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I really think it strengthens people's grasp of geography and identity.
To what extent do you think that Germany's comparatively recent unification is the cause of this?
We often still distinguish between the more recent additions from the 1500s to 1800s.
In Germany's case, established states/kingdoms have given away their autonomy over time to a centralised government in a combination of ways. It makes sense that as they've done this they've ensured they retain relatively more power than our kingdoms from the C.10th taken by militarily force.
hugo7-
I'm afraid I have no idea. The old small state identities that still existed in the 19th century are not very strongly felt today, I think. The postwar administrative restructure quite deliberately created new boundaries that, with the exceptions of Saxony, Bavaria, Hamburg, and Bremen, and to a small degree Baden-Württemberg, bear little resemblance to historical borders but are instead based on all sorts of other considerations, such as the Allied occupation zones at the time, or on creating more contiguous administrative areas than in the heavily-pixellated small states (although a great many of those were swallowed up by Prussia in the 18th and 19th centuries, their boundaries were retained administratively inside Prussia).
Oliver Schick
Yes, what Malaconotus said. I've always been quite shocked at the weakness of local government and the almost complete absence of regional government in this country. I mainly know how federalism (not a prerequisite for regional government, but a good mechanism) works from the comparison with Germany, and while it's not perfect, it's certainly far superior to the UK's 'system'. As a reform, it's urgently needed to strengthen regional identity.
Look at the map of German "Länder":
This is a map that's used constantly, in the news, in education, etc. Pretty much every map (apart from most weather maps) shows these administrative boundaries. I really think it strengthens people's grasp of geography and identity. You rarely see that in Britain. Obviously, maps of the counties are available, but off the top of my head I can't remember the shape of any of them except that of Greater London.