Capital of Germany - Since 1871

Since 1871

It was only during the 1871 Unification of Germany that the unified nation state of the German Empire first was assigned an official capital. With Prussia as the dominant part of the unified Germany, its capital Berlin was chosen and remained so until the end of World War II. However, for a period of a few months following the First World War, the national assembly met in Weimar because civil war was ravaging Berlin. In 1945, Germany was occupied by the Allies as the outcome of WWII, and Berlin remained a capital only de jure.

In 1949, with sovereignty regained the country split up into West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany), with the capital of Bonn, and East Germany (German Democratic Republic), with the capital of East Berlin. In 1990, the unified Berlin became the capital of the unified Federal Republic of Germany at the unification treaty, but Bonn remained the seat of government until 1999.

Although Berlin is officially the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany, 8,000 out of the 18,000 total officials employed at the federal bureaucracy still work in Bonn, 375 miles away from Berlin.