States of Germany States of Germany Germany is a federal republic consisting of sixteen states (, plural ; informally and very commonly , plural ). Since today's Germany was formed from an earlier collection of several states, it has a federal constitution, and the constituent states retain a measure of sovereignty. With an emphasis on geographical conditions, Berlin and Hamburg are frequently called ' (city-states), as is the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, which in fact includes the cities of and . The remaining 13 states are called ' (literally: "area states"). The creation of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949 was
Concordats with individual states of Germany Concordats with individual states of Germany Concordats between the Holy See and individual German states were concluded both before and after the unification of Germany in the 1870s. Early examples include: In addition to the Reichskonkordat at the federal level, there are concordats between the Holy See and thirteen German states (Länder). This is because the individual states of the German federation have competencies in legislation with respect to education, culture and, to some extent, finance. In 1929 Prussia and the Holy See signed the Prussian Concordat (), which remains still valid for formerly Prussian territory within some of its