Statutes

Statutes of the German-Canadian Air Force Museum e. V.

New Version as of 30.09.2019

This is not the original text, but has been automatically translated from the German Version.

Preamble

After forty years of military presence by the Canadian Air Force at Airbase Söllingen, Canadian and German former military personnel conceived the idea of demonstrating the historical development from the military base to today’s business park with regional airport (Baden-Airpark) to posterity and founding a non-profit association to support this endeavor.

Exhibits of military facilities and equipment ranging from uniforms to military jets, as well as extensive photographic material, are made accessible to the public and displayed in a museum housed in an originally preserved aircraft shelter.

In addition to exhibiting air force systems and military aviation technology, the association aims to bring the history of the stationing of Canadian forces at Söllingen to a wide audience.

§ 1 Name, Registered Office, and Financial Year

The association bears the name “German-Canadian Air Force Museum e.V.” It is a non-profit organization and is registered in the association register of the Mannheim District Court under the number VR-210473.

The registered office of the association is located at: Victoria Boulevard E 8, 77836 Rheinmünster.

The financial year of the association is the calendar year.

§ 2 Purpose of the Association

The association exclusively and directly pursues non-profit purposes within the meaning of the section “Tax-privileged Purposes” of the German Fiscal Code.

The purpose of the association is to promote and maintain culture as well as to promote public education, primarily in the field of technical and historical-political education.

The purpose of the statutes is particularly achieved through the preservation of the memory of the Canadian military airfield “Baden-Söllingen.” The German-Canadian Air Force Museum illustrates the history of the air forces in Germany within NATO through words, images, and the exhibition of aircraft, equipment, and gear.

The association is selflessly active; it does not pursue its own economic purposes.

Funds of the association may only be used for statutory purposes. Members do not receive grants from the association’s funds.

No person may benefit from expenditures that are foreign to the purpose of the association or through disproportionately high remunerations.

§ 3 Acquisition of Membership

Any person can become a member of the association. Persons are understood to mean both natural and legal persons.

The application for membership must be in writing. By signing the application for membership (in the case of legal persons by their representative), the applicant acknowledges the statutes in the event of admission. There is no entitlement to admission.

The board decides on the admission. The decision must be communicated to the applicant; it does not require justification.

Honorary members can be persons who have rendered special services to the interests of the association. The appointment of honorary members is made on the proposal of the board by resolution of the ordinary general meeting with a two-thirds majority of the valid votes cast by all present members.

By joining, the member agrees that the personal data required in connection with the membership may be collected, processed, and used by the association in accordance with the Federal Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulation via electronic data processing. This includes: name, address, occupation, telephone number, email address, date of birth, and bank details. Without this consent, admission to the association is not possible.

The provided personal data may only be used for association purposes. These include, in particular, member administration, publication in association media (homepage, Facebook), and internal postings on the “Blackboard.” Any other processing or use, especially the transmission to third parties, is not permitted.

§ 4 Termination of Membership

Membership ends upon death, declaration of resignation, exclusion, or removal from the membership list.

Resignation is only possible at the end of the calendar year. It must be declared in writing to the board by 30.09. of the calendar year at the latest.

Exclusion from the association is only permissible for important reasons. Important reasons include, for example, if a member’s behavior endangers the purposes of the association, or if they are guilty of dishonorable conduct, or knowingly violate the principles of these statutes.

This particularly includes:

• Insulting and defaming association organs and members,
• Embezzlement and misappropriation of association assets.

Membership may be removed if the member is in arrears with the payment of contributions and does not fully pay the arrears within one month after a written reminder to the last known address of the association, calculated from the dispatch of the reminder. The reminder is also effective if the shipment is returned as undeliverable.

Exclusion or removal is decided by the board.

§ 5 Membership Fees

An annual fee is payable. Its amount and due date are determined by the general meeting.

The fee is payable in advance. The full annual fee is due in the year of entry.

The board may defer or waive fees. Honorary members are exempt from the fee obligation.

§ 6 Organs of the Association

The organs of the association are:

a) the board;
b) the advisory board;
c) the general meeting.

§ 7 Board

The board of the association consists of:

• the 1st chairman;
• the 2nd chairman;
• the treasurer;
• the secretary.

Hereafter, the masculine form is used.

(2) The extended board consists of the board members according to para. 1 and the advisory board according to para. 4.

(3) The board may adopt rules of procedure that regulate the distribution of tasks within the board. The rules of procedure are adopted by the board by a simple majority; in the event of a tie, the 1st chairman decides.

(4) The board may appoint an advisory board as needed. Advisory boards may be appointed by the board for changing or defined tasks. The advisory board advises and supports the board. Advisory boards are not boards but are part of the extended board.

The advisory board consists of up to 10 persons who must be members of the association. The advisory boards are appointed for an indefinite period; their activity ends with their dismissal by the board.

Advisory boards exercise their office voluntarily. They generally attend board meetings unless member matters are discussed. They have the right to speak but not to vote. They are not authorized to represent the association.

(5) The board according to §26 BGB consists of the 1st and 2nd chairmen. They represent the association in and out of court. Each has the authority to represent individually.

(6) The treasurer is responsible for managing the association’s financial affairs. For usual banking transactions, he receives authorization from one of the chairmen.

(7) The secretary prepares the minutes of meetings of all types of association organs.

(8) The board is elected by the general meeting. The term of office is three years. Re-election is permissible. The board remains in office until a new election is held.

(9) The office of a board member ends with his departure from the association. If a member leaves before the end of his term of office, the board elects a replacement member for the remaining term of the departing member.

(10) Different board positions cannot be united in one person.

(11) The board’s power of representation is limited with effect against third parties in such a way that for the acquisition or sale, encumbrance, and all other dispositions of real estate or equivalent rights, as well as for the taking out of a loan of more than €5,000 (in words: five thousand euros), the approval of the general meeting is required.

(12) The board makes its decisions by a simple majority. In the event of a tie, the vote of the meeting chairman decides.

§ 8 General Meeting

(1) The general meeting is the highest organ of the association. Its resolutions are binding for the association.

The general meeting is to be convened:

• when it is in the interest of the association;
• at least once a year in the first half of the calendar year;
• when the convening is requested in writing by one-tenth of all members, stating the purpose and reasons.

The general meeting is convened by the 1st chairman of the board or, alternatively, by the 2nd chairman with a notice period of two weeks in writing. The written form is also observed by sending an email. The notice period begins with the dispatch of the invitation to the last known member address/email address.

The invitation to the meeting must specify the subject of the resolution. Each member can submit a written request to the board to add further matters to the agenda up to one week before the day of the general meeting.

Every duly convened general meeting is quorate.

Unless otherwise specified in the statutes, resolutions are passed by a simple majority. In the event of a tie, the motion is considered rejected.

The resolution on amending the statutes or dissolving the association requires a two-thirds majority of the valid votes cast by the members present.

Minutes of the resolutions passed in the meeting must be prepared. The minutes must be signed by the chairman of the meeting and the recorder.

§ 9 Dissolution of the Association

The association can only be dissolved by resolution of the general meeting with the majority mentioned in § 8 para. 7.

In the event of the dissolution or annulment of the association, the association’s assets fall to the municipality of Rheinmünster, which must use it directly and exclusively for non-profit, charitable, or ecclesiastical purposes.

The above new version of the association’s statutes was adopted at the general meeting on 30.09.2019.

77836 Rheinmünster, 30.09.2019