Amt is a type of
administrative division
Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of
Northern Europe.
Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to a US
township
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...
or
county or English
shire district.
Current usage
Germany
Prevalence
The ''Amt'' (plural: ''Ämter'') is unique to the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
''
Bundesländer'' (federal states) of
Schleswig-Holstein,
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and
Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 squar ...
.
Other German states had this division in the past. Some states have similar administrative units called ''
Samtgemeinde'' (
Lower Saxony), ''
Verbandsgemeinde
A Verbandsgemeinde (; plural Verbandsgemeinden) 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.
Rhinelan ...
'' (
Rhineland-Palatinate) or ''
Verwaltungsgemeinschaft
Municipal associations (german: Verwaltungsgemeinschaften) are statutory corporations or public bodies created by statute in the German federal states of Bavaria, Saxony, Thuringia, and Schleswig-Holstein. In Baden-Württemberg the term ''stip ...
'' (
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
,
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
,
Saxony,
Saxony-Anhalt,
Thuringia).
Definition
An ''Amt'', as well as the other above-mentioned units, is subordinate to a ''Kreis'' (
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
) 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
Gemeinde (; plural: Gemeinden) is a German word translating to "community", "town", "parish", or "municipality".
Gemeinde may refer to:
* An administrative division encompassing a single village, town, or city:
** Gemeinde (Austria)
** 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'').
Former usage
Denmark
The ' (plural, '; commonly translated as "province" or, less accurately, "county") was an administrative unit of
Denmark (and, historically, of
Denmark-Norway).
The provinces were established by royal decree in 1662 as replacements for the former ' (fiefs). The ' were originally composed of independent towns (') and parishes, and held only small areas of responsibility. During the 20th century, they were granted responsibility for the hospital service for the non-urban population. A 1970 administrative reform reduced the number of provinces to fourteen and eliminated the administrative distinction between (rural) parish and town. From then on, the ''amter'' were composed of a number of municipalities ('). The reform granted the provinces wider areas of responsibility, most notably running the national health service and the ''
gymnasium'' secondary schools.
The
Danish Municipal Reform of 1 January 2007 abolished the ''amter'' and replaced them with five administrative
regions, now solely 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. See
Counties of Denmark
The Counties of Denmark ( da, Danmarks amter) were former subdivisions of metropolitan Denmark and overseas territories, used primarily for administrative regions, with each county having its own council with substantial powers. Originally there h ...
for more information about the Danish usage of the term.
Germany
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
__NOTOC__
The ''Amtmann'' or ''Ammann'' (in Switzerland) was an official in German-speaking countries of Europe and in some of the Nordic countries from the time of the Middle Ages whose office was akin to that of a bailiff. He was the most seni ...
'', usually a lesser nobleman or cleric, appointed by a
territorial lord
A territorial lord (german: Landesherr) was a ruler in the period beginning with the Early Middle Ages who, stemming from his status as being immediate (''unmittelbar''), held a form of authority over a territory known as ''Landeshoheit''. This a ...
to administer and dispense justice within the ''Amt''.
Iceland
While Iceland was a territory of the Danish-Norwegian realm, amts (singular: '; plural: ') 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 (') and South and West Amt ('). The latter was in 1787 split into a West Amt (') and South Amt ('). 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
Akureyri (, locally ) is a town in northern Iceland. It is Iceland's fifth-largest municipality, after Reykjavík, Hafnarfjörður, Reykjanesbær and Kópavogur, and the largest town outside Iceland's more populated southwest corner.
Nicknamed ...
and
Stykkishólmur which were established as the designated archives for the North and East Amt and the West Amt respectively.
Netherlands and Flanders
''Ambacht'' can be seen as the
Dutch equivalent to ''amt''. ''Ambachten'' existed in
Holland,
Zeeland
, nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge")
, anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem")
, image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg
, map_alt =
, m ...
and
Flanders up to about 1800.
Norway
From 1662 to 1919, the
counties of Norway
Norway is divided into 11 administrative regions, called counties (singular no, fylke, plural nb, fylker; nn, fylke from Old Norse: ''fylki'' from the word "folk", sme, fylka, sma, fylhke, smj, fylkka, fkv, fylkki) which until 191 ...
were called ''amter''. They are now referred to as ''
fylke
Norway is divided into 11 administrative regions, called counties (singular no, fylke, plural nb, fylker; nn, fylke from Old Norse: ''fylki'' from the word "folk", sme, fylka, sma, fylhke, smj, fylkka, fkv, fylkki) which until 191 ...
r'', a term revived from the Middle Ages.
See also
* ''
Amtmann
__NOTOC__
The ''Amtmann'' or ''Ammann'' (in Switzerland) was an official in German-speaking countries of Europe and in some of the Nordic countries from the time of the Middle Ages whose office was akin to that of a bailiff. He was the most seni ...
''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amt (Administrative Division)
Collective municipalities in Germany
Types of administrative division