A Kreisstraße (, or 'county road') is a class of road in Germany. It carries traffic between the towns and villages within a Kreis or district or between two neighbouring districts. In importance, the Kreisstraße ranks below a Landesstraße (or, in Bavaria and Saxony, a Staatstraße, i.e. a state road), but above a Gemeindestraße or "local road". Kreisstraßen are usually the responsibility of the respective rural district (Landkreis) or urban district (Kreisfreie Stadt), with the exception of high streets through larger towns and villages. Kreisstraßen are usually dual-lane roads but, in a few cases, can be built as limited-access dual carriageways in densely populated areas.
Numbering Unlike local roads (Gemeindestraßen) the Kreisstraßen are invariably numbered, but their numbering is not shown on signs. The abbreviation is a prefixed capital letter K followed by a serial number. In most states the car number plate prefix for the district is placed in front of the road number instead, for example in Bavaria. The Kreisstraßen are numbered in the individual federal states as follows:
State System Baden-Württemberg state-based numbering system, always four digits (e.g. K 1419, K 2842 and K 4366), the first two digits indicate the districtBavaria district-based numbering system (e.g. NU 1 to NU 19 in the district of Neu-Ulm, NES 1 to NES 54 in the district of Rhön-Grabfeld)Berlin no KreisstraßenBrandenburg state-based numbering system, always four digits (e.g. K 6307, K 6813 and K 7329), the first two digits indicate the districtBremen no KreisstraßenHamburg no KreisstraßenHesse state-based numbering system (e.g. K 11, K 138 and K 180)Lower Saxony district-based numbering system (e.g. K 6, K 71 and K 304)Mecklenburg-Vorpommern district-based numbering systemNorth Rhine-Westphalia district-based numbering system (e.g. K 8, K 27 and K 70), the numbering system is retained when roads cross the boundariesRhineland-Palatinate district-based numbering system (e.g. K 12, K 29 and K 58)Saarland no KreisstraßenSaxony state-based numbering system, always four digits (e.g. K 6201, K 8053 and K 9204), the first two digits indicate the districtSaxony-Anhalt state-based numbering system, always four digits (e.g. K 1002, K 1227 and K 2074)Schleswig-Holstein district-based numbering system (e.g. K 1, K 10)Thuringia district-based numbering (e.g. K 9, K 19 and K 112)
See also Autobahn Bundesstraße Landesstraße Gemeindestraße
Sources
External links Road designation of federal, state and district roads in Bavaria (pdf file; 641 kB) List of Kreisstraßen in theSchleswig-Holstein district of Steinburg