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The Senate of Berlin (german: Berliner Senat) is the executive body governing the city of
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, which at the same time is a
state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...
of
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. According to the the Senate consists of the
Governing Mayor of Berlin The Governing Mayor (german: Regierender Bürgermeister) of Berlin is the head of government, presiding over the Senate of Berlin, Berlin Senate. As Berlin is an independent city as well as one of the constituent States of Germany (''Bundesländer ...
and up to ten senators appointed by the governing mayor, two of whom are appointed (deputy) mayors. The
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
meets weekly at the (Red Town Hall).Virtueller Rundgang: 7. Senatssitzungssaal
Berlin.de


History

The
Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...
municipalities of
Alt-Berlin Alt-Berlin ("Old Berlin"), also spelled ''Altberlin'', is a neighborhood (''Stadtviertel''), situated in the Berliner locality (''Ortsteil'') of Mitte, part of the homonymous borough. In the 13th century it was the sister town of the old Cöll ...
and
Cölln Cölln () was the twin city of Old Berlin (Altberlin) from the 13th century to the 18th century. Cölln was located on the Fisher Island section of Spree Island, opposite Altberlin on the western bank of the River Spree, until the cities we ...
had received
town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...
in the 13th century and from 1307 on shared a common administration, but were divided after the elector subjected the city (following the idea of
divide and rule Divide and rule policy ( la, divide et impera), or divide and conquer, in politics and sociology is gaining and maintaining power divisively. Historically, this strategy was used in many different ways by empires seeking to expand their terr ...
) and made it his residential city in 1448. King
Frederick I of Prussia Frederick I (german: Friedrich I.; 11 July 1657 – 25 February 1713), of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was (as Frederick III) Elector of Brandenburg (1688–1713) and Duke of Prussia in personal union ( Brandenburg-Prussia). The latter function h ...
by resolution finally had both towns, and three later founded adjacent cities, merged and elevated to the "Royal Capital and Residence City of Berlin" as of 1 January 1710. From the
Prussian reforms The Prussian Reform Movement was a series of constitutional, administrative, social and economic reforms early in nineteenth-century Prussia. They are sometimes known as the Stein-Hardenberg Reforms, for Karl Freiherr vom Stein and Karl August ...
of 1808 until 1933, Berlin (expanded to
Greater Berlin The Greater Berlin Act (german: Groß-Berlin-Gesetz), officially Law Regarding the Creation of the New Municipality of Berlin (german: Gesetz über die Bildung einer neuen Stadtgemeinde Berlin), was a law passed by the Prussian state government i ...
in 1920) was governed by a ''Magistrat'' (compulsorily dissolved by Nazi act on 15 March 1933), which was the executive committee of the ''Stadtverordnetenversammlung'' (city council; last convened on 27 June 1933) and was represented in each of the
boroughs of Berlin Berlin is both a city and one of Germany’s federated states (city state). Since the 2001 administrative reform, it has been made up of twelve districts (german: Bezirke, ), each with its own administrative body. However, unlike the municipaliti ...
by a local office (usually housed in the town hall of a formerly independent suburb). The council was headed by a Lord Mayor, or ''Oberbürgermeister''. Lord Mayor Heinrich Sahm, elected in 1931, remained in office, and joined the
NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
in November 1933, but resigned in 1935. His power totally depended on
Julius Lippert Julius Lippert (9 July 1895 – 30 June 1956) was a German politician in the Nazi Party. Early life and World War I Born in Basel, Switzerland, he became an extreme anti-Semite in his youth after reading the anti-Semitic philosophers Joseph ...
, on 25 March 1933 appointed as
Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...
State Commissioner for Berlin. So Berlin was de facto under the ultimate governance of the Nazi regime. After the defeat of
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, Berlin was to be under the ultimate governance of the
Allied Kommandatura The Allied Kommandatura, or often just Kommandatura, also known as the ''Alliierte Kommandantur'' in German, was the governing body for the city of Berlin following Germany's defeat in World War II. The victorious allied powers established cont ...
. However, in the election of 20 October 1946, the city elected an
SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been t ...
-majority Stadtverordnetenversammlung and an SPD mayor (
Otto Ostrowski Otto Ostrowski (28 January 1883 in Spremberg – 16 June 1963 in Knokke, Belgium) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and Mayor of Berlin in 1946–1947. Ostrowski graduated in Romance studies and after Wor ...
, resigned 1947). The second elected SPD mayor, the devoted anti-communist
Ernst Reuter Ernst Rudolf Johannes Reuter (29 July 1889 – 29 September 1953) was the mayor of West Berlin from 1948 to 1953, during the time of the Cold War. Biography Early years Reuter was born in Apenrade (Aabenraa), Province of Schleswig-Holstein ...
, was vetoed by the Soviet commander, so
Louise Schroeder Louise Dorothea Schroeder (2 April 1887 in Altona, Hamburg, Altona (Elbe) – 4 June 1957 in Berlin) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) party. She was among the 41 female members of the Weimar National Assemb ...
(SPD) officiated as only acting lord mayor. The Western allies permitted the Berlin SPD to hold a referendum on whether to merge with the Communist party to form a unified single party of the left, the Socialist Unity Party, as realised under pressure in the
Soviet occupation zone The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a c ...
of Germany, and the members voted against the merger. This was unacceptable to the Soviets, who engineered the establishment of an alternative city council in the sector under their direct control. Following the
Berlin Blockade The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road ...
, the Soviet sector, which became known as
East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...
(and the capital of the
German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
as of October 1949) and the three western sectors (British, French, and U.S.) were functionally separated following the attempted Communist putsch in Berlin's city government in September 1948 (a situation formalised in the
Four Power Agreement on Berlin The Four Power Agreement on Berlin, also known as the Berlin Agreement or the Quadripartite Agreement on Berlin, was agreed on 3 September 1971 by the four wartime Allied powers, represented by their ambassadors. The four foreign ministers, Ale ...
of 1971). Under the new constitution of
West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
which came into force on 1 September 1950, Berlin was defined as a state of the
Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
; however, due to the Allied veto, its representatives in the
federal parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-gen ...
(and later in the
European parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
) were not directly elected by the citizenry, but appointed by the Berlin parliament (''Abgeordnetenhaus'') and had no voting power, but a merely advisory vote in those parliaments. On the model of the two Hanseatic
city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...
s within the Federal Republic,
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
and
Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...
, the Berlin Senate, chosen by the parties represented in the Berlin parliament, was established to perform the functions of a state government, with each of its members heading a department, equivalent to a state ministry, and a ''Regierender Bürgermeister'' ( Governing or Executive Mayor) at its head and one ''Bürgermeister'' as his/her deputy. In the 1950 constitution the maximum number of senators was 16, then each elected by the parliament, but the first Senate had 13. Thus, following the Hanseatic tradition, the Lord Mayor was only
primus inter pares ''Primus inter pares'' is a Latin phrase meaning first among equals. It is typically used as an honorary title for someone who is formally equal to other members of their group but is accorded unofficial respect, traditionally owing to their sen ...
as he and the senators had an elected mandate, therefore the Lord Mayor could not dismiss any senator. Senators could however be removed from their seats by the Parliament. Until 1990 all elected Mayors and Senators had to have their positions confirmed by the Allied commanders of West Berlin. Since both the building then used as the town hall of Berlin, (the ), and the
Rotes Rathaus The Rotes Rathaus (, ''Red City Hall'') is the town hall of Berlin, located in the Mitte district on Rathausstraße near Alexanderplatz. It is the home to the governing mayor and the government (the Senate of Berlin) of the state of Berlin. The ...
(which had been destroyed and was not rebuilt until 1956) were in East Berlin, the Senate met at the former town hall of
Schöneberg Schöneberg () is a locality of Berlin, Germany. Until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a separate borough including the locality of Friedenau. Together with the former borough of Tempelhof it is now part of the new borough of Tempelh ...
,
Rathaus Schöneberg Rathaus Schöneberg is the city hall for the borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg in Berlin. From 1949 until 1990 it served as the seat of the state senate of West Berlin and from 1949 until 1991 as the seat of the Governing Mayor. History The sa ...
. During the transition to a
reunified Germany German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
in 1990, a new ''Magistrat'' was elected in East Berlin and a Senate appointed in West Berlin, and they jointly governed as a ''Landesregierung aus Senat und Magistrat'' (state government of Senate and Magistrat, known popularly as the ''MagiSenat''), which initially met in alternate weeks at the Schöneberg town hall and the Red Town Hall. The Oberbürgermeister (East) and the Regierender Bürgermeister (West) similarly headed the government jointly. With the completion of reunification on 3 October 1990, the MagiSenat became a unified Berlin Senate, no longer depending on Allied confirmation. The new Senate was reduced to a maximum of 8 members, and senators are now appointed by the Governing Mayor (1995 amendment of the constitution). There are now two Deputy Mayors.The Constitution of Berlin: Section IV: The Government
, Berlin.de
The senate meets in the room in the Red Town Hall which was originally created for the ''Magistrat'' in the 1950s.


Departments

The Berlin Senate consists of ten ministries or departments (German: ''Senatsverwaltungen''). Their work is coordinated by the staff of the Senate Chancellery, which is under the direction of the governing mayor. As of 2022, the composition of the Senate is as follows:


See also

*
Senate of Bremen The Senate of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (German: Senat der Freien Hansestadt Bremen) is the government of the German city-state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Various senate-like institutions have existed in Bremen since medieval times. Th ...
*
Government of Hamburg The government of Hamburg is divided into Executive (government), executive, Legislature, legislative and judiciary, judicial branches. Hamburg is a city-state and municipality, and thus its governance deals with several details of both state and ...


References


External links


Senate meeting room





Procedural Rules of the Senate

Senate Departments
{{Authority control Organisations based in Berlin