States of Germany

Germany is a federal republic made up of 16 states, known in German as Länder (singular Land). Since Land is also the German word for "country", the term Bundesländer ("Federal States"; singular Bundesland) is often used instead to avoid ambiguity.

Further subdivisions

The city-states of Berlin and Hamburg are subdivided into boroughs. The state Bremen consists of two urban districts, Bremen and Bremerhaven. In the other Länder there are the following subdivisions:

Related Topics:
City-state - Boroughs - Urban districts - Bremen - Bremerhaven

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Landschaftsverbände

Landschaftsverbände ("area associations"): The most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia is uniquely divided into two Landschaftsverbände, one for the Rhineland, one for Westphalia. This was meant to ease the friction caused by uniting the two culturally quite different regions into a single Land after World War II. The Landschaftsverbände retain little power today.

Related Topics:
Landschaftsverbände - Rhineland - Westphalia - World War II

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Regierungsbezirke

Regierungsbezirke ("governmental districts"): The large states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony are divided into administrative regions, or Regierungsbezirke.

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In Rhineland-Palatinate, the Regierungsbezirke were dissolved on 01.01.2000, in Saxony-Anhalt on 01.01.2004 and in

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Lower Saxony on 01.01.2005.

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Kreise

Kreise (administrative districts): Every state (except the "city states" Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen) consists of rural districts, Landkreise, and urban districts, Stadtkreise (also: Kreisfreie Städte), cities which are districts in their own right. The state of Bremen consists of two urban districts, while Berlin and Hamburg are states and urban districts at the same time.

Related Topics:
Kreise - Berlin - Hamburg - Bremen - Rural districts - Urban districts

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There are 323 Landkreise and 116 Kreisfreie Städte, making 439 districts altogether. Each consists of an elected council and an executive, who is selected by the council and whose duties are comparable to those of a US county manager, supervising local government administration. The Landkreise have primary administrative functions in specific areas, such as highways, hospitals, and public utilities.

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Ämter

Ämter ("offices"): In some states there is an administrative unit between districts and municipalities. These units are called Ämter (singular Amt), Amtsgemeinden, Samtgemeinden, Verbandsgemeinden or Verwaltungsgemeinschaften.

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Gemeinden

Gemeinden ("municipalities"): Every rural district and every Amt is subdivided into municipalities, while every urban districts constitutes a municipality at the same time; there are 13,912 municipalities, which are the smallest administrative units in Germany. Cities are municipalities as well, which have city rights (Stadtrecht). Nowadays this is mostly just the right to be called a city; however, in older times it included many privileges such as to have their own taxes or to allow industry inside cities only.

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Gemeinden are ruled by elected councils and an executive, the mayor, who is chosen by either the council or the people, depending on the Bundesland. The "constitution" for the Gemeinden is created by the Länder and is uniform throughout a Land (except for Bremen, which allows Bremerhaven to have its own constitution).

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Gemeinden have two major policy responsibilities. First, they administer programs authorized by the federal or Land government. Such programs typically might relate to youth, schools, public health, and social assistance. Second, Article 28(2) of the Basic Law guarantees Gemeinden "the right to regulate on their own responsibility all the affairs of the local community within the limits set by law." Under this broad statement of competence, local governments can justify a wide range of activities. For instance, many municipalities develop the economic infrastructure of their communities through the development of industrial parks.

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Local authorities foster cultural activities by supporting local artists, building arts centers, and/or having fairs. Local government also provides basic public utilities, such as gas and electricity, as well as public transportation. Most of these functions are currently (2003) under threat since the communities are notoriously badly financed; the fact that they receive most of their money from the other levels instead of from taxes they themselves set the rates of and collect is a big factor in this.

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In five of the German states, there are unincorporated areas, in many cases unpopulated forest and mountain areas, but also four Bavarian lakes, that are not part of any municipality. As of Jan. 01, 2005, there were 246 such areas, most of them in Bavaria, with a total area of 4167.66 km2, or 1.2 percent of the total area of Germany. The following table gives an overview.

Related Topics:
Unincorporated areas - Bavaria

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The table shows that in 2000 the number of unincorporated areas was still 295, with a total area of 4890.33 km2. Unincorporated areas are continually being incorporated into neighboring municipalities, wholly or partially, most frequently in Bavaria.

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Only four unincorporated areas are populated, with an aggregate population of about 2000.

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