Boroughs and neighborhoods of Berlin

Berlin is both a city and one of Germany's federated states (city state). Since the 2001 administrative reform, it has been made up of twelve districts (German: Bezirke, pronounced [bəˈtsɪʁkə]), each with its own administrative body. However, unlike the municipalities and counties of other German states, the Berlin districts are not territorial corporations of public law (Gebietskörperschaften) with autonomous competencies and property, but simple administrative agencies of Berlin's state and city government, the City of Berlin forming a single municipality (Einheitsgemeinde) since the Greater Berlin Act of 1920. Thus they cannot be equated to US or UK boroughs in the traditional meaning of the term.

Each district possesses a district representatives' assembly (Bezirksverordnetenversammlung) directly elected by proportional representation and an administrative body called district board (Bezirksamt). The district board, comprising since October 2021 six (until then five) members - a district mayor (Bezirksbürgermeister) as head and five (earlier four) district councillors (Bezirksstadträte) - is elected by the district representatives' assembly, proportionally reflecting its party composition according to popular vote. The district board is in charge of most local administrative matters directly relevant to local citizens; however, all of its decisions can at any moment be revoked by the Berlin Senate. Furthermore, the districts are financially completely dependent on state donations, as they neither possess any taxation power nor own any property. The district mayors form a council of mayors (Rat der Bürgermeister, led by the city's governing mayor), which advises the Senate.