Landrat
The Landrat is the chief administrative officer of a German Landkreis or Kreis and thus the highest municipal official. At the same time, he is in most states lower state administrative authority (so-called "dual position" [lower-alpha 1] of the Landrat). He represents the (Land)Kreis externally and is elected in most States of Germany directly by the district citizens. Only in Baden-Württemberg and Schleswig-Holstein is the Landrat elected by the Kreistag.
The legal status and duties of the district administrator are structured differently in the individual states. In many German states, "Der Landrat" is also the name of the Government agency headed by him, the Kreisverwaltung. In southern Germany, the designation Landratsamt' is common instead. According to the regulations of most German states, the district administrator, as an Elected offical, is also the authority head of the state part of the district office (lower state administrative authority or lower state authority). This does not apply in the states that have chosen the path of full municipalization (Lower Saxony, Saarland, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt).
History
In Prussia (with the exception of the Province of Hohenzollern), the Landrat was the office title of the lowest state administrative authority (Landratsamt) or of the Beamter concerned. It was introduced in 1815 by the Ordinance for Improved Establishment of Provincial Authorities. At first, the Landrat was essentially an honorary municipal office appointed by the knighthood through election. The office evolved into a professional office with governmental functions. The Landrat was the first state police authority and organ of the state government for the business of general state administration, but at the same time, according to the county constitution, he headed the municipal administration of the county as chairman of the county council and the county committee.
The title Landrat had been adopted for the lowest administrative authorities in individual small German states, namely in Saxe-Altenburg, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Saxe-Meiningen, as well as in the Imperial County of Reuss and in the Schwarzburg principalities (Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen). In the Kingdom of Bavaria, where with their introduction in the right-wing districts since 1828 Landräte[1] elected, the assembly appointed to represent a Kreisgemeinde was called Landrat. In Mecklenburg, the eight representatives of the native or received nobility in the ständisches Direktorium were called Landrats. Two Landrats belonged to the 'Engeren Ausschuss of the Knights and Countryside.
The official title of a Landrat could differ. Thus, in Alsace-Lorraine from 1871 to 1918, the official title for the Landrat was Kreisdirektor,[2] in Hesse-Darmstadt Kreisrat or in the Duchy of Nassau 1849 to 1853 Kreisamtmann.
Individual regulations
In Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia, according to the old legal situation, the Oberkreisdirektor (OKD) was the main administrative official, the honorary Landrat performed only representative duties (so-called "Zweigleisigkeit" or "Doppelspitze").[3] The Kreisordnung in North Rhine-Westphalia stipulated that from the municipal election of 1999, the Landräte should be full-time Wahlbeamter and thus also principal administrative officials. However, the counties were given the option to make this change as early as 1994 and then have the county council elected by the county council until 1999. Since 1999, the district administrator has been directly elected by the people for five years, and since 2009 for six years. If he left prematurely, a Landrat election took place, with the term of office then lasting until the end of the next municipal election period, i.e. longer than five years. In Lower Saxony, the dual leadership has also been abolished as of 1996.[3] [3]The term of office of a district administrator in Lower Saxony is five years, in certain cases even more than five years (§ 80 NKomVerfG).
In Rhineland-Palatinate, the district administrator is elected by direct vote for a term of eight years. If the citizens do not submit a valid election proposal, he is elected by the district council.
In Baden-Württemberg, the district administrator is not elected directly, but by the district council for a term of eight years. His deputy has the official title "Erster Landesbeamter" and heads the area of state administration in the district office. The First State Official is appointed by the State government.
Duties
The district administrator presides over the meetings of the district council, represents the district, executes the resolutions of the district council and deals with the business of day-to-day administration. In North Rhine-Westphalia the district administrator is also head of the district police authority by way of Organleihe. As a rule, the Landrat is the superior of the employees and civil servants of the district administration.
While the county administrator is bound by the decisions of the county council and its committees in the area of the county's own and delegated tasks, he acts as the head of the state county administration office as an elected official bound by the instructions of the state middle and higher authorities, unless full municipalization applies in the respective state. This area is then removed from decision-making by the county council and its committees.
Depending on the state, other duties are incumbent upon him.
Notes
- ↑ or "Janusköpfigkeit"
References
- ↑ Ulrich Wagner: Würzburger Landesherren, bayerische Ministerpräsidenten, Vorsitzende des Landrates/Bezirkstagspräsidenten, Regierungspräsidenten, Bischöfe, Oberbürgermeister/Bürgermeister 1814–2006. In: Ulrich Wagner (Hrsg.): Geschichte der Stadt Würzburg. 4 Bände, Band I-III/2, Theiss, Stuttgart 2001–2007; III/1–2: Vom Übergang an Bayern bis zum 21. Jahrhundert. Band 2, 2007, ISBN 978-3-8062-1478-9, S. 1221–1224; hier: S. 1221.
- ↑ Gesetz betreffend die Verfassung und die Verwaltung von Elsass-Lothringen vom 31. Dezember 1871
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lower Saxony Ministry of the Interior and Sport: Verabschiedung Landrat Wächter und Oberkreisdirektor Jahn. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
Literature
- Christiane Eifert: Paternalismus und Politik – Preußische Ländräte im 19. Jahrhundert. Münster 2003
- Claudia Wilke: Die Landräte der Kreise Teltow und Niederbarnim im Kaiserreich. Potsdam 1998, ISBN 3-930850-70-2.
- Jürgen W. Schmidt: Die Landräte des Kreises Westprignitz von 1860 bis 1920. In: Mitteilungen des Vereins für Geschichte der Prignitz, Bd. 12. Perleberg 2012, S. 5–60 (auf den S. 5–12 Allgemeines zu den Landräten in Preußen und ihren Aufgaben).
- Horst Romeyk: Die leitenden staatlichen und kommunalen Verwaltungsbeamten der Rheinprovinz 1816–1945 (= Publikationen der Gesellschaft für Rheinische Geschichtskunde. Band 69). Droste, Düsseldorf 1994, ISBN 3-7700-7585-4.
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