Kreisangehörige

Kreisangehörige is a German administrative term used to denote people who belong to a Kreis (a district-level administrative unit) and are registered as residents within that Kreis. The term identifies the population of a Kreis as a political and statistical unit, distinct from residents of territories that are not part of any Kreis.

In the German-speaking administrative structure, several states organize local government into Kreise or Landkreise, which group municipalities that are not Kreisfreien Städten. Kreisangehörige thus refer to individuals living in municipalities that belong to a Kreis. By contrast, residents of Kreisfreie Städte—cities that function as districts in their own right—are not considered Kreisangehörige of a surrounding Kreis.

Historically, the term appears in older legal, census, and archival contexts, especially in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In contemporary official language, the concept is usually expressed with phrases such as Einwohner eines Landkreises or die Bevölkerung des Landkreises, and the concise label Kreisangehörige is far less common. Despite its reduced use, the term may still be encountered in historical documents, genealogical research, or regional archives.

See also: Kreis, Landkreis, Kreisfreie Stadt, Gemeinde (municipality), Einwohner.