A Regierungsbezirk (German pronunciation:[ʁeˈɡiːʁʊŋsbəˌtsɪʁk]ⓘ) means "governmental district" and is a type of administrative division in Germany. Currently, four of sixteen Bundesländer (states of Germany) are split into Regierungsbezirke. Beneath these are rural and urban districts.
Regierungsbezirk is a German term variously translated into English as "governmental district",[2] "administrative district"[3][4] or "province",[5][6] with the first two being the closest literal translations.
History
The first Regierungsbezirke were established in the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Kingdom of Prussia in 1808. During the course of the Prussian reforms between 1808 and 1816, Prussia subdivided its provinces into 25 Regierungsbezirke, eventually featuring 37 such districts within 12 provinces. By 1871, at the time of German unification, the concept of Regierungsbezirke had been adopted by most States of the German Empire. Similar entities were initially established in other states under different names, including Kreishauptmannschaft (district captainship) in Saxony, Kreis (district) in Bavaria and Württemberg (not to be confused with the present-day Kreis or Landkreis districts), and province in Hesse. The names of these equivalent administrative divisions were standardized to Regierungsbezirk in Nazi Germany, but after World War II these naming reforms were reverted.
In 1946, Lower Saxony was founded by the merger of the three former Free States of Brunswick, Oldenburg, Schaumburg-Lippe, and the former Prussian province of Hanover. Brunswick and Oldenburg became Verwaltungsbezirke[fɛɐ̯ˈvaltʊŋsbəˌt͡sɪʁkə]ⓘ(roughly administrative regions of extended competence) alongside six less autonomous Prussian-style Regierungsbezirke comprising the Province of Hanover and Schaumburg-Lippe. These differences in autonomy and size were levelled on 1 January 1978, when four Regierungsbezirke replaced the two Verwaltungsbezirke and the six Regierungsbezirke: Brunswick and Oldenburg, Aurich, Hanover (remaining mostly the same), Hildesheim, Lüneburg, Osnabrück and Stade.
During the 2000s, four German states discontinued the use of Regierungsbezirke. On 1 January 2000, Rhineland-Palatinate disbanded its three Regierungsbezirke of Koblenz, Rheinhessen-Pfalz and Trier. The employees and assets of the three Bezirksregierungen (German pronunciation:[bəˈt͡sɪʁksʁeˌɡiːʁʊŋən]ⓘ) were converted into three public authorities responsible for the whole state, each covering a part of the former responsibilities of the Bezirksregierung (German:[bəˈt͡sɪʁksʁeˌɡiːʁʊŋ]ⓘ).
On 1 January 2004, Saxony-Anhalt disbanded its three Regierungsbezirke of Dessau, Halle and Magdeburg. The responsibilities are now covered by a Landesverwaltungsamt (county administration office) with three offices at the former seats of the Bezirksregierungen. On 1 January 2005, Lower Saxony followed suit, disbanding its remaining four Regierungsbezirke of Brunswick, Hanover, Lüneburg, and Weser-Ems.
On 1 August 2008, Saxony restructured its counties (Landkreise, German:[ˈlantˌkʁaɪ̯zə]ⓘ), changed the name of its Regierungsbezirke to Direktionsbezirke (directorate districts), and moved some responsibilities to the districts. The Direktionsbezirke were still named Chemnitz, Dresden, and Leipzig, but a border change was necessary because the new district of Mittelsachsen crossed the borders of the old Regierungsbezirke. On 1 March 2012, the Direktionsbezirke were merged into one Landesdirektion (county directorate).
Regierungsbezirke by state
Currently, only four German states out of 16 in total are divided into Regierungsbezirke; all others are directly divided into districts without mid-level agencies. Those four states are divided into a total of 19 Regierungsbezirke, ranging in population from 5,255,000 (Düsseldorf) to 1,065,000 (Gießen):
