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This question is related to the question I asked previously: Why was the shape of German states pre-WWII (especially Prussia) so complicated?

Most maps of pre-WWII are not detailed enough to see an exhaustive list of enclaves and exclaved territories. Only the major ones are visible.

For example, the municipality of Achberg (today in Baden-Würtemberg) was an isolated exclave of the Hohenzollernsche Lande, itself an exclave of Prussia.

However, since this exclave is so small it cannot be seen on maps containing the entire country. I suspect many municipalities were in similar cases.

Where can I find a complete, exhaustive list of all territorial irregularities of pre-WWII Germany?

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2 Answers 2

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Here's a zoomed-in screenshot of a map I made using Harvard's Geospatial Library. As you can see in the left, the layer I chose was "Germany State Boundaries, 1914." The little exclave in the bottom center of the screen is Achberg. If you zoom in a little more, it is labeled, but I chose to stay a little further out so you could see the other exclaves.

enter image description here

It's possible there are other map layers that better suit your purposes. There are many, many layers available for Germany, though 1914 is the latest year I found.

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    Well after all it's not that helpful. It is not written to which state the enclaves does belong, which limits it's usefulness a lot. Also it's painfully slow :/
    – Bregalad
    Commented Jul 3, 2015 at 20:44
  • @Bregalad: You actually can, though it will take some work. Use the 1890 layer, which the info for the 1914 layer says is identical. Go to "cart," open up the drop down menu for 1890. Click on the icon of an arrow cursor hovering over the information circle. Now, when you click on a location on the map, an info box opens up and it tells you the state which owns that piece of territory.
    – two sheds
    Commented Jul 3, 2015 at 20:58
  • @Bregalad: But it's a shame it's slow. It's a new tool and I know they are still working on it. Eventually, I think it's going to be a really powerful research aid.
    – two sheds
    Commented Jul 3, 2015 at 20:59
  • Well, it says "there is no data for this layer at this point"
    – Bregalad
    Commented Jul 3, 2015 at 21:22
  • @Bregalad: It worked for me everywhere I tried, but maybe they missed some of the exclaves. Sorry :(
    – two sheds
    Commented Jul 3, 2015 at 21:24
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There is a detailed administrative map of the German Empire on Wikimedia, and most small exclaves, such as Achberg, are visible, and their colour helps to see exclaves of which state they are.

It is possible some of the smaller exclaves (smaller than a village) are not directly visible, but combined by Two Shed's answer, it should be possible to make an exhaustive list of all exclaves.

Many old, detailed and topographics maps of Germany are available on Günter Mielczarek's website. They are fantastic scans of the official maps back then, and are detailed, showing former border between states.

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