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Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe. [1] Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to a British or U.S. county.
The Amt (plural: Ämter) is unique to the German Bundesländer (federal states) of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg. [1]
Other German states had this division in the past. Some states have similar administrative units called Samtgemeinde (Lower Saxony), Verbandsgemeinde (Rhineland-Palatinate) or Verwaltungsgemeinschaft (Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia). [1]
An Amt, as well as the other above-mentioned units, is subordinate to a Kreis (district) and is a collection of municipalities. The amt is lower than district-level government but higher than municipal government, and may be described as a supra-municipality or "municipal confederation". Normally, it consists of very small municipalities (Gemeinden, plural of Gemeinde).
Larger municipalities do not belong to an Amt and are called amtsfreie Gemeinden (independent municipalities); some of these municipalities might also not be governed by or linked with a Kreis (district) and are called kreisfreie Gemeinden, and when they do also not belong to any other Land they are also called Stadtstaaten (plural of Stadtstaat), i.e. city-states (Berlin and Hamburg).
These large municipalities (cities, in German Städte, plural of Stadt) may be further divided into local offices named Ortsämter (plural of Ortsamt), each of them possibly grouping several suburbs (or small townships in rural areas) of the municipality named Ortsteile (plural of Ortsteil), named from small villages or hamlets or localities. The Ortsteil (suburb or township) may have been a former parish, but today it is meant only for civil purpose and essentially used for planning within the municipality; the Ortsamt (sometimes just named informally but confusingly as an Amt, or informally translated as an "urban district") is used to offer decentralized services of the municipality within local administrative offices for the residents in neighbouring suburbs. The Ortsteil itself may also be confusingly translated as a "municipality", but it is incorrect because it belongs to a city which is the only effective municipality (Gemeinde).
The amt (plural, amter; translated as "county") was an administrative unit of Denmark (and, historically, of Denmark-Norway). [2] The counties were established by royal decree in 1662 as replacements for the former fiefs ( Len ). The amter were originally composed of market towns (købstæder) and parishes, and held only small areas of responsibility. There were some changes to the borders of these counties over time, most notably when Roskilde County (da) was merged into Roskilde County (da) in 1808, and when Skanderborg County (da) was periodically merged into Århus County Skanderborg County (da). After Southern Jutland was returned to Denmark after the 1920 Schleswig plebiscites, four new counties were created in the area.
During the 20th century, the powers of the counties were expanded, when they were granted responsibility for the hospital service. The købstæder, which by this time had been separated from the counties and were overseen by the Interior Ministry, assumed the same responsibility. As the population became increasingly urbanized, and many rural communities came to rely on the hospital services of the købstader without paying taxes for them, it became evident that reform was necessary. In 1958, interior minister Søren Olesen set in motion administrative reforms that would culminate in 1970.
The municipal reform of 1 April 1970 reduced the number of counties to fourteen and eliminated the administrative distinction between (rural) parish and town. From then on, the amter were composed of a number of municipalities ( kommuner ). The reform granted the counties wider areas of responsibility, most notably running the national health service and the gymnasium secondary schools. [3]
The municipal reform of 1 January 2007 abolished the amter and replaced them with five administrative regions, now mainly charged with running the national health service. In contrast to the amter, the regions hold no authority to levy taxes. The reform re-delegated all other areas of responsibility to either the municipalities or the state. At the same time, smaller municipalities were merged into larger units, cutting the number of municipalities from 270 to 98.
In Germany an Amt was a medieval administrative district covering a manorial estate or the land owned by a castle or village. It was headed by an Amtmann , usually a lesser nobleman or cleric, appointed by a territorial lord to administer and dispense justice within the Amt.
While Iceland was a territory of the Danish-Norwegian realm, amts (singular: amt; plural: ömt) were established in the country on top of the existing counties. From 1684 to 1770, Iceland as whole was a single amt in the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway but was then split into two amts: North and East Amt (Norður- og Austuramt) and South and West Amt (Suður- og Vesturamt). The latter was in 1787 split into a West Amt (Vesturamt) and South Amt (Suðuramt). Iceland was thus divided into three amts until 1872, when the South and West amts were again merged. Amts were abolished in 1904, when Iceland gained home rule from Denmark.
Amts are not used to denote a geographical region in Iceland but the name lives on in the names of two public libraries in Iceland that were established during the amt era. The Amts libraries in Akureyri and Stykkishólmur which were established as the designated archives for the North and East Amt and the West Amt respectively.
Ambacht can be seen as the Dutch equivalent to amt. Ambachten existed in Holland, Zeeland and Flanders up to about 1800.
From 1662 to 1919, the counties of Norway were called amter. They are now referred to as fylker , a term revived from the Middle Ages. [2]
Nordwestmecklenburg is a Kreis (district) in the north-western part of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the coast of the Baltic Sea and borders on Schleswig-Holstein to the west. Neighboring districts are Rostock, Ludwigslust-Parchim and the district-free city Schwerin, and the district Lauenburg and the district-free city Lübeck in Schleswig-Holstein. The district seat is the town Wismar.
A Verbandsgemeinde is a low-level administrative unit in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt. A Verbandsgemeinde is typically composed of a small group of villages or towns.
Norway is divided into 15 administrative regions, called counties which until 1918 were known as amter. The counties form the first-level administrative divisions of Norway and are further subdivided into 356 municipalities. The island territories of Svalbard and Jan Mayen are outside the county division and ruled directly at the national level. The capital Oslo is both a county and a municipality.
The Region of Southern Denmark is an administrative region of Denmark established on Monday 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform, which abolished the traditional counties ("amter") and set up five larger regions. At the same time, smaller municipalities were merged into larger units, cutting the number of municipalities from 271 before 1 January 2007 to 98. The reform diminished the power of the regional level dramatically in favor of the local level and the central government in Copenhagen. The Region of Southern Denmark has 22 municipalities. The reform was implemented in Denmark on 1 January 2007, although the merger of the Funish municipalities of Ærøskøbing and Marstal, being a part of the reform, was given the go-ahead to be implemented on Sunday 1 January 2006, one year before the main reform. It borders Schleswig-Holstein (Germany) to the south and Central Denmark Region to the north and is connected to Region Zealand via the Great Belt Fixed Link.
Municipalities are the lowest level of official territorial division in Germany. This can be the second, third, fourth or fifth level of territorial division, depending on the status of the municipality and the Land it is part of. The city-states Berlin and Hamburg are second-level divisions. A Gemeinde is one level lower in those states which also include Regierungsbezirke as an intermediate territorial division. The Gemeinde is one level higher if it is not part of a Gemeindeverband.
The Capital Region of Denmark is the easternmost administrative region of Denmark, and contains Copenhagen, the national capital.
The five Regions of Denmark were created as administrative entities at a level above the municipalities and below the central government in the public sector as part of the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform, when the 13 counties (amter) were abolished. At the same time, the number of municipalities (kommuner) was cut from 270 to 98. The reform was approved and made into a law by the lawmakers in the Folketing 26 June 2005 with elections to the 98 municipalities and 5 regions being held Tuesday 15 November 2005.
Neustadt am Main is a community in the Main-Spessart district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken) in Bavaria, Germany and a member of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Lohr am Main.
Großenwörden is a municipality in the district of Stade, Lower Saxony, Germany.
Bergenhus len was an administrative division of the Kingdom of Norway that existed from 1503 to 1662, with the Bergenhus Fortress in Bergen as its administrative center Norwegian administrative division. The len was changed to an amt (district) in 1662 but it kept its original name and capital until 1919.
Satow is a municipality in the Rostock district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.
Historically, Iceland was divided into four farthings corresponding to the cardinal directions. These were administrative divisions established in 965 for the purpose of organising regional assemblies called farthing assemblies (fjórðungsþing) and regional courts called farthing courts (fjórðungsdómar). Each farthing held three local assemblies, which were each presided over by three goðar or chieftains. The North Farthing alone held four. Farthing courts would judge cases if both plaintiff and defendant belonged to the same assembly; otherwise the case was brought to the general assembly, the Alþingi. Little else is known about these farthing courts and they seem to have been much more irregular than the spring and autumn assemblies. Also, in spite of the apparent regularity of three goðar per assembly and three to four assemblies per farthing, the system of rule by chieftains and assemblies probably followed a much more varied pattern.
A Samtgemeinde is a type of administrative division in Lower Saxony, Germany. Samtgemeinden are local government associations of municipalities, equivalent to the Ämter in Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Brandenburg, and the Verbandsgemeinden in Rhineland-Palatinate.
Denmark is divided into five regions, which contain 98 municipalities. The Capital Region has 29 municipalities, Southern Denmark 22, Central Denmark 19, Zealand 17 and North Denmark 11.
Nordharz is a municipality in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
Ludwigslust-Parchim is a district in the west of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The district seat is Parchim, a branch office of the administration is located in Ludwigslust.
In the period preceding the Municipal Reform of 1970, Denmark was divided into around 170 hundreds. In the timeframe 1793 through 1970, each parish was functioning as a municipality within their respective hundreds. The hundreds were in turn part of a county. This was changed in 1970, when the parishes were merged into larger municipalities sometimes crossing hundred borders, and the hundreds fell out of administrative use.
