The German Civil Service from the Kingdom of Prussia to the Federal Republic of Germany: the historical development of the Service, its principles, and its loyalties

<p dir="ltr">The study examines the historical development of the German Civil Service and the principles that underpin it. Further, it investigates changes in the loyalties of the Service and its members. It expands upon earlier studies by examining why, throughout political, social and economic change, including shifts between monarchy, dictatorship and democracy, the Service has experienced remarkable stability in its more than 200-year-long existence, and whether a set of tangible principles has contributed to this. The following conclusions are drawn. First, the Service has retained aspects of its Prussian militaristic character, including language and official titles. Second, the traditional principles of the Service define a relationship of service and loyalty between civil servants and the state: in return for a life-long commitment to support the state, today the liberal democratic basic order, civil servants are provided for by the state. A partial codification of these principles is provided by article 33 of the 1949 Basic Law, with a further binding interpretation provided by a 2014 ruling of the Federal Administrative Court. However, there exists no definitive list of the principles, which can only be discovered by tracing and examining the laws which gave rise to them. This historical study of the Service permits direct elicitation of the principles and traces them, via recurrent themes, back to the Kingdom of Prussia. Because the principles constitute an interconnected set, they can be considered to form an ‘identity’. Third, in contrast to previous eras, civil servants’ loyalties are now firmly to state and citizenry, as is shown here in an exploration of laws and disciplinary proceedings. The study furthers the understanding of the development of public administration by examining how a traditional instrument of monarchical government has evolved into a modern institution serving a democratic state and its citizenry.</p>