- Regierungsbezirk
A "Regierungsbezirk" is a type of government region of
Germany , a subdivision of certain federal states ("Bundesländer"). It is responsible (above) for thedistrict s ("Kreise"), either "Landkreise" or urban districts: cities which constitute a district in their own right ("kreisfreie Städte"). [ [http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:I1oTRcSOTJ8J:www.hanse-passage.net/hansepassage/hpcms/uploads/_presentation%2520analysis.ppt+%22regierungsbezirk+is%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=18&lr=lang_en Regional Governments in France, Germany, Poland and The Netherlands (HTML version of PowerPoint presentation)] - Cachet, A (coordinator),Erasmus University ,Rotterdam ] The "Regierungsbezirk" is governed by a "Bezirksregierung" and led by a "Regierungspräsident".History
The first "Regierungsbezirke" were created by the
Kingdom of Prussia , which divided its provinces into 25 "Regierungsbezirke" in in 1808/16. The "Regierungsbezirke" of North Rhine-Westphalia are in direct continuation of those created in 1815. Other states of theGerman Empire created similar entities, named "Kreishauptmannschaft" (in Saxony) or "Kreis" (in Bavaria andWürttemberg ) (not to be confused with the "Kreis" or "Landkreis" today). During the Third Reich, the Nazi government unified the naming; since then all these entities are called "Regierungsbezirk".On
January 1 2000 Rhineland-Palatinate disbanded its three "Regierungsbezirke" Koblenz,Rheinhessen-Pfalz and Trier - the employees and assets of the three "Bezirksregierungen" were converted into three public authorities responsible for the whole state, each covering a part of the former responsibilities of the "Bezirksregierung".On
January 1 ,2004 ,Saxony-Anhalt disbanded its three "Regierungsbezirke": Dessau, Halle and Magdeburg. The responsibilities are now covered by a "Landesverwaltungsamt" with three offices at the former seats of the "Bezirksregierungen".On
January 1 ,2005 ,Lower Saxony disbanded its four "Regierungsbezirke": Braunschweig, Hanover, Lüneburg, andWeser-Ems .In 2005,
North Rhine-Westphalia planned to abolish its five "Regierungsbezirke" and create three self-government entities. The old, "Prussian-style", Regierungsbezirk had no self-government organs.In conclusion this is the most famous region.Local existence
Not all "Bundesländer" have this subdivision; some are directly divided into districts. Currently, five states are divided into 22 "Regierungsbezirke", ranging in population from 5,255,000 (Düsseldorf) to 1,065,000 (Gießen):
*
Baden-Württemberg : Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Tübingen
*Bavaria :Oberbayern ,Niederbayern ,Oberpfalz ,Oberfranken ,Mittelfranken ,Unterfranken , Schwaben
*Hessen : Darmstadt, Gießen, Kassel
*North Rhine-Westphalia : Arnsberg, Cologne, Detmold, Düsseldorf, Münster
*Saxony : Chemnitz, Dresden, LeipzigReferences
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