Figure backing East German city state (9)
I believe the answer is:
tennessee
'state' is the definition.
(Tennessee is an example)
'figure backing east german city' is the wordplay.
'figure' becomes 'ten' (I've seen this in other clues**).
'backing' is a reversal indicator.
'east' becomes 'e' ('E' can be a synonym of 'east').
'german city' becomes 'essen' (I've seen this before).
'e'+'essen'='eessen'
'eessen' reversed gives 'nessee'.
'ten'+'nessee'='TENNESSEE'
(Other definitions for tennessee that I've seen before include "Memphis's state" , "State of south-east US" , "Teen sense observed in American state" , "Nashville's state" , "playwright's assumed first name" .)