of sewage and rubbish. Furthermore, adult education, the promotion and creation of cultural institutions and civil status functions also fall within its field of responsibility. The Joint Community is administered by the Samtgemeinderat (Joint Community council), the Samtgemeindeausschuss (Joint Community board) and the Samtgemeindebürgermeister (Joint Community mayor) and has its own seal. Politics in Schüttorf is subdivided into the Joint Community administration and the town's own administration; so there is not only a Joint Community council but also a town council for Schüttorf itself. The Joint Community mayor and the mayor, moreover, are two different persons, and each of the other constituent communities in the Joint Community has its own mayor. The mayor's office also has at its side an unelected town director (Stadtdirektor). Until November 2006 the mayoralty was honorary, but it was then replaced with a full-time, professional position. Town council and mayor On Schüttorf's town council, the SPD once traditionally held a majority; however, once an independent voters’ community was founded in September 1968, the SPD could no longer achieve an absolute majority. This situation still held true in 2006, since which time, when municipal elections were last held, Schüttorf has been governed by a “Jamaica coalition”. The current mayor is Thomas Michael Hamerlik (CDU) with two deputies: Claudia Middelberg (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) and Jochen Vahl (FDP). After Dr. Franz Scheurmann (see Third Reich and Second World War above) left office in 1949, he was followed by Johann Wenning (SPD) who held office until 1952, when Scheurmann (CDU) was reëlected, holding office until October 1956. After this, Johann Wenning was once again mayor until 1972. On 16 November of that year, Hermann Brinkmann (SPD) was elected, serving until 16 January 1989 when he was beaten by Karl-Heinrich Dreyer (SPD), who himself held office until 8 November 2006, when he was declared the town's “honorary mayor”. Shortly thereafter, he was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz for his achievements. His successor is Thomas M. Hamerlik (CDU). Coat of arms The town's arms presumably came into being not long after Schüttorf was raised to town. Town privilege is not mentioned by any seal or coat of arms, the choice of arms having been left to the townsmen. The oldest preserved document showing Schüttorf's arms as a seal dates from 1315. The coat of arms shows a stylized town gate with two towers between which is found Grafschaft Bentheim's arms. It is, however,