In 1815, the Congress of Vienna established The German Confederation (German: Deutscher Bund) as an association of 39 German-speaking states in Central Europe. This established the boundaries of Germany for much of the 19th century; as including Pomerania, East Brandenburg and Silesia, but excluding German-speaking lands in the eastern portion of the Kingdom of Prussia (East Prussia, West Prussia and Posen), as well as the German cantons of Switzerland, and the French region of Alsace..