The Hanseatic Cities of the North German Confederation
The name Hanseatic really referred to a league of trading cities that dated back to the 13th century. By the late 1800s, the meaning, as far as imperial Germany was concerned, was limited to the German cities of Hamburg, Bremen, and Lübeck. There were also other members of the Hanseatic League in other countries from the furthest reaches of the Baltic to the North Sea.
Bremen
(1813-1871)
The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a German state since 1646, was a member state of the German Confederation between 1815 and 1866. After the Prussian-Austrian War, it became a member state of the North German Confederation in 1867. In 1869, Prussia granted territory to Bremen to give it control of Bremerhaven at the mouth of the Weser River and some other small ports along the river. It became a member state of the German Empire in 1871.
The government was a republic with a two-chamber parliament—the Senate and the Bürgerschaft. The Senate was composed of sixteen life members elected by the Bürgerschaft. Their colleagues elected two of the Senators as mayor (Bürgermeister), who presided over the republic in succession for a year at a time. The Bürgerschaft consisted of 150 representatives, chosen by the citizens for six-year terms, who formed the legislative body. The most educated citizens (university graduates) of Bremen elected 14 members. Forty members were elected by the merchants, 20 by the manufacturers and artisans, and 48 by the other citizens. For the remaining representatives, the towns of Bremerhaven and Vegesack, provided sixteen and the rural districts furnished 12. As a member of the German Empire, the State of Bremen had one vote in the Bundesrat and had one deputy in the Reichstag. Bremen joined the Zollverein quite late in 1888 with the exception of two small free districts in Bremen and Bremerhaven.
In 1914, the population was approximately 326,000 of which 93 percent was Protestant, six percent Roman Catholic, and only two percent Jewish. The republic was 256 km² in size. The soldiers were concentrated in Infanterie-Regiment Bremen (1. hanseatisches)Nr. 75. Strictly speaking the garrisons towns were; Bremen (HQ, 1st and 2nd Bns) and Stade (3rd Battalion) but really the whole regiment was linked to Bremen.