The government of Hamburg is divided into executive, legislative and judicial branches.
There are two levels of government.
- City-wide
- local administration, based on the boroughs of Hamburg.
As a federal state the city wide administration has much more responsibility and scope than in ordinary cities.
The head of the city-wide and state administration is the First Mayor (Erster Bürgermeister). A ministry is called Behörde (office) and a state minister is a Senator in Hamburg.
The legislature is the state parliament, called Hamburgische Bürgerschaft.
The judicial branch is composed of the state supreme court and other courts.
The seat of the government is Hamburg Rathaus.