Hamburg, the official full name of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, State of the Federal Republic of Germany with (2019) 1.8 million residents, the average population density is 2,446 residents per km 2.
The city-state lies on the Lower Elbe, about 110 km above its confluence with the North Sea and at the confluence of the Alster and the Bille with the Elbe; with the island of Neuwerk in the Elbe estuary, 755 km 2 in size (60 km 2 of which is water).
Hamburg is divided into seven districts: Mitte (including Neuwerk), Altona (1937), Eimsbüttel (1894), Nord (1913), Wandsbek (1937), Bergedorf (1868/1937) and Harburg (1937).
Politics and law
According to the constitution of 6/6/1952 (modified several times), the legislation lies with the state parliament (citizenship; the members are elected for a period of 5 years). The Senate acts as the state government under the chairmanship of the President (First Mayor), who is elected by the citizens for a period of four years. The first mayor appoints and dismisses his deputy (second mayor) and the other senators and has the authority to issue guidelines. Bills are introduced by the Senate, the citizenship or by referendum. Laws are passed by the citizens or by referendum. The voluntary work of state parliament members was deleted from the constitution in 1996.
Citizenship elections in Hamburg
| Hamburg: State elections 2004–2020 1) | ||||||||||
| Parties | February 29, 20042) | February 24, 2008 | February 20, 20112) | February 15, 2015 | February 23, 2020 | |||||
| SPD | 41 | 30.5% | 44 | 34.1% | 62 | 48.4% | 58 | 45.7% | 54 | 39.2% |
| CDU | 63 | 47.2% | 56 | 42.6% | 28 | 21.9% | 20th | 15.9% | 15th | 11.2% |
| Alliance 90 / The Greens | 17th | 12.3% | 13th | 9.6% | 14th | 11.2% | 15th | 12.3% | 33 | 24.2% |
| Rule of Law Offensive Party | – | 0.4% | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| The left | – | – | 8th | 6.4% | 8th | 6.4% | 11 | 8.5% | 13th | 9.1% |
| FDP | – | 2.8% | – | 4.7% | 9 | 6.7% | 9 | 7.4% | 1 | 4.9% |
| Alternative for Germany | – | – | – | – | – | – | 8th | 6.1% | 7th | 5.3% |
| Other | – | 6.8% 3) | – | 3.0% | – | 5.5% 4) | – | 4.1% | – | 6.1% |
| 1) Allocation of seats and share of votes (in total, rounding-related deviations possible) of the parties.2) New election after the ruling coalition broke up.
3) Of which 3.1% for the Pro Deutsche Mitte party (Pro DM / Schill). 4) thereof 2.1% for the Pirate Party Germany. |
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Flag and coat of arms: The flag is made of red cloth and has been showing the castle in the middle since the 15th century.
The coat of arms of Hamburg, adopted in its current form in 1835, shows in its shield a castle (representation of the Hammaburg) with three towers that goes back in its basic form to the large city seal of 1254; There is a star above the right and left towers, and a cross above the middle one, reminding of the former Archdiocese of Hamburg. In the large coat of arms of the state, the shield is raised by a richly decorated spangenhelm, shield holders are two backward-looking lions.
Administration: Administrative tasks are performed by the Senate Offices subordinate to the First Mayor, the specialist authorities headed by a Senator (President) and in the seven districts by the District Offices. In the specialist authorities, the people work through deputations (praeses and 15 members elected by the citizenry), in the district offices through the district assemblies (number of representatives in the district administration law staggered according to the number of residents of the districts, since 2008 between 45 and 57 members [without overhang seats], elected for the duration of the electoral term of the citizenship) with.
Law: The highest courts are the Hamburg Constitutional Court, the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court, the Hamburg Higher Administrative Court, the Regional Labor Court and the Regional Social Court. There is also a regional court, the Hamburg District Court, divided into 7 district courts and the area for Hamburg-Mitte, which is subdivided into segments, an administrative court, a labor court, a social court and a finance court.
Population and Religion
By 1910, the population in the then national territory grew to over 1 million residents due to immigration from the surrounding area and the rest of northern Germany (in the area of today’s national territory already by 1900). As a result of the war, the population decreased from (1939) 1.698 million to (1946) 1.40 million. As a result of strong immigration and a high birth surplus, it then rose to 1.86 million (1964). By 1986 there was a steady decrease, which was not only due to natural population movements (death rate higher than birth rate), but also to a negative migration balance; the exchange mainly related to the immediate area. From 1987 the population increased significantly due to the steady influx of foreigners and from 1989 due to immigration from the new federal states and from Eastern Europe; it reached a population of 1.85 million at the end of 2019. Of the (2017) 296 200 foreigners (16.2% of the population), 13.9% are Turkish, 9.3% Polish, 6.1% Afghan, 4.6% Syrian, 3.5% Romanian, 3.3 % Portuguese and 3.1% Bulgarian citizenship. The number of asylum seekers was 5,400 in 2017.
