| Hamburg Parliament Hamburgische Bürgerschaft |
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|---|---|
| Type | |
| Type | Unicameralism |
| Leadership | |
| President of the Hamburg Parliament |
Carola Veit, SPD since March 23, 2011 |
| Members | 121 |
| Meeting place | |
| Hamburg Rathaus | |
| Website | |
| http://www.hamburgische-buergerschaft.de | |
The Hamburg Parliament (German: Hamburgische Bürgerschaft) is the unicameral legislature of the German state of Hamburg according to the constitution of Hamburg. As of 2011 there were 121 members in the parliament, representing a relatively equal amount of constituencies. The parliament is situated in the city hall Hamburg Rathaus and part of the Government of Hamburg.
The parliament is among other things responsible for the law, the election of the Erster Bürgermeister (First Mayor) for the election period and the control of the Senate (cabinet).
The 121 members are elected in universal, direct, free, equal and secret elections every four years.[1][2]
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Bürgerschaft as a term in in use since the Middle Ages to refer to the male inhabitants of Hamburg with citizenship. A committee of the landowning class within the city, called Erbgesessene Bürgerschaft, was formed out of this group in the 15. century to govern the state. The first crelevant document of this committee, which was traditionally dominated by the local merchants, dates back to 1410 and named Der Erste Rezess (roughly: The first comparison). The system of hereditary seats was prone to corruption and it came to several major struggles in the following decades.
The Lange Rezess (roughly: The long comparison) of 1529 reformed the administrative system of the city and made the ruling council accountable to several committees of the Erbgesenne Bürgerschaft. These bodies emerged out of the ecclesiastical structures of the now Lutheran city but could not settle all aspects of the sensitive balance of power. Thus, a commission, sent by the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, had to secure the peace by force in 1708 and the city was once more negotiating and reforming her own administrative structures in the following years.
The Vormärz led to even more criticism of the established structures and Hamburg participated in the elections of the Frankfurt Parliament in 1848. This resulted in even more debates and the Erbgesenne Bürgerschaft passed a new electorial law to meet the citicism in September 1848 but the restoration, supported and enforced by Prussian troops during the First Schleswig War, turned the table.
A new attempt to reform the constitution was launched after long discussions in 1859 and the Erbgesenne Bürgerschaft met for the last time in November of this year to establish a new order as well as to disband itself in favour of the Bürgerschaft. Since 1859 Bürgerschaft refers to this elected parliamentary body.
The elections of 1949 led to the second elected parliament of Hamburg after the Second World War and the Social Democratic Party of Germany maintanied her traditional dominant role, already re-established under the British-controlled elections of 1946. The party continued to govern the city, except 1953-57, until the first von Beust-Senate, formed in 2001.
Since March 23, 2011 the Hamburg Parliament has been in its 20th legislative period in the Federal Republic of Germany. A SPD-Government succeeded a coalition of CDU and the Greens.
The president of the parliament presides over the parliament and its sessions. The president is supported by a 'First Vice-president' and 3 vice presidents, all are elected by the representatives. President, vice presidents, and 3 recording clerks are the board (German: Präsidium).
As of 2011 President of the Hamburg Parliament was Carola Veit.
| Term | Name |
|---|---|
| 1859–1861 | Dr. Johannes Versmann |
| 1861–1863 | Dr. Isaac Wolffson |
| 1863–1865 | Dr. Hermann Baumeister |
| 1865–1868 | Dr. Georg Kunhardt |
| 1868–1868 | Dr. Hermann Baumeister |
| 1869–1869 | Johann A. T. Hoffmann |
| 1869–1877 | Dr. Hermann Baumeister |
| 1877–1885 | Dr. Gerhard Hachmann |
| 1885–1892 | Dr. Otto Mönckeberg |
| 1892–1902 | Siegmund Hinrichsen |
| 1902–1913 | Julius Engel |
| 1913–1919 | Dr. Alexander Schön |
| 1919–1920 | Berthold Grosse |
| 1920–1928 | Rudolf Ross |
| 1928–1931 | Max Hugo Leuteritz |
| 1931–1933 | Dr. Herbert Ruscheweyh |
| 1946 | Dr. Herbert Ruscheweyh |
| 1946–1960 | Adolph Schönfelder |
| 1960–1978 | Herbert Dau |
| 1978–1982 | Peter Schulz |
| 1982–1983 | Dr. Martin Willich |
| 1983–1986 | Peter Schulz |
| 1986–1987 | Dr. Martin Willich |
| 1987–1987 | Elisabeth Kiausch |
| 1987–1991 | Helga Elstner |
| 1991–1993 | Elisabeth Kiausch |
| 1993–2000 | Ute Pape |
| 2000–2004 | Dr. Dorothee Stapelfeldt |
| 2004–2010 | Berndt Röder |
| 2010–2011 | Lutz Mohaupt |
| 2011– | Carola Veit |
The Council of Elders (German: Ältestenrat) consists of the president, the vice presidents and several members, appointed by the parliamentary groups. The council support the president and the board regarding decisions of the agenda, personnel matters, and financial affairs.
Parliamentary groups (German: Fraktionen) are pooled by minimum 6 members of the parliament. Most these groups are by one party.
The daily work of the parliament is done in committees.
The qualification is regulated by law. As of 2008, electable for the parliament in is every German after his/her 18th birthday. He/she is restricted, if he/she is not allowed to vote by a verdict, is patient of a psychiatric ward under law, or has a representative under law.[4]
State elections, with a new electoral law, were held in Hamburg on 20 February 2011. The election campaign debates were dominated by economic and educational questions as well as the evaluation of the failed CDU-Green Senate under Christoph Ahlhaus, the successor of Ole von Beust.
The five parties having more than 5 percent (minimum to qualify) were the social-democratic SPD, the Christian-democratic CDU, the ecologist Green Alternative List (GAL; which is the Hamburg section of Alliance '90/The Greens), the liberal Free Democratic Party and the left-wing Die Linke, which entered the parliament for the first time in 2008.[5] The SPD, under Olaf Scholz, won an absolute majority of the 121 seats in the Hamburgische Bürgerschaft and formed a government in Hamburg without coalition partners.
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