States of Germany
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 ("states of the federation"; singular
Bundesland) is commonly used as it is more specific. Three cities (
Berlin,
Hamburg and
Bremen) are states in their own right. The remaining 13 states are termed
Flächenländer ("area states").
The term "Bundesland" might seem to imply a subordination of the German
Länder to the federal
Bund, but this does not reflect the autonomy of the
Länder in international relations. The correct term, which is also used by the
Grundgesetz, is therefore
Länder.
This differentiation is important, because 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 then federated into the
Bund or Federal Republic of Germany. This was in contrast to the post-war development in
Austria, where the
Bund was constituted first, and then the states as units of a federal system followed. In
Austria, the
states are also referred to as
Länder in the
constitution.
Each
Land is represented at the federal level in the
Bundesrat ("Federal Council").
|
The 16 Bundesländer (States) of Germany |
The 16
Länder, by reference to the numbers on the map to the right, 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.
Before
reunification in 1990,
West Germany consisted of ten states and
West Berlin while in
1952 East Germany reorganized its territory into 15 administrative districts. Just prior to reunification on
3 October1990, 14 of these districts were reconstituted into the five
Länder (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony) that existed until 1952. The former district of
East Berlin was combined with
West Berlin to form the new
Land of Berlin.
The
Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany, the country's
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 called
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 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 act and thus unpopular owing to state leaders in the Bundesrat blocking legislation.
The powers of the state governments and legislatures in their own territories have been much diminished in recent decades with an ever-increasing amount of federal legislation. A commission has been formed to examine the possibility of instituting a clearer separation of federal and state powers. The states are in particular responsible for education, culture and law enforcement.
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 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 323
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 districts constitutes a municipality at the same time; 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 to impose their own taxes or to allow industry inside cities only.
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 the economic infrastructure of their communities through the development of industrial parks.
Local authorities foster cultural activities by supporting local artists, building arts centers, and/or having fairs. Local government also provides basic public utilities, such as gas and electricity, as well as public transportation. Most of these functions are affected by the apparent underfunding of local governments; the fact that they receive most of their money from the upper levels of government (instead of from taxes raised and collected by themselves) appears to be a large factor.
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.
*
List of cities in Germany includes a table of
cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants (
Großstädte) and a general listing of cities, other municipalities, and villages.
*
List of subnational entities*
List of capitals of subnational entities* For a list of
German states prior to
1815 see
List of states in the Holy Roman Empire
