Foreword / Hagen Schulze -- 1. Introduction: German Federalism in Historical Perspective / Maiken Umbach -- 2. Federal Habits: the Holy Roman Empire and the Continuity of German Federalism / Joachim Whaley -- 3. History and Federalism in the Age of Nation-State Formation / Maiken Umbach -- 4. Federalism and the Heimat Idea in Imperial Germany / Alon Confino -- 5. Political Unity and Linguistic Diversity in Nineteenth-Century Germany / Martin Durrell -- 6. Federalism in the Nazi State / Jeremy Noakes -- 7. Democratic Centralism and Regionalism in the GDR / Mary Fulbrook -- 8. German Federalism from Cooperation to Competition / Charlie Jeffery -- 9. Challenges and Perspectives for German Federalism / Wolfgang Renzsch -- 10. German Federalism in History: Some Afterthoughts / Anthony J. Nicholls