Principles and Rules of The Circle

• Membership is open to all interested People, who are 18 years old and hava a sufficiently good knowledge of English together with a reasonable standard of behaviour and conduct.
• There is to be No Discrimination on the grounds of Age Group, Nationality, Occupation or Profession, Politics, Race, Religion, Sex or Social Class
• The Circle is to be self-supporting and will not seek subsidies. It will remain independent and not become a Registered Society or Eingetragener Verein, unless the Members decide otherwise. An Annual General Meeting is to be held every year and every three years a the AGM the Circle’s Officers are to be elected for a 3-year Term of Office. The Officers are the (a) Chairman, (b) Vice-Chairmen, (c) Secretary & (d) Treasurer.
• The Basic Philosophy of The Circle is to be a Friendly Mutual Society, which is flexible and has as few Rules as possible.
• Each Member has one Vote in the Decisions of The Circle. Only the Chairman has a Second or Casting Vote, should it ever be necessary to decide an important and urgent matter; otherwise a simple majority suffices.
• The Circle will not give Language Courses as such.This we leeve to the Volkshochschulen, Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut and similar organizations.
• Conversation and discussion at Meetings are to be as far as possible only in English, except when there is a sufficiently good reason.
• Meetings are to be held twice a Month, as far as possible, on the middle and last Friday every month. One Meeting is to be either in Landkreis Tübingen or Zollernalb and the other in either Landkreis Rottweil or Freudenstadt. The dates of the Meetings for the hole year will be notified in advance, so that Members avoid a clash of appointments, when they wish to attend a Circle Meeting. Usually Meetings are in a Café or Restaurant, where Members are to order and pay individually for their requirements.
• There ist to be No SMOKING at Meetings.
• There is No Quota of Meetings, that a Member must attend. It is, however, expected, that every Member makes a determined effort to attend at least the Annual General Meeting. If a Member cannot attend, he or she will be asked to Vote by Proxy in respect of each Item on the Agenda.
• On joining the Circle a once-only €15 Entrance Fee an a annual € 15 Annual Subscription are payable. Thereafter only the Annual Subscription is due on the Anniversary of Joining. Members, who fail to pay their Annual Subscription by the month’s end after the due date will be deemed to have resigned Ex-Members, who rejoin are exempt from a Second Entrance Fee. Subscriptions are to be paid direct into The Circle’s Bank Account as given above.
• People interested in joining The Circle are first to be invited to attend a maximum of three Meetings before they decide to join the Circle or not and we can decide as to their suitability.