States of Germany and North Rhine-Westphalia are divided into governmental districts, or "Regierungsbezirke". In Rhineland-Palatinate, these districts were abolished on January 1, 2000, in Saxony-Anhalt on January 1, 2004, and in Lower Saxony on January 1, 2005. From 1990 until 2012, Saxony was divided into three districts (called "Direktionsbezirke" since 2008). In 2012, these districts' authorities were merged into one central authority, the "". The Districts of Germany "(Kreise)" are administrative districts, and every state except the city-states of Berlin and Hamburg and the state of Bremen consists of "rural districts" "(Landkreise)," District-free Towns/Cities ("Kreisfreie Städte", in Baden-Württemberg also called "urban districts", or
Concordats with individual states of Germany successor states. Baden signed its concordat in 1932. The Reich's Concordat, later affirmed as valid by West Germany in 1957, applied some features of Baden's concordat to Hesse, Württemberg and the Diocese of Meissen, which then comprised all of Saxony and parts of Thuringia. Other German states with concordats are Baden-Württemberg (1932), Bavaria (1817–1924), Brandenburg (2003), Bremen (2003), Hamburg (2005), Lower Saxony (1965-1973-1989-1993), Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (1997), North Rhine-Westphalia (1929-1956-1984), Rhineland-Palatinate (1929-1969-1973), Saarland (1929-1975-1985), Saxony (1996), Saxony-Anhalt (1998), Schleswig-Holstein (2009) and Thuringia (1997). Three states, Berlin (1970), Hesse (1963–1974), and Rhineland-Palatinate (1975), have agreements with Catholic bishoprics. There have been three separate