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Große Kreisstadt (German:[ˈɡʁoːsəˈkʁaɪsˌʃtat], "major district town") is a term in themunicipal law (Gemeindeordnung) of severalGerman states.[1] In some federal states the term is used as a special legal status for adistrict-affiliatedtown—as distinct from anindependent city—with additional competences in comparison with othermunicipalities of the district. The title is based on sovereign conferment by the state government.
The term is officially used and quoted. In different German federal states (Bundesländer) there are different laws and administration rules about when exactly a town can obtain this status but they do not differ very much. Themayor of aGroße Kreisstadt usually bears the title of anOberbürgermeister (Lord Mayor).
At the moment reforms are being discussed in some states. It is not a main goal of these reforms to make the rules more similar; on the contrary, the district towns are thought to be important in order to preserve the existing regional diversity. In Germany federal states have very similar administration rules, so they are not always comparable toU.S. states for example.
District-affiliated municipalities may apply for the status of aGroße Kreisstadt, conferred by decree of the state's interior ministry. Assuming certain sovereign functions of the district, the municipal authorities have to ensure they are able to carry out the assigned responsibilities. In the state ofBaden-Württemberg, the necessary population to obtain this status is 20,000. InBavaria 30,000 inhabitants are necessary;[2] inSaxony, the minimum population is 17,500 (until 2008: 20,000). Usually, the motion is accepted.
The status of aGroße Kreisstadt was first implemented by the Baden-WürttembergGemeindeordnung on 1 April 1956, followed by Bavaria, where in the course of a 1972 administrative reform, the status was conferred to 23 former independent cities regardless of the population. The smallestGroße Kreisstadt isRothenburg ob der Tauber with about 10,900 inhabitants. Further conferments require a quorum of 30,000, however, in 1998 the historicimperial cities ofDinkelsbühl andDonauwörth were elevated by Bavarian state law, though they did not reach the necessary number of inhabitants. Currently, there are 93Große Kreisstädte in Baden-Württemberg, 29 in Bavaria, and 50 in Saxony.
In some German states other terms are used, for exampleGroße selbständige Stadt inLower Saxony, conclusively assigned by law to the towns ofCelle,Cuxhaven,Goslar,Hameln,Hildesheim,Lingen andLüneburg in the course of the 1970s administrative reform. District-affiliated municipalities with a population of more than 30,000 hold the status of aSelbständige Gemeinde, territorial authorities with more than 20,000 inhabitants could apply for conferment by the Lower Saxon state government.
In the states ofBrandenburg,North Rhine-Westphalia andRhineland-Palatinate, the status of aGroße kreisangehörige Stadt is conferred by the state government to municipalities with a certain population (Brandenburg: 35,000; North Rhine-Westphalia: 60,000; Rhineland-Palatinate: 25,000). In Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia, there are alsoMittlere kreisangehörige Städte with a population of more than 25,000. InThuringia, a district-affiliated local authority ensuring adequate administrative and financial parameters may apply for the status. In 2005 theSchleswig-Holstein government declaredNorderstedt inSegeberg District (part of theHamburg Metropolitan Region) aGroße kreisangehörige Stadt.
InSaarland, the towns ofSankt Ingbert andVölklingen hold the comparable status of a district-affiliatedMittelstadt. InHesse, seven towns with a population of more than 50,000 obtained the status of aSonderstatusstadt:Bad Homburg vor der Höhe,Fulda,Giessen,Hanau,Marburg,Rüsselsheim andWetzlar.
Saxony-Anhalt has noGroße Kreisstädte and instead provides a largely homogenous range of servies by the different levels of local government.[3]
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