Bezirke#

Districts, administrative areas forming links between the provinces and municipalities. In contrast to these, they are not corporate bodies and are not administered by a democratically elected head, but by appointed professional organs.

1) Political districts: Austria is divided into 15 town districts and 84 country districts. Town districts (for chartered towns) are led by an elected mayor together with the municipal authorities. The country districts form the administrative units of the local government Bezirkshauptmannschaft, which is headed by the district commissioner (Bezirkshauptmann).

2) Court districts: Most political districts in Austria are subdivided in court districts. They form the administrative unit of the district courts. Austria is divided into 200 court districts.

3) Municipal districts: Vienna, which is a municipality, a federal province and a political district at the same time, consists of 23 districts headed by elected officers (Bezirkshauptmann ) with restricted areas of competence. In the individual districts, separate, legally subordinate departments of the municipal authorities (Magistratische Bezirks-Aemter) handle certain matters of business of the municipal authorities. In Vienna, these departments have a long tradition and - unlike their equivalents in other Austrian cities - show distinctive features of their own and play an important role in the relations of the Viennese with their city.