Note 2 — Chapter VII · ToC

This clause is of crucial importance. Henceforward all sovereignty is of the German people and not of the princes or principalities. The German Bund of 1815 was a mere confederation between sovereigns or Staaten Bund. The North German Bund of 1866 was a federation of semi-sovereigns, or Bundes Staat. The present German Republic is still a Federal State, but sovereignty is inherent in the people, not in the constituent governments.