Germany’s National Territory
Article The constitution
The territory of the Federal Republic of Germany is composed of the territories of the federal states and is referred to as the “federal territory”. This means that any given part of the federal territory is also part of the territory of one of the federal states.
The federal territory has expanded considerably since the Federal Republic of Germany was established in 1949. In 1957, Saarland became part of the Federal Republic of Germany. Since the reunification of East and West Germany in 1990, the federal territory has comprised sixteen federal states: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia.
Revision of boundaries
According to Article 29 of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz, GG), boundaries between the federal states may be redefined to ensure that each federal state is of a size and capacity to perform its functions effectively.
To date, this option has been used only once in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany: In 1952, the states of Baden, Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern merged to form the federal state of Baden-Württemberg.
Since then, there have been several other initiatives to redefine the federal territory, but they were unsuccessful. The Basic Law provides that revisions to the boundaries of the federal states must be confirmed by referrendum.
Germany’s territorial sea is part of its national territory
The territory of the Federal Republic of Germany includes its territorial sea. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which entered into force in 1982, gives every contracting state the right to establish the breadth of its territorial sea up to a limit not exceeding 12 nautical miles.
In the Federal Government’s proclamation regarding the expansion of the German territorial sea of 19 October 1994 (published in the Federal Law Gazette 1994 I, p. 3428 et seq.), the Federal Republic of Germany claimed the maximum breadth of 12 nautical miles for its North Sea waters and less than the maximum breadth for its Baltic Sea waters.
Border treaties
The delimitation between the federal territory and the territories of Germany’s neighbouring countries is governed by border treaties, some of which date back a long time. Some of the treaties defining the border between Germany and Switzerland, for example, were concluded between the Grand Duchy of Baden and the Swiss Confederation in the 19th century.
