In Germany, Regierungspräsident (, ''district president'', abbreviation RP) is the job title of the head of a federal state authority in the federal states of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, 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 i ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

, and

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

. The jurisdiction of the authority defines a certain administrative division ( Regierungsbezirk). The office holders are ''political'' civil servants, meaning they can be removed from their office by the government without reasons, and are appointed by the Minister President of the respective federal state.

History

The authority governed by the district president was introduced in

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

in 1808 under the Prussian Reform Movement. It substituted the war and domain chambers incumbent in Prussia since 1723. On April 30, 1815 the „Verordnung wegen verbesserter Einrichtung der Provinzialbehörden“ (''edict for improved installment of provincial authorities'') divided the Prussian state territory into ten provinces, which in turn were divided into two or more ''regierungsbezirke'', 28 in total. Up to the dispersal of the Prussian state in 1947 the simplification of the medium level administration was an ongoing issue since the allocation of responsibilities to the Oberpräsident and the district president was not precise. The Province of Hohenzollern was the only Prussian province where the district president had the same legal power as the Oberpräsident. During the time of the German Reich especially the larger federal states had district presidents as administrative middle level authorities. Sometimes the designation of the allocated regional entity was a different one: In

and Württemberg they were called ''Kreise'' ( districts), ''Provionzen'' (provinces) in

, ''Landeskommissärbezirk'' in Baden and ''Kreishauptmannschaften'' in

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

. In

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

the official title of the head of the authority was unified to ''Regierungspräsident'', following the Prussian denomination. After 1945, administrative districts were established in the bigger federal states in West Germany (not in

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

and the Saarland) for the middle authorities of the national administration. In the Soviet zone there was only one ''regierungsbezirk'' in

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...

. The districts were headed by the district president. In the 1980s the label for the authority was changed from "Regierungspräsident" (''district president'') to "Regierungspräsidium" (, ''district headquarters'').

References

* Klaus Schwabe: ''Die preußischen Oberpräsidenten 1815–1945''. Harald Boldt Verlag, Boppard am Rhein 1985. . * Jörg Bogumil: ''Verwaltungsstrukturreform – die Abschaffung der Bezirksregierungen in Niedersachsen''. Stiftung Westfalen-Initiative, Ibbenbüren 2006. .
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* Wilhelm Volkert: ''Handbuch der bayerischen Ämter, Gemeinden und Gerichte 1799–1980''. C. H. Beck, München 1983. . {{Authority control German civil servants Heads of government of non-sovereign entities