The Constitution of the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg (German: ''Verfassung der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg'') is the basic governing document of the German

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 throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. It was approved on 6 June 1952. It is the fourth constitution that the state has had, consists of 76 articles, and has been amended 34 times.

History

Erich and Martin Verg considered a document called " the first Rezeß" of 1410 as the first constitution of Hamburg, although it has had no democratically founded proceedings to establish it. The first official constitution was established on 28 September 1860. It introduced a form of

representative democracy Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy or electoral democracy, is a type of democracy where elected delegates represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies func ...

with limitations on the right to vote, e.g. only males could vote. On 13 October 1879 a new constitution (''Verfassung der freien und Hansestadt Hamburg'') was created. After the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in 1919 in the parliamentary

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

, the

Hamburg Parliament The Hamburg Parliament (; literally “Hamburgish Citizenry” or, more poetically, “Hamburgish Burgess (title), Burgessry”) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the German state of Hamburg according to the constitution of Hamburg. ...

ratified a temporary constitution (titled ''Gesetz über die Vorläufige Staatsgewalt''), with an official constitution (titled ''Verfassung der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg'') being formally approved in 1921. The constitution of 1952 was ratified by the

Content

The constitution consists of 76 articles and a

preamble A preamble () is an introductory and expressionary statement in a document that explains the document's purpose and underlying philosophy. When applied to the opening paragraphs of a statute, it may recite historical facts pertinent to the su ...

. Dieter Läpple noted the importance placed by the preamble on the fact that Hamburg is a port and trade city, stating the following: It is divided into the following sections: *legal foundations (I). In contrast to the other two city-states

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

the constitution does not separate between state (Land) and local communal affairs. *sections for the

(II) and senate (III) *law (IV) and administration (V) *

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

(VI) *budget and finance (VII) *and final and transitional provisions (VIII) Because the constitution was approved in 1959, after the

Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany () is the constitution of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The West German Constitution was approved in Bonn on 8 May 1949 and came into effect on 23 May after having been approved b ...

(approved in 1949)—which is the document that establishes and describes the duties, powers, structure and function of the government in Germany and legal also for the German states (federal law supersedes state law)—a section outlining human or basic rights (

fundamental right Fundamental rights are a group of rights that have been recognized by a high degree of protection from encroachment. These rights are specifically identified in a constitution, or have been found under due process of law. The United Nations' Susta ...

s) is missing.

Constitutional institutions

The legislature is the

, the

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

is the Hamburg Constitutional Court (''Hamburgisches Verfassungsgericht'') and the executive is represented by the senate (the cabinet), which is headed by the First Mayor of Hamburg (''Erster Bürgermeister der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg''), a position equivalent to a prime minister or minister-president.

Amendments

The constitution has been amended 34 times since 1952.

References

Literature

* Werner Thieme: ''Verfassung der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg. Kommentar mit einem Anhang Hamburgischer staatsrechtlicher Gesetze''. Harvestehuder Fachverlag, Hamburg 1998. * 50 Jahre Verfassung der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg : Festakt am 6. Juni 2002 im Hamburger Rathaus, Hamburgische Bürgerschaft, Hamburg 2002.

External links

Verfassung der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg
retrieved 2009-07-22 {{DEFAULTSORT:Constitution of Hamburg

Government of Hamburg Hamburg law 1952 in law