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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 of Hamburg. 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.
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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. [1]
The first official constitution was established on 28 September 1860. It introduced a form of representative democracy 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. [2]
After the First World War in 1919 in the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the Hamburg Parliament 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. [3]
The constitution of 1952 was ratified by the Hamburg Parliament.
The constitution consists of 76 articles and a preamble. Dieter Läpple noted the importance placed by the preamble on the fact that Hamburg is a port and trade city, stating the following: [4]
The preamble of the constitution of Hamburg points out the close relationship between port and city with regard to their development: "As an international port the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg has a special task, allocated by its history and location, to perform for the German people. In the spirit of peace it wants to be an intermediary between all continents and peoples of the world."
It is divided into the following sections:
Because the constitution was approved in 1959, after the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (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 rights) is missing.
The legislature is the Hamburg Parliament, the judiciary 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.
The constitution has been amended 34 times since 1952.
Hamburg, officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, is the second-largest city in Germany after Berlin, as well as the overall 7th largest city and largest non-capital city in the European Union with a population of over 1.85 million. Hamburg is 941 km2 in area. Hamburg's urban area has a population of around 2.5 million and is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, which has a population of over 5.1 million people in total. The city lies on the River Elbe and two of its tributaries, the River Alster and the River Bille. One of Germany's 16 federated states, Hamburg is surrounded by Schleswig-Holstein to the north and Lower Saxony to the south.
Hamburg was founded in the 9th century as a mission settlement to convert the Saxons. Since the Middle Ages, it has been an important trading center in Europe. The convenient location of the port and its independence as a city and state for centuries strengthened this position.
The city of Hamburg in Germany is made up of seven boroughs and subdivided into 104 quarters. Most of the quarters were former independent settlements. The areal organisation is regulated by the constitution of Hamburg and several laws. The subdivision into boroughs and quarters was last modified in March 2008.
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.
The Museum for Hamburg History is a history museum located in the city of Hamburg in northern Germany. The museum was established in 1908 and opened at its current location in 1922, although its parent organization was founded in 1839. The museum is located near the Planten un Blomen park in the center of Hamburg. The museum is commonly reviewed among the museums of the city of Hamburg.
Winterhude is a quarter in the ward Hamburg-Nord of Hamburg, Germany. As of 2020 the population was 56,382.
Transport in Hamburg comprises an extensive, rail system, subway system, airports and maritime services for the more than 1.8 million inhabitants of the city of Hamburg and 5.3 million people in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region.
The number of elections in Hamburg varies. Hamburg has a state election every five years, the elections for the state parliament. There are also elections to the federal diet of Germany, the local elections of the diet of the boroughs (Bezirksversammlungen) and every five years to the European Parliament. All elections take place by universal adult suffrage and are regulated by law.
The Hanseaten is a collective term for the hierarchy group consisting of elite individuals and families of prestigious rank who constituted the ruling class of the free imperial city of Hamburg, conjointly with the equal First Families of the free imperial cities of Bremen and Lübeck. The members of these First Families were the persons in possession of hereditary grand burghership of these cities, including the mayors, the senators, joint diplomats and the senior pastors. Hanseaten refers specifically to the ruling families of Hamburg, Lübeck and Bremen, but more broadly, this group is also referred to as patricians along with similar social groups elsewhere in continental Europe.
Dorothee Stapelfeldt is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) who served in the governments of mayors Olaf Scholz and Peter Tschentscher of Hamburg, including as State Minister for Urban Development and Environment (2015–2022) and State Minister of Science and Research (2011–2015).
The Speicherstadt in Hamburg, Germany is the largest warehouse district in the world where the buildings stand on timber-pile foundations, oak logs, in this particular case. It is located in the port of Hamburg—within the HafenCity quarter—and was built from 1883 to 1927.
The Senate of the Free Hanseatic City of 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. The modern-day Senate is headed by a President, elected by the Parliament of Bremen, and the President's deputy, elected by the Senate. Both officials hold the title of Mayor. The position of President of the Senate corresponds to the position of Minister-President in most other states of Germany, while the senators are cabinet members similarly to ministers in other states.
The Bach Prize of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg has been awarded since 1951, since 1975 every four years. On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach, the prize was founded in 1950 by the Senate and the Hamburg Parliament. The prize is endowed with €10,000 and is awarded to composers, whose works would meet the demands of Bach. €5,000 are earmarked for scholarships.
The Minister president (Ministerpräsident) is the head of state and government in thirteen of Germany's sixteen states.
The Hanseatisches Oberlandesgericht is the Higher Regional Court (OLG) of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Germany, and thus part of the Hamburg ordinary jurisdiction. It is located at the square of Sievekingplatz in the St. Pauli quarter. The square is named after the first president of the OLG, Ernst Friedrich Sieveking.
In the federal system of the Federal Republic of Germany, the state parliaments embody the legislative power in the sixteen states. In thirteen of the sixteen German states, the state parliament is known as the Landtag. In the states Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, the state parliament is called Bürgerschaft (Citizenry), in Berlin it is called Abgeordnetenhaus.
The Verein für Hamburgische Geschichte (VHG) is a historical society founded on 9 April 1839, which is open to both professional historians and historically interested laypersons. The society's office and library are located in the Staatsarchiv der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg.
The Oberappellationsgericht der vier Freien Städte, since 1867 the Oberappellationsgericht der Freien Hansestädte, seated in Lübeck was an appeals court of the German Confederation and the North German Confederation with territorial jurisdiction for Bremen, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Lübeck. Frankfurt was removed from the court's jurisdiction in 1867 after its annexation by Prussia. In 1870 the court lost its subject-matter jurisdiction for commercial law to the Reichsoberhandelsgericht and was altogether abolished in 1879. The court was considered to be the most influential German court of its time due to its exemplary combination of theory and practice.
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