Germany Jurisdictions

Germany  Jurisdictions

German Empire
The following jurisdictions apply to Germany during the time of the German Empire (1871-1918).

Each of the 39 member states of the German Empire had been independent countries and had their own jurisdiction names and sizes. For example, a Regierungsbezirk in Bayern (Bavaria) is many, many times the size of a Kreis in Baden, and both are level one jurisdictions (largest size). Level one jurisdictions are the largest, while level two jurisdictions are smaller. For a very rough equivalent to the United States, think of states (level one) and counties (level two). Because Prussia is by far the largest member state of the German Empire, this jurisdiction chart treats each of the 13 Prussian provinces as a separate entry.