Germany is a
Federal Republic made up of 16
States, known in
German as '''Länder''' (singular '''Land'''). Since ''Land'' is the 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 cities of
Berlin and
Hamburg are states in their own right, termed ''Stadtstaaten'' (
city states), while
Bremen consists of two
urban districts. The remaining 13 states are termed ''Flächenländer'' (area states).
States
After the end of the
Second World War, the ''Länder'' in the western part of the former
Deutsches Reich were constituted as administrative areas first and subsequently federated into the ''Bund'' or Federal Republic of Germany. This is in contrast to post-war development in
Austria, where the ''Bund'' was constituted first, and then the individual states were created as units of a federal system. In
Austria, the
states are also referred to as ''Länder'' in the
constitution.
The use of the term ''Länder'' (countries) instead of ''
Staaten'' (states) is in accordance with German political tradition, where the concept of Germany as an entity has always existed, either as a confederation or an alliance of several smaller independent kingdoms and duchies dating from the 9th century. Many of the current Länder have the same names and generally occupy the same areas as their namesakes, the former sovereign countries (for example Bavaria and Saxony).
Overview
| Coat of arms | Land | Joined
the federation | Head of government | Government-
coalition | Votes in
Bundesrat | Area (km²) | Inhabitants;(Mio)
| Inhabitants;per;km² | Capital |
|---|
| | Baden-Württemberg | 1949[1] | Günther Oettinger (CDU) | CDU/FDP | 6 | 35,752 | 10,739 | 300 | Stuttgart |
| | Bayern | 1949 | Edmund Stoiber (CSU) | CSU | 6 | 70,552 | 12,488 | 177 | Munich |
| | Berlin | 1990[2] | Klaus Wowereit (SPD) | SPD/Linke | 4 | 892 | 3,395 | 3,807 | – |
| | Brandenburg | 1990 | Matthias Platzeck (SPD) | SPD/CDU | 4 | 29,479 | 2,559 | 87 | Potsdam |
| | Bremen | 1949 | Jens Böhrnsen (SPD) | SPD/Grüne | 3 | 404 | 0,663 | 1,641 | – |
| | Hamburg | 1949 | Ole von Beust (CDU) | CDU | 3 | 755 | 1,774 | 2,309 | – |
| | Hessen | 1949 | Roland Koch (CDU) | CDU | 5 | 21,115 | 6,075 | 289 | Wiesbaden |
| | Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | 1990 | Harald Ringstorff (SPD) | SPD/CDU | 3 | 23,180 | 1,707 | 74 | Schwerin |
| | Niedersachsen | 1949 | Christian Wulff (CDU) | CDU/FDP | 6 | 47,624 | 7,997 | 168 | Hannover |
| | Nordrhein-Westfalen | 1949 | Jürgen Rüttgers (CDU) | CDU/FDP | 6 | 34,085 | 18,029 | 530 | Düsseldorf |
| | Rheinland-Pfalz | 1949 | Kurt Beck (SPD) | SPD | 4 | 19,853 | 4,053 | 204 | Mainz |
| | Saarland | 1957 | Peter Müller (CDU) | CDU | 3 | 2,569 | 1,050 | 409 | Saarbrücken |
| | Sachsen | 1990 | Georg Milbradt (CDU) | CDU/SPD | 4 | 18,416 | 4,250 | 232 | Dresden |
| | Sachsen-Anhalt | 1990 | Wolfgang Böhmer (CDU) | CDU/SPD | 4 | 20,446 | 2,470 | 121 | Magdeburg |
| | Schleswig-Holstein | 1949 | Peter Harry Carstensen (CDU) | CDU/SPD | 4 | 15,799 | 2,833 | 179 | Kiel |
| | Thüringen | 1990 | Dieter Althaus (CDU) | CDU | 4 | 16,172 | 2,335 | 144 | Erfurt |
| | 'Bundesrepublik Deutschland' | - | Angela Merkel (CDU) | CDU/CSU/SPD | 'none' | '357,093' | '82,438' | 231 | Berlin |
History
During the initial occupation of Germany after World War II, the territory in each Occupation Zone was re-organized into new ''Länder'' to prevent any one ''Land'' from ever dominating Germany (as Prussia had done). Initially, only 7 of the pre-War ''Länder'' survived: Bavaria, Bremen, Hamburg, Baden, Saarland, Saxony, and Thuringia. The rest were amalgamations of Prussian provinces and smaller ''Länder''. For example, the Prussian Province of Saxony and the ''Land'' of Anhalt were merged to create Saxony-Anhalt.
Initially, in 1949,
West Germany had eleven states, which were reduced to nine in 1952 as three south-western states (
Baden,
Württemberg-Hohenzollern and
Württemberg-Baden) merged to form
Baden-Württemberg. Since 1957, when the French-occupied
Saarland was allowed to join (the "small reunification"), the Federal Republic consisted of ten states. West Berlin was in many ways integrated with West Germany, but due to its special status
de jure under the sovereignty of the Western Allies, did not officially constitute a ''Land'' or part of one.
In
East Germany, originally five ''Länder'' (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony) existed, until 1952, when the GDR divided them into 14 administrative districts (''Bezirke''). Soviet-controlled East Berlin, despite officially having the same status as West Berlin, was declared capital of the GDR, as a (15th) district.
Just prior to the
German reunification on
3 October1990, 14 of the East German districts (not including East Berlin) reconstituted themselves, mainly along the old borders, into the five
New Länder. The former district of
East Berlin joined West Berlin to form the new ''Land'' of Berlin. Thus the 10 old states plus 5 new states plus Berlin add up to 16.
Later, the
Grundgesetz was changed to state that the citizens of the 16 states had successfully achieved unity in freedom, and that the basic law now covers all German people. Article 23, which had allowed "other parts of Germany" to join, was abolished as its continued inclusion might have been regarded as an invitation for other German-speaking states and areas to join (e.g. Austria, South Tyrol, Liechtenstein, the Swiss cantons, Alsace, Luxembourg, and Eastern Belgium).
Unlike other federations, the German States retain the right to act on their own behalf at an international level. They retain the status of subjects of international law, independently from their status as members of a federation. This unique status is enshrined in Articles 23, 24, and 32 of the Basic Law.
.svg.png)
the 16 Bundesländer (States) of Germany
The 16 ''Länder'', by reference to the numbers on the map above, are:
#
'
Baden-Württemberg'
#
'
Free State of Bavaria' (''Freistaat Bayern'')
#
'
Berlin'
#
'
Brandenburg'
#
'
Free Hanseatic City of Bremen' (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen'')
#
'
Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg' (''Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg'')
#
'
Hesse' (''Hessen'')
#
'
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania' (''Mecklenburg-Vorpommern'')
#
'
Lower Saxony' (''Niedersachsen'')
#
'
North Rhine-Westphalia' (''Nordrhein-Westfalen'')
#
'
Rhineland-Palatinate' (''Rheinland-Pfalz'')
#
'
Saarland'
#
'
Free State of Saxony' (''Freistaat Sachsen'')
#
'
Saxony-Anhalt' (''Sachsen-Anhalt'')
#
'
Schleswig-Holstein'
#
'
Free State of Thuringia' (''Freistaat Thüringen'')
The description ''
free state'' (''Freistaat'') is merely used for historical reasons. Legally a ''Freistaat'' is no different from the other states. The usual official name is ''Land of [...]''. Each ''Land'' is represented at the federal level in the ''
Bundesrat'' ("Federal Council").
Structure of government
The
Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany, the
federal constitution, stipulates that the structure of each Federal State's government must "conform to the principles of republican, democratic, and social government, based on the rule of law" (Article 28[1]).
Most of the ''Länder'' are governed by a
cabinet led by a ''
Ministerpräsident'' (Minister-President), together with a
unicameral legislative body known as the ''
Landtag'' (State
Diet). The relationship between the legislative and executive branches mirrors that of the federal system: the legislatures are popularly elected for four or five years (depending on the state), and the Minister-President is then chosen by a
majority vote among the ''Landtag''
's members. The Minister-President appoints a cabinet to run the ''Land''
's agencies and to carry out the executive duties of the ''Land's government.
The governments in
Berlin,
Bremen and
Hamburg are designated by the term
Senate. In the three
free states of
Bavaria,
Saxony and
Thuringia the government is referred to as the ''State Government'' ''(Staatsregierung)'', and in the other ten ''Länder'' the term ''Land Government'' ''(Landesregierung)'' is used.
Before
January 1 2000, Bavaria had a bicameral parliament, with a popularly elected
''Landtag'', and an appointed
Senate made up of representatives of the state's major social and economic groups. The Senate was abolished following a
referendum in 1998.
The ''Länder'' of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg are governed slightly differently from the other states. In each of these cities, the executive branch consists of a Senate of approximately eight selected by the ''Land's parliament; the senators carry out duties equivalent to those of the ministers in the larger ''Länder''. The equivalent of the Minister-President is the ''Senatspräsident'' (President of the Senate) in Bremen, the ''Erster Bürgermeister'' (First Mayor) in Hamburg, and the ''Regierender Bürgermeister'' (Governing Mayor) in Berlin. The parliament for Berlin is called the ''Abgeordnetenhaus'' (House of Representatives), while Bremen and Hamburg both have a ''Bürgerschaft''. The parliaments in the remaining 13 ''Länder'' are referred to as ''Landtag'' (State Parliament).
Politics
Politics at the state level often carries implications for federal politics. Opposition victories in elections for State Parliaments, which take place throughout the federal government's four-year term, can weaken the federal government, because state governments have assigned seats in the "
Bundesrat" (the upper chamber of the federal parliament), which must also approve many laws after passage by the "
Bundestag" (the lower chamber of the federal parliament). State elections are viewed as a barometer of support for the policies of the federal government. If the parties of the governing coalition lose support in successive ''Land'' elections, those results may foreshadow political difficulties for the federal government. In the early 1990s, the opposition
SPD commanded a two-thirds majority in the ''Bundesrat'', making it particularly difficult for the governing
CDU/
CSU-
FDP coalition to achieve the constitutional changes it sought; by 2003 the situation was the reverse, with an SPD-led government being severely hindered by a large CDU majority in the ''Bundesrat''. This led to
Konrad Adenauer and
Gerhard Schröder losing the
federal chancellorship in 1963 and 2005 respectively because their governments became unable to decisively act, thus losing popular support, all because of the efforts of the various state leaders in the Bundesrat in blocking legislation.
The powers of the state governments and legislatures in their own territories have been much diminished in recent decades due to ever-increasing federal legislation. A commission has been formed to examine the possibility of instituting a clearer separation of federal and state powers. The states, in particular, are responsible for cultural development, law enforcement and the educational system in its entirety (both primary and secondary schools, and the universities as well).
Further subdivisions
The
city-states of Berlin and Hamburg are subdivided into
boroughs. The state of Bremen consists of two
urban districts,
Bremen and
Bremerhaven, which are not contiguous. In the other ''Länder'' there are the following subdivisions:
Landschaftsverbände
Landschaftsverbände ("area associations"): The most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia is uniquely divided into two Landschaftsverbände, one for the
Rhineland, one for
Westphalia-
Lippe. This was meant to ease the friction caused by uniting the two culturally quite different regions into a single Land after
World War II. The Landschaftsverbände retain very little power today.
Regierungsbezirke
Regierungsbezirke ("governmental districts"): The large states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony are divided into administrative regions, or ''Regierungsbezirke''.
In Rhineland-Palatinate, the ''Regierungsbezirke'' were dissolved on
January 1 2000, in Saxony-Anhalt on
January 1 2004 and in Lower Saxony on
January 1 2005.
Kreise
Kreise (administrative districts): Every state (except the city states
Berlin,
Hamburg and
Bremen) consists of
rural districts, ''Landkreise'', and
urban districts, ''Stadtkreise'' (also: ''Kreisfreie Städte''), cities which are districts in their own right. The state of
Bremen consists of two urban districts, while Berlin and Hamburg are states and urban districts at the same time.
There are 313 ''Landkreise'' and 116 ''Kreisfreie Städte'', making 439 districts all together. Each consists of an elected council and an executive, who is chosen by either the council or the people, depending on the ''Bundesland'', and whose duties are comparable to those of a county executive in the
United States, supervising local government administration. The ''Landkreise'' have primary administrative functions in specific areas, such as highways, hospitals, and public utilities.
Ämter
Ämter ("offices"): In some states there is an administrative unit between districts and municipalities. These units are called ''Ämter'' (singular ''Amt''), ''Amtsgemeinden'', ''Landgemeinden'', ''Verbandsgemeinden'', ''Verwaltungsgemeinschaften'' or ''Kirchspiellandgemeinden''.
Gemeinden
Gemeinden ("municipalities"): Every rural district and every Amt is subdivided into municipalities, while every urban district is a municipality in its own right. There are (as of
1 March 2006) 12,320 municipalities, which are the smallest administrative units in Germany. Cities are municipalities as well, which have city rights (''
Stadtrecht''). Nowadays, this is mostly just the right to be called a city. However, in older times it included many privileges, such as the right to impose its own taxes or to allow industry only within city limits.
''Gemeinden'' are ruled by elected councils and an executive, the mayor, who is chosen by either the council or the people, depending on the ''Bundesland''. The "constitution" for the ''Gemeinden'' is created by the Länder and is uniform throughout a ''Bundesland'' (except for Bremen, which allows Bremerhaven to have its own constitution).
''Gemeinden'' have two major policy responsibilities. First, they administer programs authorized by the federal or ''Land'' government. Such programs typically might relate to youth, schools, public health, and social assistance. Second, Article 28(2) of the Basic Law guarantees ''Gemeinden'' "the right to regulate on their own responsibility all the affairs of the local community within the limits set by law." Under this broad statement of competence, local governments can justify a wide range of activities. For instance, many municipalities develop and expand the economic infrastructure of their communities through the development of industrial parks.
Local authorities foster cultural activities by supporting local artists, building arts' centres, and by having fairs. Local government also provides public utilities, such as gas and electricity, as well as public transportation. The majority of the funding for municipalities is provided by higher levels of government rather than from taxes raised and collected directly by themselves.
In five of the German states, there are
unincorporated areas, in many cases unpopulated forest and mountain areas, but also four Bavarian lakes, that are not part of any municipality. As of January 1, 2005, there were 246 such areas, most of them in
Bavaria, with a total area of 4167.66 km², or 1.2 percent of the total area of Germany. The following table gives an overview.
The table shows that in 2000 the number of unincorporated areas was still 295, with a total area of 4890.33 km². Unincorporated areas are continually being incorporated into neighboring municipalities, wholly or partially, most frequently in Bavaria.
Only four unincorporated areas are populated, with an aggregate population of about 2000.
See also
★
List of cities in Germany
★
List of subnational entities
★ For a list of
German states prior to 1815 see
List of states in the Holy Roman Empire
★
New Länder
★ State Police ''
Landespolizei''
External links
★
CityMayors feature on Germany subdivisions
References
1. 1949 traten die damaligen Länder Baden, Württemberg-Baden und Württemberg-Hohenzollern dem Bund bei, die 1952 zum heutigen Bundesland Baden-Württemberg vereinigt wurden.
2. Berlin ist erst seit der Wiedervereinigung ein vollwertiges Bundesland, auch wenn ''Berlin (West)'' während der Teilung weitgehend als solches behandelt wurde. Siehe auch Berlin-Frage.
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