Germany
Germany (
German:
Deutschland IPA: ), officially the
Federal Republic of Germany (,
IPA: ), is a
country in central
Europe. It is bordered to the north by the
North Sea,
Denmark, and the
Baltic Sea, to the east by
Poland and the
Czech Republic, to the south by
Austria and
Switzerland, and to the west by
France,
Luxembourg,
Belgium and the
Netherlands. Within its borders are a portion of the Alps mountains, the famous
Rhine and
Danube rivers, and the
Black Forest.
Germany is a
democratic parliamentary
federal republic, made up of 16
states (
Bundesländer), which in certain spheres act independently of the federation. Historically consisting of several sovereign states with their own history, distinct german tribe dialects, culture and confession, Germany was
unified as a
nation state during the
Franco-Prussian War in 1870/1871.
The Federal Republic of Germany is a member state of the
United Nations,
NATO, the
G8 and the
G4 nations, and is a founding member of the
European Union. It is the European Union's most populous and most economically powerful member state.
The state now known as Germany was
unified as a modern nation-state only in 1871, when the
German Empire, dominated by the
Kingdom of Prussia, was forged. This began the German
Reich, usually translated as "empire", but also meaning "kingdom", "domain" or "realm".
Early history of the Germanic tribes (100 BCâ€"AD 300)
The
ethnogenesis of the
Germanic tribes is assumed to have occurred during the
Nordic Bronze Age, or at the latest, during the
Pre-Roman Iron Age in southern
Scandinavia and northern Germany, from the first century BC expanding south, east and west, coming into contact with
Celtic tribes of
Gaul and
Iranian,
Baltic and
Slavic tribes in Eastern Europe. Little is known about early Germanic history, except through their interactions with the Roman Empire and archaeological finds.
Under
Augustus, the Roman General
Drusus began to invade Germany, and it was from this period that the German tribes became familiar with Roman tactics of warfare while maintaining their national identity. In
9, three Roman legions led by
Publius Quinctilius Varus were crushed by the
Cheruscan leader
Arminius (Hermann) in the
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. Germany as far as the Rhine and the
Danube therefore remained outside the
Roman Empire. By 100, the time of
Tacitus'
Germania, Germanic tribes settled along the
Rhine and the
Danube (the
Limes Germanicus), occupying most of the area of modern Germany. The 3rd century saw the emergence of a number of large West Germanic tribes —
Alamanni,
Franks,
Chatti,
Saxons,
Frisians,
Thuringians. Around 260, the Germanic peoples broke through the Limes and the Danube frontier.
Migration Period and Franks (300-843)
The
migration included the
Goths,
Vandals and
Franks, among other
Germanic and
Slavic tribes. The migration may have been triggered by the incursions of the
Huns, population pressures or climate changes. Several Germanic peoples, such as the
Franks and
Burgundians invaded the Roman Empire and formed kingdoms.
The conversion to
Roman Catholicism of the pagan Frankish king
Clovis to better appeal to his conquered Roman subjects was a crucial event in the history of Europe. It resulted in more support from Rome, further solidification of power during the slow, often bloody conversion process, the eventual end to the ancient
tribalism of Germany and secured domination over the rival Christian conversion attempts by
Arianism. Under the
Merovingian and
Carolingian kings the Franks formed a new Germanic empire, replacing the Roman Empire in Western Europe.
The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (843â€"1806)
The medieval empire â€" since 1448 officially called the
Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation ("Sacrum Romanum Imperium Nationis Germanicae") but often referred to as the
Holy Roman Empire (or the
Old Empire) â€" stemmed from a division of the
Carolingian Empire in 843, which was founded by
Charlemagne on
December 25 800, and existed in varying forms until 1806, its territory stretching from the river
Eider in the north to the Mediterranean coast in the south.
Under the reign of the
Ottonian emperors (919-1024), the duchies of
Lorraine,
Saxony,
Franconia,
Swabia,
Thuringia and
Bavaria were consolidated and in 962 the German king was crowned
Holy Roman Emperor. Under the reign of the
Salian emperors (1024-1125), the Holy Roman Empire absorbed
Italy and
Burgundy. Under the
Hohenstaufen emperors (1138-1254) the German princes were increasing their influence further east.
The edict of the
Golden Bull in 1356 provided the basic constitution of the empire up to its dissolution. For three hundred years starting in 1438, the Emperors were elected exclusively from the Austrian
Habsburg family.
In 1530, a separate Protestant church was acknowledged as the new state religion in many states of Germany. This led to inter-German strife, the
Thirty Years' War (1618-48). From 1740 onwards the dualism between
Austria and
Prussia dominated the Empire's history. In 1806 the
Imperium was overrun and dissolved as a result of the
Napoleonic Wars.
Restoration and revolution (1814â€"1871)
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The way of the students to Wartburg 1817 |
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Frankfurt Parliament in 1848/49 |
Following Napoleon's fall and the end of the
Confederation of the Rhine, the
Congress of Vienna convened in 1814 in order to restructure Europe. In Germany, the
German Confederation was founded, a loose league of
39 sovereign states. Disagreement with the
restoration politics partly led to the lifestyle called
Biedermeier and to intellectual
liberal movements, which demanded unity and freedom during the
Vormärz epoch, each followed by a measure of
Metternich's repression of liberal agitation. The
Zollverein, a tariff union, profoundly furthered economic unity in the
German states.
The
German people had been stirred by the ideals of the
French revolution. On October 18, 1817, students held a gathering to exchange ideas, the high point of which was the burning of works by authors like
August von Kotzebue, who were against a united German state. A second such meeting attracted 30,000 people from all social classes and from all regions to the
Hambacher celebration. There for the first time, the colours of black, red and gold were chosen to represent the movement, which later became the national colours.
The states were also shaped by the
Industrial Revolution, which was the initial step of the growing
industrialisation in Europe and contributed to a wave of poverty, causing social uprisings. In light of a
series of revolutionary movements in Europe,
which in France successfully established a republic, intellectuals and common people started
the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states. The monarchs initially yielded to the revolutionaries' liberal demands, and an intellectual
National Assembly was elected to draw up a constitution for the new Germany, completed in 1849. However, the Prussian king
Frederick William IV, who was offered the title of Emperor but with a loss of power, rejected the crown and the constitution. This prompted the demise of the national assembly along with most of the changes from the revolution.
In 1862, conflict between the Prussian King
Wilhelm I and the increasingly liberal parliament erupted over military reforms. The king appointed
Otto von Bismarck the new
Prime Minister of Prussia. Bismarck solved the conflict with difficulty and used the desire for national unification to further the interests of the Prussian monarchy. In 1864 he successfully waged
war on Denmark. Prussian victory in the
Austro-Prussian War of 1866 enabled him to create the
North German Confederation and divide
Austria, formerly the leading state of Germany, from the more western and northern parts.
German Empire (1871â€"1918)
 |
Foundation of modern Germany, Versailles, 1871. Bismarck is in white in the middle |
After the French defeat in the
Franco-Prussian War, the
German Empire (
Deutsches Kaiserreich) was proclaimed in
Versailles on
January 18 1871. As a result, the new empire was a unification of all the scattered parts of Germany but without Austriaâ€
"Kleindeutschland. Beginning in 1884 Germany established
several colonies. The young emperor's foreign policy was opposed to that of Bismarck, who had established a system of alliances in the era called
Gründerzeit, securing Germany's position as a great nation, isolating France with diplomatic means and avoiding war for decades. Under Wilhelm II, however, Germany took an
imperialistic course,
not unlike other powers, but it led to friction with neighbouring countries. Most alliances in which Germany had been previously involved were not renewed, and new alliances excluded the country. Specifically, France established new relations by signing the
Entente Cordiale with the United Kingdom, and got ties with Russia. Austria-Hungary and Germany became increasingly isolated.
 |
Imperial Germany (1871-1918). |
|
Subdivisions of Germany in 1925. Map showing borders of Germany from 1919 until 1937. |
Although not one of
the main causes,
the assassination of
Austria's crown prince triggered
World War I on
July 28 1914, which saw Germany as part of the unsuccessful
Central Powers in the
second-bloodiest conflict of all time against the
Allied Powers. In November 1918, the second
German Revolution broke out, and Emperor Wilhelm II and all German ruling princes abdicated.
An armistice was signed on
November 11, putting an end to the war. Germany was forced to sign the
Treaty of Versailles in 1919, whose unexpectedly high demands were perceived as humiliating in Germany, as a continuation of the war by other means and a breaking of traditional post-war diplomacy that included negotiations between the victors and vanquished.
Weimar Republic (1919â€"1933)
After the
German Revolution in November 1918, a Republic was proclaimed. That year, the
German Communist Party was established by
Rosa Luxemburg and
Karl Liebknecht, and in January 1919 the German Workers Party, later known as the
Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (
National Socialist German Workers Party, NSDAP, "Nazis"). On
August 11 1919, the
Weimar Constitution came into effect, with the sign of the Reichspräsident Friedrich Ebert.
In a climate of economic hardship due to both the world wide
Depression and the harsh peace conditions dictated by the
Treaty of Versailles, and a long succession of more or less unstable governments, the political masses in Germany increasingly lacked identification with their political system of parliamentary democracy. This was exacerbated by a wide-spread right-wing (
monarchist,
völkische, and
Nazi)
Dolchstoßlegende, a political myth which claimed the
German Revolution was the main reason why Germany had lost the war. On the other hand, radical left-wing communists such as the
Spartacist League had wanted to abolish what they perceived as a
"capitalist rule" in favour of a
"Räterepublik" and were thus also in opposition to the existing
form of government. During the years following the Revolution, German voters increasingly supported anti-democratic parties, both
right- (
monarchists,
Nazis) and
left-wing (). At the beginning of the 1930s, Germany was not far from a civil war. Paramilitary troops were set up by several parties. They intimidated voters and seeded violence and anger among the public, who suffered from high unemployment and poverty. After a succession of unsuccessful cabinets, on
January 29 1933,
President von Hindenburg, seeing little alternative and pushed by advisors, appointed
Adolf Hitler Chancellor of Germany.
Third Reich (1933â€"1945)
On
27 February, the
Reichstag was set on fire. Some basic democratic rights were quickly abrogated afterwards under an emergency decree. An
Enabling Act gave Hitler's government full legislative power. A centralised
totalitarian state was established by a series of moves and decrees making Germany a
single-party state. Industry was closely regulated with quotas and requirements in order to shift the economy towards a war production base. In 1936, German troops entered the demilitarised
Rhineland as
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's
appeasement policies proved inadequate. Emboldened, Hitler followed from 1938 onwards a policy of
expansionism to establish
Greater Germany. To avoid a two-front war, Hitler concluded the
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with the
Soviet Union.
|
1939: German soldiers supposedly destroying a Polish border checkpoint. The picture was staged a few days after the outbreak of the war for use in National Socialist propaganda. |
In 1939 the
growing tensions from nationalism, militarism, and territorial issues led to the Germans launching a
blitzkrieg on September 1st against
Poland, followed two days later by war declarations against Britain and France, marking the beginning of
World War II. Germany quickly gained direct or indirect control of the majority of
Europe. On June 22, 1941, Hitler broke the pact with the Soviet Union by opening the
Eastern Front and
invading the Soviet Union. Shortly after Japan
attacked the American base at Pearl Harbor, Germany declared war on the United States. Although initially the German army rapidly advanced into the surprised
Soviet Union, the
Battle of Stalingrad marked a major turning point in the war. Subsequently, the German army commenced retreating on the Eastern front, followed by the eventual defeat of Germany. On
8 May 1945,
Germany surrendered after the
Red Army occupied
Berlin.
In what later became known as the
Holocaust, the Third Reich regime enacted governmental policies directly subjugating many parts of society:
Jews,
Slavs,
Roma,
homosexuals,
freemasons, political dissidents, priests, preachers, religious opponents, and the
disabled, amongst others. During the Nazi era about 11 million people were murdered in
the Holocaust, including more than 6 million Jews.
Division and reunification (1945â€"1990)
|
German occupation zones in 1946 after territorial annexations in the East. The Saarland (in the French zone) shown with stripes as it was not removed from Germany until 1947 |
The war resulted in the death of several million German soldiers,
large territorial losses and
the ethnic cleansing of approximately 12 to 18 million Germans in various parts of Eastern Europe, as well as in drastic territorial losses to
Poland and the
USSR. All major and many smaller German cities lay in ruins. Germany and
Berlin were occupied and partitioned by the
Allies into four military occupation zones controlled by
France, the
United Kingdom, the
United States, and the
Soviet Union. On
May 23 1949, the U.S, Britain and France united their individual sectors to form the democratic nation of the
Federal Republic of Germany and on
October 7 1949 the Soviet Zone established the
German Democratic Republic, In English the two states were known informally as "
West Germany" and "
East Germany" (with
historical eastern Germany having fallen to
Poland and the
Soviet Union) respectively.
West Germany, established as a liberal parliamentary republic with a "
social market economy", was allied with the United States, the UK and France. The country enjoyed prolonged economic growth (
Wirtschaftswunder) following the currency reform of June 1948 and U.S. assistance through the
Marshall Plan aid. West Germany joined
NATO in
1955 and was a founding member of the
European Economic Community in
1958. Across the border, East Germany was at first occupied by and later (May 1955) allied with the USSR. An authoritarian country with a Soviet-style
command economy, East Germany soon became the richest, most advanced country in the
Warsaw Pact, but many of its citizens looked to the West for political freedoms and economic prosperity. Relations between East Germany and West Germany remained icy until the Western Chancellor
Willy Brandt launched a highly controversial approchement policy with the East European communist states (
Ostpolitik) in the early 1970s. This led to a form of mutual recognition between East and West Germany.
During the summer of 1989, rapid changes took place in East Germany, which ultimately led to
German reunification. Growing numbers of East Germans migrated to West Germany via
Hungary and clandestinely through the border separating East from West Germany. The exodus generated demands within East Germany for political change, and mass demonstrations with eventually hundreds of thousands of people in several cities continued to grow. In the face of these events, East German authorities unexpectedly eased the border restrictions in
November 1989, allowing East German citizens to travel to the West . This led to the acceleration of the process of reforms in East Germany that ended with German reunification on
October 3 1990. Under the terms of the treaty between West and East Germany, Berlin became the capital of a unified Germany.
Germany is divided into 16
states (in German called
Länder, singular
Land; commonly
Bundesländer, singular
Bundesland). It is further subdivided into 439 districts (
Kreise) and cities (
kreisfreie Städte) (2004). There is a list of all
Administrative Divisions of Germany.
The five largest cities in Germany (population as of
March 31 2005):
#
Berlin (capital of Germany) with 3,391,407 inhabitants #
Hamburg with 1,736,752 inhabitants#
Munich with 1,397,537 inhabitants #
Cologne with 975,907 inhabitants#
Frankfurt am Main with 657,126 inhabitants
The five largest
metropolitan areas in Germany (population as of
January 1 2005) are listed below. Metro area populations are always controversial, and these figures are based on a broad interpretation of the term. They are better seen as being for metropolitan regions than metropolitan cities.
#
Rhein-Ruhr with 11,785,196 inhabitants#
Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region with 5,822,383 inhabitants#
Berlin with 4,262,480 inhabitants#
Hamburg with 3,278,635 inhabitants#
Stuttgart with 2,344,989 inhabitants
Germany is located in
Central Europe and shares borders with
Denmark in the North,
Netherlands,
Belgium,
Luxembourg and
France in the West,
Austria and
Switzerland in the South and
Poland and the
Czech Republic in the East. The
North Sea and the
Baltic Sea represent additional National Borders in the North.
Geographic coordinates:
Area
:* Total:
357,021 km² (137,850
mi²):* Land: 349,223 km² (134,835 mi²):* Water: 7,798 km² (3,010 mi²)
Territory
Since
reunification Germany has resumed its role as a major centre between
Scandinavia in the north and the
Mediterranean region in the south, as well as between the
Atlantic west and the countries of
Central and
Eastern Europe.
The territory of Germany stretches from the high mountains of the
Alps (highest point: the
Zugspitze at 2,962 m / 9,718
ft) in the south to the shores of the
North Sea (Nordsee) in the north-west and the
Baltic Sea (Ostsee) in the north-east. In between are the forested uplands of central Germany and the low-lying lands of northern Germany (lowest point:
Neuendorfer/
Wilstermarsch at 3.54 metres (11.6 ft) below sea level), traversed by some of Europe's major
rivers such as the
Rhine,
Danube and
Elbe.
Due to its central location, Germany shares borders with more European countries than any other country in Europe. Its neighbours are
Denmark in the north,
Poland and the
Czech Republic in the east,
Austria and
Switzerland in the south,
France and
Luxembourg in the south-west and
Belgium and the
Netherlands in the north-west.
Climate
(
â†' see also commons:Category:Climate diagrams of Germany (FR))
The greater part of Germany lies in the cool/temperate climatic zone in which humid westerly winds predominate.
The climate is affected among other things by the
Gulf Stream, which promotes an unusually mild climate.
In the
north-west and the
north the climate is oceanic and rain falls all year round. Winters there are relatively mild and summers tend to be comparatively cool, even though temperatures can reach above 30 degrees
Celsius (86 °
F) for prolonged periods of time.
Average temperatures: Hamburg: January 0.3 °C (33 °F) / July 17.1 °C (63°F); Essen: January 1.5 °C (35 °F) / July 17.5 °C (64 °F)In the
east the climate shows clear continental features; winters can be very cold for long periods, and summers can become very warm. Here, too, long dry periods are often recorded.
Average temperatures: Berlin: January âˆ'0.9 °C (30 °F) / July 18.6 °C (65 °F)In the
central part and the
south there is a transitional climate which varies from moderately oceanic to continental, depending on the location. Hot summers with temperatures about 30 degrees Celsius (86 °F) are possible.
Average temperatures: Munich: January âˆ'2.2 °C (28 °F) / July 17.6 °C (64 °F); Freiburg: January 1.2 °C (34 °F) / July 19.4 °C (67 °F) |
Population of Germany over time. Note that for years before 1990, the values of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic are combined. The federal statistics office estimates the population will shrink to approximately 75 million by 2050 http://www.destatis.de/presse/englisch/pm2003/p2300022.htm |
Due to the country's federal and decentralised structure Germany has a number of larger cities. The most populous are
Berlin,
Hamburg,
Munich,
Cologne,
Frankfurt and
Dortmund. By far the largest conurbation is the
Rhine-Ruhr region, including the Düsseldorf-Cologne district and the cities of
Essen,
Dortmund,
Duisburg and
Bochum. The federal structure has kept the population oriented towards a number of large cities, and has precluded the growth of any single city that would rival such European capitals as
London,
Paris or
Moscow for size.
As of 2005, about 7.5 million foreign citizen residents were living in Germany. The majority came from
Turkey, followed by
Italy, the former
Yugoslavia,
Greece,
Poland,
Russia,
Austria,
Ukraine, the
Netherlands,
Spain,
Portugal, and
France. [
1] Thanks to reform of
German nationality law, many of these immigrants are eligible for
naturalisation ([
2]).8 million of German citizens are connected with another nationality.
Germany is still a primary destination for political and economic
immigrants from many
less industrialised countries, especially
Turkey and
Southern/
Southeastern Europe, but the number of annual asylum seekers has been declining in recent years.
According to a the microcensus conducted by the German federal office of statistics in 2005, 19% of the country's residents are of foreign or partially foreign descent.
|
Panorama view of Frankfurt (Hesse), the banking city of Germany. |
[[Image:50ec ger.png|thumb|right|150px|A {{euro coins|50 euro cent coin}} Featuring the {{Brandenburg Gate}}, symbol of division and reunification.]]
Germany is the largest
European economy and the third largest economy in the world in real terms, placed behind the
United States and
Japan, and fifth behind
China and
India counted by
purchasing power parity. According to the
World Trade Organization, Germany is also the world's top exporter, ahead of the United States and number two in the world in imports. It currently (2005) has the largest trade surplus of all countries in the world. While it has positive trade balances with most of its EU-partners or the United States, it runs trade deficits with China and Japan.
A major issue of concern remains the persistently high
unemployment rate and weak domestic demand which slows down economic growth. Eastern Germany in particular suffers from a lack of a solid base of small and medium-sized companies, which provided the foundation for the Federal Republic's economic prosperity and is responsible in great measure for Germany's lag in economic growth. Domestic demand has stagnated for many years due to wage stagnation and zealous cost-cutting by the federal state. Lack of consumer demand might have caused many of the prevalent economic problems. Germany's government runs a restrictive
fiscal policy and has cut numerous regular jobs in the
public sector. Since reunification there has been a net loss of estimated 1 million such jobs. But while regular employment in the public sector shrank, "irregular" government employment like so called 1-Euro-Jobs, government supported self-employment (ICH-AG) and job training increased. Despite the tense situation in eastern Germany, total government employment in Germany remains lower than in other states such as the
United Kingdom or
Canada.
Economical and political discussion in Germany today concentrates on whether Germany needs more "market reforms" such as deregulation of the labour market, more low income jobs, lower social security feeds, lower taxes for enterprises and employers, etc., or already passed too many reforms. In view of shifting socio-economic trends, more and more people in Germany distrust the sense and direction of the reforms over the last years, although Conservatives insist that they are necessary to make Germany competitive on the global stage.
Science and technology
Germany is a leading nation in scientific research and the production of innovative technological products. Some of the most important industrial contributions include
rocketry,
material science, and chemical products.
As in physics and chemistry, Germans are a leading nation in the Nobel Prizes for
physiology or
medicine.
Exports
As mentioned above the exporting of goods is an essential part of the German
economy and one of the most relevant reasons for Germany's wealth. Like many other
export oriented countries, Germany itself does not have the climate or the
natural resources necessary to support a
high living standard. Overtaking the
United States in 2003, Germany is now the world's largest exporter of goods with $1.016 trillion exported in 2005.
Politics of Germany takes place in a framework of a
federal parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the
Federal Chancellor is the
head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system.
Executive power is exercised by the government. Federal
legislative power is vested in both the
government and the two chambers of parliament,
Bundestag and
Bundesrat. Since 1949 the party system is dominated by the conservative
Christian Democratic Union and the
Social Democratic Party of Germany. Smaller parties that have an important role are the liberal
Free Democratic Party, that has been in the Bundestag since 1949, as well as the
Green Party that has seats in the parliament since 1983.
(See also
List of German institutions.)
The
Judiciary of Germany is independent of the executive and the legislature.The political system is laid out in the 1949
constitutional document, the
Grundgesetz (Basic Law), which remained in effect with minor amendments after 1990's
German Reunification.
Legal system
Germany has a
civil or statute law system based ultimately on
Roman law with some references to
Germanic law. Legislative power is divided between the Federation and the individual federated states. While
criminal law and
private law have seen codifications on the national level (in the
Strafgesetzbuch and the
Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch respectively), no such unifying codification exists in
administrative law where a lot of the fundamental matters remain in the jurisdiction of the individual federated states. In 1976, with the
Verwaltungsverfahrensgesetz (VwVfG), the main form of actions of administration was codified. Most federated states have followed this codification. There are a series of specialist supreme courts; for civil and criminal cases the highest court of appeal is the
Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice), located in
Karlsruhe. The
courtroom style is
inquisitorial.
The Federal Constitutional Court (
Bundesverfassungsgericht), also located in Karlsruhe, is the German Supreme Court responsible for constitutional matters, with power of
judicial review. It acts as the highest legal authority and ensures that legislative and judicial practice conforms to the
Constitution. It acts independently of the other state bodies, but cannot act on its own behalf.
Foreign Relations
Germany plays a leading role in the
European Union, having a strong alliance with
France. Germany is at the forefront of European states seeking to advance the creation of a more unified and capable European political, defence and security apparatus.
Since its establishment on
May 23,
1949, the Federal Republic of Germany kept a notably low profile in international relations, both because of its recent history as well as its occupied status. In 1999, however, on the occasion of the
NATO war against Yugoslavia,
Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's government broke convention by sending German troops into combat for the first time since
World War II.
Germany and the
United States have been close allies since the end of the Second World War. The
Marshall Plan and continued US support during the rebuilding process after
World War II, as well as the significant influence American culture has had on German culture, have crafted a strong bond between Germany and the US that lasts to this day. Not only do the United States and Germany share many cultural similarities but they are also deeply economically interdependent. 8.8% of all German exports are US bound, and US-German trade according to the
US Census Bureau totalled $108.2 billion for 2004. An illustration of the strong economic relations between the US and Germany may be the fact that 18.3% of all cars sold in the US were manufactured by German car manufacturers. Other signs of the close ties between Germany and the US are the fact that German-Americans remain the largest ethnic group in the US and the largest US community outside the US is the
Ramstein Air Base, close to the city of
Kaiserslautern, Germany.
Armed Forces
Germany's military, the
Bundeswehr, is a defence force with
Heer (German Army),
Marine (German Navy),
Luftwaffe (German Air Force),
Zentraler Sanitätsdienst (Central Medical Services) and
Streitkräftebasis (Joint Service Support Command) branches. It employs some 250,000 soldiers (including women in active fighting branches since 2001) and 120,000 civilians (will be reduced to 75,000). 40,000 of the soldiers are 18-23-year-old men on national duty, currently for at least 9 months. In peacetime, the Bundeswehr is commanded by the Minister of Defence, currently
Franz Josef Jung. If Germany goes to war, which is according to the Basic Law allowed only for defensive purposes, the Chancellor becomes commander in chief of the German
Bundeswehr.
The military budget has not kept up with the Bundeswehr's mission, which has changed dramatically from protecting Germany's borders against a
Soviet invasion into a mobile unit deployed around the world. The funding levels for the Bundeswehr have actually been falling since 1990, when military spending amounted to about 3.5% of gross domestic product. Today, defence spending equals about 1.2% of German GDP, compared to the
NATO average of 2.3% and the
United States' more than 4%. Critics argue that the current budget of €24.4 billion is too small to finance the necessary transformation of the Bundeswehr into a well-equipped force ready for NATO and
UN led missions abroad. Opponents argue that the transformation from a manpower based army securing the Eastern border to a modernised force with fewer soldiers on the payroll is duly reflected in a lower budget.
Currently, the German military has about 1,180 troops stationed in
Bosnia-Herzegovina; 2,650 Bundeswehr soldiers are serving in
Kosovo; and 3,900 Bundeswehr troops are assisting the
US anti-terrorism operation called
Enduring Freedom off the Horn of Africa. 4,500 German troops currently make up the largest contingent of the NATO-led
ISAF force in
Afghanistan.
Energy policy
In 2000, the German
SPD-led government along with Bündnis 90/Die Grünen (
Alliance '90/The Greens), officially announced its intention to
phase out the use of nuclear energy.
Jürgen Trittin as the Minister of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, reached an agreement with energy companies on the gradual shut down of
the country's nineteen nuclear power plants and a cessation of civil usage of
nuclear power by 2020.
In 1999, electricity production in Germany was powered by
coal (47%),
nuclear power (30%),
natural gas (14%),
renewable sources (including
hydro, wind and
solar power) (6%), and
oil (2%) ([
3]). As for energy consumption, oil accounted for 41% of the total. At the
World climate conference, the German government announced a
carbon dioxide reduction target of 25% by the year 2005 as compared to 1990, to
protect global climate.
[ ([4], pdf)] Note however, that the 1990 numbers include industrial facilities in eastern germany, most of which were soon flattened in post-1990-Germany.
In 2005, the German government reached a controversial agreement with
Russia in building a gas pipeline at the bottom of the Baltic Sea directly from Russia to Germany.
Germany leads Europe by having the greatest solar and wind electricity generating capacity on the continent.
[[5]. This achievement was boosted by the Renewable Energies Act (EEG), introduced on April 1, 2000, aimed at achieving a minimum 12% market share for renewable energy by 2010 (compared to 3.4 % in 1990). By 2005 German solar electricity capacity had reached 794 MWp (78.6% of total European capacity) [6], while wind generating capacity had reached 16,629 MWp (48.4% of European capacity) [7]. It is estimated that the renewable industries now employ, directly or indirectly, more than 120,000 people. Germany has committed to a 21% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from 1990 levels by 2012.] In terms of total installed capacity in windpower electricity Germany is the world's No.1 producer. 2005 18,427.5 MW were produced (in comparison: 2nd place Spain - 10,027 MW; 3rd place; USA - 9,141 MW). Germany's emphasis on renewable energy sources has also resulted in the founding of numerous high-tech companies developing such technologies. Germany is also the main exporter of wind turbines, the demand greatly exceeding capacity.
[Article in Financial Times Deutschland]Religion
Germany is the home of the
Reformation launched by
Martin Luther in the early 16th century. Today,
Protestants (particularly in the north and east) comprise about 33% of the population and
Catholics (particularly in the south and west) also 33%.
The
Roman Catholic Pope,
Benedict XVI, is
Bavarian. In total more than 55 million people officially belong to a
Christian denomination. The third largest religious identity in Germany is that of non-religious people (including
atheists and
agnostics (especially in former GDR)), who amount to a total of 28.5% of the population (23.5 million).
Approximately 3 million
Muslims[
8] (predominantly from
Turkey and the former
Yugoslavia) live in Germany. Most are
Sunnis and
Alevites from
Turkey but there are a small number of
Shiites.
Today's Germany has Western Europe's third-largest
Jewish population. In 2004, twice as many Jews from former
Soviet republics settled in Germany as in
Israel, bringing the total influx to more than 200,000 since 1991. About half joined a settled Jewish community, of which there are now more than 100, with a total of 100,000 membersâ€"up from 30,000 before reunification. Some German cities have seen a revival of Jewish culture, particularly in
Berlin, where there are also 3,000 Israelis. Jews have a voice in German public life through the
Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland (Central Council of Jews in Germany). Other cities with significant Jewish populations are Frankfurt and Munich.
Social issues
The German social market economy (
German:
soziale Marktwirtschaft) helped bring about the "economic miracle" (the German
"Wirtschaftswunder") that rebuilt Germany from ashes after World War II to one of the most impressive economies in Europe. Still today,
Ludwig Erhard, minister of economics in the
Adenauer administration (1949-1963) and later federal chancellor (1963-1966), is widely recognised as having been the "father" of this profound rise in the country's economic and social wealth.
Germany continues to struggle with a number of social issues, although problems created by the
German Reunification of 1990 have begun to diminish. The standard of living is higher in the western half of the country, but easterners now share a reasonably high standard of living. Germans continue to be concerned about a relatively high level of unemployment, especially in the former East German states. The country has passed several reforms to curb unemployment.
For centuries, a woman's role in German society was summed up by the three words: Kinder (children), Küche (kitchen), and Kirche (church) -
Kinder, Küche, Kirche. Throughout the twentieth century, however, women have gradually won victories in their quest for equal rights. Despite significant gains, discrimination remains in united Germany. Women are noticeably absent in the top tiers of German business. They only hold 9.2% of jobs in Germany's upper and middle management positions
[Hoppenstedt business databank 2002]. Until 2001 women were barred from serving in combat units in the Bundeswehr, being restricted to the medical service and the administration. The first woman to become chancellor is Angela Merkel, who was elected in 2005.
Since World War II, Germany has experienced intermittent turmoil from various groups. In the 1970s leftist terrorist organisations like the
Red Army Faction engaged in a string of assassinations and kidnappings against political and business figures and there has been a recent surge in right-wing nationalist crimes. According to former Interior Minister
Otto Schily, the number of these crimes rose 8.4% to 12,553 cases in 2004, which the minister attributed to such crimes as the display of illegal
Nazi symbols being reported more frequently.
Germany is also burdened with an extremely low fertility/birthrate. In recent times Germany's birth rate has plunged to the lowest level ever recorded, prompting lawmakers to ask what the state can do to encourage women to have more children. According to provisional figures from the Federal Statistics Office, 680,000 babies were born in Germany in 2005, down from a peak of 1.36 million in 1964 and fewer even than in 1945, when nearly all the country lay in rubble.
Germany has failed to implement EU laws prohibiting racial discrimination. The European Court of Justice ruled on
April 29 2005, that Germany had breached EU law by failing to transpose fully the 'Racial Equality Directive' prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of race or ethnic origin (Directive 2000/43/EC). Immigrants to Germany may generally face integration issues and other difficulties. In addition to the challenges of adapting to a new language and culture, they may be subject to security-related police inquiries and violence from right-wing nationalist groups.
Some German states have banned Muslim teachers from wearing
headscarves in class and all except Bavaria have
banned crosses from the classroom as well, generally by prohibiting the use of all
religious symbols by teachers. This is legitimate by combining the German states' privilege of educational laws with the principle of separation of church and state, both provided for in the German federal constitution: According to this legal view, teachers in their vocational function within a state administered educational system are obliged to maintain and publicly exhibit religious neutrality when on duty. As this status of employment does not hold for pupils, whose constitutional right to religious freedom thus remains unencumbered by these provisions, this ban cannot legally be extended to them as it is in
France.
Education
Germany has one of the world's highest levels of education and many famous universities. The most important foreign languages taught at school are
English,
French,
Latin,
Italian and
Ancient Greek. Some languages, such as
Russian,
Turkish,
Spanish,
Chinese,
Japanese and
Arabic are taught less widely. Since the end of
World War II, the number of youths entering
universities has more than tripled, but university attendance still lags behind many other European nations. In the annual league of top-ranking universities compiled by
Shanghai Jiaotong University in 2004, Germany came 4th overall, but with only 7 universities in the top 100 (to compare, the
United States had 51). The highest ranking university, at #45, was the
TU Munich. Most German universities are state-owned and were free of charge, however a recently passed education reform calls for fees between €300 and €500 per semester from each student, starting in 2007. Additionally university students are often supported by the so called BAföG, a federal subsidy, running as high as €290 per month as interest free credit plus €290 as direct payment.
German educational ideals differ considerably from Anglo-Saxon educational ideals, emphasising socialisation, debate, vocal participation in class and critical faculties. Consequently the results of the
PISA student assessments, that revealed comprehension of the respective subject matters only, were a shock to the German public but no surprise to many educational experts.
Participation in the official school system is compulsory; however, home-schooling is still practised by a number of people. There has been some publicity to government prosecution of this practice.
Berlin is sometimes called the "culture-capital of Europe". After Paris, it's the second most popular touristic site among Europeans.
Germany's contributions to the world's cultural heritage are numerous, and the country is often known as
das Land der Dichter und Denker (the land of poets and thinkers). German
literature can be traced back to the Middle Ages, in particular to such authors as
Walther von der Vogelweide and
Wolfram von Eschenbach, considered some of the most important poets of medieval Europe. The fairy tales by
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm are world famous and the
Nibelungenlied, whose author is not known, is also a major contribution to German literature. Theologian
Luther, who translated the Bible into German, is widely credited for having set the basis for modern "High German" language. The most admired German poets and authors are without doubt
Lessing,
Goethe,
Schiller,
Kleist and
Hoffmann. Other poets include
Friedrich Hölderlin,
Heinrich Heine,
Annette von Droste-Hülshoff,
Theodor Fontane,
Rainer Maria Rilke and authors of the 20th century include
Nobel Prize winners
Thomas Mann,
Hermann Hesse,
Heinrich Böll and
Günter Grass. Other famous authors are
Brecht and
Schmidt. Germany's influence on world
philosophy was significant as well, as exemplified by
Magnus,
Leibniz,
Kant,
Herder,
Mendelssohn,
Novalis,
Fichte,
Hegel,
Marx,
Engels,
Feuerbach,
Schopenhauer,
Schweitzer,
Nietzsche,
Husserl,
Hartmann,
Jaspers,
Luxemburg,
Heidegger,
Arendt,
Steiner,
Gadamer and
Habermas. In the field of
sociology influential German thinkers were
Tönnies,
Simmel,
Weber,
Horkheimer,
Adorno and
Luhmann.
Many historical figures, though not citizens of Germany in the modern sense, were important and influential figures in German culture, such as
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Franz Kafka and
Stefan Zweig.
German language
The
German language was once the
lingua franca of central, eastern and northern Europe. Within the
European Union, German is the language with the most native speakers, with more than English, French, Spanish and Italian, because the borders of the German language reach through
Austria and into
Switzerland. As a foreign language, German is the third most taught worldwide.[
9] It is also the second most used language on the
Internet. The language has its origin in
Old High German which is related to old English. There are numerous
dialects of German, many of which are not intelligible to speakers of standard German or a different dialect. Some consider
Low German to be a different language from German; Low German has been given the status of a minority language by the
European Union, although it is less used today in the traditionally Low German-speaking areas of northern Germany.Other dialects, which are very different from standard German are spoken in
Saxony,
Bavaria and near
Stuttgart.
Music
In the field of
music, Germany's influence is noted through the works of, among others,
Bach,
Händel,
Telemann,
Beethoven,
Mendelssohn Bartholdy,
Mozart,
Brahms,
Schumann,
Wagner,
Strauss,
Orff.
Germany has been the homeland of many great
scientists like
Helmholtz,
Fraunhofer,
Fahrenheit,
Kepler,
Copernicus,
Haeckel,
Wundt,
Virchow,
Ehrlich,
Humboldt,
Röntgen,
Braun,
Einstein,
Born,
Planck,
Heisenberg,
Creuzfeldt,
Hertz,
Koch,
Hahn,
Leibniz,
Liebig,
Mayr and
Bunsen.
It has been the home of many
inventors and
engineers such as
Gutenberg,
Otto,
Geiger,
Fick,
Lilienthal,
Bosch,
Siemens,
von Braun,
Porsche,
Maybach,
Daimler,
Zuse,
Diesel and
Benz.
Important
mathematicians were born in Germany such as
Dedekind,
Bessel,
Gauß,
Hilbert,
Jacobi,
Riemann,
Riese,
Klein,
Einstein,
Cantor,
Weierstraß and
Weyl.
Alongside other heavy industries, Germany is also a base for several major weaponsmanufacture with worldwide trade of - among others - submarines, helicopters and armoured vehicles. Examples include
Heckler & Koch, small arms manufacturer;
Rheinmetall, defence company developing and manufacturing numerous tanks and turrets, air defence systems, weapons, munitions and projectiles;
EADS, developer of
Eurofighter and
Eurocopter air vehicles, as well as other weapon systems;
Howaldtswerke, developer and manufacturer of the
Type 212 submarine and
Krauss-Maffei, developer and manufacturer of the
Leopard 2 main battle tank.
 |
Map of the German autobahn network |
Due to its central situation in Europe, the volume of traffic, especially goods transit, in Germany is very high. In the past decades, much of the freight traffic shifted from rail to road transport, which led the Federal Government to introduce a motor toll for lorries in 2005. In addition, individual traffic increased to an extent that on German roads, traffic densities are very high by international comparison. For the future, a further strong increase of traffic is expected.
High speed vehicular traffic has a long tradition in Germany, not only owing to the automobile industry, but also, because the first
Autobahn in the world, the
AVUS, and the world's first
automobile were built in Germany. Germany possesses one of the densest road systems of the world. It covers 12,037
kilometres (7,479
mi) of federal "Autobahn" motorways and 41,386 kilometres (25,716 mi) of federal highways. In contrast to other European countries, German motorways partially have no blanket
speed limit. However, signposted limits are in place on many dangerous or congested stretches, and where traffic noise or pollution poses a nuisance; some of these limits apply only at night or only in wet conditions.
Another way to travel is via rail.
Deutsche Bahn (German Rail) is the major German railway infrastructure and service operator. For commuter and regional services, franchises of various sizes are granted by the individual states, though largely financed from the federal budget. Unsubsidised long-range service operators can compete freely all over the country, at least in theory. Actually, Deutsche Bahn holds a de facto monopoly on long-range services.
The
InterCity Express or ICE is a type of high-speed train operated by Deutsche Bahn in Germany and neighbouring countries, for example to Zürich, Switzerland or Vienna, Austria. ICE trains also serve Amsterdam (The Netherlands) as well as Liège and Brussels (Belgium). In spite of branch lines progressively being closed for at least the last seven decades, the rail network throughout Germany is still very extensive and provides excellent services in most areas. On regular lines, at least one train every two hours will call even in the smallest of villages. Nearly all larger metropolitan areas are being served by an
S-Bahn heavy rail metro system. A large proportion of towns feature underground and/or tram systems. Good urban and overland bus services are ubiquitous.
Frankfurt International Airport is a major international airport and European transportation hub. Frankfurt Airport ranks among the world's top ten airports and serves 304 flight destinations in 110 countries. Depending whether total passengers, flights or cargo traffic are used to measure, it ranks as the busiest, second busiest and third busiest in Europe alongside London Heathrow Airport and Paris' Charles de Gaulle.
For an explanation of the ratings, see the corresponding article.Political and economic rankings
*
Political freedom - Free; political rights and civil liberties both rated 1 (the highest score available)
*
Press freedom - 18th freest in the world at 4.00
*
GDP per capita (PPP) - 17th highest in the world at
I$30,579
*
Human Development Index - 20th highest in the world at 0.930
*
Income equality - 14th most equal income at 28.3 (
Gini index)
*
Literacy rate - Equal 1st with 99.9 %
*
Unemployment rate - 80th lowest with 10.60 %
*
Corruption - 16th lowest with a rating of 8.2
*
Economic freedom - Equal 19th freest with a rating of 1.96
Health rankings
*
Fertility rate - 171st most fertile country with a rating of 1.39 per woman
*
Birth rate - 192nd most births per capita at 8.33 per 1000 people
*
Infant mortality - 11th least infant deaths with a rating of 4.16 per 1000 births
*
Death rate - 55th highest with a rating of 10.55 deaths per 1000 people
*
Life expectancy - 23rd highest with 78.80 years
*
Suicide rate - 28th highest with 20.4 for men, 7.0 for women and 13.5 total
Other rankings
*
CO² emissions per capita - 34th highest with 9,8 metric tons per capita
*
Electricity consumption - 7th highest with 510,400,000,000 kWh
*
Broadband uptake - 18th highest with 13.0 %
*
Beer consumption - 3rd largest with 115.8 l per capita
*
Communications in Germany*
East Germany*
German federal election, 2005*
2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany*
German model*
Historical Eastern Germany*
List of English exonyms for German toponyms*
List of famous Germans*
List of German districts*
List of German towns*
List of Germans -
German people*
List of political parties in Germany*
List of universities in Germany*
Major power - Germany*
Names for Germany*
Nuclear power phase-out*
Scouting in Germany*
Taxation in Germany*
Tourism in Germany*
Transportation in Germany*
West Germany*
German-Japanese relations*
Sino-German cooperation.
*
Overview of Germany project pages
*
Deutschland.de â€" Official German portal
*
German Embassy News Portal for the US*
History of Germany: Primary Documents*
Travel to Germany - by Wikitravel.org
*
Facts about Germany â€" by the German Federal Foreign Office
*
A manual for Germany â€" by the German Government Representative for Migration, Refugees and Integration
*
Destatis.de â€" Federal Statistical Office Germany (in English)
*
The Germans explained and
Take it from a German - Essays about German ideosyncrasies, from
Der Spiegel.
*
Apply in Germany (pdf)
*
Find out about Germany- by the German Education Server
*
Webcams in Germany*
Jean Edward Smith,
Germany Beyond The Wall: People, Politics, and Prosperity, Boston: Little, Brown, & Company, 1969.
*
Jean Edward Smith,
Lucius D. Clay: An American Life, New York: Henry, Holt, & Company, 1990.
*
Jean Edward Smith,
The Defense Of Berlin, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1963.
*
Jean Edward Smith,
The Papers Of Lucius D. Clay, 2 Vols., Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1974.
*
George Donaldson,
Germany: A Complete History., New York: Gotham Books, 1985.
*
Hajo Holborn.
A MODERN HISTORY OF GERMANY; Princeton University Press;
**
Volume I: The Reformation; 1959/1982; LCC 82-0126::: ISBN 0-691-05357-X (Hardcover).::: ISBN 0-691-00795-0 (Softcover).
**
Volume II: 1648-1840; 1964/1982; LCC 82-0126::: ISBN 0-691-05358-8 (Hardcover).::: ISBN 0-691-00796-9 (Softcover).
**
Volume III: 1840-1945; 1969/1982; LCC 82-0126::: ISBN 0-691-05359-6 (Hardcover).::: ISBN 0-691-00797-7 (Softcover).
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