A Kreisstraße (literally: "district road" 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 district
Bavaria
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 Kreisstraßen
Brandenburg
state-based numbering system, always four digits (e.g. K 6307, K 6813 and K 7329), the first two digits indicate the district
Bremen
no Kreisstraßen
Hamburg
no Kreisstraßen
Hesse
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 system
North Rhine-Westphalia
district-based numbering system (e.g. K 8, K 27 and K 70), the numbering system is retained when roads cross the boundaries
Rhineland-Palatinate
district-based numbering system (e.g. K 12, K 29 and K 58)
Saarland
no Kreisstraßen
Saxony
state-based numbering system, always four digits (e.g. K 6201, K 8053 and K 9204), the first two digits indicate the district
Saxony-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)
Forschungsgesellschaft für Straßen- und Verkehrswesen (2000), Begriffsbestimmungen, Teil: Verkehrsplanung, Straßenentwurf und Straßenbetrieb (in German), Köln: FGSV Verlag, p. 29
