This category contains collective municipalities in Germany. There are four terms for them in varying Bundesländer (federal states). The term Amt (plural, Ämter) is employed in the states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Brandenburg; the term Samtgemeinde is employed in Lower Saxony, Verbandsgemeinde in Saxony-Anhalt (since 2009/2010) and Rhineland-Palatinate while Verwaltungsgemeinschaft (municipal association) is the term in the states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Thuringia, Saxony and formerly in Saxony-Anhalt.