Five German states, whose names are encrusted with centuries of history, formally disappeared last week.
East Germany's Communist government decided to dissolve these provinces: Brandenburg, once the domain of the Margrave of Brandenburg for whom Johann Sebastian Bach composed his six famous concertos: Saxony, birthplace of Otto the Great, founder of the Holy Roman Empire; Mecklenburg, once obedient to the Duke of Saxony; Saxony-Anhalt, which produced Martin Luther and George Frederick Handel; Thuringia, a center of Luther's Reformation.
The Communists hoped to squeeze satellite Germany tight into a straitjacket stamped with the words...
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