

The oldest areas and regions are known as Stem Duchies, Stammesherzogtümer. These included Saxony in the north. With Bullungers, Lusatia, Meissen, Merseburg and Thuringia to its east. To the west were Lower Lorraine which is in modern day Netherlands, and Upper Lorraine which is part of Belgium now. In the center stood Franconia, and Bohemia with Swabia and Bavaria to the south which would later make up modern day Germany.  (Ross, 2011) 

During the first unification, Germany combined the four kingdoms including: Prussia who had the capital of Berlin; Bayern with the capital of München; Sachsen with its capital Dresden; and Württemberg with Stuttgart. With the Grand Duchies of Baden, Hessen, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mercklenburg-Strelitz, Oldenburg, and Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach also included. 

The main losses since then was much of Prussia. Prussia at the time of unification reached straight through Poland, and Lithuania followed all the way to Russia in the east and even part of Belgium in the west. Through WWI and WWII Prussia lost its land until it was abolished in 1947.

During World War II, Germany gained land but it was not recognized. It was what happened afterward that is the most important in terms of geography. After victory in Europe, Germany was split into four occupation zones. These zones defined what would later become two separate Germany's. On May 23rd of 1949, The Federal Republic of Germany, or West Germany, was formed. On October 7th of the same year East Germany, the German Democratic Republic formed. The two countries became almost polar-opposites of each other. With different political styles, and different life styles they went down different paths. Still, on November 9th of 1989 the Berlin Wall was opened and by October of 1990 reunification talks began, and once again Germany was whole. (Germanplaces.com, 2011) 

                                                


Germans modern states were reformed during the allied occupation, with the addition of 9 new states. This was mostly due to bringing together various smaller states and including parts of Prussia which officially ended in 1947. Since then, Baden, Württemberg-Hohenzollern and Württemberg-Baden combined to form Baden-Württemberg. In 1957 Saarland became part of Germany again from under France control. The current states with the capitals in parenthesis are Baden-Württemberg (Stuttgart), Bayern (München), Brandenburg (Potsdam),  Hessen (Wiesbaden), Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Schwerin), Niedersachsen (Hannover), Nordrhein-Westfalen (Düsseldorf), Rheinland-Pfalz (Mainz), Saarland (Saarbrücken), Sachsen (Dresden), Sachsen-Anhalt (Magdeburg), Schleswig-Holstein (Kiel), and Thüringen (Erfurt.) And the current city states are Berlin, Hamburg, and Bremen. (Germany Insider, 2011) 

Germany itself is mainly a compact state, and slightly fragmented in the north. Germany has several rivers, including the Rhine in the west and its tributary Main flows through Frankfurt. In the north the rivers Ems, Wesser and Elbe flow out into the North Sea. The last significant river of Germany is the Danube which flows through Bavaria. The north border of Germany includes the North Sea and the Baltic Sea which are connected via the Kiel Canal.(MapsOfWorld.com, 2009) 
