The Federal Republic of Germany is composed of 16 federal states (Länder), each of which has its own parliament and ministries. The federal states contain so called district-free cities (kreisfreie Städte) such as Bonn and Cologne whose inhabitants each elect a city council, and districts such as the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis, which have district assemblies and district assembly chairmen. Today, two-thirds of the German population lives in one of the country’s 294 districts.

The Deutscher Landkreistag – the districts’ umbrella organisation at the federal level – moved into Siegburger Kreishaus after the Federal Republic was founded in 1949. From 1957 to 1989, it was headquartered at an 1871 townhouse at Adenauerallee 136 in Bonn. Hence the federal government, Bundesrat (Upper House of Parliament) and Bundestag (Lower House of Parliament) were now located in close proximity to each other.

The workload was heavy during this period, as the impact of federal legislation on local governments increased considerably. The umbrella organisations of municipal self-government – the Deutscher Landkreistag, Deutscher Städtetag, Deutscher Gemeindetag and Deutscher Städtebund – worked closely with each other to influence federal policy and legislation.

In 1990, the year of German reunification, East Germany’s 189 districts were provisionally added to the 237 West German ones – a situation that called for across the board district reform. In February 2000, the Deutscher Landkreistag moved into a new building in central Berlin.