Berlin is a city-state and the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Berlin is a city-state and the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Berlin is the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany. The President of Germany, whose functions are mainly ceremonial under the German constitution, has his official residence in Schloss Bellevue. [1] Berlin is the seat of the German executive, housed in the Chancellery, the Bundeskanzleramt.
Facing the Chancellery is the Bundestag, the German Parliament, housed in the renovated Reichstag building since the government moved back to Berlin in 1998. The Bundesrat ("federal council", functioning as an upper house) is the representation of the Federal States (Bundesländer) of Germany and has its seat at the former Prussian House of Lords.
The relocation of the federal government and Bundestag to Berlin was completed in 1999, however with some ministries as well as some minor departments retained in the federal city Bonn, the former capital of West Germany. Discussions to move the remaining branches continue. [2] The ministries and departments of Defence, Justice and Consumer Protection, Finance, Interior, Foreign, Economic Affairs and Energy, Labour and Social Affairs , Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, Food and Agriculture, Economic Cooperation and Development, Health, Transport and Digital Infrastructure and Education and Research are based in the capital.
Since German reunification on 3 October 1990, Berlin has been one of three city-states (with Hamburg and Bremen) among Germany's 16 states. The city and state parliament is the House of Representatives, (Abgeordnetenhaus), with 141 seats. Berlin's executive body is the Senate of Berlin (Senat von Berlin). The Senate consists of the Governing Mayor (Regierender Bürgermeister) and up to eight senators with ministerial positions (one holding the official title "Mayor" (Bürgermeister) as deputy to the Governing Mayor). The Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Left (Die Linke) took control of the city government after the 2001 state election, winning another term in the 2006 state election. [3] The 2011 state election produced a coalition of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union, which was followed by a Red-Red-Green coalition of the Social Democrats, Greens, and Left Party after the 2016 state election and 2021 state election. The current government consists of a coalition between the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats after the 2023 state election. [4]
The Governing Mayor is Lord Mayor of the city (Oberbürgermeister der Stadt) and Prime Minister of the federal state (Ministerpräsident des Bundeslandes). The office of Berlin's Governing Mayor is in the Rotes Rathaus (Red City Hall). From 2001 to 2014, this office was held by Klaus Wowereit of the SPD. [5] Between 2014 and 2021 the position was held by Michael Müller, who was succeeded by Franziska Giffey. Both politicians are also of the SPD. [6] In April 2023, Berlin got its first conservative mayor, Kai Wegner of CDU, in more than two decades. [7]
The total annual state budget of Berlin in 2007 exceeded €20.5 ($28.7) billion, which included a budget surplus of €80 ($112) million (the first surplus in the city-state's history). [8] Due to increasing growth rates and tax revenues, the Senate of Berlin calculated an increasing budget surplus for 2008. The total budget was an estimated amount €5.5 ($7.7) billion, financed by the German government or the German Bundesländer. [9] Primarily due to reunification-related expenditures, Berlin as a German state accumulated more debt than any other city in Germany (an estimated €60 ($84) billion in December 2007). [10]
The city has ten state-level ministries (Senatsverwaltungen, Senate Departments), each led by a Senator, plus the Senate Chancellery, which is the office of the Governing Mayor. [11] [12] It also has seven state-level agencies (Landesämter), such as the Berlin Immigration Office. [13]
| Party | Popular vote | Seats | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | +/– | Seats | +/– | ||||||
| Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands – SPD | 352,369 | 21.6 |  6.7 | 38 | 10 | |||||
| Christian Democratic Union Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands – CDU | 288,002 | 17.6 | 5.8 | 31 | 8 | |||||
| The Left Die Linke | 255,740 | 15.6 |  4.0 | 27 | 7 | |||||
| Alliance '90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen | 248,243 | 15.2 | 2.4 | 27 | 3 | |||||
| Alternative for Germany Alternative für Deutschland – AfD | 231,325 | 14.2 | 14.2 | 25 | 25 | |||||
| Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei – FDP | 109,431 | 6.7 | 4.9 | 12 | 12 | |||||
| Die PARTEI | 31,908 | 2.0 | 1.1 | – | – | |||||
| Animal Protection Party | 30,565 | 1.9 | 0.4 | – | – | |||||
| Pirate Party | 28,321 | 1.7 | 7.2 | – | 15 | |||||
| Graue Panther | 18,135 | 1.1 | 1.1 | – | – | |||||
| Other parties | 40,717 | 2.4 | – | – | – | |||||
| Valid votes | 1,634,756 | 98.5% | 0.1 | |||||||
| Invalid votes | 25,690 | 1.5% | 0.1 | |||||||
| Totals and voter turnout | 1,662,598 | 66.9% | 6.7 | 160 |  | |||||
| Electorate | 2,485,363 | 100.00 | — | |||||||
| Source: [14] | ||||||||||
Berlin is divided into twelve boroughs (Bezirke), reduced from 23 boroughs before Berlin's 2001 administrative reform. Each borough has a number of localities (Ortsteile), which often have historic roots in older municipalities predating the formation of Greater Berlin on 1 October 1920 and were urbanised and incorporated into the city. Many residents strongly identify with their localities (or boroughs). Berlin has 96 localities, commonly made up of several city neighbourhoods (known as Kiez in the Berlin dialect).
Each borough is governed by a council (Bezirksamt) with five councillors (Bezirksstadträte) and a borough mayor (Bezirksbürgermeister). The borough council is elected by the borough assembly (Bezirksverordnetenversammlung). The boroughs of Berlin are not independent municipalities; the borough governments' power is limited, and subordinate to the Berlin Senate. The borough mayors form a council of mayors (Rat der Bürgermeister, led by the city's governing mayor), which advises the Senate. The localities have no local government bodies, and the administrative duties of the former locality representative (the Ortsvorsteher) were assumed by the borough mayors.
Berlin maintains official partnerships with 17 cities. [15] Town twinning between Berlin and other cities began with Los Angeles in 1967. East Berlin's partnerships were cancelled at German reunification, but later partially reestablished. West Berlin's partnerships were limited to the borough level. During the Cold War the partnerships reflected spheres of influence, with West Berlin partnering with Western capitals and East Berlin partnering primarily with cities of the Warsaw Pact and its allies.
There are joint projects with a number of other cities, such as Belgrade, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Johannesburg, Shanghai, Seoul, Sofia, Sydney and Vienna. Berlin participates in international city associations such as the Union of the Capitals of the European Union, Eurocities, Network of European Cities of Culture, Metropolis, Summit Conference of the World's Major Cities, Conference of the World's Capital Cities. Its sister cities are: [15]
The Berlin Police (Der Polizeipräsident in Berlin' - The Police Chief of Berlin), or commonly Berliner Polizei is the German Landespolizei force for the city-state of Berlin. Law enforcement in Germany is divided between federal and state (Land) agencies. Berlin Police is divided into 6 local directorates (Direktion). Each local directorate is responsible for one to three Berliner districts:
The Federal Police (Bundespolizei or BPOL) is a (primarily) uniformed federal police force in Berlin and Germany. It is subordinate to the Federal Ministry of the Interior (Bundesministerium des Innern (BMI)). [23]
The Bundespolizei can also be used to reinforce state police if requested by a state (Land) government. The BPOL maintains these reserve forces to deal with major demonstrations, disturbances or emergencies, supplementing the capabilities of the State Operational Support Units. Several highly trained detachments are available for crisis situations requiring armored cars, water cannon or other special equipment.
BPOL has investigators conduct criminal investigations only within its jurisdiction; otherwise the cases are referred to the appropriate state police force or to the federal criminal investigative agency, the Federal Criminal Police (Bundeskriminalamt, BKA). In addition, the Bundespolizei cooperates closely with German state executive authorities, such as prosecutor's offices ( Staatsanwaltschaft ) in pursuing criminal investigations.
The Bundespolizei has the following missions:
GSG 9 der Bundespolizei, formerly Grenzschutzgruppe 9, is the police tactical unit of the German Federal Police (Bundespolizei). The state police (Landespolizei) maintain their own tactical units known as the Spezialeinsatzkommando (SEK). The identities of GSG 9 members are classified.
Klaus Wowereit is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and was the Governing Mayor of Berlin from 21 October 2001 to 11 December 2014. In 2001 state elections his party won a plurality of the votes, 29.7%. He served as President of the Bundesrat in 2001/02. His SPD-led coalition was re-elected in the 2006 elections; after the 2011 elections the SPD's coalition partner changed from the Left to the Christian Democratic Union. He was also sometimes mentioned as a possible SPD candidate for the Chancellorship of Germany (Kanzlerkandidatur), but that never materialized.
Mitte is the first and most central borough of Berlin. The borough consists of six sub-entities: Mitte proper, Gesundbrunnen, Hansaviertel, Moabit, Tiergarten and Wedding.
The Federal Police is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the German Federal Government, being subordinate to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community. The Federal Police is primarily responsible for border protection and railroad and aviation/air security. In addition, the agency is responsible, among other tasks, for the protection of federal constitutional bodies. It provides the federal alert police and GSG 9 special police unit, which can also be used to support the federated states of Germany. Ordinary police forces, meanwhile, are under the administration of the individual German states (Bundesländer) and are known as the Landespolizei. In addition to the Federal Police, the Federal Criminal Police Office and the German Parliament Police exist as further police authorities at the federal level.
Burgomaster is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief magistrate or executive of a city or town. The name in English was derived from the Dutch burgemeester.
Eberhard Diepgen is a German lawyer and politician who served as Mayor of West Berlin from 1984 to 1989 and again as Mayor of (united) Berlin, from 1991 until 2001, as member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Berlin is both a city and one of Germany's federated states. Since the 2001 administrative reform, it has been made up of twelve districts, each with its own administrative body. However, unlike the municipalities and counties of other German states, the Berlin districts are not territorial corporations of public law with autonomous competencies and property, but simple administrative agencies of Berlin's state and city government, the City of Berlin forming a single municipality since the Greater Berlin Act of 1920. Thus they cannot be equated to US or UK boroughs in the traditional meaning of the term.
Walter Momper is a German politician of the SPD and former Governing Mayor of Berlin. Whilst Governing Mayor, he served as President of the Bundesrat in 1989/90. He was at the opening of the Brandenburg Gate on 22 December 1989 and, on 3 October 1990, became the first mayor of a reunited Berlin.
Dietrich Stobbe was a German politician who served as the Mayor of West Berlin from 1977 to 1981, as a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Stobbe also served as President of the Bundesrat from 1 November 1978 to 31 October 1979.
The government of Hamburg is divided into executive, legislative and judicial branches. Hamburg is a city-state and municipality, and thus its governance deals with several details of both state and local community politics. It takes place in two ranks – a citywide and state administration, and a local rank for the boroughs. The head of the city-state's government is the First Mayor and President of the Senate. A ministry is called Behörde (office) and a state minister is a Senator in Hamburg. The legislature is the state parliament, called Hamburgische Bürgerschaft, and the judicial branch is composed of the state supreme court and other courts. The seat of the government is Hamburg Rathaus. The President of the Hamburg Parliament is the highest official person of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. This is a traditional difference to the other German states. The president is not allowed to exert any occupation of the executive.
Björn Böhning is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs under the leadership of minister Hubertus Heil from 2018 to 2022.
The Governing Mayor of Berlin is the head of government, presiding over the Berlin Senate. As Berlin is an independent city as well as one of the constituent States of Germany, the office is the equivalent of the Ministers President of the other German states, except the states of Hamburg and Bremen, where the heads of government are called "First Mayor" and "President of the Senate and Mayor", respectively. The title Governing Mayor of Berlin is the equivalent of Lord Mayor in the meaning of an actual executive leader.
The Senate of Berlin is the executive body governing the city of Berlin, which at the same time is a state of Germany. According to the Constitution of Berlin the Senate consists of the Governing Mayor of Berlin and up to ten senators appointed by the governing mayor, two of whom are appointed (deputy) mayors. The Senate meets weekly at the Rotes Rathaus.
The Berlin Police is the Landespolizei force for the city-state of Berlin, Germany. Law enforcement in Germany is divided between federal and state (Land) agencies.
Polizeiliche Schutzaufgaben Ausland der Bundespolizei is a specialized unit of the German Federal Police tasked with providing personal security for German diplomatic missions in conflict regions.
Rainer Michael Müller is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who served as Governing Mayor of Berlin from 2014 to 2021 as a member of the German Bundestag since the 2021 elections, representing the Berlin-Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district.
The Minister-president (Ministerpräsident) is the head of state and government in thirteen of Germany's sixteen states.
The Giffey senate was the state government of Berlin between 2021 and 2023, sworn in on 21 December 2021 after Franziska Giffey was elected as Governing Mayor of Berlin by the members of the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin. It was the 28th Senate of Berlin.
The 2023 Berlin repeat state election was held on 12 February 2023 to once again elect the 19th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin. The 19th Abgeordnetenhaus was originally elected in the 2021 Berlin state election held on 26 September. On 16 November 2022, the Constitutional Court of the State of Berlin declared the results invalid due to numerous irregularities and ordered a repeat election within 90 days. A decision by the Federal Constitutional Court regarding five constitutional complaints is still pending but would not be decided until after the repeat election. The incumbent government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), The Greens, and The Left led by Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey. Alongside the Abgeordnetenhaus election, the boroughs of Berlin council results were also ruled invalid and repeat elections ordered for the same date.
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