Counties in Germany

The states of Germany know 4 different names for the English common-law term county. As in the United States, these counties are administrative subdivisions of states. There are states in Germany which don't have any counties and larger cities are usually not organized inside of a county.

The tradional common law-like counties

While their administrative functions may vary, both an amt and a Verwaltungsgemeinschaft are the equivalent to a traditional US county. Amts exist in the states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg, while you can find a Verwaltungsgemeinschaft in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia.

Unified counties

Verbandsgemeinde and Samtgemeinde are counties which have taken over all or nearly all administrative tasks from the municipal governments. Usually unincorporated settlements and smaller cities belong to these types of counties. Verbandsgemeinde is the term used for these counties in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony Anhalt. Samtgemeinde is the term applicable to counties in Lower Saxony.

Legal basis for distinction

The above two types were identified based on the German law for Gebietskörperschaft (territorial government body) and Bundkörperschaft (federative government body). Amt and Verwaltungsgemeindschaft are identified as Bundkörperschafts and Verbandsgemeinde and Samtgemeinde are Gebietskörperschafts, according to their articles in the German Wikipedia.