Old states of Germany
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Western Germany is a region in the west of Germany. The exact area defined by the term is not constant, but it usually includes North Rhine-Westphalia. The Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate are also sometimes included but are usually considered Southwestern. Hesse is often considered as Central Germany (together with Thuringia).
West of the Harz in Central Germany, or the line Hamburg-Munich, is the western part, but again, these distinctions must only be considered very loosely, especially, not in a political sense.
Politically, Germans often still identify the term Westdeutschland with the Bonner Republik, the Cold War West Germany. Therefore, the English-language distinction between "West Germany" and "Western Germany" is rarely made in German. However, the latter can be specified as der Westen Deutschlands, "the West of Germany."