458 MISC. PUBLICATIQN 218, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
GERMANY * 
GOVERNMENTAL AND TAX STRUCTURE 
POLITICAL DIVISIONS 
In order to make clear the German system of taxation it is neces- 
sary to sketch briefly the political structure of the country. Germany 
is a federation of States comprising a total area of 182,000 square miles 
and having a population Gin 1925) of 63,000,000 (264, p. 5). The 
National Government is called the Reich. In 1930 there were 17 
States (Lander), including the 3 Hanseatic cities, which might be 
termed city-states. Of these Prussia is by far the largest, containing 
63 percent of the area and 61 percent of the population. Schaumbureg- 
Lippe, the smallest of the States, has a population of only 48,000 and 
an area of 130 square miles. 
Each State is divided into a number of smaller units. Prussia 
(250, pp. 14-15), for example, is divided into 14 provinces (Provinzen). 
These 14 provinces were (in 1925) subdivided into 35 governmental 
districts (ee cae. Each governmental district is divided 
into districts (Kreise) which, to prevent confusion with the govern- 
mental districts, will be termed “counties” in this report. There are 
534 of such counties in Prussia, of which 415 are rural counties (Land- 
kreise) and 119 city counties (Stadtkreise). In most of the provinces 
the rural counties are further divided into office districts (Amtsbezirke) 
of which there are 6,172. The communal! associations (Gemeinde- 
verbande) are composed of communes which are territorially united. 
This term is sometimes used to mean the total of all grades of govern- 
ment below the State, but is often used coterminously with the county. 
The ultimate territorial divisions are the communes (Gemeinden) 
which may be either towns (Stadtgemeinden or Stadte) or rural 
communes (Landgemeinden). Some of the old feudal properties had 
a particular form of government of their own; these were called estate 
districts (Gutsbezirke). Under the law of December 27, 1927, these 
estate districts in Prussia were for the most part converted to com- 
munes or joined to existing communes, and by January 1, 1929, all 
but 578 had been dissolved. Before this law went into effect the 
numbers of communes and estate districts in Prussia were as follows: 
Aoi Set > LEMS Berk Oe AY Rs SE A 2 ee ee ere 1, 092 
Ruralscommunes. 22s: 4a oe eee ape eu eal he Danes ban ng Se aes Perce 29, 465 
Hstatergistricts. oS cee ON Sk 2c ee Se i DRE Ree ae ee ee ee! 11, 856 
of Dye) ct a Ba Ul ae RN a Gps ea eb RRM Bedi tt ei 42, 413 
THE TAX SYSTEM 
GENERAL (250; 266, pp. 648-655) 
Before the World War there was a characteristic division of the 
sources of taxation between the National Government (Reich) and 
the constituent states (Lander). The National Government ob- 
tained its revenue almost exclusively from indirect taxation under 
the system instituted by Bismarck. The principal sources of revenue 
were the customs duties and a group of excise taxes. The States 
obtained most of their revenue from direct taxation, the principal 
% This study w was made prior to the supremacy of the National Socialist party. The information in this 
section therefore relates to conditions as they were previous to 1933. 
