  In this paper we present the first results of deep star counts carried out
within the Calar Alto Deep Imaging Survey, CADIS (Meisenheimer 1998). Although
CADIS was designed as an extragalactic survey, it also attempts to identify the
stars in the fields in order to avoid confusion with quasars and compact
galaxies. We have identified a sample of about 300 faint stars 15.5< R < 23),
which are well suited to study the structure of the Galaxy. The stars lie in
two fields, hereafter 16h and 9h field, respectively. The stars have been
separated from galaxies by a classification scheme based on photometric spectra
and morphological criteria. Distances were derived by photometric parallaxes.
We are able to find stars up to distances of approximately 25 kpc above the
Galactic plane. The vertical density distribution of the stars shows the
contribution of the thin disk, the stellar halo and the ``thick disk'' of the
Galaxy. We give quantitative descriptions of the components in terms of
exponential disks and a de Vaucouleurs spheroid. For the disk stars we derive
the luminosity function. It is equal within the errors to the local luminosity
function and continues to rise out to at least M_V = 13. Implications for the
mass function are briefly discussed.
