Collection of all 16 German State Flags
3x5 Feet With Brass Grommets
The Federal Republic of Germany ("West Germany") was created in 1949 through the unification of the three western zones previously under American, British, and French administration in the aftermath of World War II. Initially, the states of the Federal Republic were Baden (until 1952), Bavaria (Bayern), Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse (Hessen), Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen), Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz), Schleswig-Holstein, Württemberg-Baden (until 1952), and Württemberg-Hohenzollern (until 1952). West Berlin, while still under occupation by the Western Allies, viewed itself as part of the Federal Republic and was largely integrated and considered a de facto state. In 1952, following a referendum, Baden, Württemberg-Baden, and Württemberg-Hohenzollern merged into Baden-Württemberg. In 1957, the Saar Protectorate joined the Federal Republic as the state of Saarland.
The next major change occurred with German reunification in 1990, in which the territory of the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany) became part of the Federal Republic, by accession of the re-established eastern states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), Saxony (Sachsen), Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt), and Thuringia (Thüringen), and the reunification of West and East Berlin into a city state. A referendum in 1996 to merge Berlin with surrounding Brandenburg failed to reach the necessary majority vote in Brandenburg, while a majority of Berliners voted in favour.
German states
Deutsche Länder
The German use of the term Länder ("lands") dates back to the Weimar Constitution of 1919. Previously, the states of the German Empire had been called Staaten ("states"). Today, it is common to use the term Bundesland (federated Land).[citation needed] Officially, the term "Bundesland" appears in neither the 1919 constitution nor the current one. Three Länder call themselves Freistaaten ("free states", an older German term for "republic"): Bavaria (since 1919), Saxony (originally from 1919 and again since 1990), and Thuringia (since 1994). Of the 17 states at the end of the Weimar Republic, six still exist (though partly with different borders):
Bavaria (The geographically distinct Palatinate, which was part of Bavaria, 1816–1946, is now part of Rheinland Pfalz).
Bremen
Hamburg
Hesse
Saxony
Thuringia
The other 11 states of the Weimar Republic either merged into one another or were separated into smaller entities:
Anhalt is now part of the state of Saxony-Anhalt.
Baden is now part of Baden-Württemberg.
Braunschweig is now part of Lower Saxony.
Lippe is now part of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Lübeck is now part of Schleswig-Holstein.
Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz are now parts of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
Oldenburg is now part of Lower Saxony, with its former exclaves now belonging to their neighbouring states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Schleswig-Holstein.
Prussia was divided among the states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein. The erstwhile Prussian provinces of Brandenburg, Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Hanover formed the core of the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony, respectively. The Prussian provinces of Westphalia and Rhineland contributed most territory to the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, and Rhineland province contributed about half of the territory of the state of Rhineland Palatinate. Most of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau was merged with the existing state of Hesse.
Some territories bordering other states were annexed to the bordering state. Also, Prussia had exclaves that were surrounded by other states. These became part of their surrounding states. All states, except Bavaria, now have territory of the former Free State of Prussia. Other former Prussian territories lying east of the rivers Neisse and Oder were lost in 1945 and are now part of Poland or Russia. They are Silesia (Upper and Lower), Pomerania, West Prussia-Posen, and East Prussia respectively.
Schaumburg-Lippe is now part of Lower Saxony.
Württemberg is now part of Baden-Württemberg.
Possible boundary changes between states continue to be debated in Germany, in contrast to how there are "significant differences among the American states and regional governments in other federations without serious calls for territorial changes" in those other countries.[3] Arthur B. Gunlicks summarizes the main arguments for boundary reform in Germany: "the German system of dual federalism requires strong Länder that have the administrative and fiscal capacity to implement legislation and pay for it from own source revenues. Too many Länder also make coordination among them and with the federation more complicated."[4] But several proposals have failed so far; territorial reform remains a controversial topic in German politics and public perception.[5]
A state capital is called a Landeshauptstadt.
| State | State code | Since | Capital | Legislature | Head of state and government (Minister-President or Mayor) |
Bundesrat votes |
Area (km2) |
Pop. (2023-12-31)[6] |
Pop. per km2 |
HDI (2022)[7] |
GDP per capita (€; 2023)[8] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
BW | 1952[9] | Stuttgart | Landtag | Cem Özdemir (Greens) | 6 | 35,748 | 11,230,740 | 314.2 | 0.963 | 54,339 |
|
(Bayern) |
BY | 1949 |
Munich (München) |
Landtag | Markus Söder (CSU) | 6 | 70,541 | 13,176,426 | 186.8 | 0.958 | 57,343 |
|
|
BE | 1990[10] | – | Abgeordnetenhaus | Kai Wegner (CDU) | 4 | 891.1 | 3,662,381 | 4,110 | 0.967 | 51,209 |
|
|
BB | 1990 | Potsdam | Landtag | Dietmar Woidke (SPD) | 4 | 29,654 | 2,554,464 | 86.14 | 0.926 | 37,814 |
|
|
HB | 1949 | Bremen | Bürgerschaft | Andreas Bovenschulte (SPD) | 3 | 419.4 | 702,655 | 1,676 | 0.954 | 56,981 |
|
|
HH | 1949 | – | Bürgerschaft | Peter Tschentscher (SPD) | 3 | 755.1 | 1,851,596 | 2,452 | 0.975 | 79,167 |
|
(Hessen) |
HE | 1949 | Wiesbaden | Landtag | Boris Rhein (CDU) | 5 | 21,116 | 6,267,546 | 296.8 | 0.954 | 54,806 |
|
(Niedersachsen) |
NI | 1949 |
Hanover (Hannover) |
Landtag | Olaf Lies (SPD) | 6 | 47,710 | 8,008,135 | 167.9 | 0.936 | 44,531 |
|
(Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania) |
MV | 1990 | Schwerin | Landtag | Manuela Schwesig (SPD) | 3 | 23,295 | 1,578,041 | 67.74 | 0.922 | 36,335 |
|
(Nordrhein-Westfalen) |
NW | 1949 | Düsseldorf | Landtag | Hendrik Wüst (CDU) | 6 | 34,112 | 18,017,520 | 528.2 | 0.946 | 46,194 |
|
(Rheinland-Pfalz) |
RP | 1949 | Mainz | Landtag | Gordon Schnieder (CDU) | 4 | 19,858 | 4,125,163 | 207.7 | 0.938 | 41,797 |
|
|
SL | 1957[11] | Saarbrücken | Landtag | Anke Rehlinger (SPD) | 3 | 2,572 | 1,014,047 | 394.3 | 0.934 | 41,617 |
|
(Sachsen) |
SN | 1990 | Dresden | Landtag | Michael Kretschmer (CDU) | 4 | 18,450 | 4,054,689 | 219.8 | 0.944 | 38,143 |
|
(Sachsen-Anhalt) |
ST | 1990 | Magdeburg | Landtag | Sven Schulze (CDU) | 4 | 20,464 | 2,144,570 | 104.8 | 0.921 | 35,911 |
|
|
SH | 1949 | Kiel | Landtag | Daniel Günther (CDU) | 4 | 15,804 | 2,953,202 | 186.9 | 0.929 | 40,090 |
|
(Thüringen) |
TH | 1990 | Erfurt |
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