and reformed as the 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery Regiment. With the ratification of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty on 27 May 1988 the missiles were destroyed and the battalion was inactivated on 30 June 1991. The departure of the US Army had a large impact on the town's economy and also left a large number of vacant army buildings. Coat of arms In 1857, the town was given a coat of arms, although it was not legally a city at the time. It was first granted city status by King Ludwig II in 1869. The coat of arms consists of three horizontal bands of black, white and blue, with a tower in front. The tower symbolises the fort built around Neu-Ulm, the colours black and white indicate the relationship with Ulm, and the colours white and blue show the association with Bavaria. Districts Neu-Ulm is arranged into 14 districts, 9 of them added between 1972 and 1977. The districts are: Burlafingen, Finningen, Gerlenhofen, Hausen, Holzschwang (including Tiefenbach), Jedelhausen, Ludwigsfeld, Neu-Ulm, Offenhausen, Pfuhl, Reutti, Schwaighofen, Steinheim and Wiley. Politics Neu-Ulm is currently controlled by the Christian Social Union (CSU). The mayor is Katrin Albsteiger, elected in March 2020. Her predecessor was Gerold Noerenberg, who was in office between 2004 and 2020. He had succeeded Dr Beate Merk, who had been appointed as Bavarian law minister by Edmund Stoiber on 14 October 2003. Neu-Ulm is part of the Neu-Ulm (electoral district) for elections to the Bundestag. The town council is arranged into four parliamentary groups with eight different parties and citizens' initiatives (the number of seats are shown in brackets): Christian Social Union (CSU) (16) Green Party (11) Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) (5) Free Voters' Union (FWG) (4) Pro Neu-Ulm (3) Free Democratic Party (FDP) (2) Young Union (2) The Left (Germany) (1) Education and science In 1994, the Neu-Ulm (University of Applied Sciences) was founded. The School of Economics was first opened as a branch office of the , but has been independent since 1998. The was initially located in the buildings of the former US base’s Wiley Barracks, before expanding into two floors of the newly built Edison Center and then transferring to a new, larger building on the site of the former US base in summer 2008. Twin towns – sister cities Neu-Ulm is twinned with: Bois-Colombes, a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France