357. Which Land (federal state) is a city state?

Answer options

1. Hamburg
2. Saxony
3. Bavaria
4. Thuringia

Explanation

In German constitutional scholarship, the term city state denotes Berlin, Hamburg, and Bremen (including Bremerhaven), where the Land and municipal tiers largely coincide institutionally. The Basic Law does not use the term explicitly, but these entities are full Länder with the same constitutional status as territorial states (Arts. 20(1), 30, 70 ff., 51 GG), while Art. 28 GG safeguards municipal self-government. Hamburg, officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, continues the tradition of a free imperial city and a sovereign member of the German Confederation, and remained a Land in the German Empire and the Weimar Republic. As a unitary municipality, Hamburg combines Land government and city administration in a single tier.