is required. Decisions by a chamber need to be unanimous, a chamber is not authorized to overrule a standing precedent of the senate to which it belongs, such issues need to be submitted to the senate as a whole. Similarly, a senate may not overrule a standing precedent of the other senate, unlike all other German courts, the court often publishes the vote count on its decisions and even allows its members to issue a dissenting opinion. This possibility, introduced only in 1971, is a deviation from German judicial tradition. One of the two senate chairmen is also the president of the court, the one being the vice-president
Federal Constitutional Court of Germany
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Bundesverfassungsgericht
Federal Constitutional Court of Germany
–
Temporary building of the Bundesverfassungsgericht
Federal Constitutional Court of Germany
–
50th Anniversary of the Bundesverfassungsgericht (last coin in Deutsche Mark denomination)
Federal Constitutional Court of Germany
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First Senate 1989
28.
President of Germany
–
The President of Germany, officially the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, is the head of state of Germany. Germany has a system of government in which the Chancellor is the nations leading political figure. However, the President has a role which, while not an executive post, is more than ceremonial, Presidents have extensive discretion regarding the way they exercise their official duties. The President gives direction to general political and societal debates and has some important reserve powers in case of political instability. Furthermore, all laws must be signed by the President before they can come into effect. The President, by his or her actions and public appearances, represents the state itself, its existence, its legitimacy, the Presidents office involves an integrative role and the control function of upholding the law and the constitution. In order to exercise power, he/she traditionally acts above party politics. The 12th and current officeholder is Frank-Walter Steinmeier who was elected on 12 February 2017, the convention consists of all Bundestag members as well as an equal number of electors elected by the state legislatures in proportion to their respective population. However it is not required that state electors themselves be members of a legislature, the body is convened and chaired by the President of the German Bundestag. From 1979 to 2009, all these conventions were held on 23 May, in the first two rounds of the election, the Federal Convention attempts to elect a president by an absolute majority of votes cast. If, after two votes, no candidate has received this level of support, in the third. The result of the election is determined by party politics. Usually, the candidate of the majority party or coalition in the Bundestag is considered to be the likely winner, however, if the opposition has turned in a strong showing in state elections, it can potentially have enough support to defeat the governments candidate. For this reason, presidential elections can indicate the result of a general election. According to a long-standing adage in German politics, if you can create a president, you can form a government. The office of president is open to all Germans who are entitled to vote in Bundestag elections and have reached the age of 40, but no one may serve more than two consecutive five-year terms. As yet, only four Presidents have been elected for a second term, the president must not be a member of the federal government or of a legislature at either the federal or state level. On taking office the President must take the oath, stipulated by Article 56 of the Basic Law, in a joint session of the Bundestag
President of Germany
–
Incumbent
Joachim Gauck since 18 March 2012
President of Germany
–
Standard of the President
President of Germany
–
Bellevue Palace, Berlin (primary seat)
President of Germany
–
Hammerschmidt Villa, Bonn (secondary seat)
29.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier
–
Frank-Walter Steinmeier is the President of Germany, serving since 19 March 2017. He previously served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2017 and he was chairman-in-office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2016. Steinmeier is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany and he was a close aide of Gerhard Schröder when Schröder was Prime Minister of Lower Saxony during most of the 1990s, and served as Schröders chief of staff from 1996. When Schröder became Chancellor of Germany in 1998, Steinmeier was appointed Under-Secretary of State in the German Chancellery with the responsibility for the intelligence services, from 1999 to 2005 he served as Chief of Staff of the Chancellery. Following the 2005 federal election, Steinmeier became Foreign Minister in the first grand coalition government of Angela Merkel, in 2008, he briefly served as acting chairman of his party. He was the SPDs candidate for chancellor in the 2009 federal election, following the 2013 federal election he again became Minister for Foreign Affairs in Merkels second grand coalition. He was elected as President by the Federal Convention on 12 February 2017 and he acquired the necessary majority in the first round of voting by receiving 931 electoral votes out of a total of 1260 votes. Steinmeier belongs to the wing of the SPD, known as reformists. As chief of staff he was an architect of Agenda 2010. Steinmeier was born in Detmold, the son of a carpenter, although his full name is Frank-Walter, he only goes by the name Frank among those who know him. His father was affiliated with the Church of Lippe, one of Germanys few Calvinist regional church bodies and his mother, born in Breslau, came as a refugee from a Lutheran part of Silesia during the flight and expulsion of Germans after World War II. Frank-Walter was baptized into his fathers church—the Church of Lippe, a church of the Evangelical Church of Germany. Following his Abitur, he served his military service from 1974 until 1976 and he then studied law and political science at the Justus Liebig University Giessen, where his fellow students included Brigitte Zypries. In 1982 he passed his first and 1986 his second examination in law. He worked as an assistant to the professor of public law. His dissertation explored the role of the state in the prevention of homelessness, Steinmeier became an adviser in 1991 for law of communication media and media guidelines in the state Chancellery of Lower Saxony in Hanover. In 1993, he director of the personal office for the Prime Minister of Lower Saxony. In 1996, he became the Undersecretary of State and Director of the State Chancellery of Lower Saxony, Steinmeier was appointed in November 1998 as undersecretary of state at the office of the chancellor following Schröders election victory
Frank-Walter Steinmeier
–
Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Frank-Walter Steinmeier
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Frank- Walter Steinmeier (2009)
Frank-Walter Steinmeier
–
Steinmeier with
Condoleezza Rice
Frank-Walter Steinmeier
–
Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier addressing a dinner of the
World Jewish Congress in Berlin, 14 September 2014
30.
Angela Merkel
–
Angela Dorothea Merkel is a German politician who is currently Chancellor of Germany. She is also the leader of the Christian Democratic Union, Merkel has been described at various times as the de facto leader of the European Union, the most powerful woman in the world, and the worlds second most powerful person. Following German reunification in 1990, Merkel was elected to the Bundestag for the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Merkel was appointed as the Minister for Women and Youth in the federal government under Chancellor Helmut Kohl in 1991, and became the Minister for the Environment in 1994. In the 2009 federal election, the CDU obtained the largest share of the vote, in 2007, Merkel was President of the European Council and chaired the G8, the second woman to do so. Merkel played a role in the negotiation of the Treaty of Lisbon. One of Merkels consistent priorities has been to strengthen economic relations. Merkel played a role in managing the financial crisis at the European and international level. On 26 March 2014, Merkel became the incumbent head of government in the European Union. On 20 November 2016, Merkel announced she would seek re-election to a fourth term and she has two younger siblings, her brother Marcus Kasner, a physicist, and her sister Irene Kasner, an occupational therapist. In her childhood and youth, Merkel was known among her peers by the nickname Kasi, Merkel is of Polish and German descent. Her paternal grandfather Ludwik Kaźmierczak was a German policeman of Polish ethnicity and he married Merkels grandmother Margarethe, a German girl from Berlin, and relocated to her hometown where he worked in the police. In 1930 they Germanized the Polish name Kaźmierczak to Kasner, Merkels maternal grandparents were the Danzig politician Willi Jentzsch and Gertrud Alma née Drange, a daughter of the city clerk of Elbing Emil Drange. Merkel has mentioned her Polish heritage on several occasions, but her Polish roots became better known as a result of a 2013 biography, religion played a key role in the Kasner familys migration from West Germany to East Germany. In 1954, he received a pastorate at the church in Quitzow, the family moved to Templin and Merkel grew up in the countryside 80 km north of East Berlin. Like most young people in the German Democratic Republic, Merkel was a member of the Free German Youth, membership was nominally voluntary, but those who did not join found it difficult to gain admission to higher education. She did not participate in the coming of age ceremony Jugendweihe, however. Later, at the Academy of Sciences, she became a member of the FDJ district board, Merkel claimed that she was secretary for culture. When Merkels one-time FDJ district chairman contradicted her, she insisted that, According to my memory, I believe I wont know anything when Im 80
Angela Merkel
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Angela Merkel
Angela Merkel
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Merkel and
Lothar de Maiziere, 1990
Angela Merkel
–
Merkel with
Vladimir Putin, 2002
Angela Merkel
–
Merkel with U.S. President
George W. Bush, 2007
31.
Vice-Chancellor of Germany
–
The Deputy to the Federal Chancellor, widely known as the Vice Chancellor of Germany is, according to protocol, the second highest position in the Cabinet of Germany. He is the equivalent of a deputy minister in other parliamentary systems. The current Vice Chancellor is Sigmar Gabriel, who is the president of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, as provided by the Basic Law, Vice Chancellor is not an independent office, but a position held by one of the ministers. Since 1966, it has often held by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. It is the Chancellor who chooses which minister serves as Vice Chancellor, since coalition governments are common in German politics, the Vice Chancellor is in most cases the president of the junior coalition partner. In case of the Chancellors absence, the Vice Chancellor acts in his or her place, the Vice Chancellor will not automatically become Chancellor for the rest of the term if the Chancellor dies or becomes unable to fulfill his or her duties in any other way. It is the President who asks a minister to fulfill the Chancellors duties until the Bundestag elects a new Chancellor and this has happened only once, Vice Chancellor Walter Scheel was acting Chancellor for a few days in May 1974 between Chancellor Willy Brandt’s resignation and Helmut Schmidt’s election. In addition to the deputy, who would be responsible for all the affairs of the Chancellor. The act was revised on 28 October 1918, when the possibility of appointing deputies with limited responsibilities was removed, Political Party, FKP FVP Political Party, DDP Centre DVP SPD DNVP Political Party, NSDAP Political Party, FDP CDU SPD Green
Vice-Chancellor of Germany
–
Incumbent
Sigmar Gabriel since 17 December 2013
32.
Sigmar Gabriel
–
Sigmar Hartmut Gabriel is a German politician who currently serves as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Vice Chancellor. He was chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany from 2009 to 2017 and he was the Federal Minister of the Environment from 2005 to 2009 and the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy from 2013 to 2017. From 1999 to 2003 Gabriel was Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, Gabriel belongs to the right wing of the SPD, which shares many similarities with Tony Blairs New Labour. Gabriel was born in Goslar, West Germany, the son of Walter Gabriel, a civil servant, and Antonie Gabriel. Gabriels parents divorced in 1962, and for the six years he lived with his father and grandmother Lina Gabriel. After a lengthy custody battle his mother was awarded custody for both children in 1969, refugees from the eastern provinces often suffered prejudices in West Germany, and his mothers family were often disregarded as Poles in West Germany. Sigmar Gabriel has described his history as a wild story of flight and expulsion. His mother was involved in relief and solidarity work for Poland during the period of law in Poland. Sigmar Gabriel attended school in Goslar, and served as a soldier in the Air Force from 1979 to 1981. He studied politics, sociology and German at the University of Göttingen from 1982 and passed the first state examination as a school teacher in 1987. Gabriel has a daughter, Saskia, born in 1989, with his former girlfriend, Gabriel was subsequently married to Munise Demirel, who is of Turkish origin, from 1989 to 1998, and they had no children. In 2012 he married dentist Anke Stadler, with whom he has been in a relationship since 2008 and his daughter Thea was born on March 4,2017. Sigmar Gabriel is a Lutheran Protestant, Gabriel joined the SPD in 1977 and soon held a number of positions in local politics. In 1990, he was first elected to the State Parliament of Lower Saxony, on 15 December 1999, after the resignation of Gerhard Glogowski, who had succeeded Gerhard Schröder in office, Gabriel became Minister-President of Lower Saxony. He had previously won a party vote against Wolfgang Jüttner. He served until 4 March 2003, during these years, he was widely presented as a protégé of Schröder, and even as a possible successor as chancellor. After being voted out of office in 2003, Gabriel became the SPDs Representative for Pop Culture and Pop Discourse from 2003 to 2005, from 2005 to 2009 Gabriel was the Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in the first cabinet of Angela Merkel. During his time in office, Gabriel promoted the International Renewable Energy Agency and he also led the German delegation to the 2006 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Nairobi
Sigmar Gabriel
–
Sigmar Gabriel
Sigmar Gabriel
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Sigmar Gabriel with
Angela Merkel and
Frank-Walter Steinmeier; in the background are
Christian Schmidt and
Ursula von der Leyen, 2014.
Sigmar Gabriel
–
Gabriel meets Austrian Chancellor
Werner Faymann, 28 February 2014
33.
Cabinet of Germany
–
The Cabinet of Germany is the chief executive body of the Federal Republic of Germany. It consists of the Chancellor and the cabinet ministers, the Chancellor is elected by the federal parliament after being proposed by the President. Following the election, the Chancellor is appointed by the President, the ministers are appointed by the President upon proposal of the Chancellor. Eventually, before taking office, the Chancellor and ministers swear an oath in front of the parliament, the Chancellor is responsible for guiding the cabinet and deciding its political direction. According to the principle of departmentalization, the ministers are free to carry out their duties independently within the boundaries set by the Chancellors political directives. The Chancellor also decides the scope of each ministers duties, if two ministers disagree on a particular point, the cabinet resolves the conflict by a majority vote. The Chancellor is in charge of the administrative affairs, which are usually delegated to the head of the Chancellery. Details are laid down in the rules for internal procedures. These state, for example, that the cabinet is quorate only if at least half of the ministers including the chair are present, the cabinet regularly convenes Wednesday mornings in the Chancellery. According to established practice, decisions on important armaments exports are made by the Federal Security Council, pursuant to its rules of procedure, its sessions are confidential. As a general rule, the Federal Government, if asked, is required to inform the Bundestag that the Federal Security Council has approved a given armaments export transaction or not
Cabinet of Germany
–
Chancellor
Cabinet of Germany
–
Germany
Cabinet of Germany
–
Vice-Chancellor Federal Minister of Economic Affairs and Energy
Cabinet of Germany
–
Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs
34.
Third Merkel cabinet
–
The incumbent government of Germany, the third cabinet of Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, was sworn in on 17 December 2013. Led by Merkel, the government is supported by a coalition of the Christian Democratic Union, the Christian Social Union of Bavaria, the CDU received five ministries in addition to the positions of Chancellor and Chancellery Chief of Staff/Minister for Special Affairs. The SPD controls six ministries and the CSU three, the current federal cabinet is composed of the following ministers and their parliamentary state secretaries, Kabinettsliste, Das sind Merkels wichtigste Minister. Live-Blog zur Großen Koalition, Parteivorstand billigt die Kandidatenliste der SPD, die Welt erfährt einige überraschende Personalien. Cabinet of Germany Federal Ministries of Germany
Third Merkel cabinet
–
Third Angela Merkel Cabinet
Third Merkel cabinet
–
Current Federal Government in the German Bundestag, 2014
Third Merkel cabinet
Third Merkel cabinet
35.
Bundesversammlung (Germany)
–
The Federal Convention mirrors the aggregated majority situation of the Bundestag and the parliaments of the 16 German federal states. The Basic Law mandates that a maximum of three votes can be held, on the first two rounds a candidate must receive an absolute majority of delegates to be elected. After that, in the round, a plurality of all delegates voting is sufficient for election to the office of Federal President. Any delegate may nominate candidates, usually every parliamentary group puts forth candidates, the Basic Law charges the President of the Bundestag the responsibility and authority to call a meeting of the Bundesversammlung. Each member of the Bundesversammlung may suggest candidates for the office of the Federal President, in practice however only the candidates designated in advance by the parliamentary groups are suggested. The procedure of the election of the Bundespräsident consists of a maximum of three secret votes by written ballot, if one of the first two votes ends with an absolute majority for one of the candidates, this candidate is elected immediately. If the first two votes do not lead to a majority, a plurality is sufficient in the third. According to the Grundgesetz, the President is elected without a debate at the Federal Convention, the candidates are usually nominated by one or more parties, but do not generally run a campaign. The President of the Bundestag closes the session of the Bundesversammlung once the candidate accepts. The Bundesversammlung is chaired by the President of the Bundestag, the Bundesversammlung is dissolved once the elected President declares that they accept their election, which decision may be delayed for up to two days. The Länder representatives are not solely politicians and it is common that the parties nominate several notable people from television, sports and the music industry. Still most of the Länder representatives are politicians, especially those in the state cabinet are often nominated. This has changed since the resignations of former presidents Horst Koehler, the most recent assembly of the Bundesversammlung was held on 12 February 2017, after Frank-Walter Steinmeier was chosen as the single candidate of the ruling coalition in November. On 12 September 1949, the first Bundesversammlung met in Bonn, from 1954 to 1969 the Bundesversammlung was convened at the Ostpreußenhalle in Berlin, leading to protests from the German Democratic Republic on each occasion it met. As a consequence, on March 5,1969, the Soviet Union overflew the venue with MiG-21 war planes, from 1974 to 1989, the Bundesversammlung met in the Beethovenhalle in Bonn. Since 1994, the place has been the Reichstag building in Berlin. After the renovation of the Reichstag building, the German Bundestag moved to the building in April 1999, since the meeting of the Bundesversammlung held in May 1999, the body has convened in the plenary chamber of the Bundestag at the Reichstag building
Bundesversammlung (Germany)
–
Germany
36.
Bundesrat of Germany
–
The German Bundesrat is a legislative body that represents the sixteen Länder of Germany at the national level. The Bundesrat meets at the former Prussian House of Lords in Berlin and its second seat is located in the former West German capital of Bonn. For its similar function, it is described as an upper house of parliament along the lines of the US Senate. Bundesrath was the name of similar bodies in the North German Confederation and its predecessor in the Weimar Republic was the Reichsrat. The political makeup of the Bundesrat is affected by changes in power in the states of Germany, each state delegation in the Bundesrat is essentially a representation of the state government and reflects the political makeup of the ruling majority or plurality of each state legislature. The German Bundesrat was first founded, together with the North German Confederation and it was continued under the same name and with the same functions by the German Empire, in 1871. Under the Weimar Constitution,1919, it was replaced by the Reichsrat, whilst appointed by state governments just as today, the delegates of the original Bundesrat—as those of the Reichsrat—were usually high-ranking civil servants, not cabinet members. The original Bundesrat was very powerful, every bill needed its consent and it could also, with the Emperors agreement, dissolve the Reichstag. The Reichsrat of the Weimar Republic had considerably less influence, since it could only veto bills—and even then be overruled by the Reichstag, however, overruling the Reichsrat needed a majority of two-thirds in the Reichstag, which consisted of many parties differing in opinion. So, in most cases, bills vetoed by the Reichsrat failed due to the lack of unity among the Reichstags constituent parties. The Bundesrat met in the building as the Reichstag and Bundestag from 1871 until 2000. The composition of the Bundesrat, 1871–1919, was as follows, Bundesrat members are not elected—either by popular vote or by the state parliaments—but are delegated by the respective state government. Normally, a state consists of the Minister President and other cabinet ministers. The state cabinet may appoint as many delegates as the state has votes, in any case, the state has to cast its votes en bloc, i. e. without vote splitting. As state elections are not coordinated across Germany and can occur at any time, the number of votes a state is allocated is based on a form of degressive proportionality according to its population. This way, smaller states have more votes than a proportional to the population would grant. The allocation of votes is regulated by the German constitution, all of a states votes are cast en bloc—either for or against or in abstention of a proposal. Each state is allocated at least three votes, and a maximum of six, states with more than 2 million inhabitants have 4 votes,6 million inhabitants have 5 votes,7 million inhabitants have 6 votes
Bundesrat of Germany
Bundesrat of Germany
–
German Bundesrat Deutscher Bundesrat
Bundesrat of Germany
–
The
House of Lords of Prussia on Leipziger Straße, seat of the Bundesrat.
37.
Bundestag
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The Bundestag is a constitutional and legislative body at the federal level in Germany. For its similar function, it is described as a lower house of parliament along the lines of the US House of Representatives. The German constitution, however, does not define the Bundestag, since 1999 it has met in the Reichstag Building in Berlin. Norbert Lammert is the current President of the Bundestag, Members of the Bundestag are usually elected every four years by all adult German citizens in a mixed system of constituency voting and list voting. There are currently 631 seats, however, one – belonging to the CDU – remains vacant. The Election Day, however, can be if the Federal Chancellor loses a vote of no confidence. In the 19th century the name Bundestag was the designation for the assembly of the sovereigns and mayors of the Monarchies. Its seat was in the Free City of Frankfurt on the Main, two decades later, the current parliament building was erected. The Reichstag delegates were elected by direct and equal male suffrage, the Reichstag did not participate in the appointment of the Chancellor until the parliamentary reforms of October 1918. After this the Reichstag met only rarely, usually at the Krolloper following the Reichstag fire starting in 1933 to unanimously rubber-stamp the decisions of the government and it last convened on 26 April 1942. With the new constitution of 1949, the Bundestag was established as the new German parliament, the Bundeshaus in Bonn is the former Parliament Building of Germany. The sessions of the German Bundestag were held there from 1949 until its move to Berlin in 1999, today it houses the International Congress Centre Bundeshaus Bonn and in the north areas the branch office of the Bundesrat. The southern areas became part of German offices for the United Nations in 2008, the former Reichstag building housed a history exhibition and served occasionally as a conference center. The Reichstag building was occasionally used as a venue for sittings of the Bundestag and its committees and the Bundesversammlung. In 2005, an aircraft crashed close to the German parliament. It was then decided to ban private air traffic over Central Berlin, together with the Bundesrat, the Bundestag is the legislative branch of the German political system. The committees play a prominent role in this process, Plenary sessions provide a forum for members to engage in public debate on legislative issues before them, but they tend to be well attended only when significant legislation is being considered. This check on executive power can be employed through binding legislation, public debates on government policy, investigations, for example, the Bundestag can conduct a question hour, in which a government representative responds to a previously submitted written question from a member
Bundestag
Bundestag
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German Bundestag (Federal Diet) Deutscher Bundestag
Bundestag
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Reichstag building
Bundestag
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The German Unity Flag is a national memorial to
German Reunification that was raised on 3 October 1990. It waves in front of the
Reichstag building in Berlin, seat of the Bundestag.
38.
Judiciary of Germany
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The judiciary of Germany is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in Germany. The German legal system is a civil law based on a comprehensive compendium of statutes. In Germany, the independence of the judiciary is historically older than democracy, the organisation of courts is traditionally strong, and almost all federal and state actions are subject to judicial review. Judges follow a career path. They then must pass a state examination that qualifies them to practice law. At that point, the individual can choose either to be a lawyer or to enter the judiciary, judicial candidates start working at courts immediately. However, they are subjected to a period of up to five years before being appointed as judges for life. The judicial system is established and governed by part IX of the Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland, the court system adjudicates public law, that is, administrative law and criminal law, and private law. German law - especially private law - is mainly based on early Byzantine law, specifically Justinians Code, in contrast to the adversarial system used by common law countries, the German system of criminal procedure is inquisitorial. Rather than allowing cross-examination between the defense and prosecutors, the conduct the majority of the trial. The primary legislation concerning court organization is the Courts Constitution Act, the courts are characterized by being specialist, regional, and hierarchically integrated at the federal level. There are 5 basic types of courts, plus the Federal Constitutional Court, Constitutional law courts, focusing on judicial review and constitutional interpretation. Only the Constitutional Court can declare an Act of Parliament invalid, Ordinary courts are the most numerous by far. Currently there are 828 ordinary courts,142 labour courts,69 administrative courts,20 tax courts,86 social courts and 17 constitutional courts, specialized courts deal with five distinct subject areas, administrative, labour, social, fiscal, and patent law. Like the ordinary courts, they are organized hierarchically with the court systems under a federal appeals court. Administrative law courts consist of local courts, higher administrative courts. In these courts, individuals can have wrongful administrative acts overturned, for instance, many lawsuits have been brought in administrative courts by citizens against the government concerning the location and safety standards of nuclear power plants. The Federal Administrative Court is the highest administrative law court, Labour law courts also function on three levels and address disputes over collective bargaining agreements and working conditions
Judiciary of Germany
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Germany
39.
Federal Administrative Court of Germany
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The Federal Administrative Court is one of the five federal supreme courts of Germany. It is the court of the last resort for all cases of administrative law. It hears appeals from the Oberverwaltungsgerichte, or Superior Administrative Courts, the Bundesverwaltungsgericht has its seat at the former Reichsgericht building in Leipzig. Everhardt Franßen, 1991-2002 Media related to Reichsgericht Leipzig - Seat of the Federal Administrative Court of Germany at Wikimedia Commons Official homepage
Federal Administrative Court of Germany
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Seat of the Federal Administrative Court of Germany: the former
Reichsgericht building in
Leipzig (built in 1895)
Federal Administrative Court of Germany
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Portal of the Court Building
40.
Federal Court of Justice of Germany
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The Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe is the highest court in the system of ordinary jurisdiction in Germany. It is the court in all matters of criminal and private law. A decision handed down by the BGH can be reversed only by the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany in rare cases when the Constitutional Court rules on constitutionality, as from 1870, in the time of the North German Confederation, there was the Bundesoberhandelsgericht in Leipzig. Later, in 1871, it was renamed to Reichsoberhandelsgericht and its area of responsibility was amplified as well and this court was unsoldered by the Reichsgericht at October 1,1879, which was also in Leipzig. On 1 October 1950, five years after the German Reich had collapsed, the general function of the Federal Court of Justice is to save the uniformity of the jurisdiction on the one side, and to do law-development on the other side. So usually it just reconsiders the legal assessment of a case as a court of last resort, in some special cases they also reconsider first-instance decrees of the local courts and the regional courts. Here it can decide that an application for revision is improper —then the application gets discarded— or that it is valid – then it has to decide about the case. In the criminal law it has to decide about applications for revision against first-instance decrees of the regional courts, here it has to decide whether an application is blatantly reasonless or whether it is blatantly reasonable in support of the defendant. In both of these cases it can decide without a main trial, in any other case, it has to decide about the legal remedy after a main trial. This is to save the homogeneity of the jurisdiction, since 2000, the judgments of the Federal Court of Justice have been published on the official court website. Once a judge has been chosen by committee, he or she is appointed by the President of Germany. Only individuals who possess German citizenship within the meaning of Art and this admission is the only special admission within the German court system, in that an attorney at the Federal Court of Justice for civil cases cannot appear in any other court in the country. Admission at the Bundesgerichtshof is highly selective, as of May 2015 there are only 46 attorneys so admitted, candidates for admission are nominated by an electoral committee and are then chosen and appointed by the Federal Ministry of Justice. The requirement for a representative specifically admitted to the Federal Court of Justice does not apply in criminal cases, here, representation by any lawyer admitted to the Bar in Germany suffices. Meyers Großes Taschenlexikon in 24 Bänden, Karlsruhe, Leipzig, Federal Court of Justice of Germany
Federal Court of Justice of Germany
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Seat of the Federal Court of Justice in
Karlsruhe
41.
Regierungsbezirk
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Regierungsbezirk is an administrative region at federal state level in Germany. The regional authority is called a Regierungspräsidium or Bezirksregierung and is headed by a Regierungspräsident, the Regierungsbezirke do not pass any legislation. Within the federal authority, they act as a mid-level agency. Regierungsbezirk is variously translated as district, administrative district or province. By German unification in 1871, the concept of Regierungsbezirke had been adopted by most States of the German Empire, the Regierungsbezirke of North Rhine-Westphalia are in direct continuation of those created in the Prussian Rhine and Westphalia provinces in 1816. Similar entities in other states were initially named Kreishauptmannschaft or Kreis or province in Hesse, in Nazi Germany the naming was unified to Regierungsbezirk. Currently, only four large-area states out of 16 in total are divided into Regierungsbezirke, on 1 January 2004, Saxony-Anhalt disbanded its three Regierungsbezirke, Dessau, Halle and Magdeburg. The responsibilities are now covered by a Landesverwaltungsamt with three offices at the seats of the Bezirksregierungen. On 1 January 2005, Lower Saxony disbanded its remaining four Regierungsbezirke, Brunswick, Hanover, Lüneburg, on 1 August 2008, Saxony restructured its districts and changed the name of its Regierungsbezirke to Direktionsbezirke. This was necessary because one of the new districts did not fit with the borders of the old Regierungsbezirke, the Direktionsbezirke are still named Chemnitz, Dresden and Leipzig. As of 1 March 2012, the Direktionsbezirke were merged into one Landesdirektion, four of the new federal states re-established in 1990, Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Thuringia, decided not to implement Regierungsbezirke. In Bremen, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Saarland they never existed, stettin, dissolved in 1945, Province of Pomerania Media related to Regierungsbezirk at Wikimedia Commons
Regierungsbezirk
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Regierungsbezirke as from 1 August 2008. The map also shows the former RBs of
Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate,
Saxony-Anhalt and
Saxony
42.
Districts of Germany
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A German district is an administrative subdivision known as Landkreis, except in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein where it is known simply as Kreis. Most major cities in Germany are not part of a rural district, in this context, those cities are referred to as Kreisfreie Stadt or Stadtkreis. Rural districts are at a level of administration between the German states and the municipal governments. They correspond to level 3 administrative units of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, previously, the similar title Reichskreis was given to groups of states in the Holy Roman Empire. The related term Landeskommissariat was used for administrative divisions in some German territories until the 19th century. The majority of German districts are rural districts of which there are 295, cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants do not usually belong to a district, but take over district responsibilities themselves, similar to the concept of independent cities. These are known as urban districts —cities which constitute a district in their own there are currently 107 of them. As of 2011, approximately 25 million people live in these 107 urban districts, in North Rhine-Westphalia, there are some cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants which are not urban districts, for example Recklinghausen, Siegen, Paderborn, Bergisch Gladbach, Neuss and Moers. Nevertheless, these cities take over many district responsibilities themselves, although they are part of a larger rural district. Midsize towns can perform particular administrative functions of the district as well, the classification as midsize town is usually based on a towns registered population, but varies from state to state. Aachen, Hanover and Göttingen retain certain rights of an urban district, urban districts have these responsibilities and also those of the municipalities. The district council is the highest institution of a district and is responsible for all fundamental guidelines of regional self-administration. This council is elected every five years, except in Bavaria where it is elected every six years. Usually the administrative seat of a district is located in one of its largest towns. However, district council and administrative seat of rural districts are not situated within the district proper. Most of those districts are named after this central city as well. Moers is the biggest city in Germany that is neither an urban district, in parts of northern Germany, Landrat is also the name of the entire district administration, which in southern Germany is known as Kreisverwaltung or Landratsamt. In urban districts similar administrative functions are performed by a mayor, rural districts in some German states have an additional administrative commission called Kreisausschuss
Districts of Germany
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Administrative divisions of Germany
43.
Amt (country subdivision)
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Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is equivalent to a US township or county or English shire district. The Amt is unique to the German Bundesländer of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, other German states had this subdivision in the past. Some states have similar units called Samtgemeinde, Verbandsgemeinde or Verwaltungsgemeinschaft. An Amt, as well as the other above-mentioned units, is subordinate to a Kreis and is a collection of municipalities, the amt is lower than district-level government but higher than municipal government, and may be described as a supra-municipality or municipal confederation. Normally, it consists of small municipalities. e. The Ortsteil itself may also be translated as a municipality. The amt was a unit of Denmark. The counties were established by decree in 1662 as replacements for the former Len. The amter were composed of independent towns and parishes. During the 20th century, they were granted responsibility for the service for the non-urban population. A1970 administrative reform reduced the number of counties to fourteen, from then on, the amter were composed of a number of municipalities. The reform granted the counties wider areas of responsibility, most notably running the national health service, the Danish Municipal Reform of January 1,2007 abolished the amter and replaced them with five administrative regions, now solely charged with running the national health service. In contrast to the amter the regions hold no authority to levy taxes, the reform re-delegated all other areas of responsibility to either the municipalities or the state. At the same time, smaller municipalities were merged into larger units, see Counties of Denmark for more information about the Danish usage of the term. In Germany an Amt was an administrative district covering a manorial estate or the land owned by a castle or village. It was headed by an Amtmann, usually a lesser nobleman or cleric, appointed by a lord to administer. Ambacht can be seen as the Dutch equivalent to amt, ambachten existed in Holland, Zeeland and Flanders up to about 1800
Amt (country subdivision)
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Germany
44.
Municipalities of Germany
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Municipalities are the lowest level of official territorial division in Germany. This is most commonly the fourth level of division, ranking after the Land, Kreis. The Gemeinde which is one level lower in those states also includes Regierungsbezirke as a territorial division. The Gemeinde is one level higher if it is not part of a Samtgemeinde, only 10 municipalities in Germany have fifth level administrative subdivisions and all of them are in Bavaria. The highest degree of autonomy may be found in the Gemeinden which are not part of a Kreis and these Gemeinden are referred to as Kreisfreie Städte or Stadtkreise, sometimes translated as having city status. This can be the case even for small municipalities, however, many smaller municipalities have lost this city status in various administrative reforms in the last 40 years when they were incorporated into a Kreis. In some states they retained a measure of autonomy than the other municipalities of the Kreis. Municipalities titled Stadt are urban municipalities while those titled Gemeinde are classified as rural municipalities, with more than 3,400,000 inhabitants, the most populated municipality of Germany is the city of Berlin, and the least populated is Wiedenborstel, in Schleswig-Holstein. The cities of Aachen and Saarbrücken have a status, which is why the numbers in the respective states North Rhine-Westphalia. List updated on August 1,2009, list of municipalities in Germany Media related to Municipalities of Germany at Wikimedia Commons
Municipalities of Germany
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The "pyramid" of German administrative subdivisions
45.
Elections in Germany
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Elections in Germany include elections to the Bundestag, the Landtags of the various states, and local elections. The Basic Law also requires that the legislature enact detailed federal laws to govern elections. One such article is Article 38 which is regarding the election of deputies in the federal Bundestag. Article 38.2 of the Basic Law establishes universal suffrage, Any person who has attained the age of eighteen shall be entitled to vote, German federal elections are for all members of the Bundestag, which in turn determines who is the Chancellor of Germany. Federal elections were held in 2009 and in 2013, the Reichstag could be dissolved by the Kaiser or, after the abdication of Wilhelm II in 1918, the Reichspräsident. With the Weimar Republics Constitution of 1919, the system changed from single-member constituencies to proportional representation. The election age was reduced from 25 to 20 years of age, womens suffrage had already been established by a new electoral law in 1918 following the November Revolution of that year. Following the Nazi seizure of power in January 1933, another election was held on March 5. This was the last competitive election before World War II, although it was free nor fair. Violence and intimidation by the Sturmabteilung, SS and Stahlhelm had been underway for months against trade-unionists, communists, social democrats, on February 27th, just prior to the election, the Reichstag Fire Decree suspended freedom of the press and most civil liberties. Mass arrests followed, including all Communist and several Social Democrat delegates to the Reichstag,50000 members of the Hilfspolizei monitored polling places on election day to further intimidate voters. While the NSDAP performed better than it had in the elections of November 1932, by placing their rivals in jail and intimidating others not to take their seats, the Nazis went from a plurality to the majority. Just two weeks after election, the Enabling Act of 1933 effectively gave Hitler dictatorial power, three more elections were held in Nazi Germany before the war. They all took the form of a referendum, asking voters to approve a predetermined list of candidates composed exclusively of Nazis. Should the Bundestag be dismissed before the period has ended. The exact date of the election is chosen by the President, German nationals over the age of 18 who have resided in Germany for at least three months are eligible to vote. Eligibility for candidacy is essentially the same, the federal legislature in Germany has a one chamber parliament—the Bundestag, the Bundesrat represents the regions and is not considered a chamber as its members are not elected. The Bundestag is elected using a mixed member proportional system, the Bundestag has 598 nominal members, elected for a four-year term
Elections in Germany
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The German political system
