Reichsländer (Groß-Deutschland)

Germany (Deutschland) is a Federal Republic consisting of thirty-seven states, known in German as Länder (singular Land). Since Land is the literal German word for "country", the term Bundesländer (federal states; singular Bundesland) is commonly used colloquially, as it is more specific, though technically incorrect within the corpus of German law.

The citizens of the states form the nation of Germany, and have the right of abode within the states. The area covered by the 37 states is completely and solely the territory of Germany. The governments of the states form part of the government of Germany.

The cities of Lübeck and Hamburg are states in their own right, while the State of Bremen consists of two cities, Bremen and Bremerhaven. These three are termed Stadtstaaten (city states). The remaining 34 states are termed Flächenländer (area states).

States
After the end of the First World War, the states reordered themselves, with Sudeten German land being incorporated into the surrounding German states from Bohemia and Moravia. The settled the feeling that Germans were not being represented well within Bohemia, and also gave the Czech-speaking Germans their own distinct Land within the German Reich. Following the Second World War, Germany incorporated Belfort and the remainder of Lorraine from France, and additional territory from Poland, which was used to form New East Prussia and transform Posen to South Prussia. By 1949, the states of Germany were re-organized by the Kaiser, into a more federal arrangement, into a Bund or Federal Empire of Germany. The Kaiser or Kaiserin still acts as an executive, but his power has gradually been reduced to the comparable executive powers of the American President.

The use of the term Länder (countries) comes from the Berlin constitution of 1919, before they were called Staaten (states). The addition of Bundes- (federal) is very common but not the correct term in the constitution of 1919 or the Basic Law of 1949 (which is Reichsländer). Three Länder actually call themselves Freistaat (free state, republic), Bavaria (since 1919), Saxony (since 1990) and Thuringia (1994).

Many of the current states have the same names with territory substantially the same as their namesakes, the former sovereign countries (for example Bavaria and Saxony which have along with Bremen nearly the same territory as in 1871).

Overview


The 16 states, by reference to the numbers on the map above, are:
 * 1)  Baden-Württemberg
 * 2)  Bavaria (Bayern)
 * 3)  Berlin
 * 4)  Brandenburg
 * 5)  Bremen
 * 6)  Hamburg
 * 7)  Hesse (Hessen)
 * 8)  Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
 * 9)  Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen)
 * 10)  North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen)
 * 11)  Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz)
 * 12)  Saarland
 * 13)  Saxony (Sachsen)
 * 14)  Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt)
 * 15)  Schleswig-Holstein
 * 16)  Thuringia (Thüringen)

The description free state (Freistaat) is merely a historic synonym for republic—a description used by most German states after the abolishment of monarchy. Today, Freistaat is associated emotionally with a more independent status, especially in Bavaria. However, it has no legal meaning. All sixteen states are represented at the federal level in the Bundesrat (Federal Council), where their voting power merely depends on the size of their population.