Gemeindeverband

Gemeindeverband is a union of at least two municipalities (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 (Grundgesetz),             but without an exact definition.

The States of Germany have slightly different kinds of a Gemeindeverband:

Gemeindeverbände unterhalb der Kreisebene (collective municipalities) to allow direct co-operation of municipalities:
 * Gemeindeverwaltungsverband in Baden-Württemberg
 * Verwaltungsgemeinschaft in Bavaria
 * Amt in Brandenburg
 * Amt in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
 * Samtgemeinde in Lower Saxony
 * Verbandsgemeinde in Rhineland-Palatinate
 * Verwaltungsgemeinschaft in Saxony
 * Verwaltungsverband in Saxony
 * Verbandsgemeinde in Saxony-Anhalt
 * Verwaltungsgemeinschaft in Saxony-Anhalt
 * Amt in Schleswig-Holstein
 * Verwaltungsgemeinschaft in Thuringia

Gemeindeverbände oberhalb der Kreisebene to allow direct co-operation of districts (Landkreis), commonly summarised as higher municipal association (Höherer Kommunalverband:
 * Bezirk in Bavaria
 * Bezirksverband Pfalz in Rhineland-Palatinate
 * Landschaftsverband in North Rhine-Westphalia
 * Landschaftsverband in Lower Saxony