DISTRICTS OF GERMANY

'German districts' (''Kreise'') are administrative units in Germany. The districts are at an intermediate level of administration between the ''Länder'' (German states) and the local / municipal levels (''Gemeinden''). Not to be confused with the larger Regierungsbezirk. Their equivalent in other nations is the county.

Contents

Types of district

Responsibilities

District parliament

District administration

See also

Types of district

The majority of the districts are rural districts, ''Landkreise'', of which there are 313. Cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants (and in some ''Länder'' smaller towns) do not usually belong to a district but take over district responsibilities themselves - similar to the concept of independent cities. These are known as urban districts (''Kreisfreie Städte'' / ''Stadtkreise'') - cities which constitute a district in their own right, and there are currently (2007) 116 of them, bringing the total number of districts to 429. In North Rhine-Westphalia, there are some cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants which are not urban districts, for example Iserlohn, Recklinghausen, Siegen, Paderborn, Bergisch Gladbach, Witten and Neuss. These cities, however, take over many district responsibilities themselves although belonging to a district. As an exception, the former rural and urban districts of Hanover (''Hannover'') in Lower Saxony have been united in 2001 to form the new Region Hannover with about 1,000,000 inhabitants.

Responsibilities

The districts are responsible for the following:

★ according to federal and regional laws:

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★ the building and upkeep of B roads

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★ other building plans which cover more than one local authority's area

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★ caring for national parks

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★ social welfare

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★ youth welfare

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★ the building and upkeep of hospitals

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★ the building and upkeep of state institutes of secondary education

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★ household waste collection and disposal

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★ car registration

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★ electing the ''Landrat'' or ''Landrätin'', the chairperson of the district

★ according to local laws: (differ in each region)

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★ financial support for culture

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★ the building of pedestrian zones and bicycle lanes

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★ financial support for school exchanges

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★ the building and upkeep of public libraries

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★ revitalisation of the economy

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★ encouraging tourism

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★ the management of ''Volkshochschulen'' (state run adult education colleges)
All these tasks are carried out by local (municipal) authorities operating together. Urban districts have these responsibilities and also those of the municipalities.

District parliament

The district parliament, the ''Kreistag'', is the legislative body of the district and is responsible for local self-administration. The parliament is elected directly every five years, except in Bavaria where it is elected every six years.

District administration

The executive authority is an officer known as ''Landrat'' or ''Landrätin'', who administers the district. In parts of northern Germany, this is also the name of the district administration, in southern Germany it is known as ''Kreisverwaltung''.

See also

★ Germany

★ States of Germany

★ List of German urban districts

★ List of rural districts of Germany

★ List of administrative divisions of Germany