The 2008 Saxony district reform (also known as the 2008 administrative and functional reform or 2008 district reform) came into force on 1 August 2008 restructuring local government in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. The most important element of the reform was the further amalgamating, annexing, and merging of the districts created in the course of the 1994-1996 Saxony district reform[de], including the smaller independent cities.For a transitional period of five months, the formerly independent cities of Görlitz, Hoyerswerda, Zwickau and Plauen continued to perform district tasks, so that the district reform was practically only completed on 1 January 2009 when the new districts took over these tasks.
The reform was integrated into an administrative reform of the Saxon state authorities. On the basis of a proposal drawn up by a commission of experts, some of the state tasks were transferred to districts and municipalities.
A proposed abolition of the regional councils was not initially implemented, but the renaming to state directorates or directorate districts was within the framework of the Saxon Administrative Reorganization Act.[1] On 1 March 2012, the three directorate districts were combined to form the Saxony State Directorate[de] with locations in the cities of Chemnitz, Dresden and Leipzig.
New districts
The 22 districts were reduced to ten and the seven independent cities to three. The “Saxon District Reorganization Act” was passed by the Landtag of Saxony on 22 and 23 January 2008.
The following new districts were formed:
Bautzen
The former district of Bautzen[de] was enlarged to include the area of the district of Kamenz and the independent city of Hoyerswerda. The seat of the district administration is Bautzen.
The new district of Bautzen has an area of 2391km2 and is thus the largest district in Saxony. Its population was 315,174 on 9 May 2011.[2]
BZ was chosen as the vehicle registration number from the old district of Bautzen. The previous distinguishing symbols BIW, HY and KM can be used again as of 9 November 2012.
The new district has an area of 1828km2. Its population was 361,791 on 9 May 2011.[3]
The new vehicle registration number is ERZ . The previous distinguishing symbols ANA, ASZ, AU, MAB, MEK, STL, SZB and ZP can be issued again as of November 9, 2012.
The new district has an area of 2106km2. Its population was 269,647 on 31 May 2011.[4]
The vehicle registration number is GR . There are no differences in the allocation of number groups for the city and the municipalities in the rest of the Görlitz district. The previous distinguishing symbols LÖB, NOL, NY, WSW and ZI can be allocated again as of 9 November 2012.
The new district has an area of 1,647km2. Its population was 262,214 on 9 May 2011.[5]
The vehicle registration number is L and can be distinguished from the city of Leipzig by a different allocation group. The previous distinguishing symbols BNA, GHA, GRM, MTL and WUR can be assigned again as of November 9, 2012.
Meissen
The former district of Bautzen[de] was enlarged to include the area of the former district of Riesa-Großenhain. The district administration is based in Meissen. Both districts merged their savings banks on 1 January 2007.
MEI was chosen as the vehicle registration number for the old district of Meißen. The previous distinguishing symbols GRH , RG and RIE can be used again as of 9 November 2012.
The new district has an area of 2112km2. Its population was 322,078 on 9 May 2011.[7]
The old Freiberg district's license plate FG will be retained. The district council decided this on October 20, 2008. On 7 June 2009, a referendum on the license plate was held in conjunction with the European elections. The vote was about whether the current FG should be replaced by MSN . The citizens voted against this request with a narrow majority of 52.67% and thus in favor of retaining the license plate FG . The previous distinguishing signs BED , DL , FLÖ , HC , MW and RL can be issued again as of 9 November 2012.
Nordsachsen
The new district of Nordsachsen includes the area of the former districts of Delitzsch und Torgau-Oschatz. The district administration is located in the town of Torgau.
The new district has an area of 2020km2. Its population was 201,165 on 9 May 2011.[8] It is the least populous of the Saxon districts.
TDO (for Torgau, Delitzsch and Oschatz) was chosen as the new vehicle registration number . The previous distinguishing symbols DZ, EB, OZ, TG and TO can be used again from 9 November 2012.
Most of the reactions of local authorities to the Interior Ministry's plans related to the choice of the new district seats or certain merger plans. In Zwickau and Plauen, the planned loss of district freedom led to a disagreement between the Interior Ministry and the mayors of the cities.
Hoyerswerda
In certain recent historical aspects relating to the history of Silesia, the merger with Bautzen was, in the opinion of some, rather disadvantageous; a merger of the former district of Hoyerswerda with the Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis and Görlitz would have been more appropriate. The district name Lower Silesian Upper Lusatian district could have been retained and the construction of a new district office in Görlitz would have been unnecessary, as this could have continued in Niesky (the previous district seat). With the exception of the argument about the building, there was no argument that in any way justified the district seat being in Niesky rather than Görlitz. Others, however, preferred a merger with Bautzen, primarily because the transport links to Bautzen are much shorter than to Görlitz and even then there were far stronger commuter links with this city. Many historical reasons (from the time before the division of Upper Lusatia as a result of the Napoleonic Wars) also spoke in favour of Bautzen, e.g. B. that the Kamenz district is the main settlement area of the Sorbs and that Bautzen has in fact been the “capital” of the Sorbs since ancient times.[citation needed]
A further decline into insignificance and further economic decline are feared and predicted for the former independent city of Hoyerswerda. It was hoped that at least some offices of the Bautzen district would be brought to the city (which was successful) and that it would become the location for the rescue control center in Upper Lusatia. The newly formed district also had to cope with the city's high debts.[citation needed]
Plauen
Plauen did not want to lose its district independence and announced an alternative to merging with the Vogtland district. The plan was to keep the district independence but merge the offices with the Vogtland district (“Vogtland way”). The Saxon Ministry of the Interior rejected Plauen's request. The city of Zwickau has also expressed interest in this plan because it too fears receiving less financial support.[citation needed]
The city of Plauen then filed a lawsuit before the Saxon Constitutional Court and applied for an interim injunction against the district reform. On 22 April 2008, the court ruled that the application was manifestly unfounded. The city of Plauen was thus incorporated into the Vogtland district as planned on 1 August 2008. The district elections on 8 June 2008 were also held as planned.[citation needed]
Aue
At the end of January 2008, the town of Aue in the Aue-Schwarzenberg district had the legality of the 2008 administrative reform examined in an expedited procedure with the aim of moving the planned district seat to Aue rather than Annaberg-Buchholz. The Constitutional Court of the Free State of Saxony rejected the town of Aue's application for a municipal review of the law on 27 June 2008.[citation needed]
Landkreis Leipziger Land
The city of Borna only became the district capital of the Leipziger Land district in 1999.
The district reform of 1994 united the old districts of Borna, Geithain and Leipzig (collar district around Leipzig). At that time, the city of Leipzig became the district seat of the newly formed district of Leipziger Land. The seat of the district administration was therefore outside the district. The then districts of Borna and Geithain supported the merger with the district of Leipzig, which also made it clear that the district seat would go to Leipzig.
The district seat within the city of Leipzig was very controversial among the population, especially in the southern area of Leipzig.
The reform in 1999, which redrew the borders in the area surrounding the independent cities, meant that the northern part of the district, which comprised almost a third of the population, had to leave the district due to numerous villages being incorporated into the city of Leipzig and some municipalities being transferred to neighboring districts (including the reorganization of the cities of Schkeuditz and Taucha into the Delitzsch district and the municipality of Borsdorf into the Muldental district). This step was already demanded by many district administrators in the Leipzig area in 1994, but was met with resistance from the state government at the time.
In 1999, Borna was designated as the new district seat in the Leipziger Land district. The so-called "City-Environment Act" also stipulated that the city of Borna was obliged to build a district office. It was decided to extensively renovate a former barracks building for 16 million euros. The district office that was created in this way has been in use since 2003 and consists of six individual buildings.
The decision to appoint Borna and not Grimma as the district seat of the newly formed "Leipzig District" was very controversial. However, when the Saxon state parliament voted on the district reform on January 23, 2008, all amendments that would have made Grimma the new district seat of the Leipzig District were rejected. At the end of January 2008, both the Muldental District and its district seat Grimma filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court of the Free State of Saxony rejected the city of Grimma's application for a municipal review of legal norms on June 27, 2008. The two medium-sized centers Borna and Grimma were considered to be of equal value. Ultimately, Borna's structural weakness, the expected better economic development due to the district seat and the greater importance of the existing links with the surrounding area of the city are said to have led to this selection.
The successful tourist and economic development of the Leipzig Neuseenland, a former mining landscape, is closely linked to the district seat in Borna.
Löbau-Zittau
In southern Upper Lusatia, the district reform was viewed with skepticism. Critics complained that it will lead to a division of Upper Lusatia, which would contradict the wishes of most citizens. In addition, a large Upper Lusatia district is the logical consequence of the dramatic population decline. It is also criticized that the unification of the Löbau-Zittau district, the Lower Silesian Upper Lusatia district and the previously independent city of Görlitz would create a structurally and financially weak district that would be permanently dependent on external aid. There are also conflicts over the integration of the Silesian heritage, which the Löbau-Zittau district does not share.
While the majority of citizens rejected the planned district reform in surveys and preferred a merger with Bautzen, politicians sent out contradictory signals. While some places in the north of the district spoke out in favour of a merger with Görlitz, places in the Oberland voted for Bautzen. The city of Zittau decided to reject the district reform, but the district administrator of the Löbau-Zittau district welcomed it.
Muldental
In the Muldentalkreis, the plans of the Ministry of the Interior were viewed with skepticism. The choice of Borna as the district seat was particularly criticized. After an objective discussion on this issue had been agreed with the Minister of the Interior, who again spoke out in favour of Borna, Matthias Berger, the mayor of Grimma, accused the Saxon Minister of the Interior of "undemocratic behaviour".
The head of the Saxon State Chancellery, Hermann Winkler, whose constituency is in Grimma, agreed to the Interior Ministry's draft, even though Borna was chosen as the new district town. Winkler then received calls for his resignation from many sides.
Since the city of Borna only became the district seat of the Leipziger Land district in 1999 (previously the city of Leipzig) and a territorial reform should last at least ten years according to the directive, the city of Borna would also have filed a lawsuit if it had lost its district seat.
Borna was chosen over Grimma as the future district seat, primarily because of the existing structural weakness in the southern Leipzig area due to the former brown coal opencast mines and because of the expected more favorable future economic development. However, this is very questionable from a technical point of view, as Borna has already shrunk increasingly over the past 15 years and therefore no economic improvement is to be expected. In addition, Borna is only the third largest city in the new district in terms of population (after Grimma and Markkleeberg). This is a result of the fact that Borna and Grimma have had to incorporate several towns in the past, which has increased the size of the towns. In addition, a former barracks site in Borna was extensively restored and converted into a district office for around 16 million euros. This is therefore cited as a further argument in favour of Borna as the future district seat. However, this is also questionable, as the Muldental district has also invested around 15 million euros in the renovation of its administrative buildings in the past.
The Muldental district commissioned a law firm to examine the constitutionality of the reform. The result was that the reform did not go far enough and violated the constitution of the Free State of Saxony.
The Muldental district's lawsuit was dismissed by the Saxon Constitutional Court on 25 September 2008.
Torgau-Oschatz
Although the Torgau-Oschatz district council voted unanimously against the merger with Delitzsch, both districts were merged. The opponents argued firstly that there are no common identities or relationships between the peripheral parts of the district (for example Schkeuditz and Oschatz). The planned structure is purely artificial. There were also fears in the Torgau-Oschatz district that the weak financial situation of the Delitzsch district would set the new district back as a whole and that it would essentially have to pay off its debts.
Criticism
Ten years after the implementation of the district reform, the main criticism was that the hoped-for savings of 160 million euros per year did not materialize. Several cities have lost functions and thus importance. The former district administrators Petra Köpping and Gerhard Gey[de] criticised the lack of proximity to citizens in the enlarged districts. A district administrator can hardly maintain all contacts at the municipal level.
The Vogtlandkreis is a Landkreis in the southwest of Saxony, Germany, at the borders of Thuringia, Bavaria, and the Czech Republic. Neighbouring districts are Hof, Saale-Orla, Greiz, Zwickau, and Erzgebirgskreis. It is the southernmost district in the state.
The district of Bautzen is a district in the state of Saxony in Germany. Its largest towns are Bautzen, Bischofswerda, Kamenz, Hoyerswerda and Radeberg. It is the biggest district in Saxony by area, and a member of the Neisse Euroregion.
Plauen is, with a population of around 65,000, the fifth-largest city of Saxony, Germany after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the largest city in the Saxon Vogtland. The city lies on the river White Elster, in the Central Vogtlandian Hill Country. Plauen is the southwesternmost city of a string of cities sitting in the densely populated foreland of the Elster and Ore Mountains, stretching from Plauen in the southwest via Zwickau, Chemnitz and Freiberg to Dresden in the northeast. It is the capital of the Vogtland District. Plauen borders Thuringia to the north, and it is also situated near the Saxon border with Bavaria (Franconia) and the Czech Republic (Bohemia).
Herrnhut is a town of around 6,000 inhabitants in Upper Lusatia, in the district of Görlitz, in eastern Saxony, Germany. The town is mainly known as the place of origin of the community of the Moravian Church, and of the Moravian Stars.
Oschatz is a town in the district Nordsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. It is located 60 km east of Leipzig and 60 km west of Dresden.
Borna is a town in Saxony, Germany, capital of the Leipzig district. It is situated approximately 30 km southeast of Leipzig city. It has approx. 19,000 inhabitants. The town is the district seat of the district of Leipzig.
Kitzscher is a town in the Leipzig district, in Saxony, Germany.
Königsbrück is a town in the Bautzen district, in Saxony, in eastern Germany. It is situated 14 km (8.7 mi) west of Kamenz, and 27 km (17 mi) northeast of the Saxon capital Dresden. Königsbrück is known as the western gate of the historic Upper Lusatia region.
Lauta (German) or Łuty is a town in the district of Bautzen, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated in Lower Lusatia, 10 km west of Hoyerswerda, and 10 km southeast of Senftenberg.
Neusalza-Spremberg is a town in the district Görlitz, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the border with the Czech Republic, on the river Spree, 6 km northwest of Ebersbach, and 17 km southeast of Bautzen.
Neukirch/Lausitz (German) or Wjazońca is a municipality in Upper Lusatia in the district of Bautzen, in the state of Saxony in eastern Germany. It belongs to the district of Bautzen and is situated in several valleys of the mountain region Lausitzer Bergland, near the hill "Valtenberg" that reaches about 587 metres. It has about 5,066 inhabitants in an area of 21.32 km², a population density of 240 per km². The German name Lausitz means Lusatia.
Frankenthal is a municipality in eastern Saxony, Germany. It belongs to the district of Bautzen and lies west of the eponymous city. It is named after Frankish colonists who settled in Lusatia ca. 1200.
Markersdorf is a municipality in the district of Görlitz in Saxony, Germany, near to the eastern border with Poland.
Liebschützberg is a municipality in the district Nordsachsen, in Saxony, Germany.
Görlitz district is a district (Kreis) in Saxony, and the easternmost in Germany. It is named after its capital Görlitz. It borders the district of Bautzen, the state of Brandenburg, Poland and the Czech Republic.
Mittelsachsen is a district (Kreis) in the Free State of Saxony, Germany.
Nordsachsen is a district (Kreis) in Saxony, Germany.
Kreishauptmannschaft Leipzig was a Kreishauptmannschaft or administrative district in the Kingdom of Saxony. Succeeding the Leipziger Kreis of the Electorate of Saxony, it was founded in 1835 and continued under the Free State of Saxony until being renamed the 'Regierungsbezirk Leipzig' in 1939, headed by Erich Teichmann (1882-?) as Regierungspräsident. The Kreishauptmannschaft system was abolished in 1943.
References
↑ Archived(Date missing) at kjrs-online.de (Error: unknown archive URL)
Kreisnavigator des Deutschen Landkreistages – Direkter Zugriff auf alle offiziellen Kreis-Präsentationen
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