Boroughs and quarters of Berlin

Berlin is divided into boroughs or administrative districts (Verwaltungsbezirke). In Berlin, the term is officially shortened to Bezirke (districts). The boroughs are further divided into quarters (Ortsteile). These smaller localities are officially recognised, but have no administrative bodies of their own. Quarters and many of their subunits, the neighborhoods (Ortslagen), typically have strong identities that sometimes predate their inclusion into the modern boundaries of Berlin. Both the boroughs and the quarters function differently to other subdivisions in Germany due to Berlin's dual status as an independent city (kreisfreie Stadt) as well as a federated state of Germany (Land) in its own right.

Since 2001, Berlin has been made up of twelve boroughs, each with its own administrative body. However, because Berlin is a single municipality (Einheitsgemeinde), its boroughs have limited power, acting only as agencies of Berlin's state and city governments as laid out in the Greater Berlin Act of 1920. The boroughs are financially dependent on state donations, as they neither possess any taxation power nor own any property. This is in contrast to municipalities and counties in other German states, which are territorial corporations (Gebietskörperschaften) with autonomous functions and property.

Each borough is administered by an assembly of borough representatives (Bezirksverordnetenversammlung), directly elected by proportional representation, and a district office (Bezirksamt) led by a borough mayor (Bezirksbürgermeister), elected by the borough representatives. The district office is in charge of most administrative matters affecting its borough's residents, but its decisions can be revoked by the Berlin Senate. The borough mayors form a council of mayors (Rat der Bürgermeister), led by the city's governing mayor, and the council advises the Berlin Senate.