A circle (in North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein) or district (in all other surface countries) is after German local legislation a local authorities association and a regional administrative body. It administered its area after the principles of the gemeindlichen autonomy.

Arrangement (land) of the circles

All circles and/or district of Germany subdivide themselves into several (circle-belonging) municipalities. The number of municipalities for each circle is very different and is enough from 6 municipalities in the district bunting country (Lower Saxony) up to 235 municipalities in the district Bitburg (Rhineland-Palatinate). Not all municipalities have their own administration ("“unit municipality"”). Many closed for the completion of their administrative business to central administrative bodies together. These have different designations, characteristics and authority depending upon Land of the Federal Republic. See for this the article co-operation of municipalities.

Designations of the municipalities

Some circle-belonging municipalities can also special designations carry, which received her due to their history or size, examples: City, market, marks, mountain city etc. designations of this kind are administrative without meaning. (See for this the article kinds of municipality in Germany).

Some circle-belonging cities receive in different Lands of the Federal Republic due to their inhabitant strength an administrative special status, which is connected with the transmission of further tasks. That happens from country to country differently on request or officially, as soon as the prescribed number of inhabitants is reached. The threshold is likewise in the Lands of the Federal Republic differently fixed. It is in Baden-Wuerttemberg with 20.000, in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rheinland-Pfalz about 25.000 and/or 60.000 inhabitants. These special status cities remain circle belonging, carry then however a special designation, e.g. large district town, large one independent city, large one city or medium-sized town circle-belonging.

Cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants (in some Lands of the Federal Republic also smaller cities) are circle-free in most Lands of the Federal Republic, i.e., they do not belong to circle/a district. In Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Wuerttemberg there are however cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, who are circle-belonging of cities, e.g. Hildesheim, Moers, Neuss, Recklinghausen, victories, Reutlingen.

Note: '' The term "“large district town"” does not have to do necessarily something with the seat ("“district town"”) of the circle. A large district town does not have to be seat of the district. Example: Backnang is "“large district town"” in the rem Murr circle, seat of the rem Murr circle is however Waiblingen, which however even likewise large district town is. That is, also a large district town can be seat of the circle. (Further examples for this: The large district town new castle at the Danube is circle seat of the district Neuburg Schrobenhausen, which large district town freesing is to seat of the district freesing). In contrast to it the district town of the Hohenlohekreises is not a large district town, because it has less than 20,000 inhabitants.

Tasks

The land/circle and the municipalities circle-belonging stand to each other in a close partnership relationship. They divide the completion of those tasks, which are alone noticed by a circle-free city. Due to the number of inhabitants and the associated different efficiency municipalities settle larger circle-belonging additionally tasks, which for smaller municipalities the circle notices. The circle takes care of thus a task if the efficiency of the municipality is not sufficient or a financial reconciliation necessarily for the production of equivalent living conditions in the circle, in addition, if a uniform completion over municipality borders is away necessary. Those are primarily services, like for example the building and the maintenance of circle roads, the driving licence nature, the health service, the disaster control, the food monitoring, the garbage disposal, the public local passenger traffic, the social welfare assistance, the emergency measures, the animal protection among other things

For the administration of the land/circle an authority (district administration office, district administration, district house etc.) is furnished at the seat of the regional administrative body (in the "“district town"”). Smallest district town is Seelow, in the west old person churches. Here the land advice has its service seat. This takes apart from the local tasks "“as extended arm of the state"” in addition, tasks as lower national administrative authority (organ-borrow) truely. In the case of the Vollkommunalisierung these tasks of land advice and district administration office are implemented not as lower national administrative authority to separate as transferred task of the district. Thus it implements the general supervision and the special supervision over the municipalities circle-belonging. It can be for example also directors/conductors of the education office and the circle police authority.

The German district day describes in detail the tasks of the circles.

History

The name circle for a political mechanism with functions of the administration decreases/goes back to the Czech word kraj (=Land) in the Middle Ages. At the beginning of 19. Century tried the Prussian statesman baron of the stone to introduce according to the model of the city order of 1808 also in the rural area the full autonomy of the citizens. Its suggestion was realized only in the eighties, when the first circle orders became to issue, e.g. for the Prussian province Westphalia 1886 and the Rhine province 1887.

Politics

Organs of the circle are

• the Kreistag, the representative government of the circle, which is selected all five (in Bavaria every six years),
• the land advice depending upon Land of the Federal Republic as a chairman of the Kreistages and/or the circle committee and director/conductor of the district administration and
• in some countries the circle committee.

For the covering of their financial requirement the circles raise a circle reallocation from the municipalities circle-belonging.

Protection of interests

For co-ordination and for political protection of interests all 323 districts are united in 13 regional organizations and on federal level in the German district day (DLT). This represents 74% the subject of function, 68% of the population and 96% of the surface of Germany.

See also

• List of the districts in Germany
• District
• for the Polish districts Powiat

Related links

• Homepage of the German district daily
• Circle navigator of the DLT - the direct access to all official circle presentations inclusive. Address data bank

Articles in category "District"

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