Municipalities of Germany in the context of "Bezirk"

A commune (French pronunciation: [kɔmyn] ) is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are analogous to civil townships and incorporated municipalities, and particularly to the New England towns, in Canada and the United States; Gemeinden in Germany; comuni in Italy; municipios in Spain; or civil parishes in the United Kingdom. Communes are based on historical geographic communities or villages and are vested with significant powers to manage the populations and land of the geographic area covered. The communes are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France.

Communes vary widely in size and area, from large sprawling cities with millions of inhabitants like Paris, to small hamlets with only a handful of inhabitants. Communes typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All communes have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are communes (lieu dit or bourg), the difference residing in the lack of administrative powers. Except for the municipal arrondissements of its largest cities, the communes are the lowest level of administrative division in France and are governed by elected officials including a mayor (maire) and a municipal council (conseil municipal). They have extensive autonomous powers to implement national policy.

In 13 German states, the primary administrative subdivision higher than a Gemeinde (municipality) is the Landkreis (German pronunciation: [ˈlantˌkʁaɪs] ) or Kreis ([kʁaɪs] ). Most major cities in Germany are not part of any Kreis, but instead combine the functions of a municipality and a Kreis; such a city is referred to as a kreisfreie Stadt ([ˈkʁaɪsfʁaɪə ˈʃtat]) or Stadtkreis ([ˈʃtatˌkʁaɪs] ).

(Land-)Kreise stand at an intermediate level of administration between each state (Länder) and the municipalities (Gemeinden) within it. These correspond to level-3 administrative units in the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS 3).

Gemeindeverband (German: [ɡəˈmaɪ̯ndəfɛɐ̯ˌbant] ) is a union of at least two municipalities (German: Gemeinde) in Germany to form a Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts (statutory corporation) with the purpose to exercise the powers of self-government at a larger scale, while maintaining autonomy of its members.

The word is mentioned multiple times in the German constitution (German: Grundgesetz), but without an exact definition.

Raisting (German pronunciation: [ˈʁaɪstɪŋ]) is a municipality in the Weilheim-Schongau district, in Bavaria, Germany.

Wustrow (German pronunciation: [ˈvʊstʁoː] ) is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Rügen district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.

The first industrial wind turbine, a Vestas V25-200 kW wind turbine with a nacelle height of 28.5 metres and a rotor diameter of 25 metres, is situated there [1].

Berchtesgaden (German pronunciation: [ˈbɛʁçtəsˌɡaːdn̩] ) is a municipality in the district Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria, in southeastern Germany, near the border with Austria, 30 km (19 mi) south of Salzburg and 180 km (110 mi) southeast of Munich. It lies in the Berchtesgaden Alps. South of the town, the Berchtesgaden National Park stretches along three parallel valleys.

The Kehlstein mountain (1,835 m or 6,020 ft), with its Kehlsteinhaus (Eagle's Nest), is located in the area.

This is a complete list of the 2,056 cities and towns in Germany (as of 1 January 2024). There is no distinction between town and city in Germany; a Stadt is an independent municipality (see Municipalities of Germany) that has been given the right to use that title. In contrast, the generally smaller German municipalities that do not use this title, and are thus not included here, are usually just called Gemeinden. Historically, the title Stadt was associated with town privileges, but today it is a mere honorific title. The title can be bestowed to a municipality by its respective state government and is generally given to such municipalities that have either had historic town rights or have attained considerable size and importance more recently. Towns with over 100,000 inhabitants are called Großstadt, a statistical notion sometimes translated as "city", but having no effect on their administrative status. In this list, only the cities' and towns' names are given. For more restricted lists with more details, see:

• List of cities in Germany by population (only Großstädte, i.e. cities over 100,000 population)
• Metropolitan regions in Germany

Numbers of cities and towns in the German states: