ABSTRACT

The problem of regionalism in Germany is far more complicated than in France and Britain, for it has been tied up with the need for the political reorganization of the Reich, in which the government of Prussia, with about two-thirds of the area and two-thirds of the population, was a dominant partner, until its abolition after World War II. The movement for the territorial reorganization of Germany assumed great prominence after World War I and received continuing attention from both official bodies and numerous private researchers between the two World Wars. Great advances have been made since 1945, but the problem is not yet finally resolved, though the government is legally committed to its solution. The problem has had four aspects—first, the dominance of Prussia over the federated states of the Reich; second, the heritage of complicated territorial boundaries that have no relation to the demands of contemporary government; third, the fact that there are broad geographical groupings in the cultural heritage and consciousness of the people; and fourth, the most important groupings in modern society are those concerned with the distribution, movements, activities, and common interests of the population. These conditions make it necessary to revise and rearrange political territories so as to bring boundaries into closer alignment with contemporary groupings and needs. It is the same situation as in other countries, but it clearly has individual features and problems.