Well, I stand corrected and learned something. That should treach me not to make assumptions without all the facts! I had assumed that it was equivalent to the free-cities of Europe such as Strassburg in Alsace, or Frankfurt am Main, or Friedberg. Free cities (or more fully, Free Imperial cities) of course being ruled directly by the "Emperor" and not by the local rulers. Although your explanation kind of sounds more like the opposite of a free-city. So, I guess, I'm trying to say sorry for correcting a correct posting with my ignorance. Brian On Thu, February 26, 2009 1:37 pm, Thierry Dietrich wrote: > Actually county-free was indeed correct. > > Some cities, such as Frankfurt or Darmstadt, do not belong to a Landkreis > as they are large enough on their own to be worth an own administration. > In these cases the city-parliament in the town-hall is at the same time > what in other counties is called Kreistag. So it has two functions and > this city therefore does not belong to any county, therefore it is > county-free. If you say free county it sounds as if it actually is a > county and that this county does not belong to anything else, but > that would be wrong. > > County-free cities do belong to a "Regierungsbezirk", which again belongs > to a "Land", which again belongs to the Federal Republik of Germany. >

Hi Brian, I don't know where you are from, but here in NY there are cities and villages that are not under town juridictions. They provide their own services and keep their own records. Some provide their own law enforcement. Bobbi ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, February 27, 2009 10:28 AM Subject: Re: [HESSE] Lorsch, near Eberstadt, Bensheim, et al Well, I stand corrected and learned something. That should treach me not to make assumptions without all the facts! I had assumed that it was equivalent to the free-cities of Europe such as Strassburg in Alsace, or Frankfurt am Main, or Friedberg. Free cities (or more fully, Free Imperial cities) of course being ruled directly by the "Emperor" and not by the local rulers. Although your explanation kind of sounds more like the opposite of a free-city. So, I guess, I'm trying to say sorry for correcting a correct posting with my ignorance. Brian On Thu, February 26, 2009 1:37 pm, Thierry Dietrich wrote: > Actually county-free was indeed correct. > > Some cities, such as Frankfurt or Darmstadt, do not belong to a Landkreis > as they are large enough on their own to be worth an own administration. > In these cases the city-parliament in the town-hall is at the same time > what in other counties is called Kreistag. So it has two functions and > this city therefore does not belong to any county, therefore it is > county-free. If you say free county it sounds as if it actually is a > county and that this county does not belong to anything else, but > that would be wrong. > > County-free cities do belong to a "Regierungsbezirk", which again belongs > to a "Land", which again belongs to the Federal Republik of Germany. > ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.11.3/1975 - Release Date: 02/27/09 07:05:00

Actually many former Free Imperial Cities, such as Frankfurt, later turned to Kreisfreie Städte (county-free cities). So you're not totally wrong there. However, neither Darmstadt nor Offenbach for instance ever have been Free Imperial Cities but are today county-free cities. So there is no 100% fit. Regards, Thierry   Dr. Thierry P. Dietrich D-61250 Usingen ________________________________ Von: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> An: [email protected] Gesendet: Freitag, den 27. Februar 2009, 16:28:21 Uhr Betreff: Re: [HESSE] Lorsch, near Eberstadt, Bensheim, et al Well, I stand corrected and learned something. That should treach me not to make assumptions without all the facts! I had assumed that it was equivalent to the free-cities of Europe such as Strassburg in Alsace, or Frankfurt am Main, or Friedberg. Free cities (or more fully, Free Imperial cities) of course being ruled directly by the "Emperor" and not by the local rulers. Although your explanation kind of sounds more like the opposite of a free-city. So, I guess, I'm trying to say sorry for correcting a correct posting with my ignorance. Brian On Thu, February 26, 2009 1:37 pm, Thierry Dietrich wrote: > Actually county-free was indeed correct. > > Some cities, such as Frankfurt or Darmstadt, do not belong to a Landkreis > as they are large enough on their own to be worth an own administration. > In these cases the city-parliament in the town-hall is at the same time > what in other counties is called Kreistag. So it has two functions and > this city therefore does not belong to any county, therefore it is > county-free. If you say free county it sounds as if it actually is a > county and that this county does not belong to anything else, but > that would be wrong. > > County-free cities do belong to a "Regierungsbezirk", which again belongs > to a "Land", which again belongs to the Federal Republik of Germany. > ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message