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. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to a British or U.S. county.
Current usage
Germany
Prevalence
The Amt (plural: Ämter) is found in the German Bundesländer (federal states) of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg.
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 contrast to the amter, the regions hold no authority to levy taxes. The reform re-delegated all other areas of responsibility to either the municipalities or the state. At the same time, smaller municipalities were merged into larger units, cutting the number of municipalities from 270 to 98.
Germany
In Germany an Amt was a medieval administrative district covering a manorial estate or the land owned by a castle or village. It was headed by an Amtmann, usually a lesser nobleman or cleric, appointed by a territorial lord to administer and dispense justice within the Amt.
Iceland
While Iceland was a territory of the Danish-Norwegian realm, amts (singular: '; plural: ') were established in the country on top of the existing counties. From 1684 to 1770, Iceland as whole was a single amt in the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway but was then split into two amts: North and East Amt (') and South and West Amt ('). The latter was in 1787 split into a West Amt (') and South Amt ('). Iceland was thus divided into three amts until 1872, when the South and West amts were again merged. Amts were abolished in 1904, when Iceland gained home rule from Denmark.
Amts are not used to denote a geographical region in Iceland but the name lives on in the names of two public libraries in Iceland that were established during the amt era. The Amts libraries in Akureyri and Stykkishólmur which were established as the designated archives for the North and East Amt and the West Amt respectively.
Netherlands and Flanders
Ambt can be seen as the Dutch equivalent to amt. Ambten existed in Holland, Zeeland and Flanders up to about 1800.
Norway
From 1662 to 1919, the counties of Norway were called amter. They are now referred to as fylker, a term revived from the Middle Ages.
See also
- Amtmann