The chamber of trade: the autonomy mechanism of the entire handicraft organized in the legal form of a body of the public right is in a chamber district. Task of the chambers of trade is too represented it the interests of the total handicraft and the interests of the handicraft in the course of the autonomy to regulate. The chamber of trade exercises the legal supervision over the guilds and the Kreishandwerkerschaften in the chamber district. To the chamber of trade the owners of a crafts enterprise belong (differentiated in: registration-obligated handicrafts and permission-free handicrafts) and the trade as well as associate, to employees with final professional training and the apprentices.

In demarcation to the Chamber of Commerce and industrie (IHK) the chamber of trade represents the interests of the handicraft. As is the case for all occupation chambers it concerns an obligation membership.

History

The establishment of the chambers of trade in Germany decreases/goes back to the craftsman law for the protection of 1897. The realm law created the condition for the formation of the chambers. In entire German realm by April 1900 at altogether 71 chambers of trade were based.

The prehistory for the establishment of the chambers of trade goes into 19. Century back. Every now and then one subordinates, the chambers of the handicraft are a modern variant of the medieval trade guilds. The guild orders formed in the time at that time with the political order a verwobenes, regionally different system of the market bulkheading, paired with a social security system of the handicraft which is missing at that time. The affiliation to the guild was not surface covering obligation, but a continuous, economically successful practice of activity relating to crafts were not actually (and this completely particularly applies in the cities) without the guild affiliation possible.

With in 19. Century using social, economic and technical changes spread gradually the freedom of trade. By the aggravation of the old realm handicraft ordinance of 1731 in the time of the national socialism again the condition thinking was strengthened by the introduction of the "“Arisierung"” and the "“large certificate of competency"” (master's certificate).

Legal form

The chamber of trade is a body of public right, which is established by the responsible Ministry of Economic Affairs of the country. This leads also the state control across Handwerkskammer.Als of organs of the chamber of trade is the meeting of the members, as plenary assembly, the committees and the executive committee. The statute of the chamber of trade is issued or changed by the plenary assembly and approved by the respective Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Tasks

The chambers of trade have the following goals after the handicraft ordinance (HwO):

• to promote the interests of the handicraft and provide for a fair reconciliation of the interests of the individual handicrafts and their organizations,
• the authorities in the promotion of the handicraft by suggestions to support suggestions and by refunding from appraisals to,
• to refund regularly reports on conditions of the handicraft,
• to lead the handicrafts register,

• to regulate the professional training, in addition belongs:
  • to lead a Lehrlingsrolle,
  • Test regulations too issue to establish and for this,
  • To issue associating test orders for the individual handicrafts,
  • Mastership examination orders for the individual handicrafts too issue to lead and the business of the

• Furthermore the chambers of trade support their members both by a legal advice and enterprise-advisory.
  • Expert for refunding of appraisals on goods to order and swear achievements in and prices from craftsmen to,
  • the economic interests of the handicraft and them serving mechanisms to promote in particular the Genossenschaftswesen,
  • To furnish arbitration boards

Criticism

Obligation membership

Many concerning feel these obligation memberships in the chamber of trade as unjustified coercive measure, since they are the opinion to be able to draw for the not insignificant contributions no direct use from it.

To what extent the supporting and promotion of the member enterprise for the individual enterprise are positively noticeable, again and again one questions. However this may be also because of the fact that numerous enterprises miss it to take the offers up contained for her in membership dues of the chambers.

Reduced free-market economy

From the aggravation of the realm handicraft ordinance in the time of the national socialism is concluded, it concerns an expression typically, state-German adjustment will as a sign of confidence lacking into the adjusting forces of the work and market systems.

Against this view it may speak for example that a multiplicity of occupations (e.g. Physicians, pharmacist, attorneys etc.) in chambers are organized. To what extent this rises however from the protection of groups of interests, requires urgently an examination. The chambers are originally expression of the will of these occupational groups to want to organize itself. If the chambers would be abolished, then the order-political tasks of the chambers would be accomplished directly as for instance the company of the training by the state. The handicraft (in particular also the employees, which sit to a third in the committees of the chambers) would have lost thereby an important influence possibility. However it cannot be denied that during a retention of the past regulations on disadvantages of the German handicraft with the harmonization efforts within the European union is to be counted.

Also again and again voices become loud, which a retreat of the state on an intervening Kraft to the protection from abuse, social disadvantage, endangerment of lives and health etc. to demand. In this connection frequently an abolishment of the master's certificate is demanded. Thus at the beginning of the yearly 2004 the number of the occupations, in which the master's certificate is a condition for the independence, was reduced to 41. Background for this was apart from the desire for Deregulierung in particular also the introduction of the so-called i AG, which received by the abolishment of the master's certificate as a condition of the more operating fields.

Proponents of the master qualification object that this is not only to secure the knowledge conditions in the respective occupations. (Although there is no obligation for further training) at the same time she is to prepare the concerning for the independence, which is connected up to the personal insolvency with substantial risks. In the long run it is to protect also the customer, who can judge due to missing expertise within many handicraft ranges only reduced whether the performed work corresponds to the respective standard. The soundness of these objections actual not least because of always recurring Fehlleistungen of the building craft - disputed. Nevertheless it may not be misjudged that by the master qualification, which presupposes appropriate associating training knowledge is obtained, which was lost into other states already. In this connection only exemplarily the baker handicraft and the butcher business are mentioned.

See also

• Chamber of Commerce and industrie
• Chamber of engineers
• Handicraft ordinance

Related links

• Website of the central association of the German handicraft with map of all chambers of trade

Articles in category "Chamber of trade"

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