There are five levels of government[1] in Germany. The German government is called local government in the lowest two levels. The five levels of German government are all legally independent. This means that each level of government has a separate job in Germany. The German constitution (the Grundgesetz) lists the five levels of government and says what each level should do.
The five levels are:
The European Union (or EU). The EU can make laws that all the other levels of government must execute (do completely); The Federation or national government. The national government of Germany is responsible for defence and Foreign policy. The national government develops standards about the actions of the sixteen Länder. The federation also gives money to poorer states. It wants all states to be equal. The sixteen Länder. The state government can create rules for local government in each state. But state governments cannot "abolish" (officially end) local governments. Local government is guaranteed by the constitution and the federal government; The rural districts or counties (Landkreise) and the urban districts or independent towns; The towns and municipalities, which are parts of a district or perhaps suburbs of an urban district. Some states have regierungsbezirke which are a group of counties and cities in an area to help run certain tasks across the area.
Other states have Amt which is a collection of municipalities in a district usually because the municipalities themselves are too small to run many services
Regierungsbezirke and Ämte are not guaranteed by the constitution, they are a way of helping the various levels of government to do their job.
More information on the Simple English [1] and German [2] Wikipedia pages.