Full Description
At the center of this investigation is the great modernization effort of a West German state, Bavaria, in the 1970s and 1980s, by means of a reform of the smaller units of local government. The reforms were meant to abolish all autonomous local governments serving populations of fewer than 3,000, thereby reducing the number of local governments in Bavaria from more than 7,000 to less than 2,000. Based on interviews, surveys, and statistical research, this study chronicles fifteen communities and their challenges, developments, and social changes from post-1945 up to the present. While this book explores the decline of the iconic village community, it also reveals the survival of medieval towns in a contemporary world, and despite the modern desire for comprehensive and well-integrated services, there remains a seemingly perennial appeal of small town and village life.
Contents
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
Introduction
The Plan for this Book
Chapter 1. Changing Villages and Small Places in Bavaria
Contemporary Social Change
Population Trends
Stages of Community Development
The Transformation of Agriculture
Chapter 2. The Small Town or Village Community
Secularization and Community Life
The Elementary School and the Community
Social Groups and Festivals in West Middle Franconia
Economic Enterprises of the Community
The Future of Small Places
Chapter 3. Planning Local Territorial Reform
The Era of Reforms
Federal Initiatives Toward Raumordnung
Bavaria Tackles Territorial Reorganization
Regional Planning and Administrative Reform
The Kreisreform
The Independent City and Hinterland Reforms
The Communal Territorial Reform
Chapter 4. The Implementation of the Reform
Implementation of the Local Reform
The Reform in Middle Franconia
Patterns of Reaction to Bavaria's Reform
Toward a Modern, Functional Society
Chapter 5. No Town is an Island Local Government in the West German System
Federalism in the Basic Law
The Changing Federal Financial Constitution
Cooperative Federalism or Politikverflechtung?
The Future Role of the Communes
The Laäender and the European Union
Chapter 6. Conclusion
Mini-Towns and Micro-Communes
Revisiting Wolframs-Eschenbach
Re-interviewing the Bürgermeisters
Small Town and Village in Bavaria
Appendix: Tables A1-A15
Selected Bibliography
Index
