The Federal Element of the German Republic: Issues and Developments

The entity that today forms the Federal Republic of Germany has historically always been a federation. That is to say that present day Germany's federal structure is not a result of recent history. Rather, Germany has evolved over the centuries from a collection of smaller and larger dispersed monarchical entities into a nation of now 16 states ('Länder'), of which three are city states, and the other 13 are states comprising of many municipalities and the surrounding territory. Some of today's 16 'Länder' are, however, rather artificial constructs put together by the victorious powers after World War II. Other states incorporate historical entities, such as Bavaria, which has existed as a kingdom for many centuries, or the city-states ('Stadtstaaten'), such as Bremen and Hamburg, who owe their status as a 'Land' largely to history, when these cities belonged to the medieval trading block of the 'Hanse'.