German States V: Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia

One of the five German states that was originally a part of the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany, until the Reunification in 1990 is Saxony-Anhalt, which lies just west of Saxony and Brandenburg. Saxony-Anhalt comprises an area of 7,894 square miles (20,445 sq. km.) and has a population of nearly 2.5 million people, making it the 8th and 10th largest state in the Federal Republic of Germany by size and population, respectively. Prominent cities of Saxony-Anhalt include Magdenburg, which is the state capital, Halle, the state’s largest city, and Dessau, a center for art and architecture in the region. The geography of Saxony-Anhalt runs the gamut from lowlands to mountainous regions. In 1945, the formerly Prussian districts of Saxony were merged with Anhalt to create this state, which was then inducted into the GDP in 1949. As in other German states, agriculture and industry play an equal role of importance in the economy of Saxony-Anhalt. Chemical production is a large part of Saxony-Anhalt’s industry.

The northernmost of the German states, Schleswig-Holstein, shares a border with Germany’s neighbor Denmark and occupies 6,086 square miles (15,763 sq. km.), forming the base of the Jutland Peninsula between the Baltic and the North Seas. The total population of the state is around 2.8 million inhabitants. Schleswig-Holstein consists mostly of flat country with a few areas of rolling hills, but there are also cliffs and fjords on the eastern sea coast facing the Baltic Sea. It also contains the Kiel Canal, a waterway between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. Many different languages and dialects are spoken in this state, including Standard German, Low German, Low Saxon, Danish, and North Frisian. Schleswig-Holstein fell under British occupation following World War II, and was officially reconstituted as a Land in the German Federal Republic in August of 1946. Like many other German states, Schleswig-Holstein has a long history of culture, music, art, and architecture.

Thuringia was another of the German states that was part of the German Democratic Republic during the latter half of the twentieth century. Thuringia currently has an area of 6,244 square miles (16,171 sq. km.) and a population of 2.9 million people, making it the sixth and fifth smallest state by area and population, respectively. Thuringia’s landscape consists mostly of rolling plains, but it is separated from its neighbor states by natural barriers, such as the Harz Mountains in the north and the Thuringian Forest, another mountain chain, in the south and southwest. Thuringia also contains the drainage basin of the Rhine River. The capital city of Thuringia is Erfurt. Thuringia became a part of the Soviet Occupation Zone in 1945, and, like the other German states that were part of the former East Germany, was reconstituted into a new member of the German Federal Republic in 1990.