District

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Circle is an old word for regions and landscapes that is still in use today for administrative units .

Concept history

The word can already be found as Old High German  creiʒ and chreiʒ , Middle High German  kreiʒ  for ' circle , the environment (of a center)', early High German also Kreiß . The word is thus parallel to district (ancient circle , Latin circulus 'circle', cf. also Latin orbis in the same meaning).

In the early Middle Ages, the word for the judicial district and primarily refers to the location of the trial itself, but with the effect the words ahd.  Ring and ding (see. Old Norse thing ) often were.

" Waʒ mac diu âventiure sîn
hie in dises hages kreiʒ?
"

- Song collection 1, 200, the minne before courts ( Hag : 'hedge, fenced land')

With the designation of the area in which the pronouncement made in the legal circle is binding, i.e. the landscape and the people who fall under its jurisdiction, the term goes over early on to the concept field empire ( ahd.  Rîhhi  , rule , territory ') .

I always want to circling in sînes [the king's] land. "

- 1535

It also means the (legal) administrative divisions, this is also the form mhd.  Bekraißungen find:

" Circle in des rîches "

- Martina 163, 66 ('throughout the (Roman-German) empire ')

Unlike Gau , which is meant always scenic, is the circle of the aspect above sovereign retained, the word also addresses the church administration and site protection, such as hunting and the guilds over.

use

Administrative unit today

Circle in the sense of an administrative unit stands for:

  • District and district , according to German local law a community association and a regional authority
  • Stadtkreis , an independent city in Baden-Württemberg
  • District and administrative district in Switzerland, see District (Switzerland)

Historical terms

Historical administrative terms:

In translation

Word usage as a translation of analogue foreign language expressions:

  • rreth / i , a former administrative unit in Albania, see districts of Albania
  • gun , a former administrative unit in Japan,reformedbased on counties in the 1890s,abolished in 1921, but used as a geographical unit to this day

Others

Other organizational areas (cf. also Gau for regional groups of associations )

  • Church district , in some Protestant churches an amalgamation of neighboring parishes

Individual evidence

  1. CIRCLE, KREISZ, m. orbis, circulus . In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm : German Dictionary . Hirzel, Leipzig 1854–1961 ( woerterbuchnetz.de , University of Trier).
  2. KREIS 3) judicial circle in general . In: Grimm: German dictionary. Hirzel, Leipzig 1854–1961 ( woerterbuchnetz.de , University of Trier).
  3. a b KREIS 9) district, area, 'district' in general . In: Grimm: German dictionary. Hirzel, Leipzig 1854–1961 ( woerterbuchnetz.de , University of Trier).
  4. CIRCLE 9) d) The empire was also divided into circles, as countries and states are still today: circles or districts. imperial order. Worms 1539 94b, Kreisz and Zirkel 32a (vj 1500); . In: Grimm: German dictionary. Hirzel, Leipzig 1854–1961 ( woerterbuchnetz.de , University of Trier).