Regierungspräsident

A German Regierungsbezirk (pronounced [ʁeˈɡiːʁʊŋsbəˌt͡sɪʁk], often abbreviated to Reg.-Bez.; English: administrative district) is an administrative district of one of the nation's federal states. Its governing body is called a Regierungspräsidium or Bezirksregierung (district government), and is headed by a Regierungspräsident (district president).

The Regierungsbezirke do not legislate; rather, each acts as a mid-level agent of its federal state, and is concerned mostly with administrative decisions on a local level for the (rural or urban) locale that is its jurisdiction.

Regierungsbezirk is variously translated as "governmental district", "administrative district" or "province", with the first two being closest literal translations.

The first Regierungsbezirke were established in the Kingdom of Bavaria (1808) and in the course of the Prussian reforms between 1808 and 1816, when the Kingdom of Prussia divided its provinces into 25 Regierungsbezirke; eventually Prussia had 37 such districts in 12 provinces. By German unification in 1871, the concept of Regierungsbezirke had been adopted by most States of the German Empire.

The Regierungsbezirke of North Rhine-Westphalia are in direct continuation of those created in the Prussian Rhine and Westphalia provinces in 1816. Similar entities in other states were initially named Kreishauptmannschaft (in Saxony) or Kreis (in Bavaria and Württemberg) (not to be confused with the present-day Kreis or Landkreis districts) or province in Hesse. In Nazi Germany the naming was unified to Regierungsbezirk.

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Wikipedia