I have a hard time with these also-it seems as though meanings change
over time or they use them interchangeably?
I have ancestors born in Borstel, church at Hagen, Kingdom of Hannover.
My Hagen is the tiny village east of Nienburg in Niedersachsen.
I am betting your ancestor was born in a village somewhere near, but not
neccesarily in, the large city of Hagen west of Nienburg, simply because
my Hagen is too small to be an Amt or at least I think so?
For example:
USA, Midwest, Iowa, Bremer, Douglas, Section #, Siegel, Lutheran,
Missouri.
Country, region, state, county, township, plot of land numbered within
the township, village/parish, church, synod.
Now, Siegel no longer exists officially, but if you say Siegel church
they know what you refer to?
It seems like there are words to describe how the ground is divided, how
the people are divided, how the political structures are divided, and
then historical divisions that may still be used but are no longer
accurate within the language?
In my dictionary:
Amt=section or office
Amtsgericht=district court
amtlich=official
village=dorf
town/city=stadt
community=gemeinschaft
parrish=gemeinde
township=stadtgemeinde
county=grafschaft or verwaltungsbezirk
district=bezirk or kreis
chief town of a district=kreisstadt
countryside=landschaft
country=land or staat
http://www.archive.nrw.de/archive/script/infserv/texte/haupt.asp?Nr=252&Tnr=1134
p.s. 
anyone know where "going bezerk" comes from?