In 13 German states , the primary administrative subdivision higher than a Gemeinde (municipality) is the Landkreis or Kreis . Most major cities in Germany are not part of any Kreis , but instead combine the functions of a municipality and a Kreis ; such a city is referred to as a kreisfreie Stadt or Stadtkreis .
22-706: Schleiz is a town in the district of Saale-Orla-Kreis in Thuringia , Germany . The former municipality Crispendorf was merged into Schleiz in January 2019, and Burgk in December 2019. Schleiz is in the Thuringian Vogtland area, an area of wooded hills on the borders of Thuringia , Saxony , Bavaria and the Czech Republic . The city is located in a valley with the river Wisenta near
44-524: A district in their own right—and there are 106 of them, bringing the total number of districts to 400. As of 2016 , approximately 26 million people live in these 107 urban districts. In North Rhine-Westphalia , there are some cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants which are not urban districts, these being Recklinghausen , Gütersloh , Siegen , Paderborn , Bergisch Gladbach , Neuss and Moers . Nevertheless, these cities take over many district responsibilities themselves, although they are still part of
66-697: A fusion of a district-free town with its adjacent rural district: besides the Regionalverband Saarbrücken ( Saarbrücken regional association ), from 1974 until 2007 called "Stadtverband Saarbrücken" ( Saarbrücken town association ), there is the Hanover Region since 2001 and the Städteregion Aachen ( Aachen region of towns ) since 2009. Aachen, Hanover and Göttingen retain certain rights of an urban district ( Kreisfreie Stadt ); Saarbrücken has not explicitly determined
88-423: A larger rural district. Midsize towns can perform particular administrative functions of the district as well, especially to provide common services to the local citizens. The classification as "midsize" town is usually based on a town's registered population, but varies from state to state. A special type of rural districts includes the three Kommunalverbände besonderer Art ( Municipal unions of special kind ),
110-604: A mayor, in most greater cities usually by the Lord Mayor . Rural districts in some German states have an additional administrative committee called Kreisausschuss . This committee is generally led by the Landrat and includes a number of additional voluntary members. It takes over certain administrative functions for the district, following decisions of the district council. However, the exact role and regulations of this panel vary greatly between different states. The city where
132-498: A similar provision in its legislation. According to common federal and state laws, the districts are responsible for the following tasks: Districts can perform additional functions, based on varying local laws in each region: All these tasks are carried out by local (municipal) authorities operating together. Urban districts have these responsibilities and also those of the municipalities. The district council (German: Kreistag , pronounced [ˈkʁaɪ̯sˌtaːk] )
154-419: Is an officer known as Landrat or Landrätin , who is responsible for the district's day-to-day administration and acts as its representative for official purposes. In parts of northern Germany, Landrat is also the name of the entire district administration, which in southern Germany is known as Kreisverwaltung or Landratsamt . In urban districts similar administrative functions are performed by
176-481: Is the highest institution of a rural district and is responsible for all fundamental guidelines of regional self-administration. This council is elected directly every five years, except in Bavaria where it is elected every six years. Usually the administrative seat of a rural district is located in one of its largest towns. However, district council and administrative seat of some rural districts are not situated within
198-617: The CDU in the parliament of Saarland passed a law which transformed the Stadtverband Saarbrücken into the Regionalverband Saarbrücken on January 1, 2008. The most striking change by this transformation was the introduction of the Kooperationsrat , a council of officials of the towns and municipalities which exercises some of the powers of Municipal corporation alongside the district council ( Regionalversammlung ,
220-456: The French département Moselle . The district Saarbrücken was originally created in 1816. In 1974, the district and the district-free city Saarbrücken were merged, and the new administrative body was named Stadtverband Saarbrücken . Although it's not a district like others, most of its administrative tasks are the same as those of a district. On November 21, 2007, the governing majority of
242-555: The Soviet Union were transported to Schleiz as forced laborers. At least 60 of them died there. The palace was destroyed April 1945. Trend of population figures: 1834 — 1995 1996 — 2002 2003 — 2009 Schleiz is also the site of the Schleizer Triangle motor racing track. Districts of Germany (Land-)Kreise stand at an intermediate level of administration between each state ( Länder ) and
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#1732764943122264-539: The municipalities ( Gemeinden ) within it. These correspond to level-3 administrative units in the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS 3). Previously, the similar title Imperial Circle ( Reichskreis ) referred to groups of states in the Holy Roman Empire . The related term Landeskommissariat was used for similar administrative divisions in some German territories until
286-518: The 19th century. The majority of German districts are "rural districts" (German: Landkreise , pronounced [ˈlantˌkʁaɪ̯zə] ), of which there are 294 as of 2017 . Cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants (and smaller towns in some states) do not usually belong to a district, but take on district responsibilities themselves, similar to the concept of independent cities . These are known as "urban districts" (German: kreisfreie Städte or Stadtkreise )—cities which constitute
308-527: The district council Regionalversammlung and the additional council Kooperationsrat , which is mainly composed of officials of the towns and municipalities. On January 1, 2008, Ulf Huppert ( FDP ) became Beauftragter für das Amt des Regionalverbandsdirektors , temporarily acting as Regionalverbandsdirektor. The first ever election of the Regionalverbandsdirektor was held on June 7, 2009. As no candidate gained an absolute majority in
330-467: The district proper, but in an adjacent district-free city. Most of those rural districts are named after this central city as well (e.g. Bamberg and Karlsruhe ). Moers is the biggest city in Germany (and at present time the only one with more than 100,000 inhabitants) that is neither an urban district, nor the district seat of its rural district. The highest administrative position of a rural district
352-578: The district, through the city Saarbrücken in the center of the district. The original district had no coat of arms, the Regionalverband uses a coat derived from the one of the Counts of Nassau-Saarbrücken. The silver lion is taken from the County of Saarbrücken, the golden lion is the lion of Nassau . The bodies of the district Regionalverband are the administrator Regionalverbandsdirektor ,
374-491: The first round, run-off elections were held On June 21, 2009, which were won by Peter Gillo ( SPD ) with 60.22%, with Rainer Grün ( CDU ) taking 39.78% of the votes. Gillo beat Grün in all towns and municipalities except Püttlingen. The turnout rate of the run-off elections was just 21.2%. (Result of the elections of 2014) Saarbrücken is a fellow member of the Eurodistrict SaarMoselle . Saarbrücken has
396-594: The legal term "Kreisstadt" that only denotes the location of the administrative office. In everyday language, district cities are also called Kreishauptstadt ("district capital"). Saarbr%C3%BCcken (district) The Regionalverband Saarbrücken is a Kommunalverband besonderer Art , an integration of a district ( Kreis ) and a district-free town. It is located in the south of the Saarland , Germany . Neighboring districts are Saarlouis , Neunkirchen , Saar-Pfalz , and Forbach-Boulay-Moselle and Sarreguemines in
418-527: The local equivalent of the Kreistag ). As the directly elected Regionalversammlung represents the population, while the members of the Kooperationsrat are picked by the towns or municipalities which they represent, there is a debate whether the competences of the not-directly-elected Kooperationsrat infringe on the constitutional right of the directly elected Regionalversammlung to exert all powers of Municipal corporation. The river Saar flows through
440-433: The motorway A 9 ( Berlin – München ). Distances calculated as between town centers. Schleiz includes the following subdivisions: Schleiz can be traced back to a settlement established about 1200 ("Altstadt") and a separate "Neustadt" that was established next to it. The "Neustadt" had a castle and a city wall. Until 2 December 1482 they were totally separate communities after which they combined to one city. There
462-423: The office of the district's administration is located is called Kreisstadt ("district city"), or Kreishauptort ("district main community") if it is not a city. Often the district is named after its district city. Linguistically, any city within a district could be called a "Kreisstadt", especially those that aren't district-free to distinguish them from district-free cities. This term has to be distinguished from
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#1732764943122484-719: Was a settlement of the Teutonic Order here, and for some years previous to 1848 the town was the capital of the small principality of Reuss-Schleiz . In the vicinity a battle was fought, between the French and the Prussians on 9 October 1806. Within the German Empire (1871-1918), Schleiz was part of the Principality of Reuss-Gera . During World War II hundreds of women and men from several nations, including
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