I am working with both the postal and Geonames data for Germany. I noticed that while the Postal data may be used as a lookup for ADMIN_CODES 1-3 (ADM1,ADM2,ADM3), it does not mention ADM4 at all.
Does anyone know where to find the lookup table for 'admin4_code' values?
According to http://forum.geonames.org/gforum/posts/list/538.page, this admin code references a 'Gemeinde', an admin field I would like to include in my work, if possible.
The German dataset I'm working with: http://download.geonames.org/export/dump/DE.zip
The German dataset I'm using as a lookup table for ADMIN CODES: http://download.geonames.org/export/zip/DE.zip
Both zipped folders contain a 'readme.txt' file that outlines the fieldnames in the data.
I am also tracking this question on the Geonames forum: http://forum.geonames.org/gforum/posts/list/2623.page
Best Answer
I've found what I needed. The postal code file for Germany may be used to construct a lookup table for ADM1, ADM2 and ADM3 administrative areas, but not ADM4.
However, upon closer inspection, a lookup table may be constructed for ALL FOUR ADM areas from the German Geonames dataset (http://download.geonames.org/export/dump/DE.zip).
Having imported the file 'DE.txt' into a database, the following query gives me the records of interest:
Somehow, I missed the top section in "GeoNames Feature Codes", which details that FEATURE_CLASS='A' for admin areas.
Thanks to marc, from the Geonames forum, who helped me resolve this issue!