List of historic states of Germany
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| History of Germany |
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Germany is traditionally a country organized as a federal state. The dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 and the Napoleonic Wars led to an interregnum of federalized control. But after Congress of Vienna in 1815, the German-speaking territories of the former Holy Roman Empire became allied in the German Confederation (1815–1866), a league of states with a shared army and some federal elements to regulate issues that affected multiple states.[1]: 219 After the Austro-Prussian War, the Northern states joined into a federal state called the North German Confederation (1867–1870), led by Prussia.[1]: 256 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
[edit]
| 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). After the Austro-Prussian War, Austria was forced to relinquish Schleswig and Holstein to Prussian control.[1]: 255
States of the North German Confederation
[edit]
| 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
[edit]-en.png)
| 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
[edit]
| State | Capital | |
|---|---|---|
| Free States (Freistaaten) | ||
|
Anhalt | Dessau |
.svg){kind=small}
|
Baden | Karlsruhe |
.svg){kind=small}
|
Bavaria (Bayern) | Munich |
|
Brunswick (Braunschweig) | Braunschweig |
.svg){kind=small}
|
Coburg – to Bavaria in 1920 | Coburg |
|
Hesse (Hessen) | Darmstadt |
|
Lippe | Detmold |
|
Mecklenburg-Schwerin | Schwerin |
|
|
Mecklenburg-Strelitz | Neustrelitz |
|
Oldenburg | Oldenburg |
.svg){kind=small}
|
Prussia (Preußen) | Berlin |
|
Saxony (Sachsen) | Dresden |
|
Schaumburg-Lippe | Bückeburg |
|
Thuringia (Thüringen) – from 1920 | Weimar |
.svg){kind=small}
|
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 |
.svg){kind=small}
|
Saxe-Altenburg (Sachsen-Altenburg) | Altenburg |
|
|
Saxe-Meiningen (Sachsen-Meiningen) | Meiningen |
.svg){kind=small}
|
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach) | Weimar |
|
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt | Rudolstadt |
|
|
Schwarzburg-Sondershausen | Sondershausen |
See also
[edit]- List of former sovereign states
- List of states in the Holy Roman Empire (962–1806)
- States of Germany, about the modern states
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Sime, James (1884). History of Germany. Henry Holt & Company. Retrieved 5 June 2025.