Samtgemeinde

A Samtgemeinde (German pronunciation: ['zamtgəmaɪndə]; plural: Samtgemeinden) is a type of administrative division in Lower Saxony, Germany.

Samtgemeinden are local government associations of municipalities, equivalent to the Ämter in Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Brandenburg, and the Verbandsgemeinden in Rhineland-Palatinate.

A Samtgemeinde is a government body composed of a collective association of gemeinden (municipalities), the lowest level of official territorial division in Germany.

The Samtgemeinde executes many local government administrative duties for its member municipalities, including land use planning, wastewater disposal, social security, organisation of cemeteries and fire stations, sponsorship of elementary schools, the construction of local connecting roads, equipment and entertainment of libraries, sports sites and other public utilities.

The term Sammtgemeinden (at that time written with double m) was originally used for low-level administrative units in Prussia during a short-lived reform that saw the reorganization of parishes between 1850 and 1853.