States of the Weimar Republic

The states of the Weimar Republic were the main parts that made up the country during a special time in history. They started in 1918–1920 after the German Empire lost World War I and had to give up some land. These states were based on the 22 states and three city-states that existed before.

During the big changes of 1918–1919, the states stopped having kings and queens and started using new rules for how they would be run. One big change happened when several smaller states came together to form Thuringia.

The rules of the Weimar Republic, called the Weimar Constitution, made the country a group of states that shared power. Some powers belonged only to the national government, some were shared, and some belonged just to the states.

Historical background

German Empire

See also: Federalism in Germany, Kleinstaaterei, and Territorial evolution of Germany § Treaty of Versailles

The German Empire (1871–1918) was a group of regions ruled together. It had 25 areas like kingdoms and cities, led by the Kingdom of Prussia.

After World War I, Germany lost some land because of the Treaty of Versailles. Some people in these areas spoke languages like Polish or French.

The Saar Basin was managed by the United Kingdom and France from 1920 to 1935. After a vote in 1935, it joined Germany again.

The city of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) became a special city-state in 1920, protected by other countries but not part of Germany or Poland.

The rulers of Germany’s areas were removed in 1918–1919, and the new rules did not allow royalty. Most areas stayed until the Weimar Republic began, except for Alsace–Lorraine, which joined France.

Weimar Constitution

Early attempts at geographic reforms

After World War I, the government asked a legal expert to make a new constitution. Because Prussia was very big and had most of Germany’s land and people, the expert suggested splitting Germany into 14 smaller states that were all the same size. This idea was not chosen. Two other ideas were also not chosen: getting rid of the states completely, and changing how state representatives were picked.

Federal-state relationships

The Weimar Constitution kept the existing states but let new ones join Germany. Each state had to have a government chosen by its people. States could make their own laws in areas not controlled by the national government, like defense and foreign affairs.

Reichsrat

The Reichsrat was the part of Germany’s parliament that represented the states. Its members were chosen by the state governments. The number of representatives each state had depended on its population, with no state having more than 40% of the total.

Federal use of force against a state

The president of Germany could use the military against a state that did not follow the country’s laws. This happened a few times, such as in 1920 and 1923, when the government stepped in to keep order.

Boundary changes under the Weimar Constitution

Four changes happened to state borders after the Weimar Constitution started on 14 August 1919:

• The Free State of Thuringia was created on 1 May 1920 from several smaller states: Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Saxe-Gotha, Saxe-Meiningen, Saxe-Altenburg, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, and Reuss. Erfurt, now the capital of Thuringia, stayed part of the Free State of Prussia.
• Saxe-Coburg became part of the Free State of Bavaria on 1 May 1920.
• Pyrmont, which used to be part of the Principality of Waldeck-Pyrmont, joined Prussia on 1 April 1922.
• Waldeck followed Pyrmont and became part of Prussia on 1 April 1929.

The Weimar Republic also had three votes to change state borders, but none succeeded:

• Upper Silesia tried to leave Prussia after being split between Germany and Poland following a vote in 1921, but the effort failed on 3 September 1922.
• Hanover tried to leave Prussia and become independent on 18 May 1924, but not enough people voted yes.
• Schaumburg-Lippe voted to join Prussia on 6 June 1926, but they did not get enough votes to make it happen.

Hamburg tried several times in the 1920s to grow by taking nearby areas from Prussia, but it wasn’t until 1937, under the Nazi regime, that Hamburg grew to include the nearby urban areas.

Unrecognized states

During the early years of the Weimar Republic, some people tried to make new governments based on a soviet-style model. These included the People's State of Bavaria, the Bremen Soviet Republic, the Bavarian Soviet Republic, and the Würzburg Soviet Republic.

In the Rhine Province of Prussia, some people wanted to be separate from Germany. During the Occupation of the Ruhr, they created two short-lived republics with support from France. These were the Rhenish Republic and the Palatinate Republic.

There was also the Free State of Bottleneck, a small area shaped like a bottle neck. It existed during the Occupation of the Rhineland near Koblenz and Mainz.

List of states

States under Nazi Germany

After World War I, Germany had many different states. But when the Nazi Party took control in 1933, they changed everything. The Nazis made strong rules to control all the states directly, taking away their old ways of working. Even though the old states still had some names, the real power was now with the Nazi Party and their special areas called Gaue.

After World War II ended, the Allies helped reorganize Germany into the states we know today.