Zollverein, Germancustoms union established in 1834 under Prussian leadership. It created a free-trade area throughout much ofGermany and is often seen as an important step inGerman reunification.

The movement to create afree-trade zone in Germany received greatimpetus from economists such asFriedrich List, its most active advocate in early 19th-century Germany. In 1818Prussia enacted atariff law abolishing all internal customs dues and announced its willingness to establishfree trade with neighbouring states. A decade later Prussia signed the first such pact with Hesse-Darmstadt. In 1828 a customs union was set up in southern Germany byBavaria andWürttemberg, joined in 1829 by the Palatinate; also in 1828 the central German states established a similar union, which included Saxony, the Thuringian states, electoral Hesse, and Nassau. In 1834 these were among the 18 states that joined in the Zollverein. Hanover andOldenburg joined in 1854; the two Mecklenburgs, Schleswig-Holstein, Lauenburg, and Lübeck joined in 1867; and thereby all Germany outside Austria was included exceptHamburg andBremen, whichadhered in 1888, 17 years after the establishment of theGerman Empire.