The

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

consisted of 25 constituent states and an Imperial Territory, the largest of which was Prussia. These states, or ''Staaten'' (or ''Bundesstaaten'', i.e. federal states, a name derived from the previous North German Confederation; they became known as ''Länder'' during the Weimar Republic) each had votes in the Bundesrat, which gave them

representation Representation may refer to: Law and politics *Representation (politics), political activities undertaken by elected representatives, as well as other theories ** Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a ...

at a federal level. Several of these states had gained sovereignty following the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. Others were created as sovereign states after the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Territories were not necessarily contiguous, such as Bavaria, or Oldenburg—many existed in several parts ( enclaves and exclaves), as a result of historical acquisitions, or, in several cases, divisions of the ruling family trees.

Kingdoms

* Kingdom of Bavaria * Kingdom of Prussia (itself subdivided into provinces; including the Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg ruled in personal union until annexed 1 July 1876) * Kingdom of Saxony * Kingdom of Württemberg

Grand Duchies

Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden (german: Großherzogtum Baden) was a state in the southwest German Empire on the east bank of the Rhine. It existed between 1806 and 1918. It came into existence in the 12th century as the Margraviate of Baden and subs ...

Grand Duchy of Hesse The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (german: link=no, Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein) was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Grand Duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 ...

* Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin *

Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz The Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a territory in Northern Germany, held by the younger line of the House of Mecklenburg residing in Neustrelitz. Like the neighbouring Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, it was a sovereign member state ...

* Grand Duchy of Oldenburg *

Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (german: Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach) was a historical German state, created as a duchy in 1809 by the merger of the Ernestine duchies of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach, which had been in personal union since 1741. It was raised ...

(officially the Grand Duchy of Saxony from 1903)

Duchies

* Duchy of Anhalt * Duchy of Brunswick * Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg *

Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha), or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, links=no ), was an Ernestine, Thuringian duchy ruled by a branch of the House of Wettin, consisting of territories in the present-d ...

* Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg (till 1876) * Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen

Principalities

* Principality of Lippe-Detmold * Principality of Reuss-Gera (Junior Line) * Principality of Reuss-Greiz (Senior Line) * Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe * Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt * Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen *

Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont The County of Waldeck (later the Principality of Waldeck and Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire and its successors from the late 12th century until 1929. In 1349 the county gained Imperial immediacy and in 1 ...

Free and Hanseatic Cities

Different from the above-mentioned monarchies these city-states were constitutionally organised as

republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

s. * Free Hanseatic City of Bremen * Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg *

Free and Hanseatic City of Lübeck Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything * Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism * Emancipate, to procure ...

Imperial Territory