Amt

Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe.

The Amt (plural: Ämter) is unique to the German Bundesländer (federal states) of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg.

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.

As the population became increasingly urbanized, and many rural communities came to rely on the hospital services of the købstader without paying taxes for them, it became evident that reform was necessary.

The municipal reform of 1 April 1970 reduced the number of counties to fourteen and eliminated the administrative distinction between (rural) parish and town.

The reform granted the counties wider areas of responsibility, most notably running the national health service and the gymnasium secondary schools.

[3] The municipal reform of 1 January 2007 abolished the amter and replaced them with five administrative regions, now mainly charged with running the national health service.

In Germany an Amt was a medieval administrative district covering a manorial estate or the land owned by a castle or village.