Germany

"Deutschland" redirects here. For other uses, see Deutschland (disambiguation).

Federal Republic of Germany [Bundesrepublik Deutschland] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: [Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (German for "Unity and Justice and Freedom”)
Anthem: [Das Lied der Deutschen] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (3rd stanza) also called [Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)
Capital and largest city	Berlin
Official languages	German 1
Government	Federal Republic
• President	Horst Köhler
• Chancellor	Angela Merkel (CDU)
Formation
• Holy Roman Empire	843 (Treaty of Verdun)
• German Confederation	June 8 1815
• Prussian rule	January 18 1871
• Federal Republic	May 23 1949
• Reunification	October 3 1990
• Water (%)	2.416
Population
• 2005 estimate	82,438,000 (14th)
• 2000 census	n/a
GDP (PPP)	2005 estimate
• Total	$2.522 trillion (5th)
• Per capita	$30,579 (17th)
GDP (nominal)	2005 estimate
• Total	$2.797 trillion (3rd)
• Per capita	$33,854 (19th)
HDI (2004)	0.932  (21st)
Currency	Euro (€)2 (EUR)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Calling code	49
ISO 3166 code	DE
Internet TLD	.de 3
1 Danish, Low German, Sorbian, Romany and Frisian are officially recognised and protected as minority languages by the ECRML. 2 Prior to 1999 (introduction of the euro as legal tender) and 2002 (introduction of the euro as physical notes and coins): Deutsche Mark. 3 The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European Union member states.

Germany (German: Deutschland IPA: [ˈdɔɪtʃlant]), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: , IPA: [ˈbʊndəsrepubliːk ˈdɔɪtʃlant]), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered on the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea, on the east by Poland and the Czech Republic, on the south by Austria and Switzerland, and on the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Germany is a democratic parliamentary federal republic of 16 states ([Bundesländer] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)). The country previously consisted of several sovereign states with their own history, culture, and religious affiliation. Germany was first unified as a nation-state amidst the Franco-Prussian War in 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 has the largest population and largest economy of all European Union member states. Germany is both the world's third largest economy and its largest exporter of goods.

History

Main article: History of Germany

Antiquity

Main articles: Germanic peoples and Germania

The ethnogenesis of the Germanic tribes is thought to have occurred during the Nordic Bronze Age, or at the latest, during the Pre-Roman Iron Age. The tribes began to extend south, east and west from southern Scandinavia and what is now northern Germany in the first century BC. Under Augustus, the Roman General Publius Quinctilius Varus invaded Germania, and it was in this period that the Germanic tribes became familiar with Roman tactics of warfare. Due to a series of defeats of Roman legions at the hands of Germanic forces, the greater part of what is now known Germany, as far as the Rhine and the Danube, remained outside the Roman Empire. By AD 100 Germanic tribes settled along the Rhine and Danube rivers, occupying most of the area of modern Germany. The frontier was defined by the Rhine and Danube, and by a series of forts, the Limes Germanicus. The 3rd century saw the emergence of several large West Germanic tribes: Alamanni, Franks, Chatti, Saxons, Frisians, Sicambri, and Thuringii. Around AD 260, the Germanic peoples broke through the Roman frontier.

Holy Roman Empire

Main article: Holy Roman Empire

The seven prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. From a 1341 parchment

The medieval Holy Roman Empire stemmed from the division in 843 of the Carolingian Empire, which had been founded by Charlemagne in 800. The Holy Roman Empire existed in varying forms until 1806, its territory stretching from the Eider River 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 the German king was crowned Holy Roman Emperor of these regions in 962. Under the Salian and Hohenstaufen emperors, the empire absorbed northern Italy and Burgundy and extended its influence south and east into territories inhabited by Slavs. During this period northern German towns grew prosperous as members of the Hanseatic League. The Golden Bull of 1356 provided the basic constitution of the empire until its dissolution. It codified the election of the emperor by seven prince-electors who ruled some of the most powerful principalities and archbishoprics. From the 15th century onwards, the emperors were elected nearly exclusively from the Habsburg dynasty of Austria.

In 1517 the monk Martin Luther wrote 95 Theses questioning the Roman Catholic Church, thereby sparking the Protestant Reformation. The Lutheran church emerged and became established in many states of Germany, following the example of the Duchy of Prussia in 1530. Religious conflict led to the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), which devastated German lands. The Peace of Westphalia (1648) ended religious warfare in Germany, but the empire was greatly weakened by its de facto division into numerous independent principalities. From 1740 onward, the century-old France-Habsburg rivalry was replaced by a dualism between the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy and a new power, the Kingdom of Prussia. As a result of the Napoleonic Wars, the Holy Roman Empire was overrun and dissolved in 1806.

Revolution and Second German Empire

Main articles: German Confederation and German Empire

Following the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, the Congress of Vienna convened in 1814 and founded the German Confederation, a loose league of 39 sovereign states. The rise of liberal and nationalist movements was in part a consequence of disagreement with moves to restore the states to their pre-Napoleonic independence. These movements were subject to repression by the Austrian statesman, Metternich but a series of revolutionary movements in Europe were started by intellectuals, culminating in the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states. The monarchs initially yielded to the revolutionaries' liberal demands and King Frederick William IV of Prussia was offered the title of Emperor, though with a loss of power. He rejected the crown and the proposed constitution, leading to a temporary setback for the revolutionary movement. In the Second War of Schleswig against Denmark in 1864, Bismarck, the new Prime Minister of Prussia who had been appointed in 1862, gained control over Schleswig and Holstein. The territory was then jointly administered with the Austrian Empire, but tensions between the two powers soon led to the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. A quick Prussian victory enabled Bismarck to create the North German Confederation and to exclude Austria from the affairs of the remaining Southern German states, which had supported Austria.

Foundation of modern Germany at Versailles in 1871. Bismarck is in white in the middle. Painting by Anton Alexander von Werner, 1877

The French Emperor declared the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 but was defeated by Prussian and Southern German forces. The effect of the French attack was to unify the German states under Prussian leadership. German Empire (Deutsches Kaiserreich) was proclaimed in Versailles on January 18 1871. The Hohenzollern, the dynasty of Prussia, ruled the new empire, whose capital was Berlin. The empire encompassed all previously scattered parts of Germany except Austria, a concept known as Kleindeutschland, or "Lesser Germany". In the Gründerzeit (Founding Era) following this unification of Germany, Bismarck's foreign policy secured Germany's position as a great power by forging alliances, isolating France through diplomatic means, and avoiding war. Nevertheless, Germany also set upon an imperialistic course like other European powers and in 1884 began establishing colonies outside Europe. These actions eventually caused friction with neighbouring countries, such that most alliances in which Germany had previously been involved were not renewed and new alliances excluded the country. Significantly, France established new relationships by signing the Entente Cordiale with the United Kingdom and securing ties with the Russian Empire. Consequently, apart from its contacts with Austria-Hungary, Germany became increasingly isolated.

The assassination of Austria's crown prince on July 28 1914 triggered a series of events leading to World War I. Fearing attack by Russia, Germany tried to first eliminate Russia's ally, France, by invading via Belgium but thereby also brought the United Kingdom into the conflict. Fighting on two fronts, Germany, as part of the unsuccessful Central Powers, suffered defeat at the hands of the Allied Powers in one of the bloodiest conflicts of all time. The German Revolution broke out in November 1918, and Emperor William II and all German ruling princes abdicated. An armistice putting an end to the war was signed on November 11, and Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919. Its negotiation, contrary to traditional post-war diplomacy, excluded the defeated Central Powers. Germans resented what they called the Versailles diktat, and its harshness is often cited as having facilitated the later rise of Nazism. After the success of the German Revolution in November 1918, a republic was proclaimed. The Weimar Constitution came into effect with its signing by President Friedrich Ebert on August 11, 1919. The German Communist Party was established by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht in 1918, and the German Workers Party, later known as the National Socialist German Workers Party or Nazi Party, was founded in January 1919.

Nazi Germany

Main articles: Nazi Germany and History of Germany during World War II

Suffering from the Great Depression, 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 the country's system of parliamentary democracy. This was exacerbated by a widespread right-wing (monarchist, völkisch, and Nazi) Dolchstoßlegende (backstabbing legend), a political myth which claimed that Germany lost World War I because of domestic treachery rather than military failure. On the other hand, radical left-wing communists such as the Spartacist League sought to abolish what they perceived as "capitalist rule" in favour of a Räterepublik of workers' councils. Paramilitary forces were assembled by several parties and thousands of politically motivated murders occurred. These forces intimidated voters and seeded violence and anger among the public, which suffered from high unemployment and poverty. After a succession of unsuccessful cabinets, President Paul von Hindenburg, seeing few alternatives and pushed by right-wing advisors, appointed Adolf Hitler Chancellor of Germany on January 29, 1933.

Adolf Hitler with Benito Mussolini in Axis-occupied Yugoslavia

Basic democratic rights were quickly abrogated under an emergency decree after the Reichstag was set on fire on February 27, 1933. An already persecuted and fragmented opposition was completely neutralised by the passing of the Enabling Act on 23 March, 1933 through the Reichstag, giving Hitler's government full legislative power. A centralised totalitarian single-party state was established, and industry was closely regulated in order to set the economy on a war footing. In violation of the Treaty of Versailles, German troops entered the demilitarised Rhineland in 1936, but there were no repercussions from the Treaty's signatories. Emboldened by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's appeasement policies, Hitler followed a policy of expansionism to establish Greater Germany, beginning with the annexations of Austria, the Sudetenland, and the Memel Territory. To avoid another war on two fronts, he concluded the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with the Soviet Union in August 1939. In what later became known as the Holocaust, the Nazi regime enacted governmental policies directly subjugating many sectors of society: Jews, Slavs, Roma, homosexuals, freemasons, political dissidents, priests, preachers, religious opponents, and the disabled, amongst others. About 11 million people were murdered in the Holocaust, including more than 6 million Jews.

Its territorial ambitions led Nazi Germany to launch a blitzkrieg against Poland on September 1, 1939. Two days later the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany, marking the beginning of World War II. However Germany quickly gained direct or indirect control of most of Western Europe, with the exception of the United Kingdom. On June 22, 1941, Hitler broke the pact with the Soviet Union by opening the Eastern Front and invading the Soviet Union. Germany declared war on the United States on 11 December, 1941 after Japan attacked the American base at Pearl Harbor. Although the German army rapidly advanced into the surprised Soviet Union, the Battle of Stalingrad marked a major turning point in the war. The German army then began to retreat on the Eastern Front. Heavy aerial bombardment by the RAF and U.S. Air Force, and the opening of a new front after a massive invasion in Normandy by American, British and Canadian forces put further pressure on Germany. After the Red Army occupied Berlin, Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945.

Division and reunification (1945-90)

Main article: History of Germany since 1945

File:Adenauer.jpg

Konrad Adenauer, the first Chancellor of Germany after World War II

The war resulted in the deaths of nearly ten million German soldiers and civilians, the destruction of major German cities, and large territorial losses to East European countries. The expulsion of about 15 million Germans from these territories resulted in additional chaos and loss of life. The Allies partitioned Germany and Berlin into four military occupation zones. The sectors controlled by France, the United Kingdom, and the United States were merged to form the Federal Republic of Germany on May 23, 1949; the Soviet Union established the German Democratic Republic on October 7, 1949. The two states were known informally as "West Germany" and "East Germany", respectively.

West Germany, with its capital in Bonn, established a liberal parliamentary republic with a "social market economy" and was allied with the U.S., the UK, and France. The country came to enjoy prolonged economic growth from the early 1950s, known as Wirtschaftswunder. The recovery occurred largely because of the previously forbidden currency reform of June 1948, and from 1949 onwards partly through U.S. assistance in the form of Marshall Plan loans. Led by Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, West Germany joined NATO in 1955 and was a founding member of the European Economic Community in 1958. East Germany was at first occupied by, and later (May 1955) allied with, the Soviet Union. East Germany established an authoritarian government with a Soviet-style command economy. It soon became the richest and most advanced country in the Warsaw Pact, but many of its citizens looked to the West for political freedoms and economic prosperity. In 1961 the East German government began construction of the Berlin Wall to stop Germans from escaping from the East German capital to West Germany; the Wall soon became an icon of the Cold War. Tensions between East and West Germany were reduced in the early 1970s by Chancellor Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik, which included the de facto acceptance of Germany's territorial losses in World War II.

File:Berlin-wall-dancing.jpg

The Berlin Wall that had partitioned Berlin in front of the Brandenburg Gate shortly after the opening of the wall

In the face of mass demonstrations and a growing migration of East Germans to West Germany via Hungary, East German authorities unexpectedly eased the border restrictions in November 1989, allowing East German citizens to travel to the West. This accelerated the reform process in East Germany. German reunification occurred on October 3, 1990 under the political leadership of West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, with Berlin again becoming the capital. The reunited Germany has taken a leading role in the European Union and NATO. Germany has contributed to peacekeeping forces in the Balkans and to NATO efforts to provide security in Afghanistan after the ousting of the Taliban. Germany has been one of the strongest supporters of the new EU Constitution, even after its rejection by French and Dutch voters. In 2006, the CDU/CSU and SPD coalition emerged from the early Parliamentary elections of 2005 and elected Angela Merkel Chancellor of Germany, making her the first woman to serve in this capacity in the country's history.

Government

The Bundestag in Berlin. Speaking is U.S. President George W. Bush

Germany is a federal, parliamentary, representative democratic republic. The German political system operates under a framework laid out in the 1949 constitutional document known as the Grundgesetz ("Basic Law"). Amendments to the Grundgesetz require a two-thirds majority of both chambers of parliament; the articles guaranteeing fundamental rights, a democratic state, and the right to resist attempts to overthrow the constitution are valid in perpetuity and cannot be amended. The Grundgesetz remained in effect, with minor amendments, after German reunification in 1990.

The Chancellor is the head of government and exercises executive power. Federal legislative power is vested in both the government and a bicameral parliament, comprised of the Bundestag ("Federal Diet") and Bundesrat ("Federal Council"). The Bundestag is elected through direct elections; the members of the Bundesrat represent the governments of the 16 federal states and are members of the state cabinets, which appoint them and can remove them at any time.

Since 1949, the party system has been dominated by the Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party of Germany although smaller parties, such as the liberal Free Democratic Party (which has had members in the Bundestag since 1949) and the Alliance '90/The Greens (which has controlled seats in parliament since 1983) have also played important roles.

The German head of state is the President of Germany, elected by the Bundesversammlung (federal convention), an institution consisting of the members of the Bundestag and an equal number of state delegates. The second highest official in the German order of precedence is the President of the Bundestag, who is elected by the Bundestag itself. He is responsible for overseeing the daily sessions of the body. The third-highest official and the head of government is the chancellor. He or she is nominated by the President of Germany and elected by the Bundestag. If necessary, he or she can be removed by a constructive motion of no confidence of the Bundestag, with constructive referring to the fact that the Bundestag has to elect a successor in such a case.

Legal system

Main article: Judiciary of Germany

The Federal Constitutional Court of Germany in Karlsruhe

The Judiciary of Germany is independent of the executive and the legislative branches. Germany has a civil or statute law system that is based on Roman law with some references to Germanic law. Legislative power is divided between the Federation and the individual federated states. Criminal law and private law are codified on the national level in the Strafgesetzbuch and the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch respectively. Many of the fundamental matters in administrative law remain in the jurisdiction of the individual federated states, though most states follow the 1976 Verwaltungsverfahrensgesetz (Administrative Proceedings Law) in important points of administrative law. Germany's supreme court system is specialised. 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 Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court), 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

Main article: Foreign relations of Germany

File:ChiracMerkelPutin.jpg

Chancellor Angela Merkel meeting with French president Jacques Chirac and Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Germany has played a leading role in the European Union since its inception and has maintained a strong alliance with France since the end of World War II. The alliance was especially close in the late 1980s and early 1990s under the leadership of Helmut Kohl and François Mitterrand. 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, because of both its recent history and its occupation by foreign powers. During the Cold War, Germany's partition by the Iron Curtain made it a symbol of East-West tensions and a political battleground in Europe. However, Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik was a key factor in the détente of the 1970s. In 1999 Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's government defined a new basis for German foreign policy by taking a full part in the decisions surrounding the NATO war against Yugoslavia and by sending German troops into combat for the first time since World War II.

The Federal Republic of Germany and the United States have been close allies since the end of the World War II. The Marshall Plan, the continued U.S. support during the rebuilding process after World War II, and the significant influence of American culture in Germany have crafted a strong bond between the two countries, although Schröder's very vocal opposition to the Iraq war signalled the end of Atlanticism and a relative cooling of German-American relations. The two countries are also deeply interdependent economically; 8.8% of German exports are U.S.-bound and 6.6% of German imports originate from the U.S. Other signs of the close ties include the continuing position of German-Americans as the largest ethnic group in the U.S. and the status of Ramstein Air Base, close to the city of Kaiserslautern as the largest U.S. military community outside the U.S.

Military

Main article: Bundeswehr

A German infantryman stands at the ready with his G36 during a practice exercise in 2004. U.S. troops watch in the background. All rifles in photo are equiped with blank firing adapters. (Photo: U.S. Navy)

Germany's military, the Bundeswehr, is a defence force with Heer (Army), Marine (Navy), Luftwaffe (Air Force), Zentraler Sanitätsdienst (Central Medical Services) and Streitkräftebasis (Joint Service Support Command) branches. Military Service is compulsory for men at the age of 18 and conscripts serve nine-month tours of duty. In 2003, military spending constituted 1.5% of the country's GDP. In peacetime, the Bundeswehr is commanded by the Minister of Defence, currently Franz Josef Jung. If Germany goes to war, which according to the constitution is allowed only for defensive purposes, the Chancellor becomes commander in chief of the Bundeswehr.

As of October 2006 the German military had almost 9,000 troops stationed in foreign countries as part of various international peacekeeping forces, including 1,180 troops stationed in Bosnia-Herzegovina; 2,844 Bundeswehr soldiers in Kosovo; 750 soldiers stationed as a part of EUFOR in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and 2,800 German troops making up the largest contingent of the NATO-led ISAF force in Afghanistan.

Administrative divisions

Main articles: Administrative Divisions of Germany and States of 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).

States of Germany

States of Germany (Animation)

In English			In German
State		Capital	State	Capital
1	Baden-Württemberg	Stuttgart	Baden-Württemberg	Stuttgart
2	(Free State of) Bavaria	Munich	(Freistaat) Bayern	München
3	Berlin	Berlin	Berlin	Berlin
4	Brandenburg	Potsdam	Brandenburg	Potsdam
5	(Free Hanseatic City of) Bremen	Bremen	(Freie Hansestadt) Bremen	Bremen
6	(Free and Hanseatic City of) Hamburg	Hamburg	(Freie und Hansestadt) Hamburg	Hamburg
7	Hesse	Wiesbaden	Hessen	Wiesbaden
8	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	Schwerin	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	Schwerin
9	Lower Saxony	Hanover	Niedersachsen	Hannover
10	North Rhine-Westphalia	Düsseldorf	Nordrhein-Westfalen	Düsseldorf
11	Rhineland-Palatinate	Mainz	Rheinland-Pfalz	Mainz
12	Saarland	Saarbrücken	Saarland	Saarbrücken
13	(Free State of) Saxony	Dresden	(Freistaat) Sachsen	Dresden
14	Saxony-Anhalt	Magdeburg	Sachsen-Anhalt	Magdeburg
15	Schleswig-Holstein	Kiel	Schleswig-Holstein	Kiel
16	(Free State of) Thuringia	Erfurt	(Freistaat) Thüringen	Erfurt

Geography and climate

Main article: Geography of Germany

Altitude levels

Germany has the largest population in Europe, after the European parts of Russia, and is seventh in area. The territory of Germany covers 357,021 km² (137,850 mi²), of which land makes up 349,223 km² (134,835 mi²) and water makes up 7,798 km² (3,010 mi²). Elevation ranges from the 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. Between lie the forested uplands of central Germany and the low-lying lands of northern Germany (lowest point: 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. Because of its central location, Germany shares borders with more European countries than any other country on the continent. 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.

The scenery in the Alps of southern Bavaria

Most of Germany has a cool, temperate climate in which humid westerly winds predominate. The climate is moderated by the North Atlantic Drift, which is the northern extension of the Gulf Stream. This warmer water affects the areas bordering the North Sea including the peninsula of Jutland in north Germany and the area along the Rhein, which flows into the North Sea. Consequently in the north-west and the north, the climate is oceanic; rainfall occurs year round with a maximum during summer. Winters there are mild and summers tend to be cool, though temperatures can exceed 30 °C (86 °F) for prolonged periods. In the east, the climate is more continental; winters can be very cold, summers can be very warm, and long dry periods are often recorded. Central and the southern Germany is a transition region which varies from moderately oceanic to continental. The maximum temperature can exceed 30 °C (86 °F) in summer.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Germany

Frankfurt am Main — popularly referred to as "Mainhattan", drawing clear parallels to Manhattan — is Germany's financial centre.

Germany is the largest economy in Europe and the third largest economy in the world, behind the United States and Japan. It is ranked fifth in the world in terms of purchasing power parity. The export of goods is an essential part of the German economy and one of the main factors of its wealth. According to the World Trade Organization, Germany is the world's top exporter with $912 billion exported in 2005 (Germany's exports to other eurozone countries are included in this total). It is second in imports only to the United States and has a large trade surplus (160.6 billion euros in 2005). In the trade of services (tourism, financial services, engineering, etc) it ranks second behind the United States. Most of the country's exports are in engineering, especially in automobiles, machinery, and chemical goods. In terms of total capacity to generate electricity from windpower, Germany is first in the world and it is also the main exporter of wind turbines.

Although problems created by the German Reunification of 1990 have begun to diminish, the standard of living remains higher in the western half of the country. Germans continue to be concerned about a relatively high level of unemployment, especially in the former East German states where unemployment tops 18%. In spite of its extremely good performance in international trade, domestic demand has stalled for many years because of stagnating wages and consumer insecurity. Germany's government runs a restrictive fiscal policy and has cut numerous regular jobs in the public sector. But while regular employment in the public sector shrank, "irregular" government employment such as "one euro" jobs (temporary low-wage positions), government supported self-employment, and job training increased.

Demographics

Main articles: Demographics of Germany and Social issues in Germany

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

Germany is facing major demographic change. Its fertility rate of 1.39 children per mother is one of the lowest in the world, and the federal statistics office estimates the population will shrink to approximately 75 million by 2050. Chemnitz is thought to be the city with the lowest birth rate in the world. Germany has a number of larger cities, the most populous being Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt and Stuttgart. By far the largest conurbation is the Rhine-Ruhr region, including the Düsseldorf-Cologne district and the cities of Essen, Dortmund, Duisburg and Bochum.

Protestants (concentrated in the north and east) and Roman Catholics (concentrated in the south and west) each comprise about 31% of the population. The current Roman Catholic Pope, Benedict XVI, was born in Bavaria. In total, more than 55 million people officially belong to a Christian denomination. Non-religious people including atheists and agnostics amount to 28.5% of the population and are especially numerous in the former East Germany. About three million Muslims live in Germany. Most are Sunnis and Alevites from Turkey but there are a small number of Shiites. 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 Jewish population to more than 200,000 compared to 30,000 prior to German reunification. Large cities with significant Jewish populations include Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich.

As of December 2004, about 7 million foreign citizens were registered in Germany and 19% of the country's residents were of foreign or partially foreign descent. Most were from Turkey (2.3 million) or from European states such as Italy, Serbia, Greece, Poland, and Croatia. In its State of World Population 2006 report, the United Nations Population Fund lists Germany as hosting the third-highest percentage of international migrants worldwide, about 5% or 10 million of all 191 million migrants. Since 2000, due to gradual modifications to Germany's traditionally rather unrestricted laws on asylum and immigration, the number of immigrants seeking asylum or claiming German ethnicity (mostly from the former Soviet Union) has been declining steadily. Immigrants to Germany often face integration issues among other difficulties. There has also been a recent surge in right-wing nationalist crimes. According to former Interior Minister Otto Schily, the number of these crimes rose in recent years, though this trend does not necessarily indicate a rise in membership in right-wing groups.

Education

The University of Würzburg.

Responsibility for educational oversight in Germany lies primarily with the states while the federal government only has a minor role. Optional kindergarten education is provided for all children between three and six years old, after which school attendance is compulsory for twelve years. Primary education usually lasts for four years and public schools are not stratified at this stage. In contrast, secondary education includes four types of schools based on a pupil's ability as determined by teacher recommendations: the Gymnasium includes the most gifted children and prepares students for university studies; the Realschule has a broader range of emphasis for intermediary students; the Hauptschule prepares pupils for vocational education, and the Gesamtschule or comprehensive school combines the three approaches. In order to enter a university, high school students are required to take the Abitur examination, however students possessing a diploma from a vocational school may also apply to enter. A special system of apprenticeship called Duale Ausbildung allows pupils in vocational training to learn in a company as well as in a state-run school. Although Germany has had a history of a strong educational system, recent PISA student assessments demonstrated a weakness in certain subjects. In the test of 31 countries in the year 2000, Germany ranked 21st in reading and 20th in both mathematics and the natural sciences, prompting calls for reform.

In the annual league of top-ranking universities compiled by Shanghai Jiaotong University in 2004, Germany came 4th overall, with 7 universities in the top 100. The highest ranking German university, at number 45, was the Technical University of Munich. Most German universities are state-owned and until recently did not charge for tuition; a 2006 education reform measure calls for fees of around €500 per semester from each student.

Culture

Main articles: Culture of Germany and Sport in Germany

German philosopher Immanuel Kant

Germany is often called das Land der Dichter und Denker (the land of poets and thinkers). German culture began long before the rise of Germany as a nation-state and spanned the entire German speaking world. From its roots, culture in Germany has been shaped by major intellectual and popular currents in Europe, both religious and secular. As a result, it is difficult to identify a specific German tradition separated from the larger context of European high culture. German literature can be traced back to the Middle Ages and the works of writers such as Walther von der Vogelweide and Wolfram von Eschenbach. Various German authors and poets have won great renown including Goethe and Schiller. The collections of folk tales published by the Brothers Grimm popularised German folklore on the international level. Germany's influence on philosophy is historically significant and many notable German philosophers have helped shape western philosophy since the Middle Ages. Leibniz's contributions to rationalism, Kant's establishment of German idealism, Marx's formulation of Communist theory, and Nietzsche's development of Perspectivism were especially influential.

Germany claims some of the world's most renowned classical music composers, including Beethoven, Bach, and Mozart. As of 2006, Germany is the fifth largest music market in the world and has influenced pop and rock music through artists such as Kraftwerk. Numerous German painters have enjoyed international prestige through their work in diverse artistic currents. Grünewald and Dürer were important artists of the Renaissance, Friedrich of Romanticism, and Ernst of Surrealism. Architectural contributions from Germany include the Carolingian and Ottonian styles, which were important precursors of Romanesque. The region later became the site for significant works in styles such as Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque. Germany was particularly important in the early modern movement, especially through the Bauhaus movement founded by Walter Gropius. German cinema dates back to the very early years of the medium with the work of Skladanowsky. It was particularly influential during the years of the Weimar Republic with German expressionists such as Wiene and Murnau. New German Cinema directors such as Schlöndorff and Herzog, and films such as Good Bye Lenin! (2003), have enjoyed international success.

Max Planck presenting Albert Einstein with the Max-Planck medal in 1929

Germany has been the home of some of the most prominent researchers in various scientific fields. The work of Albert Einstein and Max Planck was crucial to the foundation of modern physics, which Werner Heisenberg and Erwin Schrödinger developed further. They were preceded by such key physicists as Hermann von Helmholtz, Joseph von Fraunhofer, and Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit, among others. Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered X-rays, an accomplishment that made him the first winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901. Heinrich Rudolf Hertz's work in the domain of electromagnetic radiation were pivotal to the development of modern telecommunication. Wilhelm Wundt is credited with the establishment of psychology as an independent empirical science through his construction of the first laboratory at the University of Leipzig in 1879. Alexander von Humboldt's work as a natural scientist and explorer was foundational to biogeography. Numerous important mathematicians were born in Germany, including Gauss, Hilbert, Riemann, Weierstrass and Weyl. Germany has been the home of many famous inventors and engineers, such as Johannes Gutenberg, who is credited with the invention of movable type printing in Europe; Hans Geiger, the creator of the Geiger counter; and Konrad Zuse, who built the first computer. German inventors, engineers and industrialists such as Zeppelin, Daimler, Diesel, and Benz helped shape modern automotive and air transportation technology.

Opened in 2005: the Allianz Arena, one of the world's most modern football stadiums.

Sport forms an integral part of German life, as demonstrated by the fact that 27 million Germans are members of a sports club and an additional twelve million pursue such an activity individually. Football is by far the most popular sport, and the German Football Federation (Deutscher Fussballbund) with more than 6.3 million members is the largest athletic organisation in the country. It also attracts the greatest audience, with hundreds of thousands of spectators attending Bundesliga matches and millions more watching on television. The other two most popular sports in Germany are marksmanship and tennis represented by the German Marksmen’s Federation and the German Tennis Federation respectively, both including more than a million members. Other popular sports include handball, volleyball, basketball, and ice hockey. Germany has historically been one of the strongest contenders in the Olympic Games. In the 2004 Summer Olympics, Germany finished sixth overall, whereas in the 2006 Winter Olympics Germany finished first.

External links

• Deutschland.de — Official German portal
• DW-WORLD.DE Deutsche Welle — Germany's international broadcaster - its media visiting card throughout the world
• News Portal of the German Embassy to the USA

• Facts about Germany — by the German Federal Foreign Office
• A manual for Germany — by the German Government Representative for Migration, Refugees and Integration
• Destatis.de — Federal Statistical Office Germany (in English)

• Travel to Germany — by Wikitravel.org
• Germany Travel Info — by the German National Tourist Office

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