The districts of Germany are known as German: Landkreise, except in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein where they are known simply as [Kreise] Error: ((Lang-xx)): text has italic markup (help) (singulars: [Landkreis] Error: ((Lang)): text has italic markup (help) and [Kreis] Error: ((Lang)): text has italic markup (help)).
The districts are at an intermediate level of administration between the [Länder] Error: ((Lang)): text has italic markup (help) (German states) and the municipal governments ([Gemeinden] Error: ((Lang)): text has italic markup (help)). They are not to be confused with the larger Regierungsbezirk. They correspond to level 3 administrative units of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS 3).
The majority of the districts are rural districts[1] ([Landkreise] Error: ((Lang)): text has italic markup (help)) of which there are 295. Cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants (and smaller towns in some states) do usually not 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] Error: ((Lang)): text has italic markup (help))—cities which constitute a district in their own right—and there are currently (2011) 107 of them, bringing the total number of districts to 402.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, there are some cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants which are not urban districts, for example Recklinghausen, Siegen, Paderborn, Bergisch Gladbach, Neuss and Moers. These cities, however, take over many district responsibilities themselves although belonging to a district. Moers is the biggest city in Germany (and at present time the only one with more than 100,000 inhabitants) that is neither an urban district, nor takes over district responsibilities.
There are also three so-called [Kommunalverbände besonderer Art] Error: ((Lang)): text has italic markup (help) (Municipal unions of special kind, a fusion of a district and a district-free town: Besides the Regionalverband Saarbrücken (Saarbrücken regional association), 1974–2007: Stadtverband Saarbrücken, Saarbrücken town association), there is the Region Hannover since 2001 and the Städteregion Aachen (Aachen region of towns) since 2009.
Responsibilities
Map of German districts. Yellow districts are urban, white are rural.
The districts are responsible for the following:
According to federal and regional laws:
The building and upkeep of B roads
Other building plans which cover more than one local authority's area
Caring for national parks
Social welfare
Youth welfare
The building and upkeep of hospitals
The building and upkeep of state schools of secondary education
Electing the [Landrat] Error: ((Lang)): text has italic markup (help) or [Landrätin] Error: ((Lang)): text has italic markup (help), the chairperson of the district
The management of [Volkshochschulen] Error: ((Lang)): text has italic markup (help) (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 council
The district council, the [Kreistag] Error: ((Lang)): text has italic markup (help), 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] Error: ((Lang)): text has italic markup (help) or [Landrätin] Error: ((Lang)): text has italic markup (help), who administers the district. In parts of northern Germany, this is also the name of the district administration, which in southern Germany is known as [Kreisverwaltung] Error: ((Lang)): text has italic markup (help) or [Landratsamt] Error: ((Lang)): text has italic markup (help).
