1935 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 49 German Communal Ordinance 30 January 1935 ,
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
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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. * * * ,
Section 6
(1) The mayor [Bürgermeister] 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. * * *
Section 33
(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 require? 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. * * *
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Section 41
(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 Earty 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. * * *
Section 45
(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
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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. * * *
Title 2
Communal Councilors Section 48
(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." *******
Section 51
(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.
*******
PART VII SUPERVISION Section 106
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.
*******
Section 123
The provisions of this act take effect on April 1, 1935.
Berlin, 30 January 1935.
The Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor
Adolf Hitler
The Reich Minister of the Interior
Frick
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Law on the government of the communes, with the goal to establish a "true national community," including the appointment of officials, the party's official role, and supervision by the state
Authors
Adolf Hitler (Fuehrer, Reich Chancellor, Supeme Commander of Wehrmacht)
Adolf Hitler
Austrian nationalized German politician, leader of the National Socialist party and dictator of Germany (1889-1945)
- Born: 1889-01-01 1889-04-20 (Braunau am Inn) (country: Austria-Hungary; located in the administrative territorial entity: Archduchy of Austria above the Enns; statement is subject of: Adolf-Hitler-Geburtshaus)
- Died: 1945-04-30 (Berlin Führerbunker) (country: Nazi Germany; located in the administrative territorial entity: Berlin; statement is subject of: death of Adolf Hitler)
- Country of citizenship: Cisleithania (period: 1889-04-20 through 1918-11-11); First Republic of Austria (period: 1919-01-01 through 1925-04-30); Nazi Germany (end cause: death of Adolf Hitler; period: 1933-01-30 through 1945-04-30); Republic of German-Austria (period: 1918-01-01 through 1919-01-01)
- Occupation: painter (statement is subject of: paintings by Adolf Hitler); political writer; politician (reason for preferred rank: generally used form); soldier
- Member of political party: German Workers' Party (period: 1919-09-12 through 1921-07-11); Nazi Party (series ordinal: 556)
- Member of: Nazi Party
- Participant in: Aktion T4; Beer Hall Putsch; The Holocaust; ethnic cleansing
- Significant person: Albert Speer; Benito Mussolini; Eva Braun; Joseph Stalin
Wilhelm Frick (Minister of the Interior; chief of Nazi delegation, Reichstag; admin. Plenipotentiary)
Wilhelm Frick
German Nazi official (1877-1946)
- Born: 1877-03-12 (Alsenz)
- Died: 1946-10-16 (Nuremberg)
- Country of citizenship: Germany
- Occupation: diplomat; lawyer; politician
- Member of political party: German Völkisch Freedom Party; National Socialist Freedom Movement; Nazi Party
- Member of: AGV München; Thule Society
- Participant in: Aryanization; Beer Hall Putsch; International Military Tribunal (role: defendant)
- Position held: Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (period: 1943-08-24 through 1945-05-04; replaces: Konstantin von Neurath); Reichsminister des Innern (period: 1933-01-30 through 1943-08-20; replaced by: Heinrich Himmler; replaces: Franz Bracht); member of the Reichstag of Nazi Germany; member of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic
Date: 30 January 1935
Literal Title: 1935 Reichsgesetzblatt . . . German Communal Ordinance 30 January 1935
Defendant: Wilhelm Frick
Total Pages: 4
Language of Text: English
Source of Text: Nazi conspiracy and aggression (Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Government Printing Office, 1946.)
Evidence Code: PS-2008
Citation: IMT (page 255)
HLSL Item No.: 450221