JCK +1. Article 23, which had allowed "any other parts of Germany" to join, was rephrased. There was a binding provision for a new delimitation of the federal territory: the Federal Territory must be revised (paragraph 1). 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." While academics (Rutz and others) and politicians (Gobrecht) suggested introducing only two, three, or four states in East Germany, legislation reconstituted the five states that had existed until 1952, however, with slightly changed boundaries. Germany consists of 16 federal states, which you can see listed below. 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. Only four unincorporated areas are populated, with a total population of about 2,000. The parliament for Berlin is called the Abgeordnetenhaus (House of Representatives), while Bremen and Hamburg both have a Bürgerschaft. Level 80. Copied. Most of the states are governed by a cabinet led by a Ministerpräsident (minister-president), together with a unicameral legislative body known as the Landtag (State Diet). In 1952, following a referendum, Baden, Württemberg-Baden, and Württemberg-Hohenzollern merged into Baden-Württemberg. However, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the rejection was unlawful: the population of Baden had the right to a new referendum because the one of 1951 had taken place under different rules from the ones provided for by article 29. Its provisions are reflected in Article 29. First, they administer programs authorized by the federal or state government. The creation of the Federal Republic of Germany (“West Germany”) in 1949 was through the unification of the 3 western zones which were previously under American, British, and French administration in the aftermath of World War II. The parliaments in the remaining 13 states are referred to as Landtag (State Parliament). As the premiers did not come to an agreement on this question, the Parliamentary Council was supposed to address this issue. After the Congress of Vienna (1815), 39 states formed the German Confederation. Former German territory that lie east of the Oder-Neisse line fell under either Polish or Soviet administration but attempts were made at least symbolically not to abandon sovereignty well into the 1960s. Please click on the state or state capital in the map to get detailed information. The number of territories was greatly reduced during the Napoleonic Wars (1796–1814). A regional referendum in 1996, to merge Berlin with surrounding Brandenburg as "Berlin-Brandenburg", failed to reach the necessary majority vote in Brandenburg, while a majority of Berliners had voted in favour. Such programs typically relate to youth, schools, public health, and social assistance. 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). Germany is a federal, parliamentary, representative democratic republic. Before this time, the states of the German Empire were called Staaten (states). The municipalities have two major policy responsibilities. The modern German states were built after World War II during the allied occupation. The Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) has 16 states (German: Bundesländer, singular: … However, the unincorporated areas are continually being incorporated into neighboring municipalities, wholly or partially, most frequently in Bavaria. Further requests for petitions (Lübeck, Geesthacht, Lindau, Achberg, and 62 Hessian communities) had already been rejected as inadmissible by the Federal Minister of the Interior or were withdrawn as in the case of Lindau. 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", the de facto upper house of the German Federal Parliament) 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]. Paragraph 4 stated that the vote should be disregarded if it contradicted the objectives of paragraph 1. Three changes are of particular note: on January 1, 1934, Mecklenburg-Schwerin was united with the neighbouring Mecklenburg-Strelitz; and, by the Greater Hamburg Act (Groß-Hamburg-Gesetz) of 1937, the area of the city-state was extended, while Lübeck lost its independence and became part of the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein. The states’ head governs independently in all issues but those affecting the nation as a whole. Public interest was limited or nonexistent. The states with hyphenated names, such as Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt, owed their existence to the occupation powers and were created out of mergers of former Prussian provinces and smaller states. Federal States of Germany Germany's 16 states: Berlin . 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). During the Allied occupation of Germany after World War II, internal borders were redrawn by the Allied military governments. 23 for the Federal Republic of Germany. Too many Länder also make coordination among them and with the federation more complicated". Buy the selected items together. [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. West Berlin was under the sovereignty of the Western Allies and neither a Western German state nor part of one. Except speak standard German,“ they say in Baden-Württemberg. History of the German flag Pictures of the 16 German states flags. 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. Quiz by JCK. The rejection of the plan by the Saarlanders was interpreted as support for the Saar to join the Federal Republic of Germany.[13]. The minister-president appoints a cabinet to run the state's agencies and to carry out the executive duties of the state's government. 13,124,737. The states are parliamentary republics and the relationship between their 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. 12,397,614. In particular, the outcome of the 1951 referendum did not reflect the wishes of the majority of Baden's population. 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 this federal nation. It is the states which formed the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. Article 29 reflects a debate on territorial reform in Germany that is much older than the Basic Law. 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 A8). In 1952, these states were abolished and the East was divided into 14 administrative districts called Bezirke. It provides "conventional names" (English names) for some of the states to go alongside the German names. The Landkreise have primary administrative functions in specific areas, such as highways, hospitals, and public utilities. In the Paris Agreements of 23 October 1954, France offered to establish an independent "Saarland", under the auspices of the Western European Union (WEU), but on 23 October 1955 in the Saar Statute referendum the Saar electorate rejected this plan by 67.7% to 32.3% (out of a 96.5% turnout: 423,434 against, 201,975 for) despite the public support of Federal German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer for the plan. 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). 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. 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 German use of the term Länder (‘lands’) dates back to the Weimar Constitution of 1919. www.baden-wuerttemberg.de In 1957, the Saar Protectorate rejoined the Federal Republic as the state of Saarland. Black 16 German States Shields German Beer Stein .75L ONE Mug Made in Germany Amazon.com Price: $ 99.98 (as of 04/12/2020 15:29 PST- Details ) Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. The threshold for a successful vote was set at one-quarter of those entitled to vote in Bundestag elections. Price: $2.99: New (7) from $2.99 + $4.99 Shipping. Europe 15:22, 16-Nov-2020 Merkel, German states consider tougher COVID-19 measures. The Holy Roman Empire comprised many petty states, numbering more than 300 around 1796. Germany: States (Bundesländer) - Map Quiz Game: At over 82 million, Germany has the largest population in the European Union. These states were gradually de facto 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. Here is a list of states in Germany: Four of the five southern German states (Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt) entered military alliances with Prussia but Austria did not. In the other states there are the following subdivisions: The most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia is uniquely divided into two area associations (Landschaftsverbände), one for the Rhineland, and one for Westphalia-Lippe. At the same time the commission developed criteria for classifying the terms of Article 29 Paragraph 1. Majority of these German states came into recognition after the Second World War while their roots can be traced to the early middle ages. Only the special arrangement for the southwest under Article 118 could enter into force. A new delimitation of the federal territory keeps being 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. Capitals of the 16 german states. The constitution of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern at §75 states the right of Mecklenburg and Vorpommern to form Landschaftsverbände, although these two constituent parts of the state are not represented in the current administrative division. In fact, until 1933 there were only four changes in the configuration of the German states: The 7 Thuringian states were merged in 1920, whereby Coburg opted for Bavaria, Pyrmont joined Prussia in 1922, and Waldeck did so in 1929. The somewhat complicated provisions regulate that "revisions of the existing division into Länder shall be effected by a federal law, which must be confirmed by referendum". 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. On 24 August 1976, the binding provision for a new delimitation of the federal territory was altered into a mere discretionary one. Article 118a was introduced into the Basic Law and provided the possibility for Berlin and Brandenburg to merge "without regard to the provisions of Article 29, by agreement between the two Länder with the participation of their inhabitants who are entitled to vote". 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). Municipalities (Gemeinden): Every rural district and every Amt is subdivided into municipalities, while every urban district is a municipality in its own right. Germany is instead divided into 16 states or ... German States: Tourist Popularity. 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