List of historic states of Germany

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

A map 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

References