Federal States, the Federal Council and Municipalities

Three levels: Federation, states, municipalities

The state has a three-tier structure. At the very top is the Federation. Below it are the 16 states. At the very bottom are the municipalities, that is, the towns and villages. You will also hear the terms Bund, Länder and Kommunen. “Kommunen” is another word for municipalities.

Federalism means that tasks and power are spread across several levels. No single level decides everything alone, not even the Federal Government (Bundesregierung). Each level has its own tasks and its own authorities.

The 16 states

The 16 states are listed in the preamble to the Basic Law (Grundgesetz). They are:

• Baden-Württemberg
• Bavaria (Bayern)
• Berlin
• Brandenburg
• Bremen
• Hamburg
• Hesse (Hessen)
• Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)
• Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen)
• North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen)
• Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz)
• Saarland
• Saxony (Sachsen)
• Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt)
• Schleswig-Holstein
• Thuringia (Thüringen)

Alsace-Lorraine was formerly part of the German Empire. Today it belongs to France.

State governments (Landesregierung) and city-states

Every state has its own government. It consists of the Minister-President (Ministerpräsident) and the ministers. The head of government of most states is called Minister-President. In the city-states, different official titles apply, for example mayor.

The city-states of Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen are both city and state at once. There too, the parliament is elected in a state election. The members of parliament represent the citizens of their state. In Berlin the parliament is called the House of Representatives (Abgeordnetenhaus). In Hamburg and Bremen it is called the City Parliament (Bürgerschaft).

What the states do and what they do not

The states are mainly responsible for school policy. In Germany, education is predominantly a matter for the states. The police and culture also lie predominantly with the states. This includes the universities. Every state therefore has its own state police.

A state has no army of its own, no currency of its own and no foreign minister of its own. Defence and foreign policy are the responsibility of the Federation. Economic policy is shaped at several levels.

The Federal Council: the voice of the states

The states take part in federal legislation through the Federal Council. The members of the Federal Council are drawn from the state governments. It is therefore the body through which the states exert influence. Members of the Federal Parliament (Bundestag) do not sit there. The state governments choose their representatives themselves.

A state election can change the state government. Often the majority in the Federal Council then changes as well. When the Federal Parliament and the Federal Council have different majorities, reaching agreement on federal laws becomes harder. In such cases the mediation committee often helps.

The municipalities: mayor and public order office (Ordnungsamt)

The municipality is the lowest political level. At its head is the mayor. She or he runs the municipality and represents it to the outside world. The exact duties are regulated by the municipal law of the respective state. The municipal council (Gemeinderat) is the elected representative body of the municipality. It decides important local matters, for example on schools or roads.

The municipal administration includes, for example, the public order office. It is responsible for matters such as public order in the town. The tax office (Finanzamt), by contrast, belongs to the state administration.

SourcesGemeinden - Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung↗Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland↗Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland↗Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland↗Vermittlungsverfahren - Deutscher Bundestag↗