GERMANY

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Germany (German: Deutschland), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland), is a country located 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.

Germany is a democratic parliamentary federal republic, made up of 16 states (German: Bundesländer), which in certain spheres act independently of the federation. Historically consisting of several sovereign nations with their own history, culture and religion, 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. Germany also plays a role as one of the world's major powers.

Map of Germany

History

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 BC–AD 300)

The ethnogenesis of the Germanic tribes is assumed to have occurred 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 whilst maintaining their national identity. In AD 9 a Roman army led by Publius Quinctilius Varus was defeated 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 AD 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 finally 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, which replaced the Roman Empire in Western Europe.

The Holy Roman Empire of German Nation (843–1806)

The medieval empire—since 1448 officially called the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation ("Sacrum Romanum Imperium Nationis Germanicae") but often referred to as the Holy Roman Empire (or the Old Empire) —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 Holy Roman Empire absorbed the duchies of Lorraine, Saxony, Franconia, Swabia, Thuringia and Bavaria. 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). In 1806 the Imperium was overrun and dissolved as a result of the Napoleonic Wars.

Restoration and revolution (1814–1871)

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.

Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Federal Republic of Germany

 

Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit (German: "Unity and Justice and Freedom”)
Anthem: The third stanza of Das Lied der Deutschen
Capital	Berlin 52°31′N 13°24′E
Largest city	Berlin
Official language(s)	German 1
Government	Federal Republic
• President  • Chancellor  • Vice Chancellor	Horst Köhler Angela Merkel (CDU) Franz Müntefering (SPD)
Formation  •Holy Roman Empire  •German Empire  •Federal Republic  •Reunification	843 (Treaty of Verdun) January 18, 1871 May 23, 1949 October 3, 1990
Accession to EU	March 25, 1953 (West G.) October 3, 1990 (East G.)
Area
- Total	357,050 km² (63rd)
	137,858 sq mi
- Water (%)	2.416
Population
- 2005 est.	82,689,000 (14th)
- 2000 census	N/A
- Density	230.9/km² (34th) 598.5/sq mi
GDP (PPP)	2005 estimate
- Total	$2,521,699 million (5th)
- Per capita	$30,579 (17th)
HDI (2003)	0.930 (20th) – high
Currency	Euro (€) 2 (EUR)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Internet TLD	.de
Calling code	+49

German Empire (1871–1918)

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 Austria—Kleindeutschland. After 1888, the Year of Three Emperors, Bismarck was forced by the new emperor, young Wilhelm II, to quit in 1890 due to political and personal differences. 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 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. Austria and Germany became increasingly isolated.

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 and as a continuation of the war by other means.

Weimar Republic (1919–1933)

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. 1920s Berlin was a vibrant and exciting city that flourished with the activity of artists, intellectuals and scientists, during the Weimar Republic; many considered it to be the cultural capital of the world during this time.

In a climate of economic hardship due to both the world wide Great Depression and the harsh peace conditions dictated by the Treaty of Versailles, and growing tired with a long succession of more or less unstable governments and continuous coalition changes, 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, decried the Revolutionists as traitors (Novemberverbrecher = November criminals) and the political system born of the Revolution as illegitimate. 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 (Communists). In the two extraordinary elections of 1932, the Nazis achieved 37.2% and 33.0%, while the Communists achieved 17% in the latter election - half of the parliament was actually anti-democratic, not including smaller parties with questionable credentials in this respect. As a result, democratic moderate parties like the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) were left with a minority.

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. Meanwhile, elitists in influential positions, alarmed by the rise of anti-governmental parties, fought amongst themselves and exploited the emergency authority provided in the Weimar Constitution to rule undemocratically by presidential decree.

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.

Geography

Germany is located in Central Europe and shares borders with Denmark in the North, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France in the West, Austria and Swiss in the South and Poland and Czechia in the East. The North Sea and the Baltic Sea represent additional National Borders in the North.

Geographic coordinates:

51°00′N 9°00′E

Map references: Europe

Area

• Total: 357,021 km² (137,850 mi²)

• Land: 349,223 km² (134,835 mi²)

• Water: 7,798 km² (3,010 mi²)

Classification

Germany's climate is temperate overall and marine in the northern reaches; characterised by cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers and occasional warm föhn winds. The greater part of Germany lies in the cool/temperate climatic zone in which humid westerly winds predominate.

In the northwest and the north the climate is extremely oceanic, subject to active Baltic Sea spawned fogs and-or low clouds and some significant rain falls nearly all the year round, so winters there are relatively mild and summers comparatively cool due to the influence of the Baltic.

In the east the climate shows clear continental features; winters can be very cold for long periods, and summers can become very warm, and long dry periods are often recorded.

In the centre and the south there is a transitional climate (i.e. a mix) which may be predominantly oceanic or continental, according to the general seasonal prevailing wind patterns influencing the local weather situation.

Federal States (Bundesländer)

Germany is divided into sixteen states (in German called Länder, singular Land; commonly Bundesländer, singular Bundesland). It is further subdivided into 439 districts (Kreise) and cities (kreisfreie Städte) (2004).

The five largest cities in Germany (population as of March 31, 2005):

1. Berlin (capital of Germany) with 3,391,407 inhabitants

2. Hamburg with 1,736,752 inhabitants

3. Munich with 1,397,537 inhabitants

4. Cologne with 975,907 inhabitants

5. Frankfurt am Main with 657,126 inhabitants

The five largest metropolitan areas in Germany (population as of January 1, 2005):

1. Rhein-Ruhr with 11,785,196 inhabitants

2. Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region with 5,822,383 inhabitants

3. Berlin with 4,262,480 inhabitants

4. Hamburg with 3,278,635 inhabitants

5. Stuttgart with 2,344,989 inhabitants

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. 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

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 28 degrees Celsius (82 °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 −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 (86 °F) are possible. Average temperatures: Munich: January −2.2 °C (28 °F) / July 17.6 °C (64 °F); Freiburg: January 1.2 °C (34 °F) / July 19.4 °C (67 °F)

Demographics

Due to the country's federal and decentralised structure Germany has a number of larger cities. The most populous cities of Germany 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 2004, about 7.5 million foreign citizen residents were living in Germany. The majority came from Turkey, followed by Italy, Greece, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Netherlands, Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Spain, Austria, Portugal, Vietnam, Morocco, Poland, Macedonia, Lebanon and France. [6] Thanks to reform of German nationality law, many of these immigrants are eligible for naturalisation ([7]).

Germany is still a primary destination for political and economic refugees from many less industrialised countries, especially Turkey and Southern/Southeastern Europe, but the number of annual asylum seekers has been declining in recent years, reaching about 50,000+ in 2003.

An ethnic Danish minority of about 50,000 people lives in Schleswig, most of them close to the Danish border, in the north; a small number of Slavic people known as the Sorbs lives in the states of Saxony (about 40,000) and Brandenburg (about 20,000). The Frisian language is mother tongue to about 12,000 speakers in Germany. In rural areas of Northern Germany, Low German is widely spoken.

There are also a large number of ethnic German immigrants from the former Soviet Union area (1.7 million), Poland (0.7 million) and Romania (0.3 million) (1980–1999 totals), who are automatically granted German citizenship, and thus do not show up in foreign resident statistics; unlike non-ethnic German immigrants, they have been settled by the government almost evenly spread throughout Germany.

Economy

Germany is the largest European economy and the third largest economy in the world in real terms, placed behind the United States, and Japan. According to the World Trade Organization, Germany is also the world's top exporter, ahead of the United States and China. Its major trading partners include France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy and the Netherlands. Germany is the largest trading partner of most European countries. A major issue of concern remains the persistently high unemployment rate and weak domestic demand which slows down economic growth.

However, according to Bert Rürup, head of Germany's Council of Economic Advisers, reunification is to blame for two-thirds of Germany's growth lag compared to its EU neighbours. In particular, eastern Germany lacks a solid base of small and medium-sized companies, which provided the foundation for West Germany's economic prosperity. Domestic demand has stagnated for many years due to wage stagnation and zealous cost-cutting by the federal state. The missing demand has caused many of the prevalent economic problems, such as rising unemployment, high social security costs, and, ironically, high state debt as tax revenues plummeted and social security cost rose. The missing demand is also due to a internationally high savings rate.

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.

Frankfurt is Germany's financial centre

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.These shortages have long made international trade completely indispensable to the German economy. Overtaking the United States in 2003, Germany is now the world's largest exporter of goods with $1.016 trillion exported in 2005.

Germany's main exports:

• Machinery

• Vehicles

• Chemicals

• Metals and Manufactures

• Foodstuffs

• Consumer electronics

• Textiles

• Electricity

• Beer

Imports

As a nation that relies heavily on international trade, Germany also imports a wide variety of goods. Germany is the world's second largest importer of goods with a total of $801 billion in imports.

Germany's main imports are:

• Machinery

• Vehicles

• Chemicals

• Foodstuffs

• Textiles

• Metals

CIA Factbook 2005

Agriculture

For many years now, agriculture in Germany has been in a state of decline. Poor earnings and lack of profitability are counted as the main reasons for the failure of many medium and small farms. The main crops grown are potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets and rapeseed. Germany ranks among the world's largest producers of milk, dairy products and meat. Agricultural support is managed under the EU Common Agricultural Policy.

Industrial sector

As in most other large economic nations, Germany's industrial sector has declined in favour of the service sector. Germany is among the world's largest and most technologically advanced producers of iron, steel, cement, chemicals, machinery, motor vehicles, machine tools and electronics, as well as a world leader in the shipping business. Major car manufacturers like BMW, DaimlerChrysler (Mercedes), Opel (owned by GM), Porsche and Volkswagen AG (including Audi, and more non-German brands) are German. Germany is also home to huge multinational corporations like BASF, Bosch, E.ON, Deutsche Telekom (with its subsidiary T-Mobile) and Siemens AG, which consistently rank among the world's largest firms.

Service sector

The service sector has grown steadily in recent years and now contributes the largest share of GDP. This sector includes tourism. As of 2004, the largest numbers of foreign visitors to Germany came from the Netherlands, followed by the United States and the United Kingdom ([8]). Germany also has a large (and possibly underrated) presence in the banking world, led by Deutsche Bank and Allianz.

Natural resources

Germany is lacking in natural raw materials, if one disregards the hard coal deposits in the Ruhr area, in the Aachen district and in the Saarland, where mining is profitable only thanks to state subsidies. Brown coal from mines in the Leipziger Bucht and the Niederlausitz is still the major energy source in the eastern states, while petroleum enjoys this position in the western "Länder". The previous red-green (1998-2005) coalition government was pursuing a long-term strategy of phasing out nuclear power by 2020 in favour of renewable sources of energy. The current coalition has not yet agreed on its nuclear policy.

Politics

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.

The Judiciary of Germany is independent of the executive and the legislature. The political system is laid out in the 1949 constitution, 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.

In 2003, France, Germany and Russia were leaders in the coalition of nations opposing the US-led war in Iraq. Nevertheless, the German government has offered help to the reconstruction efforts in Iraq, but only outside of the war-torn country, mainly by training Iraqi military and police personnel.

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.

German Heer Leopard 2A6 tank

Armed Forces

Germany's mili