Regierungsbezirk

Regierungsbezirk
A means "governmental district" and is a type of administrative division in Germany. Currently, four of sixteen (states of Germany) are split into . Beneath these are rural and urban districts.
serve as regional mid-level local government units in four of Germany's sixteen federal states: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. Each of the nineteen features a non-legislative governing body called a (governing presidium) or (district government) headed by a Regierungspräsident (governing president), concerned mostly with administrative decisions on a local level for districts within its jurisdiction. Saxony has (directorate districts) with more responsibilities shifted from the state parliament.
Translations
is a German term variously translated into English as "governmental district", "administrative district" or "province", with the first two being the closest literal translations.
History
The first 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 , eventually featuring 37 such districts within 12 provinces. By 1871, at the time of German unification, the concept of had been adopted by most States of the German Empire. Similar entities were initially established in other states under different names, including (district captainship) in Saxony, (district) in Bavaria and Württemberg (not to be confused with the present-day or districts), and province in Hesse. The names of these equivalent administrative divisions were standardized to in Nazi Germany, but after World War II these naming reforms were reverted.
The in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in modern Germany are in direct continuation of those created in the Prussian Rhine and Westphalia provinces in 1816. never existed in Bremen, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, and Saarland.
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 (roughly administrative regions of extended competence) alongside six less autonomous Prussian-style comprising the Province of Hanover and Schaumburg-Lippe. These differences in autonomy and size were levelled on 1 January 1978, when four replaced the two and the six : Brunswick and Oldenburg, Aurich, Hanover (remaining mostly the same), Hildesheim, Lüneburg, Osnabrück and Stade.
Following the reunification of Germany in 1990, the territory of the former East Germany was organized into six re-established new federal states, including a reunified Berlin. Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt established three each, while the other new states didn't implement them.
2000s disbandment and reorganization
During the 2000s, four German states discontinued the use of . On 1 January 2000, Rhineland-Palatinate disbanded its three of Koblenz, Rheinhessen-Pfalz and Trier. The employees and assets of the three were converted into three public authorities responsible for the whole state, each covering a part of the former responsibilities of the .
On 1 January 2004, Saxony-Anhalt disbanded its three of Dessau, Halle and Magdeburg. The responsibilities are now covered by a (county administration office) with three offices at the former seats of the . On 1 January 2005, Lower Saxony followed suit, disbanding its remaining four of Brunswick, Hanover, Lüneburg, and Weser-Ems.
On 1 August 2008, Saxony restructured its counties, changed the name of its to (directorate districts), and moved some responsibilities to the districts. The 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 . On 1 March 2012, the were merged into one (county directorate).
Regierungsbezirke by state
Currently, only four German states out of 16 in total are divided into ; all others are directly divided into districts without mid-level agencies. Those four states are divided into a total of 19 , ranging in population from 5,255,000 (Düsseldorf) to 1,065,000 (Gießen):
Baden-Württemberg: Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Tübingen
Bavaria: Upper Bavaria, Lower Bavaria, Upper Palatinate, Upper Franconia, Middle Franconia, Lower Franconia, Swabia
Hesse: Darmstadt, Gießen, Kassel
North Rhine-Westphalia: Arnsberg, Cologne, Detmold, Düsseldorf, Münster
List of historic former Regierungsbezirke
Prussia
Berlin, comprising the city and several suburbs, incorporated into Regierungsbezirk Potsdam of Brandenburg in 1822
Kleve, Province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, incorporated into Düsseldorf region in 1822
Reichenbach, Province of Silesia, incorporated into Breslau and Liegnitz regions in 1820
Stralsund, Province of Pomerania, incorporated into Stettin Region in 1932
Dissolved in 1919/20 after cession of territory according to the Treaty of Versailles:
Bromberg, Province of Posen
Danzig, Province of West Prussia (see Free City of Danzig)
Lorraine, Imperial Land of Alsace-Lorraine
Lower Alsace, Imperial Land of Alsace-Lorraine
Marienwerder, Province of West Prussia, re-established as West Prussia region of the East Prussia province in 1922
Posen, Province of Posen
Upper Alsace, Imperial Land of Alsace-Lorraine
Established after the 1939 Invasion of Poland, dissolved in 1945:
Hohensalza, Reichsgau Wartheland
Kattowitz, Province of Silesia (Upper Silesia from 1941)
Litzmannstadt (Kalisch until 1941), Reichsgau Wartheland
Posen, Reichsgau Wartheland
Zichenau, Province of East Prussia
Former eastern territories, dissolved in 1945:
Allenstein, Province of East Prussia
Breslau, Province of Silesia (Lower Silesia 1919–1938, 1941–1945)
Frankfurt, Province of Brandenburg
Gumbinnen, Province of East Prussia
Köslin, Province of Pomerania
Königsberg, Province of East Prussia
Liegnitz, Province of Silesia (Lower Silesia 1919–1938, 1941–1945)
Oppeln, Province of Silesia (Upper Silesia 1919–1938, 1941–1945)
Posen-West Prussia (Schneidemühl), Province of Pomerania, established in 1938
Stettin, Province of Pomerania
Allied-occupied Germany:
Erfurt, dissolved in 1944/1945
Frankfurt, dissolved in 1945, Province of Brandenburg
Liegnitz, Province of Silesia, dissolved in 1945
Magdeburg, dissolved in 1945, reestablished in 1990 and redissolved in 2004
Merseburg, dissolved in 1944/1945
Minden, Province of Westphalia, incorporated into Detmold in 1947
Potsdam, dissolved in 1945, Province of Brandenburg
Schleswig, dissolved in 1946, Province of Schleswig-Holstein
Sigmaringen, Province of Hohenzollern, incorporated into Württemberg-Hohenzollern in 1946.
Stettin, dissolved in 1945, Province of Pomerania
References
External links
Regions of Germany
Regierungsbezirke