The terms
German Prince or
German Princess are often used to refer to members of royalty that were from a German state. Today Germany is one nation, but up until 1914, Germany and Central Europe was ruled over by a large number of independent states. Up until World War I, the term German could have referred to peoples from areas of what is today the states
Germany,
Poland,
Belgium,
Luxembourg,
Czech Republic,
Slovakia,
Austria, and even
Croatia, and the
Netherlands. From 1815 to 1860 this number was 35 separate German sovereign states (including
Prussia and
Austria) plus another 4
free cities, who together formed the
German Confederation. Prior to 1789 there were over 300 independent sovereign states and thousands of other bishoprics, lordships, and free cities that made up the
Holy Roman Empire.