1. The administrative system of Germany - Summer School 2008 - Prof. Dr. Andreas Gourmelon – FHöV NRW

2. What I will tell you in the next minutes A look back into history Germany – the Federal Republic Tasks of the federal government and the states Communities and Cities Germany – a society in change

3. History (1): Middle ages - no Germany! The area of Germany in 1378

4. History (2): 1806 / 1815 - the fight against Napoleon made the idea of Germany popular

5. History (3): 1871 - prepared by chancellor Bismark the Deutsches Reich was founded

6. History (4): 1918 - revolution and civil war in Germany, start of the democratic republic

7. History (5): 1933 – 1949: Hitler regime, holocaust, destruction and division of Germany

8. History (6): 1965 – 1970: Germany acknowledged responsi- bility for crimes in WW II and accepted new frontiers

9. The Federal Republic of Germany The FRG consists of 16 Bundesländer (states) and the Bund (federal government). Laws of the Bund are made by the Bundestag (parliament), which is elected by all germans. Head of the Bundes- regierung (government) is the chancellor. The capital of the FRG is Berlin. Each state has his own parliament and capital. The state-government is headed by the prime-minister. Many german laws have to pass both the Bundestag and the Bundesrat (an institution which consists of members of the state-governments)

10. Typical tasks of the federal government and the states Foreign affairs Defense, border patrol Social Welfare Financing of highways, railways Regulation of mail and telecommunication … Police Education / Schools / Universities Prisons Cultural affairs (e.g. broadcasting) Execution of federal laws / tasks … Federal Government States

11. Communities and Cities in Germany 12700 Communities and Cities in Germany – protected by the german constitution / from 500 to 3.34 million inhabitants Each community has its own parliament (Rat, Gemeindevertretung) and government (Bürgermeister, Magistrat) Communities and Cities have their own taxes and participate on federal / state taxes Typical tasks: supply with water and energy, waste- management, fire-brigade, library, kindergarten, cemetry, planing of new building areas, park, play-ground, hospital Execution of federal and state laws / tasks

12. Germany – a society in change becoming older becoming more ecology- oriented becoming more international becoming more multicultural becoming more female