4000bce - 399
400 - 1399
1400 - 1499
1500 - 1599
1600 - 1699
1700 - 1799
1800 - 1899
1900 - 1999
The German Communal Ordinance [Deutsche Gemeindeordnung] aims at qualifying the communes for the highest achievements in close cooperation with Party and State, affording them full opportunities for helping to accomplish-in the true spirit of Baron von Stein, the creator of communal home rule-the purpose of the State: to restore the priority of the common weal over the individual in a united people permeated by one national will; to place the public interest before selfish ends and to bring about the true national community under the leadership of the best of the people, in which every willing fellow-citizen finds the feeling of mutual solidarity.
The German Communal Ordinance is a basic law of the National Socialist State. The reconstruction of the Reich will be completed on the foundations laid by the act.
The Reich Government has therefore enacted the following law which is hereby promulgated.
(1) The mayor [Burgermeister] is the head of the commune. He is represented by the executive officers [Beigeordnete].
(2) The mayor and the executive officers receive their appointments through the confidence of Party and State. In order to insure harmony between the communal administration and the Party, the delegate of the National Socialist Workers' Party participates in certain matters. Continuous contacts between the communal administration and the citizens is guaranteed by the councillors [Gemeinderaete], who as meritorious and experienced men assist the mayor through their advice.
(1) In order to insure harmony between the communal administration and the Party, the delegates of the National Socialist German Workers' Party participates, apart from the appointment and recall of the mayor, the executive officers, and the councilors (Secs. 41, 45, 51, 54), in the following decisions of the mayor:
1. The issuance of the basic ordinance requires the approval of the Party delegate;
2. Honorary citizenship and honorary titles may be granted or revoked only with his consent.
(2) When the Party delegate [NSDAP] refuses to concur with the mayor he must give his reasons in writing within two weeks after the mayor has requested his decision. If the matter concerns the basic ordinance, the Party delegate must state the provisions disapproved by him, otherwise his approval is considered granted. Should further conferences or correspondence between the Party delegate and the mayor fail to bring about an agreement, the mayor must request the decision of the supervisory authority, in urban counties that of the Reich governor. In the case of the basic ordinance, the Reich governor must have the approval of the Reich Minister of the Interior for any final decision overruling the recommendation of the supervisory authority. The decision of the Reich governor is binding upon the supervisory authority.
(1) Vacant full-time positions of mayor and executive officer must be advertised before they are filled by the commune. All applications received are to be sent to the Party delegate, who after secretly conferring with the councilors, nominates up to three candidates. in the case of an executive officer, he must give the mayor an opportunity to express his opinion of the candidate.
(2) In submitting his nominations together with all the applications, the Party delegate proceeds as follows:
1. If the vacancy concerns the position of mayor, senior executive officer or chamberlain in cities of more than 100,000 inhabitants, the folder is sent through the supervisory authority to the Reich Minister of the Interior.
2. In the case of the position of another executive officer in cities of the above class and in the case of the position of mayor and executive officer in other urban counties, the folder is sent through the supervisory authority to the Reich governor;
3. In the case of the position of mayor and executive officer in cities belonging to a rural county, the folder is sent through the supervisory authority to the higher supervisory authority, and for all remaining communes to the supervisory authority.
(3) If the proper authority concerned with the matter approves of a nomination, the commune appoints the candidate. Otherwise new nominations must be submitted. if no new nomination finds the approval of the proper authority, the latter selects a candidate, whom the commune must appoint. The same applies if nominations are not made within the period of time specified by the proper authority.
(4) Vacancies in the position of unpaid mayor or executive officer need not be advertised. The proper authority may permit a commune to proceed without advertising a vacancy in a position mentioned under (2). Otherwise the regulations given in (1) to (3) apply accordingly.
(5) Nominations are to be kept confidential until the proper authority according to (2) has made its decision.
(1) The proper authority according to Sec. 41 (2) may revoke the appointment of a mayor or executive officer until the close of their first year of office. For positions of the first category under Sec. 41
(2) the Reich governor must be invited to express himself on the matter. The same applies to the Party delegate for position of the third category under Sec. 41 (2); cases of disagreement require a decision of the Reich governor.
(1) It is the duty of the councilors to keep the communal administration in close touch with all groups of the citizenry. They must advise the mayor on their own responsibility and uphold his measures among the population. In their activities they are to be guided solely by the thought of preserving and promoting the common weal.
(2) In cities the councilors have the title of "Ratsherr."
(1) The Party delegate selects the councilors in agreement with the mayor. In making the appointment, he is to take into account national reliability, qualifications, and reputation, and must consider personalities whose activities give the commune its special significance or who exert an important influence upon the life of the community.
(2) Civil servants, employees and workers of the commune and civil servants of the supervisory authority may not be appointed councilors. The supervisory authority may grant exceptions from this rule.
The State supervises the communes in order to insure that their activities conform with the laws and the aims of national leadership. The supervision shall be exercised in such a way that the initiative and the sense of responsibility of the communal administration are strengthened and not diminished.
The provisions of this act take effect on April 1, 1935.Berlin, 30 January 1935.
Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression Volume IV
Office of the United States Chief Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality
Washington, DC : United States Government Printing Office, 1946