Saxony-Anhalt was assembled from provinces, a former duchy, and scattered enclaves, then dissolved and restored. Its history reveals how occupation, administration, and political compromise can create a state.
For just seventy days in 1946, Hannover existed as a German state with its own government, parliament, symbols, and capital. Its rapid creation and disappearance reveal the political bargains behind postwar Germany’s federal map—and the limits of popular votes to redraw it.
Germany’s Upper Palatinate, Palatinate, and Electoral Palatinate look like three separate regions, but their shared name comes from one medieval office. Their story is a tale of royal administration, Wittelsbach inheritance, religious war, Napoleon, and borders repeatedly redrawn.