(Redirected from Federal Republic of Germany)
'Germany', officially the 'Federal Republic of Germany' (, ), is a
country in
West-
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
parliamentary federal republic of
sixteen states (''Bundesländer''). The capital city and seat of government is
Berlin. As a
nation-state, the country was
unified amidst the
Franco-Prussian War in 1871. After its defeat in
World War II Germany was divided, and it became
reunified in 1990. It is a founding member of the
European Union, and with over 82 million people it has the largest population among the EU member states.
[2]
The Federal Republic of Germany is a modern
great power, a member state of the
United Nations,
NATO, the
G8, the
G4 nations and,
as of 2006, ranked sixth in military expenditure.
[3] Germany is the world's
third largest economy by nominal
GDP, the world's
largest exporter of goods, and the world's
second largest importer of goods.
[ National Geographic Collegiate Atlas of the World, , , , RR Donnelley & Sons Company, , ] In 2007 it held the rotating presidencies of both the
European Council and the G8 summits.
History
Main articles: History of Germany
Germanic tribes (100 BC to AD 800)
Main articles: Germanic peoples,
Germania
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. From southern
Scandinavia and northern Germany, the tribes began expanding south, east and west in the 1st century BC, coming into contact with the
Celtic tribes of
Gaul as well as
Iranian,
Baltic, and
Slavic tribes in
Eastern Europe. Little is known about early Germanic history, except through their recorded interactions with the
Roman Empire, etymological research and archaeological finds.
[4]
Germanic tribes in 50 AD (not including most of Scandinavia)
Under
Augustus, the Roman General
Publius Quinctilius Varus began to invade Germania (a term used by the Romans running roughly from the
Rhine to the
Urals), and it was in this period that the Germanic tribes became familiar with Roman tactics of warfare while maintaining their tribal identity. In AD 9, three
Roman legions led by Varus were defeated by the
Cheruscan leader
Arminius in the
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. Modern Germany, as far as the
Rhine and the
Danube, thus 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,
Sicambri, and
Thuringii. Around 260, the Germanic peoples broke through the Limes and the Danube frontier into Roman-controlled lands.
[5]
After the fall of the Western Roman empire the Franks created an empire under the
Merovingian kings and subjugated the other Germanic tribes.
Swabia became a duchy under the
Frankish Empire in
496, following the
Battle of Tolbiac. Already king
Chlothar I ruled the greater part of what is now Germany and made expeditions into
Saxony while the Southeast of modern Germany was still under influence of the
Ostrogoths. In
531 Saxons and Franks destroyed the Kingdom of
Thuringia. Saxons inhabit the area down to the
Unstrut river.
During the partition of the Frankish empire their German territories were a part of
Austrasia. In
718 the Franconian
Mayor of the Palace Charles Martel marked war against Saxony, because of its help for the
Neustrians. The Franconian
Carloman started in
743 a new war against Saxony, because the Saxons gave aid to Duke
Odilo of Bavaria.
In 751
Pippin III,
mayor of the palace under the Merovingian king, himself assumed the title of king and was anointed by the Church. The Frankish kings now set up as protectors of the
Pope,
Charlemagne launched a decades-long military campaign against their
heathen rivals, the
Saxons and the
Avars. The Saxons (by the
Saxon Wars (
772-
804)) and Avars were eventually overwhelmed and forcibly converted, and their lands were annexed by the
Carolingian Empire.
Holy Roman Empire (843–1806)
Main articles: Holy Roman Empire
The medieval empire stemmed from a division of the
Carolingian Empire in 843, which was founded by
Charlemagne on
25 December 800, and existed in varying forms until 1806, its territory stretching from the
Eider River in the north to the
Mediterranean coast in the south. Often referred to as the
Holy Roman Empire (or the Old Empire), it was officially called the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation ("Sacrum Romanum Imperium Nationis Germanicæ") starting in 1448, to adjust the title to its then reduced territory.
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 reign of the
Salian emperors (1024–1125), the Holy Roman Empire absorbed northern
Italy and
Burgundy, although the emperors lost power through the
Investiture Controversy. Under the
Hohenstaufen emperors (1138–1254), the German princes increased their influence further south and east into territories inhabited by
Slavs. Northern German towns grew prosperous as members of the
Hanseatic League.
The edict of the
Golden Bull in 1356 provided the basic constitution of the empire that lasted until its dissolution. It codified the election of the emperor by seven
prince-electors who ruled some of the most powerful principalities and archbishoprics. Beginning in the 15th century, the emperors were elected nearly exclusively from the
Habsburg dynasty of
Austria.
The monk
Martin Luther wrote his
95 Theses questioning the
Roman Catholic Church in 1517, thereby sparking the
Protestant Reformation. A separate
Lutheran church was acknowledged as the newly sanctioned religion in many German states after 1530. Religious conflict led to the
Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), which devastated German lands. The
Peace of Westphalia (1648) ended religious warfare among the German states, but the empire was ''de facto'' divided into numerous independent principalities. From 1740 onwards, the
dualism between the Austrian
Habsburg Monarchy and the
Kingdom of Prussia dominated German history. In 1806, the ''Imperium'' was overrun and dissolved as a result of the
Napoleonic Wars.
[6]
Restoration and revolution (1814–1871)
Main articles: German Confederation
Following the fall of
Napoleon Bonaparte, the
Congress of Vienna convened in 1814 and founded the
German Confederation (Deutscher Bund), a loose league of
39 sovereign states. Disagreement with
restoration politics partly led to the rise of
liberal movements, demanding unity and freedom. These, however, were followed by new measures of repression on the part of the Austrian statesman
Metternich. The ''
Zollverein'', a tariff union, profoundly furthered economic unity in the German states. During this era many Germans had been stirred by the ideals of the
French Revolution, and
nationalism became a more significant force, especially among young intellectuals. For the first time, the colours of black, red and gold were chosen to represent the movement, which later became the
national colours.
[7]
Frankfurt Parliament in 1848
In light of a
series of revolutionary movements in Europe, which successfully established a republic
in France, intellectuals and commoners started the
Revolutions of 1848 in the German states. The monarchs initially yielded to the revolutionaries' liberal demands. King
Frederick William IV of Prussia was offered the title of
Emperor, but with a loss of power; he rejected the crown and the proposed constitution, leading to a temporary setback for the movement. Conflict between King
William I of Prussia and the increasingly liberal parliament erupted over military reforms in 1862, and the king appointed
Otto von Bismarck the new
Prime Minister of Prussia. Bismarck successfully waged
war on Denmark in 1864. Prussian victory in the
Austro-Prussian War of 1866 enabled him to create the
North German Federation (Norddeutscher Bund) and to exclude
Austria, formerly the leading German state, from the affairs of the remaining German states.
German Empire (1871–1918)
Main articles: German Empire
Foundation of modern Germany in Versailles-France, 1871.
Bismarck is at the center in a white uniform.
The state known as ''Germany'' was
unified as a modern nation-state in 1871, when the
German Empire was forged, with the
Kingdom of Prussia as its largest constituent.
After the French defeat in the
Franco-Prussian War, the
German Empire (''Deutsches Kaiserreich'') was proclaimed in
Versailles on
18 January 1871. The
Hohenzollern dynasty of Prussia ruled the new empire, whose capital was
Berlin. The empire was a unification of all the scattered parts of Germany except Austria (
''Kleindeutschland'', or "Lesser Germany"). Beginning in 1884, Germany began establishing
several colonies outside of Europe.
In the ''
Gründerzeit'' period following the
unification of Germany, Emperor
William I's foreign policy secured Germany's position as a great nation by forging alliances, isolating
France by diplomatic means, and avoiding war. Under
William II, however, Germany,
like other European powers, took an
imperialistic course leading 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 relationships by signing the
Entente Cordiale with the
United Kingdom and securing ties with the
Russian Empire. Aside from its contacts with
Austria-Hungary, Germany became increasingly isolated.
Germany's imperialism reached outside of its own country and joined many other powers in Europe to claim their share of
Africa. The
Berlin Conference divided Africa between the European powers. Germany owned several pieces of land on Africa including
German East Africa,
South-West Africa,
Togo, and
Cameroon. The
Scramble for Africa caused tension between the
great powers that may have contributed to the conditions that led to
World War I.
The
assassination of
Austria's crown prince on
28 June 1914 triggered
World War I. Germany, as part of the unsuccessful
Central Powers, suffered defeat against 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
11 November 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. The treaty was perceived in Germany as a humiliating continuation of the war by other means and its harshness is often cited as having facilitated the later rise of
Nazism in the country.
[8]
Weimar Republic (1919–1933)
Main articles: Weimar Republic
Subdivisions of Germany in 1925. Map showing borders of Germany from 1919 until 1937.
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
11 August 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.
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 their political system of
parliamentary democracy. This was exacerbated by a wide-spread right-wing (
monarchist, ''
völkisch'', and Nazi) ''
Dolchstoßlegende'', a political myth which claimed that Germany lost World War I because of the German Revolution, not because of military defeat. On the other hand, radical left-wing
communists, such as the
Spartacist League, had wanted to abolish what they perceived as "
capitalist rule" in favour of a ''
Räterepublik''. Paramilitary troops were set up by several parties and there were thousands of politically motivated murders. The paramilitary 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 little alternative and pushed by right-wing advisors, appointed
Adolf Hitler Chancellor of Germany on
30 January 1933.
Third Reich (1933–1945)
Main articles: Nazi Germany,
World War II
On
27 February 1933, 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. Only the
Social Democratic Party of Germany voted against it; the Communists were not able to present a viable opposition, as many of their deputies had already been murdered or imprisoned.
[9][10] 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, to shift the economy towards a
war production base. In 1936 German troops entered the demilitarized
Rhineland, and
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, a pact which was later broken by Germany.
In 1939, the
growing tensions from nationalism, militarism, and territorial issues led to the Germans
launching a
blitzkrieg on
September 1 against
Poland, followed two days later by declarations of war by Britain and France, marking the beginning of World War II. Germany quickly gained direct or indirect control of
the majority of
Europe.
On
22 June 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 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,
Communists,
Roma,
homosexuals,
freemasons, political dissidents, priests, preachers,
religious opponents, and the
disabled, amongst others. During the Nazi era, about eleven million people were murdered in the Holocaust, including six million Jews and three million
Poles. World War II and the Nazi genocide were responsible for about 35 million dead in Europe.
Division and reunification (1945–1990)
Main articles: History of Germany since 1945
Allied occupation zones in 1946
The war resulted in the death of nearly ten million German soldiers and civilians;
large territorial losses;
the expulsion of about 15 million Germans from its former eastern territories and other countries; and the destruction of multiple major cities. Germany and
Berlin were partitioned by the
Allies into four military occupation zones. The sectors controlled by
France, the
United Kingdom, and the
United States were merged on
23 May 1949, to form the ''
Federal Republic of Germany''; on
7 October 1949, the Soviet Zone established the ''
German Democratic Republic''. In English, the two Germanies were known informally as "
West Germany" and "
East Germany" and the two Berlins as "
West Berlin" and "
East Berlin".
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 eventually came to enjoy prolonged economic growth beginning in the early 1950s (''
Wirtschaftswunder''). 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.
[11] The
Berlin Wall, built in 1961 to stop East Germans from escaping to West Germany, became a symbol of the
Cold War. However, tensions between East and West Germany were somewhat 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.
In the face of a growing migration of East Germans to West Germany via
Hungary and mass demonstrations during the summer of 1989, East German authorities unexpectedly eased the border restrictions in November, allowing East German citizens to travel to the West. This led to the acceleration of the process of reforms in East Germany that concluded with the ''
Two Plus Four Treaty'' on
12 September,
1990 and
German reunification on
3 October 1990. Under the terms of the treaty, the four occupying powers renounced their rights under the Instrument of Surrender, and Germany was to regain full sovereignty.
Since reunification, Germany has taken a leading role in the
European Union and NATO. Germany sent a peacekeeping force to secure stability in the
Balkans and sent a force of
German troops to
Afghanistan as part of a NATO effort to provide
security in that country after the ousting of the
Taliban.
[12]
Government
Main articles: Politics of Germany
The
Reichstag is the old and new site of the German parliament
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.
[13] The Grundgesetz remained in effect, with minor amendments, after
German reunification in 1990, despite the intention of the Grundgesetz to be replaced by a proper constitution after the reunion. (This was called Grundgesetz for precisely this reason.)
The
Chancellor (currently
Angela Merkel) is the
head of government and exercises
executive power, similar to the role of a
Prime Minister. Federal
legislative power is vested in the parliament consisting of the ''
Bundestag'' (
Federal Diet) and ''
Bundesrat'' (Federal Council), which together form a unique type of legislative body. The ''Bundestag'' is elected through
direct elections; the members of the ''Bundesrat'' represent the governments of the
sixteen 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[14] 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 or she 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 by the ''Bundestag'', where "constructive" implies that the ''Bundestag'' needs to elect a successor.
Foreign relations
Main articles: Foreign relations of Germany
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
Christian Democrat Helmut Kohl and
Socialist 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.
[15]
Since its establishment on
23 May 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.
[16] 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.
[17] 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.
[18]
Germany and the
United States have been close allies since the end of World War II.
[19] The
Marshall Plan, the continued U.S. support during the rebuilding process after World War II, and strong cultural ties have crafted a strong bond between the two countries, although Schröder's very vocal opposition to the
Iraq War suggested the end of
Atlanticism and a relative cooling of German-American relations.
[20] The two countries are also economically interdependent; 8.8% of German exports are U.S.-bound and 6.6% of German imports originate from the U.S.
[21] The other way around, 8.8 % of U.S. exports ship to Germany and 9.8 % of U.S. imports come from Germany.
Other signs of the close ties include the continuing position of German-Americans as the largest ethnic group in the U.S.
[22] and the status of
Ramstein Air Base (near
Kaiserslautern) as the largest U.S. military community outside the U.S.
[23]
States
Main articles: States of Germany,
List of administrative divisions of Germany
Germany is divided into
sixteen states (''Länder'', singular ''Land''; commonly ''Bundesländer'', singular ''Bundesland''). It is further subdivided into 439
districts (''Kreise'', singular ''Kreis'') and cities (''kreisfreie Städte'') (2004).
| State | Capital | Area | Population |
|---|
| Baden-Württemberg | Stuttgart | 35,752 km² | 10,717,000 | | Bavaria ''(Bayern)'' | Munich | 70,549 km² | 12,444,000 | | Berlin | Berlin | 892 km² | 3,400,000 | | Brandenburg | Potsdam | 29,477 km² | 2,568,000 | | Bremen | Bremen | 404 km² | 663,000 | | Hamburg | Hamburg | 755 km² | 1,735,000 | | Hesse ''(Hessen)'' | Wiesbaden | 21,115 km² | 6,098,000 | | Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | Schwerin | 23,174 km² | 1,720,000 | | Lower Saxony ''(Niedersachsen)'' | Hanover | 47,618 km² | 8,001,000 | | North Rhine-Westphalia ''(Nordrhein-Westfalen)'' | Düsseldorf | 34,043 km² | 18,075,000 | | Rhineland-Palatinate ''(Rheinland-Pfalz)'' | Mainz | 19,847 km² | 4,061,000 | | Saarland | Saarbrücken | 2,569 km² | 1,056,000 | | Saxony ''(Sachsen)'' | Dresden | 18,416 km² | 4,296,000 | | Saxony-Anhalt ''(Sachsen-Anhalt)'' | Magdeburg | 20,445 km² | 2,494,000 | | Schleswig-Holstein | Kiel | 15,763 km² | 2,829,000 | | Thuringia ''(Thüringen)'' | Erfurt | 16,172 km² | 2,355,000 |
| |
Military
Main articles: Bundeswehr
The ''Mecklenburg-Vorpommern'' is participating in a
UNIFIL II operation off the coast of Lebanon
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 (conscientious objectors may instead opt for an equal length of ''
Zivildienst'' (roughly translated as civilian service), or a longer commitment to (voluntary) emergency services like a
fire department, the
Red Cross or the
THW). 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 went to war, which according to the constitution is allowed only for defensive purposes, the Chancellor would become commander in chief of the ''Bundeswehr''.
[24]
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 in the NATO-led
ISAF force in
Afghanistan. As of February 2007, Germany had about 3000 ISAF troops in Afghanistan, the third largest contingent after the United States (14000) and the United Kingdom (5200).
[25]'
Law
Main articles: Judiciary of Germany
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. The ''
Bundesverfassungsgericht'' (Federal Constitutional Court), located in Karlsruhe, is the German Supreme Court responsible for constitutional matters, with power of
judicial review.
[26] It acts as the highest legal authority and ensures that legislative and judicial practice conforms to the
Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (Basic Law). It acts independently of the other state bodies, but cannot act on its own behalf.
Germany's supreme court system, called ''Oberste Gerichtshöfe des Bundes'', is specialized. For civil and criminal cases, the highest court of appeal is the
Federal Court of Justice, located in
Karlsruhe and
Leipzig. The courtroom style is
inquisitorial. Other Federal Courts are the
Federal Labor Court in
Erfurt, the
Federal Social Court in
Kassel, the
Federal Finance Court in
Munich and the
Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig.
Criminal law and
private law are codified on the national level in the ''
Strafgesetzbuch'' and the ''
Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch'' respectively. The German penal system is aimed towards rehabilitation of the criminal; its secondary goal is the protection of the general public.
[27] To achieve the latter, a convicted criminal can be put in preventive detention (''Sicherheitsverwahrung'') in addition to the regular sentence if he is considered to be a threat to the general public. The ''
Völkerstrafgesetzbuch'' regulates the consequences of
crimes against humanity,
genocide and
war crimes. It gives German courts
universal jurisdiction if prosecution by a court of the country where the crime was committed, or by an international court, is not possible.
State level
Legislative power is divided between the federation and the state level. The Basic Law presumes that all legislative power remains at the state level unless otherwise designated by the Basic Law itself. In some areas, federal and state level have concurrent legislative power. In such cases, the federate level has power to legislation "if and to the extent that the establishment of equal living conditions throughout the federal territory or the maintenance of legal or economic unity renders federal regulation necessary in the national interest" (Art. 72 Basic Law).
Any federal law overrides state law if the legislative power lies at the federal level. A famous example is the Hessian permission of the death penalty that goes against the ban of capital punishment by the Basic Law. The ''
Bundesrat'' is the federal organ through which the states participate in national legislation. State participation in federal legislation is necessary if the law falls within the area of concurrent legislative power, requires states to administer federal regulations, or if designated so by the Basic Law. Every state with the exception of
Schleswig-Holstein (whose constitutional jurisdiction is exercised by the ''Bundesverfassungsgericht'' in
procuration) has its own constitutional courts. The ''
Amtsgerichte'', ''Landesgerichte'' and ''Oberlandesgerichte'' are state courts of
general jurisdiction. They are competent whether the action is based on federal or state law.
Many of the fundamental matters in
administrative law remain in the jurisdiction of the states, though most states base their own laws in that area on the 1976 ''Verwaltungsverfahrensgesetz'' (Administrative Proceedings Act) in important points of administrative law. The ''Oberverwaltungsgerichte'' are the highest levels in administrative jurisdiction concerning the state administrations, unless the question of law concerns federal law or state law identical to federal law. In such cases, final appeal to the Federal Administrative Court is possible.
Geography
Main articles: Geography of Germany
Germany has the second largest population in Europe (after European Russia) and is seventh largest in area. The territory of Germany covers , consisting of of land and of water. Elevation ranges from the mountains of the
Alps (highest point: the
Zugspitze at 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 below sea level), traversed by some of Europe's major
rivers such as the
Rhine,
Danube and
Elbe.
[28] 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.
Climate
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 and the area along the Rhine, 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 southern Germany are transition regions which vary from moderately oceanic to continental. Again, the maximum temperature can exceed 30 °C (86 °F) in summer.
[29][30]
Demographics
Main articles: Demography of Germany,
Social issues in Germany
Berlin is Germany's largest city with a population of 3.4 million people
With over 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous country in the European Union. However, 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 between 69 and 74 million by 2050 (69 million assuming a net migration of +100,000 per year; 74 million assuming a net migration of +200,000 per year).
[31] Chemnitz is thought to be the city with the lowest birth rate in the world.
[32] 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
Düsseldorf (the capital of
NRW) and the cities of
Cologne,
Essen,
Dortmund,
Duisburg, and
Bochum.
Population from 1961–2003. In years before 1990, the figures of the
FRG and the
GDR are combined
As of December 2004, about seven million foreign citizens were registered in Germany, and 19% of the country's residents were of foreign or partially foreign descent. The largest group (2.3 million)
[33] is from
Turkey, and a majority of the rest are from European states such as
Italy,
Serbia,
Greece,
Poland, and
Croatia.
[34] 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.
[35] As a consequence of
restrictions of Germany's formerly 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 since 2000.
[36] Immigrants to Germany often face integration issues among other difficulties.
[37] There has also been a recent surge in right-wing nationalist crimes. According to former Interior Minister
Otto Schily, this trend does not necessarily indicate a rise in membership in
right-wing groups.
[38]
Religion
Main articles: Religion in Germany
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
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.
[39] About three million
Muslims
[40] live in Germany. Most are
Sunnis and
Alevites from
Turkey, but there are a small number of
Shiites.
[41] Germany has Western Europe's third-largest
Jewish population.
[42] 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.
[43] According to the ''Deutsche Buddhistische Union'' (German Buddhist Union), an umbrella organisation of the Buddhist groups in Germany, there are about 250,000 active Buddhists in Germany; 50% of them are Asian immigrants.
[44]
Education
Responsibility for educational oversight in Germany lies primarily with the
federal states individually whilst the 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 at least ten years.
Primary education usually lasts for four years and public schools are not stratified at this stage.
[45] 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 and attendance lasts eight or nine years depending on the state; the ''
Realschule'' has a broader range of emphasis for intermediary students and lasts six years; the ''
Hauptschule'' prepares pupils for vocational education, and the ''
Gesamtschule'' or comprehensive school combines the three approaches.
To enter a university, high school students are required to take the ''
Abitur'' examination, similar to
A-levels; 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 PISA Study, a test of thirty-one countries, in 2000 Germany ranked twenty-first in reading and twentieth in both
mathematics and the
natural sciences, prompting calls for reform.
[46] Most German universities are state-owned and charge for tuition fees ranging from €50–500 per semester from each student.
[47]
Important research institutions in Germany are the
Max Planck Society, the
Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft and the
Fraunhofer Society. They are independently or externally connected to
the university system and contribute to a considerable extent to the scientific output. The prestigious award
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize is granted to ten scientists and academics every year. With a maximum of €2.5 million per award it is one of highest endowed research prizes in the world.
[48]
Germany's universities are recognized internationally, indicating the high education standards in the country. In the 2006
THES - QS World University Rankings[49], 10 German universities were ranked amongst the top 200 in the world.
Economy
Main articles: Economy of Germany
Germany has the largest economy in
Europe and the third largest economy in the world, behind the
United States and
Japan.
[50] It is ranked fifth in the world in terms of
purchasing power parity.
[51] 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 $1.133 trillion exported, from the beginning of 2006 (Germany's exports to other
Eurozone countries are included in this total).
It has a large
trade surplus (165 billion euros in 2006).
In the
service sector, Germany ranks second behind the United States.
Most of the country's exports are in engineering, especially in automobiles, machinery, metals, and chemical goods.
In terms of total capacity to generate electricity from wind power, Germany is first in the world and it is also the main exporter of wind turbines.
[53]
Germany was the world's leading exporter of goods in 2006
Although problems created by
reunification in 1990 have begun to diminish,
[54] 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.
[55] 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.
[56] The national economy has nonetheless shown signs of improvement in recent years, the economics magazine ''Handelsblatt'' declaring it one of the most competitive in the Eurozone. Economists for the
Institute for Economic Research in Berlin expect Germany's economic growth to increase consistently over the next two years.
[57]
Infrastructure
In 2002 Germany was the world’s fifth largest consumer of energy, and two-thirds of its primary energy was imported. In the same year, Germany was Europe’s largest consumer of electricity; electricity consumption that year totaled 512.9 billion kilowatt-hours.
Government policy emphasizes conservation and the development of
renewable energy sources, such as solar,
wind,
biomass, hydro, and
geothermal. As a result of energy-saving measures,
energy efficiency (the amount of energy required to produce a unit of gross domestic product) has been improving since the beginning of the 1970s. The government has set the goal of meeting half the country’s energy demands from renewable sources by 2050. In 2000 the government and the
German nuclear power industry agreed to phase out all
nuclear power plants by 2021.
[58] However, renewables currently play a more modest role in energy consumption. In 2006 energy consumption was met by the following sources: oil (35.7%), coal, including lignite (23.9%), natural gas (22.8%), nuclear (12.6%), hydro and wind power (1.3%), and other (3.7%).
By its central position in Europe, Germany is an important transportation hub. This is reflected in its dense and modern transportation networks. Probably most famous is the extensive motorway (
Autobahn) network that ranks worldwide third largest in its total length and features lack of blanket speed limits on the majority of routes.
Culture
Main articles: Culture of Germany
Germany is often called ''Das Land der Dichter und Denker'' (the land of poets and thinkers).
[59] 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 framework of European
high culture.
[60] Another consequence of these circumstances is the fact, that some historical figures, such as
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Franz Kafka and
Paul Celan, though not citizens of Germany in the modern sense, must be seen in the context of the German cultural sphere to understand their historical situation, work and social relations.
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
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and
Friedrich Schiller. The collections of folk tales published by the
Brothers Grimm popularized
German folklore on the international level.
Influential authors of the 20th century include
Thomas Mann,
Berthold Brecht,
Hermann Hesse,
Heinrich Böll, and
Günter Grass.
[61]
Germany claims some of the world's most renowned
classical music composers, including
Ludwig van Beethoven,
Johann Sebastian Bach,
Johannes Brahms and
Richard Wagner. As of 2006, Germany is the fifth largest music market in the world
[62] and has influenced
pop and
rock music through artists such as
Kraftwerk,
Scorpions and
Rammstein.
Numerous German painters have enjoyed international prestige through their work in diverse artistic currents.
Matthias Grünewald and
Albrecht Dürer were important artists of the
Renaissance,
Caspar David Friedrich of
Romanticism, and
Max 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.
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, also from Germany, became one of world's most renowned architects in the second half of the 20th century. The glass facade skyscraper was his idea.
[63]
German cinema dates back to the very early years of the medium with the work of
Max Skladanowsky. It was particularly influential during the years of the Weimar Republic with
German expressionists such as
Robert Wiene and
Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau. Austria-based director
Fritz Lang, who became German citizen in 1926 and who's career flourished in pre-war German film industry, is said to be a major influence on Hollywood cinema. His silent movie
Metropolis (1927) is referred to as birth of modern Science Fiction movies. The Nazi era produced mostly propaganda films although the work of
Leni Riefenstahl still introduced new aesthetics in film.
[64] From the 1960s,
New German Cinema directors such as
Volker Schlöndorff,
Werner Herzog,
Wim Wenders,
Rainer Werner Fassbinder placed West-German cinema back onto the international stage with their often provocative films.
[65] More recently, films such as ''
Das Boot'' (1981), ''
Run Lola Run'' (1998), ''
Das Experiment'' (2001), ''
Good Bye Lenin!'' (2003), ''
Gegen die Wand (Head-on)'' (2004) and ''
Der Untergang (Downfall)'' (2004) have enjoyed international success. The
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film went to the German production ''
The Tin Drum'' in 1979, to ''
Nowhere in Africa'' in 2002, and to ''
The Lives of Others'' in 2007.
[66] The
Berlin Film Festival, held yearly since 1951, is one of the world's foremost film festivals.
[67]
Science
Main articles: Science and technology in Germany
Germany has been the home of some of the most prominent researchers in various scientific fields.
[68] The work of
Albert Einstein and
Max Planck was crucial to the foundation of modern
physics, which
Werner Heisenberg and
Max Born developed further.
[69] They were preceded by physicists such as
Hermann von Helmholtz,
Joseph von Fraunhofer, and
Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit.
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered
X-rays, an accomplishment that made him the first winner of the
Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901.
[70] In German X-rays are still called "Röntgenstrahlen" (Röntgen-rays).
Heinrich Rudolf Hertz's work in the domain of
electromagnetic radiation was pivotal to the development of modern
telecommunication.
[71] Through his construction of the first laboratory at the
University of Leipzig in 1879,
Wilhelm Wundt is credited with the establishment of
psychology as an independent empirical science.
[72] Alexander von Humboldt's work as a natural scientist and explorer was foundational to
biogeography.
[73]
Germany's
influence on philosophy is historically significant and many notable German philosophers have helped shape
western philosophy since the Middle Ages.
Gottfried Leibniz's contributions to
rationalism,
Immanuel Kant's,
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's,
Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling's and
Johann Gottlieb Fichte's establishment of the classical
German idealism,
Karl Marx's and
Friedrich Engels' formulation of
Communist theory,
Arthur Schopenhauer's composition of metaphysical pessimism,
Friedrich Nietzsche's development of
Perspectivism,
Martin Heidegger's works on Being, and the social theories of
Jürgen Habermas were especially influential.
Numerous significant
mathematicians were born in Germany, including
Carl Friedrich Gauss,
David Hilbert,
Bernhard Riemann,
Gottfried Leibniz,
Karl Weierstrass and
Hermann 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 fully automatic digital computer.
[74] German inventors, engineers and industrialists such as
Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin,
Otto Lilienthal,
Gottlieb Daimler,
Rudolf Diesel,
Hugo Junkers and
Karl Benz helped shape modern automotive and air transportation technology.
[75][76]
Sports
Main articles: Sport in Germany
Sport forms an integral part of German life, as demonstrated by the fact that twenty-seven million Germans are members of a sports club and an additional twelve million pursue such an activity individually.
[77] Football (soccer) is by far the most popular sport; the
German Football Association (''Deutscher Fussballbund''), with more than 6.3 million members, is the largest sports organisation of this kind worldwide.
It also attracts the greatest audience, with hundreds of thousands of spectators attending ''
Bundesliga'' matches and millions more watching on television. Germany's national
marksmanship and
tennis organisations boast more than a million members each. Other popular sports include
handball,
volleyball,
basketball, and
ice hockey.
Historically, Germany has been one of the strongest contenders in the
Olympic Games. In the
2004 Summer Olympics, Germany finished sixth in the medal count,
[78] while in the
2006 Winter Olympics they finished first.
[79]
See also
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63.< 
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