There are 439 German districts, administrative units in Germany. The districts are at an intermediate level of administration between the Länder (German states) and the local / municipal levels (Gemeinden).
The majority of the districts are rural districts, Landkreise, of which there are 323. Cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants (and in some Länder smaller towns) do not usually belong to a district but take over district responsibilities themselves - similar to the concept of independent cities These are known as urban districts (Kreisfreie Städte / Stadtkreise) - cities which constitute a district in their own right, and there are currently (2004) 116 of them, bringing the total number of districts to 439. In North Rhine-Westphalia, there are some cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants which are not urban districts, for example Recklinghausen, Siegen and Neuss.
Responsibilities
The districts are responsible for the following:
according to federal and regional laws:
the building and upkeep of B roads
other building plans which cover more than one local authority's area
caring for national parks
social welfare
youth welfare
the building and upkeep of hospitals
the building and upkeep of state institutes of secondary education
electing the Landrat or Landrätin, the chairperson of the district
according to local laws: (differ in each region)
financial support for culture
the building of pedestrian zones and bicycle lanes
financial support for school exchanges
the building and upkeep of public libraries
revitalisation of the economy
encouraging tourism
the management of Volkshochschulen (state run adult education colleges)
All these tasks are carried out by local (municipal) authorities operating together. Urban districts have these responsibilities and also those of the municipalities.
District parliament
The district parliament, the Kreistag, consists of representatives of all the districts in one Land; its chairman is known as the Landrat. The parliament is elected directly every five years, except in Bavaria where it is elected every six years, and in Schleswig-Holstein, where it is every four years.
The award, of which Kreis and the nine others were the inaugural recipients, were earned based on expertise and individual experience of at least 12 years.
Kreis was named the recipient of the 1995 Stan Jones Award, having met the criteria in six strength areas: performance of Colorado's athletic teams (placing in the top 10 of the Sears Directors Cup standings); the demonstration of high standards and discipline in strength and conditioning; and unanimous ratification from the ISSA's Board of Directors.
Kreis was the first-ever recipient of the award, which honors the legendary strength coach after whom it is named.
Kreis was three goals shy of breaking Roy Lassiter's record of 88 goals when he was injured Wednesday night in a home game against the San Jose Earthquakes.
Kreis was on a scoring streak earlier this year, putting away 13 goals in eight exhibition games.
Kreis said over the last five or six games, he dropped off and took more of a midfield role to help lead the team and "show the guys around me what it takes" to win games.
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