Altona, Hamburg surrounding cities) with the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg in 1938. On 1 February 2007 the "Ortsämter" (precincts) in Hamburg were dissolved. In Altona the precincts of Blankenese, Lurup and Osdorf had existed and had local offices. On 1 March 2008 the Schanzenviertel neighborhood, which had spanned across parts of the boroughs of Altona, Eimsbüttel and Hamburg-Mitte, became the Sternschanze quarter, the entirety of which is now in the Altona borough. The border of Altona to the south is the River Elbe, and across the river the state Lower Saxony and the boroughs Harburg and Hamburg-Mitte. To the east
Central German Metropolitan Region Group for European Metropolitan Regions in Germany) was formed in 2001 which developed the concept of the Central German Metropolitan Region in 2012. In 2013, Dresden and Magdeburg dropped out of the club and the membership has been focused more on cities and towns around Leipzig and Halle. The largest of the eight member cities are Leipzig in Saxony and Halle (Saale) in Saxony-Anhalt. The member cities have changed over time and the current member cities are as follows: Except for Zwickau and Wittenberg, all towns hold the status of an independent city (i.e. a county-free city). Dresden and Magdeburg