This paper aims to examine the background, process, and characteristics of the territorial reform of local governments in West Germany (the Federal Republic of Germany) in the 1960s and 70s. During this period the territorial structure and function of municipality (Gemeinde), county (Kreis) and county-free town (Kreisfreie Stadt) as local governments were fundamentally reformed. The territorial reform of local governments paid special attention to merge the small-sized municipalities and to create the joint authorities in order to build the system of central localities. There had been criticism on the uniform boundary delimitation, confusion of regional identity, erosion of local autonomy and emphasis on the regional planning. But the territorial reform of the period has contributed to improve the performance of public administration and to strengthen the service delivery and planning capacity.