Kreis
Encyclopedia
Kreis is the German word for circle
Circle
A circle is a simple shape of Euclidean geometry consisting of those points in a plane that are a given distance from a given point, the centre. The distance between any of the points and the centre is called the radius....

, and also refers to a type of country subdivision.
  • In Germany, a Kreis is a district
    Districts of Germany
    The districts of Germany are known as , except in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein where they are known simply as ....

     or county
  • In Prussia, a Kreis was a district
    Kreis in Prussia
    Prussian districts were administrative units in the former German state of Prussia. The districts , also known as counties, usually took the name of the district's capital . A typical district had a rough diameter of 20 to 40 miles, though few were circular in shape...

     or county
  • In the Holy Roman Empire a Reichskreis (Imperial Circle
    Imperial Circle
    An Imperial Circle comprised a regional grouping of territories of the Holy Roman Empire, primarily for the purpose of organizing a common defensive structure and of collecting the imperial taxes, but also as a means of organization within the Imperial Diet and the Imperial Chamber Court.Each...

    ) was a regional association of several principalities
  • In the Swiss canton of Graubünden
    Graubünden
    Graubünden or Grisons is the largest and easternmost canton of Switzerland. The canton shares borders with the cantons of Ticino, Uri, Glarus and St. Gallen and international borders with Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein...

     the 11 districts are divided into 39 Kreise (circles)


Kreis may also be a surname.

Possible origins and meanings of the surname are:
  • German: nickname for a noisy person, from Middle High German kreiss, kreisch ‘cry’, ‘noise’.
  • German: topographic name for someone who lived by a circular feature, from Middle Low German kreis (Middle High German kreiz) ‘circle’.
  • Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German Kreis ‘circle’, ‘circular field’, ‘border’.


People with this surname include:
  • Jason Kreis
    Jason Kreis
    Jason Clarence Kreis is an American soccer coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of Real Salt Lake in Major League Soccer....

     (born 1972), American soccer player
  • Wilhelm Kreis
    Wilhelm Kreis
    Wilhelm Kreis was a prominent German architect and professor of architecture, active through four political systems in German history: the Wilhelmine era, the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, and the foundation of the Federal Republic.Kreis was born in Eltville am Rhein in Hesse-Nassau...

     (1873–1955), German architect


In music and culture:
  • Kreis (rock band of the seventies)

See also

  • Krai
    Krai
    Krai or kray was a type of an administrative division in the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR, and is one of the types of the federal subjects of modern Russia ....

  • Kraj
    Kraj
    A kraj is the highest-level administrative unit in the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic. For lack of other English expressions, the Slavic term is often translated as "province", "region", or "territory", although it actually approximately means " country", or " countryside"...

  • Bezirk
    Bezirk
    Bezirk means "district" in German and can refer to:* The primary Subdivisions of East Germany from 1952* The districts of Austria* Some of the Districts of Switzerland...

  • Okres
    Okres
    Okres refers to administrative entities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia...

  • Okręg
    Okreg
    Okręg is a term used in Polish to denote regions and jurisdictions of various types, including electoral constituencies. As historical administrative subdivisions of Poland, okręgi existed in the later part of the Congress Poland period, from 1842, when the name was applied to the former powiats...

  • Okrug
    Okrug
    Okrug is an administrative division of some Slavic states. The word "okrug" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "district", or "region"....

  • Powiat
    Powiat
    A powiat is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture in other countries. The term powiat is most often translated into English as "county", although other terms are also sometimes used...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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