The 16 Federal States of Germany (Bundesländer)

Germany is a federal republic made up of 16 states, called Bundesländer in German (singular: Bundesland). Each state has its own constitution, parliament, police force and — significantly for visitors — its own school calendar and public holidays, which is why Bavarian roads are gridlocked in weeks when Hamburg is at work.

The table below lists every federal state covered by Everything About Germany with its capital, population and land area.

A Bundesland is not equivalent to a French région or an English county. Under Germany's Basic Law, each Bundesland holds sovereign authority in its own right and delegates specific powers upward to the federal government, rather than receiving powers from it.

In practice this means each state runs its own education system, cultural policy, policing and broadcasting. It is the reason school holidays are staggered across the country, why shop opening hours on a Sunday differ between Berlin and Bavaria, and why the Abitur school-leaving exam is not identical from one state to the next.

Each state is also represented in the Bundesrat, the federal council in Berlin, where state governments vote directly on national legislation that affects them.

Three of the sixteen federal states are cities holding full state powers in their own right rather than territories containing many municipalities: Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen. Each is simultaneously a city and a state, a survival of the medieval Free Imperial Cities and the Hanseatic League.

Berlin and Hamburg are each a single city. Bremen is the exception — the state of Bremen is made up of two separate, non-adjacent cities, Bremen itself and the North Sea port of Bremerhaven some 60 kilometres away. Hamburg and Bremen both retain "Free Hanseatic City" in their formal names, which is why their vehicle registration plates begin HH and HB.

Germans still routinely distinguish the alte Bundesländer (old states) from the neue Bundesländer (new states). The eleven old states made up West Germany before reunification. The five new states — Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia — were re-established in 1990 from the territory of the former East Germany, alongside the reunification of Berlin.

The distinction still shapes what a visitor sees. The new states hold some of Germany's most completely preserved historic centres, because East German scarcity meant far less post-war demolition and rebuilding. Dresden, Leipzig, Weimar, Erfurt, Quedlinburg and Görlitz all sit in this group.

Baden-Württemberg is a separate case again: the state was formed in 1952 when three post-war states voted to merge, making it the only German state created by referendum.

• Alps and lakes — Bavaria. Bavaria holds Neuschwanstein, the Zugspitze, Berchtesgaden and the Bavarian Alps, plus Oktoberfest in Munich.
• Wine and spa towns — Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg, covering the Mosel and Rhine valleys, the Black Forest and Baden-Baden.
• Beaches and islands — Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein, for the Baltic coast, Rügen, Sylt and the Wadden Sea.
• Fairytale routes and half-timbered towns — Hesse and Lower Saxony, along the German Fairy Tale Route through Grimm country.
• Baroque cities and classical music — Saxony and Thuringia, for Dresden, Leipzig, Weimar and Eisenach.
• Industrial heritage and museums — North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state, covering the Ruhr, Cologne and Düsseldorf.