Saarbrücken (district)

The Regionalverband Saarbrücken is a ''Kommunalverband besonderer Art'', an integration of a district (''Kreis'') and a district-free town. It is located in the south of the Saarland, Germany. Neighboring districts are Saarlouis, Neunkirchen, Saar-Pfalz, and Forbach-Boulay-Moselle and Sarreguemines in the French ''département'' Moselle.

History

The district Saarbrücken was originally created in 1816.
In 1974, the district and the district-free city Saarbrücken were merged, and the new administrative body was named ''Stadtverband Saarbrücken''. Although it's not a district like others, most of its administrative tasks are the same as those of a district.

On November 21, 2007, the governing majority of the CDU in the parliament of Saarland passed a law which transformed the ''Stadtverband Saarbrücken'' into the ''Regionalverband Saarbrücken'' on January 1, 2008. The most striking change by this transformation was the introduction of the ''Kooperationsrat'', a council of officials of the towns and municipalities which exercises some of the powers of Municipal corporation alongside the district council (''Regionalversammlung'', the local equivalent of the Kreistag). As the directly elected ''Regionalversammlung'' represents the population, while the members of the ''Kooperationsrat'' are picked by the towns or municipalities which they represent, there is a debate whether the competences of the not-directly-elected ''Kooperationsrat'' infringe on the constitutional right of the directly elected ''Regionalversammlung'' to exert all powers of Municipal corporation. Regionalverband Saarbrücken#Geschichte (in German), Retrieved July 12, 2013

Geography

The river Saar flows through the district, through the city Saarbrücken in the center of the district.

Coat of arms

The original district had no coat of arms, the Regionalverband uses a coat derived from that of the Counts of Nassau-Saarbrücken. The silver lion is taken from the County of Saarbrücken, the golden lion is the lion of Nassau.

Towns and municipalities

Politics

The bodies of the district ''Regionalverband'' are the administrator ''Regionalverbandsdirektor'', the district council ''Regionalversammlung'' and the additional council ''Kooperationsrat'', which is mainly composed of officials of the towns and municipalities. Regionalverband Saarbrücken#Politik (in German), Retrieved July 12, 2013

District administration

On January 1, 2008, Ulf Huppert ( FDP) became ''Beauftragter für das Amt des Regionalverbandsdirektors'', temporarily acting as Regionalverbandsdirektor. Regionalverband Saarbrücken#Regionalverbandsdirektor (in German), Retrieved July 12, 2013

The first ever election of the Regionalverbandsdirektor was held on June 7, 2009. As no candidate gained an absolute majority in the first round, run-off elections were held On June 21, 2009, which were won by Peter Gillo ( SPD) with 60.22%, with Rainer Grün ( CDU) taking 39.78% of the votes. Gillo beat Grün in all towns and municipalities except Püttlingen. The turnout rate of the run-off elections was just 21.2%.

District council (''Regionalversammlung'')

(Result of the elections of 2014)Kreisergebnis RV Saarbrücken -- Endgültiges Ergebnis der Kreistagswahlen 2014
(in German), Retrieved September 9, 2015

International relations

Saarbrücken is a fellow member of the ''Eurodistrict SaarMoselle''.

International partnerships

Saarbrücken has a partnership with:

References

;Notes

;Non-English Wikipedia links

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Saarbrucken (District)

Districts of Saarland
Urban districts of Germany