A Verbandsgemeinde (plural Verbandsgemeinden) is an administrative unit unique to the GermanBundesland (federal state) of Rhineland-Palatinate. There are 163 Verbandsgemeinden, which are grouped into the 24 districts and subdivided into nearly 2200 Ortsgemeinden. Germany is a federal republic made up of 16 states formally known in German as Bundesländer (Federal States; singular Bundesland), or more commonly, Länder (singular Land). ... The Rhenish Palatinate (Rheinpfalz, sometimes Lower Palatinate or Niederpfalz) occupies rather more than a quarter of the German Bundesland (federal state) of Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz) and contains the towns of Ludwigshafen, Kaiserslautern, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, Pirmasens, Landau and Speyer. ... Districts are a form of local government in several countries. ...
Most of the Verbandsgemeinden were established in 1969. Formerly the name of the administrative units was Amt. Most of the functions of municipal government for several villages are consolidated and administered centrally from a larger or more central village among the group, while the individual villages (Ortsgemeinden) still maintain a limited degree of local autonomy. 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday For other uses, see Number 1969. ...
Other German states have similar administrative units; see: Amt, Samtgemeinde or Verwaltungsgemeinschaft. An Amt (plural Ämter) is an administrative unit, which is unique to the German Bundesländer (federal states) of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg. ... An Amt (plural Ämter) is an administrative unit, which is unique to the German Bundesländer (federal states) of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg. ... An Amt (plural Ämter) is an administrative unit, which is unique to the German Bundesländer (federal states) of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg. ...