Große Kreisstadt is a term in the German municipal law. In some German federal states the term is used as a special legal status for district-affiliated cities or towns with additional competences in comparison with other municipalities or towns of the district. The title is based on souvereign conferment.

Administration rules

The term is officially used and quoted. In different German federal states there are different laws and administration rules about when exactly a town can become a "Große Kreisstadt" but they do not differ very much. In some German states other terms are used, for example "Große selbständige Stadt". At the moment reforms are discussed in some states. It is not a main goal of these reforms to make the rules more similar, in opposite, the district towns are thought to be important to keep the existing diversity of regions. In Germany federal states have very similar administration rules, so the states (Bundesland) are not always comparable to US states for example.