municipal council
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municipal council
The elected parliament or highest representative body of the citizens in a municipality. It makes important decisions for the municipality, for example about the budget or construction projects.
Die Gemeindevertretung hat den Bau des neuen Kindergartens einstimmig beschlossen.
The municipal council unanimously approved the construction of the new kindergarten.
The word is made up of 'Gemeinde' (municipality) and 'Vertretung' (representation). So it literally describes the representation of the citizens of a municipality.
Die Mitglieder der Gemeindevertretung werden alle fünf Jahre gewählt.
The members of the municipal council are elected every five years.
The term for this political body is not the same throughout Germany. Depending on the federal state, or also in Austria and Switzerland, other terms such as 'Gemeinderat' (municipal council) or 'Stadtrat' (city council) may be common.
In Bayern heißt das Gremium meist Gemeinderat, in Hessen Gemeindevertretung.
In Bavaria, the body is usually called Gemeinderat, in Hesse Gemeindevertretung.
In a political context, 'Gemeindevertretung' (municipal council) is often used with verbs such as 'tagen' (to meet/session), 'beschließen' (to decide/approve), or 'entscheiden' (to decide). People can 'in die Gemeindevertretung gewählt werden' (be elected to the municipal council) or be a 'Mitglied der Gemeindevertretung' (member of the municipal council).
Die Gemeindevertretung tagt einmal im Monat im Rathaus.
The municipal council meets once a month in the town hall.
municipal council / council member
Gemeinderat and Gemeindevertretung can refer to the same elected body of a municipality. The difference lies not in its function but in the regional term used. Therefore, use the word that the municipality in question officially uses for its council.
In der Nachbargemeinde beschließt die Gemeindevertretung heute den neuen Haushalt.
In the neighboring municipality, the municipal council will approve the new budget today.
In unserer Gemeinde beschließt der Gemeinderat heute den neuen Haushalt.
In our municipality, the municipal council will approve the new budget today.
