The laws for the modern services at the labour market – better known as Hartz-reforms – fundamentally changed the regulative environment for the labour market policies of the German Länder. In the past, the Länder developed own innovative potentials. They financed the placement of unemployed by local authorities and developed own projects. But now, the federal government alone bears the costs of active labour market policies and it shares with the local authorities, and not with the Länder, the responsibility for the employment service. That means, the intervention by the Länder is not a necessity anymore and the door is open for a drop out from labour market activities. This paper tries to elucidate this new situation by analyzing the changes of labour market policies in five German Länder. The research is based on budget data and strategic papers by the Länder as well as programs of the European Social Fund. Hereby, changes in resource allocation, policy focus, and target groups are analyzed. The results show that the German Länder reacted very differently to the Hartz-reforms. The change in policies on the one hand depended on the past orientation towards the Federal Employment Office and the target group of “welfare recipients”. On the other hand, political orientation of Länder’s governments as well as financial scopes seemed to influence the adaptation to the changed political structure. In sum, there is not a general withdrawal from active labor market policies. While some reduced their engagement, others maintained a level of activity comparable to prior periods.