States of Germany
German states | |
---|---|
Category | Federated state |
Location | Germany |
Number | 16 |
Areas | 419.4 km2 (161.92 sq mi) (Bremen) – 70,549.4 km2 (27,239.29 sq mi) (Bavaria) |
Government | |
Subdivisions |
This article is part of a series on the |
Politics of Germany |
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The
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 (in German: 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 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.
Federalism is one of the entrenched constitutional principles of Germany. According to the German constitution, some topics, such as foreign affairs and defence, are the exclusive responsibility of the federation (i.e., the federal level), while others fall under the shared authority of the states and the federation. The states retain residual or exclusive legislative authority for all other areas, including culture, which in Germany includes not only topics such as the financial promotion of arts and sciences, but also most forms of education and job training (see Education in Germany). Though international relations including international treaties are primarily the responsibility of the federal level, the constituent states have certain limited powers in this area: in matters that affect them directly, the states defend their interests at the federal level through the Bundesrat ("Federal Council"), and in areas where they have the legislative authority they have limited powers to conclude international treaties "with the consent of the federal government".[3]
States
It was the states that formed the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. This was in contrast to the post-war development in Austria, where the national Bund ("federation") was constituted first, and then the individual states were carved out as units of that federal nation.
The German use of the term Länder ("lands") dates back to the
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
.- 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.[4] 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."[5] But several proposals have failed so far; territorial reform remains a controversial topic in German politics and public perception.[6]
List
State | State code | Since | Capital | Legislature | Head of state and government (Minister-President or Mayor) |
Bundesrat votes |
Area (km2) |
Pop. (2023-07-01)[7] |
Pop. per km2 | HDI (2021)[8] |
GDP per capita (€; 2020)[9] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Baden-Württemberg | BW | 1952[10] | Stuttgart | Landtag | Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) | 6 | 35,752 | 11,148,904 | 310 | 0.956 | 45,108 |
Bavaria (Bayern) |
BY | 1949 | Munich (München) |
Landtag | Markus Söder (CSU) | 6 | 70,552 | 13,203,592 | 185 | 0.950 | 46,498 |
Berlin | BE | 1990[11] | – | Abgeordnetenhaus | Kai Wegner (CDU) | 4 | 892 | 3,689,708 | 4,086 | 0.959 | 42,221 |
Brandenburg | BB | 1990 | Potsdam | Landtag | Dietmar Woidke (SPD) | 4 | 29,480 | 2,546,685 | 85 | 0.918 | 29,282 |
Bremen | HB | 1949 | Bremen | Bürgerschaft | Andreas Bovenschulte (SPD) | 3 | 419 | 663,567 | 1,630 | 0.954 | 46,468 |
Hamburg | HH | 1949 | – | Bürgerschaft | Peter Tschentscher (SPD) | 3 | 755 | 1,904,212 | 2,439 | 0.972 | 64,022 |
Hesse (Hessen) |
HE | 1949 | Wiesbaden | Landtag | Boris Rhein (CDU) | 5 | 21,115 | 6,313,614 | 297 | 0.950 | 44,750 |
Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) |
NI | 1949 | Hanover (Hannover) |
Landtag | Stephan Weil (SPD) | 6 | 47,609 | 8,045,829 | 168 | 0.930 | 37,005 |
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | MV | 1990 | Schwerin | Landtag | Manuela Schwesig (SPD) | 3 | 23,180 | 1,605,259 | 69 | 0.916 | 28,590 |
North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen) |
NW | 1949 | Düsseldorf | Landtag | Hendrik Wüst (CDU) | 6 | 34,085 | 17,944,923 | 526 | 0.939 | 38,876 |
Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz) |
RP | 1949 | Mainz | Landtag | Malu Dreyer (SPD) | 4 | 19,853 | 4,126,872 | 206 | 0.929 | 34,673 |
Saarland | SL | 1957[12] | Saarbrücken | Landtag | Anke Rehlinger (SPD) | 3 | 2,569 | 1,005,796 | 386 | 0.931 | 34,125 |
Saxony (Sachsen) |
SN | 1990 | Dresden | Landtag | Michael Kretschmer (CDU) | 4 | 18,416 | 4,036,369 | 221 | 0.933 | 30,903 |
Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt) |
ST | 1990 | Magdeburg | Landtag | Reiner Haseloff (CDU) | 4 | 20,446 | 2,155,742 | 108 | 0.911 | 28,652 |
Schleswig-Holstein | SH | 1949 | Kiel | Landtag | Daniel Günther (CDU) | 4 | 15,799 | 2,936,486 | 183 | 0.921 | 33,452 |
Thuringia (Thüringen) |
TH | 1990 | Erfurt | Landtag | Bodo Ramelow (The Left) | 4 | 16,172 | 2,099,527 | 133 | 0.923 | 28,953 |
History
Federalism has a long tradition in German history. The Holy Roman Empire comprised many petty states, numbering more than 300 in around 1796. The number of territories was greatly reduced during the Napoleonic Wars (1796–1814). After the Congress of Vienna (1815), 39 states formed the German Confederation. The Confederation was dissolved after the Austro-Prussian War in which Prussia defeated Austria and forced Austria to remove itself from the affairs of the German states.
Territorial boundaries were essentially redrawn as a result of military conflicts and interventions from the outside: from the
After the territorial losses of the
After the Nazi Party seized power in January 1933, the Länder were gradually abolished and reduced to provinces under the Nazi regime via the Gleichschaltung process, as the states administratively were largely superseded by the Nazi Gau system. Three changes are of particular note: on 1 January 1934, Mecklenburg-Schwerin was united with neighbouring Mecklenburg-Strelitz; and, by the Greater Hamburg Act (Groß-Hamburg-Gesetz) of 1937, the territory of the city-state was extended, while Lübeck lost its independence and became part of the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein.
West Germany, 1945–1990
During the
Former German territory that lay east of the
In 1948, the military governors of the three Western Allies handed over the so-called Frankfurt Documents to the minister-presidents in the Western occupation zones. Among other things, they recommended revising the boundaries of the West German states in a way that none of them should be too large or too small in comparison with the others.
As the premiers did not come to an agreement on this question, the Parliamentary Council was supposed to address this issue. Its provisions are reflected in Article 29 of the Basic Law. There was a binding provision for a new delimitation of the federal territory: the Federal Territory must be revised (paragraph 1). Moreover, in territories or parts of territories whose affiliation with a Land had changed after 8 May 1945 without a referendum, people were allowed to petition for a revision of the current status within a year after the promulgation of the Basic Law (paragraph 2). If at least one tenth of those entitled to vote in Bundestag elections were in favour of a revision, the federal government had to include the proposal into its legislation. Then a referendum was required in each territory or part of a territory whose affiliation was to be changed (paragraph 3). The proposal should not take effect if within any of the affected territories a majority rejected the change. In this case, the bill had to be introduced again and after passing had to be confirmed by referendum in the Federal Republic as a whole (paragraph 4). The reorganization should be completed within three years after the Basic Law had come into force (paragraph 6). Article 29 states that "the division of the federal territory into Länder may be revised to ensure that each Land be of a size and capacity to perform its functions effectively".
In their letter to Konrad Adenauer, the three western military governors approved the Basic Law but suspended Article 29 until such time as a peace treaty should be concluded. Only the special arrangement for the southwest under Article 118 could enter into force.
Upon its founding in 1949, West Germany thus had eleven states. These were reduced to nine in 1952 when three south-western states (South Baden, Württemberg-Hohenzollern, and Württemberg-Baden) merged to form Baden-Württemberg. From 1957, when the French-occupied Saar Protectorate was returned and formed into the Saarland, the Federal Republic consisted of ten states, which are referred to as the "Old States" today. West Berlin was under the sovereignty of the Western Allies and neither a Western German state nor part of one. However, it was in many ways integrated with West Germany under a special status.
A new delimitation of the federal territory has been discussed since the Federal Republic was founded in 1949 and even before. Committees and expert commissions advocated a reduction of the number of states; academics (Werner Rutz, Meinhard Miegel, Adrian Ottnad, etc.) and politicians (Walter Döring, Hans Apel, and others) made proposals – some of them far-reaching – for redrawing boundaries but hardly anything came of these public discussions. Territorial reform is sometimes propagated by the richer states as a means to avoid or reduce fiscal transfers.
Establishment of Baden-Württemberg
In southwestern Germany, territorial revision seemed to be a top priority since the border between the French and American occupation zones was set along the Autobahn Karlsruhe-Stuttgart-Ulm (today the
Petitions to reconstitute former states
With the Paris Agreements in 1954, West Germany regained (limited) sovereignty. This triggered the start of the one-year period as set in paragraph 2 of Article 29. As a consequence, eight petitions for referendums were launched, six of which were successful:
- Reconstitution of the Free State of Oldenburg 12.9%
- Reconstitution of the Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe 15.3%
- Integration of Koblenz and Trier into North Rhine-Westphalia 14.2%
- Reintegration of Rheinhessen into Hesse25.3%
- Reintegration of Montabaurinto Hesse 20.2%
- Reconstitution of Baden 15.1%
The last petition was originally rejected by the Federal Minister of the Interior by reference to the referendum of 1951. However, the
The two
Saar: the little reunification
In the
On 27 October 1956, the Saar Treaty established that Saarland should be allowed to join Germany, as provided by the German constitution. Saarland became part of Germany effective 1 January 1957. The Franco-Saarlander currency union ended on 6 July 1959, when the Deutsche Mark was introduced as legal tender in the Saarland.
Constitutional amendments
Paragraph 6 of Article 29 stated that, if a petition was successful, a referendum should be held within three years. Since the deadline passed on 5 May 1958 without anything happening, the Hesse state government filed a constitutional complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court in October 1958. The complaint was dismissed in July 1961 on the grounds that Article 29 had made the new delimitation of the federal territory an exclusively federal matter. At the same time, the Court reaffirmed the requirement for a territorial revision as a binding order to the relevant constitutional bodies.
The grand coalition decided to settle the 1956 petitions by setting binding deadlines for the required referendums. The referendums in Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate were to be held by 31 March 1975, and the referendum in Baden was to be held by 30 June 1970. The threshold for a successful vote was set at one-quarter of those entitled to vote in Bundestag elections. Paragraph 4 stated that the vote should be disregarded if it contradicted the objectives of paragraph 1.
In his investiture address, given on 28 October 1969 in Bonn, Chancellor Willy Brandt proposed that the government would consider Article 29 of the Basic Law as a binding order. An expert commission was established, named after its chairman, the former Secretary of State Professor Werner Ernst. After two years of work, the experts delivered their report in 1973. It provided an alternative proposal for the two regions: the north and center-southwest.
In the north, either a single new state consisting of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Bremen and Lower Saxony should be created (solution A) or two new states, one in the northeast consisting of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg and the northern part of Lower Saxony (from Cuxhaven to Lüchow-Dannenberg) and one in the northwest consisting of Bremen and the rest of Lower Saxony (solution B).
In the center and southwest, one alternative was that Rhineland-Palatinate (with the exception of the Germersheim district but including the Rhine-Neckar region) should be merged with Hesse and the Saarland (solution C), the district of Germersheim would then become part of Baden-Württemberg. The other alternative was that the Palatinate (including the region of Worms) could be merged with the Saarland and Baden-Württemberg, and the rest of Rhineland-Palatinate would then merge with Hesse (solution D).
Both alternatives could be combined (AC, BC, AD, BD).
At the same time, the commission developed criteria for classifying the terms of Article 29 Paragraph 1. The capacity to perform functions effectively was considered most important, whereas regional, historical, and cultural ties were considered as hardly verifiable. To fulfill administrative duties adequately, a population of at least five million per state was considered as necessary.
After a relatively brief discussion and mostly negative responses from the affected states, the proposals were shelved. Public interest was limited or nonexistent.
The referendum in Baden was held on 7 June 1970. 81.9% of voters decided for Baden to remain part of Baden-Württemberg, only 18.1% opted for the reconstitution of the old state of Baden.
The referendums in Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate were held on 19 January 1975 (the percentages given are the percentages of those eligible who voted in favour):
- reconstitution of the Free State of Oldenburg 31%
- reconstitution of the Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe 39.5%
- integration of Koblenz and Trier into North Rhine-Westphalia 13%
- reintegration of Rheinhessen into Hesse 7.1%
- reintegration of Montabaur region into Hesse 14.3%
The votes in Lower Saxony were successful as both proposals were supported by more than 25% of eligible voters. The Bundestag, however, decided that both Oldenburg and Schaumburg-Lippe should remain part of Lower Saxony. The justification was that a reconstitution of the two former states would contradict the objectives of paragraph 1 of article 29 of the constitution. An appeal against the decision was rejected as inadmissible by the Federal Constitutional Court.
On 24 August 1976, the binding provision for a new delimitation of the federal territory was altered into a mere discretionary one. Paragraph 1 of Article 29 was rephrased, with the provision that any state had to be "of a size and capacity to perform its functions effectively" put first.[15] The option for a referendum in the Federal Republic as a whole (paragraph 4) was abolished, which meant territorial revision was no longer possible against the will of the population affected by it.
Reunited Germany, 1990–present
The debate on territorial revision restarted shortly before German reunification. While academics (Rutz and others) and politicians (Gobrecht) suggested introducing only two, three, or four states in East Germany, legislation reconstituted the East German states in an arrangement similar to that which they had had before 1952, as the five "New States" on 3 October 1990. The former district of East Berlin joined West Berlin to form the new state of Berlin. Henceforth, the 10 "old states" plus 5 "new states" plus the new state Berlin add up to current 16 states of Germany.
After reunification, the constitution was amended to state that the citizens of the 16 states had successfully achieved the unity of Germany in free self-determination and that the
The German states can conclude treaties with foreign countries in matters within their own sphere of competence and with the consent of the federal government (Article 32 of the Basic Law). Typical treaties relate to cultural relationships and economic affairs.
Some states call themselves a "
Politics
This article is part of a series on the |
Politics of Germany |
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Germany is a federal, parliamentary, representative democratic republic. The German political system operates under a framework laid out in the 1949 constitutional document known as the Grundgesetz (Basic Law). By calling the document the Grundgesetz, rather than Verfassung (constitution), the authors expressed the intention that it would be replaced by a true constitution once Germany was reunited as one state.
Amendments to the Grundgesetz generally require a two-thirds majority of both chambers of the parliament; the fundamental principles of the constitution, as expressed in the articles guaranteeing human dignity, the separation of powers, the federal structure, and the rule of law are valid in perpetuity. Despite the original intention, the Grundgesetz remained in effect after the German reunification in 1990, with only minor amendments.
Government
The federal constitution stipulates that the structure of each Federated State's government must "conform to the principles of republican, democratic, and social government, based on the rule of law" (Article 28). Most of the states are governed by a
The governments in
Subdivisions
The
Area associations (Landschaftsverbände)
The most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia is uniquely divided into two area associations (
The constitution of
Governmental districts (Regierungsbezirke)
The large states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, and North Rhine-Westphalia are divided into governmental districts, or Regierungsbezirke.
In Rhineland-Palatinate, these districts were abolished on 1 January 2000, in Saxony-Anhalt on 1 January 2004, and in Lower Saxony on 1 January 2005. From 1990 until 2012, Saxony was divided into three districts (called Direktionsbezirke since 2008). In 2012, these districts' authorities were merged into one central authority, the Landesdirektion Sachsen .
Administrative districts (Kreise)
The Districts of Germany (Kreise) are administrative districts, and every state except the city-states of Berlin and Hamburg and the state of Bremen consists of "rural districts" (Landkreise), District-free Towns/Cities (Kreisfreie Städte, in Baden-Württemberg also called "urban districts", or Stadtkreise), cities that are districts in their own right, or local associations of a special kind (Kommunalverbände besonderer Art), see below. The state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen consists of two urban districts, while Berlin and Hamburg are states and urban districts at the same time.
As of 2011, there are 295 Landkreise and 107 Kreisfreie Städte, making 402 districts altogether. Each consists of an elected council and an executive, which is chosen either by the council or by the people, depending on the state, the duties of which are comparable to those of a
Local associations of a special kind are an amalgamation of one or more Landkreise with one or more Kreisfreie Städte to form a replacement of the aforementioned administrative entities at the district level. They are intended to implement simplification of administration at that level. Typically, a district-free city or town and its urban hinterland are grouped into such an association, or Kommunalverband besonderer Art. Such an organization requires the issuing of special laws by the governing state, since they are not covered by the normal administrative structure of the respective states.
In 2010 only three Kommunalverbände besonderer Art exist.
- District of Hanover: formed in 2001 from the rural district of Hanover and the district-free city of Hanover.
- Regionalverband (district association) of Saarbrücken: formed in 2008 from the Stadtverband Saarbrücken (city association of Saarbrücken), which was formed in 1974.
- City region of Aachen: formed in 2009 from the rural district of Aachen and the district-free city of Aachen.
Offices (Ämter)
Municipalities (Gemeinden)
The number of inhabitants of German municipalities differs greatly, the most populous municipality being
The municipalities are ruled by elected councils and by an executive, the mayor, who is chosen either by the council or directly by the people, depending on the state. The "constitution" for the municipalities is created by the states and is uniform throughout a state (except for Bremen, which allows Bremerhaven to have its own constitution).
The municipalities have two major policy responsibilities. First, they administer programs authorized by the federal or state government. Such programs typically relate to youth, schools, public health, and social assistance. Second, Article 28(2) of the Basic Law guarantees the municipalities "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
Local authorities foster cultural activities by supporting local artists, building
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 1 January 2005, there were 246 such areas, with a total area of 4167.66 km2 or 1.2% of the total area of Germany. Only four unincorporated areas are populated, with a total population of around 2,000. The table below provides an overview.
State | 2022-01-01 | 2005-01-01 | 2000-01-01 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | Number | Area (km2) | Number | Area (km2) | |
Bavaria | 173 | 216 | 2,725.06 | 262 | 2,992.78 |
Lower Saxony | 25 | 23 | 949.16 | 25 | 1,394.10 |
Hesse | 4 | 4 | 327.05 | 4 | 327.05 |
Schleswig-Holstein | 2 | 2 | 99.41 | 2 | 99.41 |
Baden-Württemberg | 2 | 1 | 66.98 | 2 | 76.99 |
Total | 206 | 246 | 4,167.66 | 295 | 4,890.33 |
In 2000, the number of unincorporated areas was 295, with a total area of 4,890.33 square kilometres (1,888.17 sq mi). However, the unincorporated areas are continually being incorporated into neighboring municipalities, wholly or partially, most frequently in Bavaria.
See also
- Cantons of Switzerland
- Composition of the German state parliaments
- Elections in Germany
- German Bundesländer €2 coins
- Landespolizei – German state police
- List of administrative divisions by country
- List of cities and towns in Germany
- List of German states by area
- List of German states by exports
- List of German states by fertility rate
- List of German states by GRP
- List of German states by household income
- List of German states by Human Development Index
- List of German states by life expectancy
- List of German states by population
- List of German states by population density
- List of German states by poverty rate
- List of German states by unemployment rate
- List of states in the Holy Roman Empire – the German states prior to 1815
- States of Austria
Notes
References
- Deutscher Bundestag Public Relations Division. Archived(PDF) from the original on 19 June 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
- ^ House of Commons of the United Kingdom (28 February 1991). "House of Commons debates (Welsh affairs)". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
- ^ Leonardy, Uwe (1998). "Länder Power-Sharing in International Relations and European Affairs". The institutional structures of German federalism. Working papers / Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, London Office (electronic ed.). Friedrich Ebert Foundation. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
- ^ Gunlicks, Arthur B. "German Federalism and Recent Reform Efforts" Archived 2011-06-21 at the Wayback Machine, German Law Journal, Vol. 06, No. 10, p. 1287.
- ^ Gunlicks, p. 1288
- ^ Gunlicks, pp. 1287–88
- ^ "Germany: States and Major Cities". City Population. 3 October 2020. Archived from the original on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
- ^ "Sub-national HDI - Subnational HDI - Global Data Lab". globaldatalab.org. Archived from the original on 15 September 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
- ^ "Bruttoinlandsprodukt je Einwohner nach Bundesländern 2020". de.statista.com. Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
- ^ The states of Baden, Württemberg-Baden, and Württemberg-Hohenzollern were constituent states of the federation when it was formed in 1949. They united to form Baden-Württemberg in 1952.
- ^ Berlin has only officially been a Bundesland since reunification, even though West Berlin was largely treated as a state of West Germany.
- ^ Though it was originally founded in 1920 after World War I.
- ISBN 9780880331746. Archivedfrom the original on 11 January 2024. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
- ^ "Results of the referendum on the Saar Statute (23 October 1955)". Saarländische Volkszeitung. Saarbrücken. 24 October 1955. p. 10. Archived from the original on 19 March 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
- ^ "Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany" (PDF). www.btg-bestellservice.de. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 June 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2010.