Bundesländer

Germany is made up of 16 federal states, or Bundesländer. The layout of the states of Germany was rearranged after World War II, but the individual states have maintained their cultural identities. The main important fields of politics, the governments of the federal states control and finance, are education and police.

List of German States and their Capitals (parenthesised)

Note: Where the german word differs from the english one it is found after a /.

• Baden-Württemberg (Stuttgart)
• Bavaria / Bayern (Munich / München)
• Brandenburg (Potsdam)
• Hesse / Hessen (Wiesbaden)
• Lower Saxony / Niedersachsen (Hanover / Hannover)
• Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania / Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Schwerin)
• North Rhineland-Westphalia / Nordrhein-Westfalen (Düsseldorf)
• Rhineland-Palatinate / Rheinland-Pfalz (Mainz)
• Saarland (Saarbrücken)
• Saxony / Sachsen (Dresden)
• Saxony-Anhalt / Sachsen-Anhalt (Magdeburg)
• Schleswig-Holstein (Kiel)
• Thuringia / Thüringen (Erfurt)

Additionally, three cities are considered to be their own state.

• Berlin
• Bremen
• Hamburg