Administrative division of Germany

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Triangle with the federal government at the top, including in layers the federal states, optional administrative districts, (rural) districts, optional municipal associations and municipalities. The strict stratification is broken up by city-states and district-free cities, which perform tasks of several strata.Bund Bundesländer/Flächenländer Bundesländer/Stadtstaaten (Regierungsbezirke) (Land-)Kreise Gemeindeverbände (Gemeindeverbandsangehörige/Kreisangehörige Gemeinden) (Gemeindeverbandsfreie) Kreisangehörige Gemeinden Kreisfreie Städte
Vertical state structure of Germany

The administrative structure of Germany describes the vertical administrative structures that exist in the Federal Republic of Germany .

Statehood of the federal and state levels

The administrative structure is initially characterized by the fact that, due to federalism, a distinction has to be made between two levels of government ( federal government and federal states ).

The federal states do not form an administrative subdivision of the federal government in the organizational sense, but at most in the functional sense in the federal administration by the state's own administration.

In organizational terms, a distinction must be made between:

  • Federal administration
    • direct federal administration (by federal authorities)
    • indirect federal administration (in particular through federal corporations)
  • State administration
    • direct state administration (by state authorities)
    • indirect state administration (especially through municipal bodies)

In functional terms, a distinction can be made between:

  • Federal administration by federal administration
  • Federal administration by the state's own administration on behalf of the federal government
  • Federal administration by the state's own administration as a separate matter for the states
  • State administration by the state administration

Administrative division of the individual countries

Each of the federal states of the Federal Republic of Germany has its own administrative structure. The structures of the various countries are only partially comparable.

However, according to the principle of single-area coverage , the local area of ​​responsibility of the general authorities and the special authorities as well as the various special authorities should be territorially congruent with each other and these different authorities should be responsible for one and the same geographical area ("administrative geographical congruence").

There are municipalities in all federal states, which are identical to the federal state in the city-states of Berlin and Hamburg . The two-city state, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, is divided into only two municipalities ( Bremen and Bremerhaven ). In the remaining 13 federal states (area states) the smaller municipalities are grouped together in rural districts or similar municipal associations.

Small and very small communities sometimes still belong to an office or similar community association . Below the municipality level there are further administrative units in the largest cities. In some countries there are higher municipal associations above the district level .

Overview of the administrative levels

Political division of Germany into states , administrative districts , administrative districts and independent cities

Subject to the statehood of the states and the peculiarities of the administrative structure within the states, a distinction can be made as follows:

See also

Web links

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