Amt facts for kids
An Amt is a special type of administrative division that helps manage a group of towns or villages. Today, you'll only find this system in Germany. But in the past, it was also common in other countries in Northern Europe. Think of an Amt as a bit like a small township or county in the US, or a shire district in England. Its exact size and what it does can be different depending on the country.
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What is an Amt Today?
Germany
Where are Amter Used?
The Amt (plural: Ämter) is a unique way of organizing local government. You'll only find it in three German states: Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and Brandenburg.
Other German states used to have Amter too. Now, some of them have similar units. These are called Samtgemeinde in Lower Saxony, Verbandsgemeinde in Rhineland-Palatinate, or Verwaltungsgemeinschaft in states like Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia.
How an Amt Works
An Amt is a group of small towns or villages (called Gemeinden). It sits below a larger area called a Kreis (which means district). So, it's a level of government that's higher than a single town but lower than a district. You could think of it as a "group of towns" or a "municipal confederation." Amter usually include very small towns.
Larger towns or cities don't belong to an Amt. These are called amtsfreie Gemeinden (independent towns). Some very big cities might not even be part of a Kreis (district). These are known as kreisfreie Gemeinden. If they are also not part of any other state, they are called Stadtstaaten (city-states), like Berlin and Hamburg.
Big cities might have smaller local offices inside them. These are called Ortsämter. Each Ortsamt might cover several neighborhoods or small areas within the city, known as Ortsteile. These Ortsteile might have been small villages long ago. Today, they help with city planning. The Ortsamt helps provide local services for people living in those neighborhoods.
How Amter Were Used in the Past
Denmark
In Denmark, an amt (which means "county") was a way to divide the country for administrative purposes. This system was also used historically in Denmark-Norway. Counties were created in 1662. They replaced older areas called fiefs. At first, counties included market towns and parishes, and they didn't have many responsibilities.
Over time, the borders of these counties changed. For example, some counties merged. After Southern Jutland became part of Denmark again in 1920, four new counties were created there.
In the 20th century, counties gained more power. They became responsible for running hospitals. As more people moved to cities, it became clear that changes were needed. A big reform happened on April 1, 1970. This reform reduced the number of counties to fourteen. It also removed the difference between rural parishes and towns. From then on, counties were made up of several municipalities (kommuner). Counties then had more responsibilities, like managing the national health service and secondary schools called gymnasium.
Another reform happened on January 1, 2007. This reform got rid of the amter completely. They were replaced by five administrative regions. These regions are mainly in charge of running the national health service. Unlike the old counties, these new regions cannot collect taxes. Other responsibilities were given back to the municipalities or the state. At the same time, smaller municipalities merged into larger ones. This cut the number of municipalities from 270 to 98.
Germany
In Germany, an Amt was also used in the Middle Ages. It was an administrative area that covered a large estate or the land around a castle or village. It was led by an Amtmann. This person was usually a lesser nobleman or a cleric. They were chosen by a local lord to manage the area and handle justice within the Amt.
Iceland
When Iceland was part of the Danish-Norwegian kingdom, amts (singular: amt) were also set up there. From 1684 to 1770, all of Iceland was one big amt. Then, it was split into two: North and East Amt, and South and West Amt. Later, the South and West Amt was split again. So, Iceland had three amts until 1872, when two of them merged back together. The amts system was ended in 1904, when Iceland gained home rule from Denmark.
Today, amts are not used to describe areas in Iceland. However, the name lives on in two public libraries. These are the Amts libraries in Akureyri and Stykkishólmur. They were originally set up as official archives for the North and East Amt and the West Amt.
Netherlands and Flanders
The word Ambacht is the Dutch version of amt. Ambachten existed in areas like Holland, Zeeland, and Flanders until around 1800.
Norway
From 1662 to 1919, the counties of Norway were called amter. Now, they are called fylker. This is an older term that was brought back from the Middle Ages.
See Also
In Spanish: Amt para niños
- Amtmann
