German States Before Unification Quiz

Answer: Saxony

Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV raised Saxony from its status of a duchy to that of an electorate in 1356. In 1806 Saxony became a kingdom which was allied with France. In 1871 the Kingdom of Saxony became part of the German Empire.

An even more famous Elector of Saxony, perhaps, than Frederich the Wise, was Augustus the Strong (Augustus II), who ruled from 1694 to 1733. Augustus also ruled as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.

Answer: Hesse

From 1760 to 1785 Hesse-Kassel was ruled by Landgrave Frederick II, whose wife was Princess Mary of Great Britain, daughter of George II. One of Frederick's main sources of income was renting out soldiers to the British crown. These, of course, were the Hessians who fought in the American Revolution under the British flag.

The British also used Hessian troops in other 18th century conflicts, such as the Irish Rebellion of 1789.

Answer: Bavaria (Bayern)

Bavaria's "Mad King" was Ludwig II. He is best known for building castles, most notably Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. He ruled Bavaria between 1864 and 1886 after ascending to the throne at age 18. His death is surrounded in mystery as his body was found, along with his doctor, in the shallow water near the shore of Lake Starnberg on the night of 13 June, 1886. Although his death was ruled a suicide, no water was found in his lungs.

The rule of the House of Wittelsbach over Bavaria goes back to 1180. The family also included two Holy Roman Emperors as well as one king each of Hungary, Sweden, Greece, the Romans, and Denmark and Norway.

Answer: Munich (München)

Munich received city status in 1175 and became part of the Duchy of Bavaria five years later. From then on it basically belonged to Bavaria throughout the state's various stages through electorate and kingdom up until its membership in the German Empire established in 1871.

Hamburg and Bremen were also members of the Hanseatic League and progressed from there through free imperial city status and then as city-states. Indeed, still today they are city-states within the Federal Republic of Germany. Cologne was founded as Colonia by the Romans in 50 AD, and also would become a member of the Hanseatic League. Under the Holy Roman Empire, Cologne also served as an electorate under the Archbishop of Cologne before gaining status as a Free City in 1288. Today the city is in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Answer: Westphalia

Today Westphalia is part of North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen), the federal state whose capital is Düsseldorf. Way back in the year 9 AD, on 9 September, as a matter of fact, the German chieftain Herrmann defeated three Roman legions the same day in the Westphalian region of the Teutoburg Forest.

The Peace of Westphalia was signed as two treaties, one at Münster and another at Osnabrück, both of which are towns in Westphalia.

Answer: Brandenburg

One of Brandenburg's earliest and most noted rulers was Albert the Bear, Count of Anhalt, Duke of Saxony, and Margrave of Brandenburg. He founded the Margraviate and established the House of Ascania, which ruled it for the next 170 years. Albert died in 1170.

The first evidence of a settlement in the Berlin area, dates back to the late 12th Century. Berlin would eventually become the capital of Brandenburg, which would become Prussia and then the modern state of Germany. Berlin's coat of arms features a bear. Coincidence? I think not.

Answer: Hanover

George Louis (Georg Ludwig) of the House of Hanover, ruled the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698 to 1727. In 1714 he became King of Great Britain and Ireland as George I.

George III, the same British ruler who saw the American Colonies become independent from Britain, became the first King of Hanover in 1814. In 1820 he was succeeded by George IV. In 1830 William IV succeeded George IV as king in both Britain and Hanover. In 1837 William died, ending the Hanoverian rule of Britain, as he was succeeded by Queen Victoria. In Hanover, however, he was succeeded by his brother, Ernest Augustus, who ruled until his death in 1851. George V, the only son of Ernest Augustus, ruled Hanover until he was deposed by Prussia, which was ruled by his cousin (their mothers were sisters), Wilhelm I.

Answer: Württemberg

Napoleon created the Kingdom of Württemberg in 1805. In 1807 Frederick's oldest daughter would marry Napoleon's youngest brother, Jerome, King of Westphalia.

Eventually Frederick would turn against Napoleon and join the Allies after the Battle of Leipzig in 1813.

Frederick was reaffirmed as King of Württemberg at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. He was brother-in-law to George IV of Britain and uncle of Alexander I of Russia. In 1816 he would be succeeded by his son, Friedrich Wilhelm Karl, who would rule as William I until 1864.

Answer: Prussia

Frederick I raised the Duchy of Prussia to a kingdom in 1701. He was the grandfather of Frederick the Great. As Prussia's first king, he was prevented from calling himself King OF Prussia, since there were other lands known as "Prussia" within the Kingdom of Poland. Consequently, when he crowned himself king it was with the title King IN Prussia.

In 1772 Frederick the Great annexed most of the part of Poland known as "Royal Prussia" and formally assumed the title King of Prussia.

Answer: Brunswick (Braunschweig)

All of the above-mentioned dukes were members of the House of Welf (the Guelph family), descendants of Otto I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Duke Otto I was known as Otto the Child, so as not to be confused with his uncle, Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV. Established by the Congress of Vienna to replace the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, the Duchy of Brunswick would survive as part of the German Confederation, then the North German Confederation, and then as part of the German Empire.