History of Germany |
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Germany is traditionally a country organized as a federal state. After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the German-speaking territories of the empire became allied in the German Confederation (1815–1866), a league of states with some federalistic elements. After the Austro-Prussian War, Prussia led the Northern states into a federal state called the North German Confederation (1867–1870). The Southern states joined the federal state in 1870/71, which was consequently renamed the German Empire (1871–1918). The state continued as the Weimar Republic (1919–1933).
Present-day Germany is a federal republic which combines the States of Germany.
States of the German Confederation
State | Capital | |
---|---|---|
Empires (Kaisertümer) | ||
Austria (Österreich) (only western Cisleithania) |
Vienna | |
Kingdoms (Königreiche) | ||
Bavaria (Bayern) | Munich | |
Hanover (Hannover) | Hanover | |
Prussia (Preußen) (excluding Posen, East Prussia and West Prussia) |
Berlin | |
Saxony (Sachsen) | Dresden | |
Württemberg | Stuttgart | |
Electorates (Kurfürstentum) | ||
Hesse-Kassel (Hessen-Kassel) | Kassel | |
Grand Duchies (Großherzogtümer) | ||
Baden | Karlsruhe | |
Hesse-Darmstadt (Hessen-Darmstadt) | Darmstadt | |
Luxembourg (Luxemburg) | Luxembourg | |
Mecklenburg-Schwerin | Schwerin | |
Mecklenburg-Strelitz | Neustrelitz | |
Oldenburg | Oldenburg | |
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach) | Weimar | |
Duchies (Herzogtümer) | ||
Anhalt – from 1863 | Dessau | |
Brunswick (Braunschweig) | Braunschweig | |
Holstein | Glückstadt | |
Limburg – from 1839 | N/A | |
Nassau | Wiesbaden | |
Saxe-Altenburg (Sachsen-Altenburg) – from 1826 | Altenburg | |
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha) – from 1826 | Coburg | |
Saxe-Lauenburg | Ratzeburg | |
Saxe-Meiningen (Sachsen-Meiningen) | Meiningen | |
Principalities (Fürstentümer) | ||
Hohenzollern-Hechingen – to Prussia in 1850 | Hechingen | |
Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen – to Prussia in 1850 | Sigmaringen | |
Liechtenstein | Vaduz | |
Lippe | Detmold | |
Reuss-Gera (Junior Line) | Gera | |
Reuss-Greiz (Elder Line) | Greiz | |
Schaumburg-Lippe | Bückeburg | |
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt | Rudolstadt | |
Schwarzburg-Sondershausen | Sondershausen | |
Waldeck and Pyrmont (Waldeck und Pyrmont) | Arolsen | |
Landgraviates (Landgrafschaft) | ||
Hesse-Homburg (Hessen-Homburg) – from 1817 | Bad Homburg | |
Free Cities (Freie Städte) | ||
Bremen | ||
Frankfurt | ||
Hamburg | ||
Lübeck | ||
States merged to form Anhalt | ||
Anhalt-Dessau – merged with Anhalt-Bernburg in 1863 | Dessau | |
Anhalt-Bernburg – merged with Anhalt-Dessau in 1863 | Bernburg | |
Anhalt-Köthen – merged with Anhalt-Dessau in 1853 | Köthen | |
States split between Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Saxe-Meiningen, and Saxe-Altenburg in 1826 | ||
Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg) | Gotha | |
Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld) | Coburg | |
Saxe-Hildburghausen (Sachsen-Hildburghausen) | Hildburghausen |
In 1864, Austria and Prussia together became the new sovereign of Holstein (a member of the confederation) and Schleswig (outside the confederation).
States of the North German Confederation
State | Capital | |
---|---|---|
Kingdoms (Königreiche) | ||
Prussia (Preußen) as a whole (including Lauenburg) |
Berlin | |
Saxony (Sachsen) | Dresden | |
Grand Duchies (Großherzogtümer) | ||
Hesse (Hessen) (Only Upper Hesse, the province north of the river Main) |
Giessen | |
Mecklenburg-Schwerin | Schwerin | |
Mecklenburg-Strelitz | Neustrelitz | |
Oldenburg | Oldenburg | |
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach) | Weimar | |
Duchies (Herzogtümer) | ||
Anhalt | Dessau | |
Brunswick (Braunschweig) | Braunschweig | |
Saxe-Altenburg (Sachsen-Altenburg) | Altenburg | |
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha) | Coburg | |
Saxe-Meiningen (Sachsen-Meiningen) | Meiningen | |
Principalities (Fürstentümer) | ||
Lippe | Detmold | |
Reuss-Gera (Junior Line) | Gera | |
Reuss-Greiz (Elder Line) | Greiz | |
Schaumburg-Lippe | Bückeburg | |
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt | Rudolstadt | |
Schwarzburg-Sondershausen | Sondershausen | |
Waldeck and Pyrmont (Waldeck und Pyrmont) | Arolsen | |
Free and Hanseatic Cities (Freie und Hansestädte) | ||
Bremen | ||
Hamburg | ||
Lübeck |
States of the German Empire
State | Capital | |
---|---|---|
Kingdoms (Königreiche) | ||
Prussia (Preußen) as a whole | Berlin | |
Bavaria (Bayern) | Munich | |
Saxony (Sachsen) | Dresden | |
Württemberg | Stuttgart | |
Grand Duchies (Großherzogtümer) | ||
Baden | Karlsruhe | |
Hesse (Hessen) | Darmstadt | |
Mecklenburg-Schwerin | Schwerin | |
Mecklenburg-Strelitz | Neustrelitz | |
Oldenburg | Oldenburg | |
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach) | Weimar | |
Duchies (Herzogtümer) | ||
Anhalt | Dessau | |
Brunswick (Braunschweig) | Braunschweig | |
Saxe-Altenburg (Sachsen-Altenburg) | Altenburg | |
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha) | Coburg | |
Saxe-Meiningen (Sachsen-Meiningen) | Meiningen | |
Principalities (Fürstentümer) | ||
Lippe | Detmold | |
Reuss-Gera (Junior Line) | Gera | |
Reuss-Greiz (Elder Line) | Greiz | |
Schaumburg-Lippe | Bückeburg | |
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt | Rudolstadt | |
Schwarzburg-Sondershausen | Sondershausen | |
Waldeck and Pyrmont (Waldeck und Pyrmont) | Arolsen | |
Free and Hanseatic Cities (Freie und Hansestädte) | ||
Bremen | ||
Hamburg | ||
Lübeck | ||
Imperial Territories (Reichsländer) | ||
Alsace–Lorraine (Elsass-Lothringen) | Straßburg |
States of the Weimar Republic
State | Capital | |
---|---|---|
Free States (Freistaaten) | ||
Anhalt | Dessau | |
Baden | Karlsruhe | |
Bavaria (Bayern) | Munich | |
Brunswick (Braunschweig) | Braunschweig | |
Coburg – to Bavaria in 1920 | Coburg | |
Hesse (Hessen) | Darmstadt | |
Lippe | Detmold | |
Mecklenburg-Schwerin | Schwerin | |
Mecklenburg-Strelitz | Neustrelitz | |
Oldenburg | Oldenburg | |
Prussia (Preußen) | Berlin | |
Saxony (Sachsen) | Dresden | |
Schaumburg-Lippe | Bückeburg | |
Thuringia (Thüringen) – from 1920 | Weimar | |
Waldeck-Pyrmont – to Prussia (Pyrmont joined Prussia in 1921, Waldeck followed in 1929) |
Arolsen | |
Württemberg | Stuttgart | |
Free and Hanseatic Cities (Freie und Hansestädte) | ||
Bremen | ||
Hamburg | ||
Lübeck | ||
States merged to form Thuringia in 1920 | ||
Gotha | Gotha | |
Reuss | Gera | |
Saxe-Altenburg (Sachsen-Altenburg) | Altenburg | |
Saxe-Meiningen (Sachsen-Meiningen) | Meiningen | |
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach) | Weimar | |
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt | Rudolstadt | |
Schwarzburg-Sondershausen | Sondershausen |
See also
- List of former sovereign states
- List of states in the Holy Roman Empire (962–1806)
- States of Germany, about the modern states