History of Germany and all detail

Germany

This article is about the country. For other uses, see Germany (disambiguation) and Deutschland (disambiguation).

"Federal Republic of Germany" redirects here. For the country from 1949 to 1990, see West Germany.

Coordinates: 51°N 9°E

Federal Republic of Germany Bundesrepublik Deutschland (German)[a]
Flag Coat of arms
Motto:  "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit" (de facto) "Unity and Justice and Freedom"
Anthem: "Deutschlandlied" (third verse only)[b] "Song of Germany" Menu 0:00
Location of  Germany  (dark green) – in Europe  (green & dark grey) – in the European Union  (green)
Location of Germany in the World
Capital and largest city	Berlin[c] 52°31′N 13°23′E
Official language and national language	German[1][d]
Ethnic groups (2016[2])	80.8% Germans 11.7% Other Europeans 4.9% West Asians —3.4% Turks —1.3% Arabs 1.3% Other Asians 0.6% Africans 0.5% Americans 0.1% Other
Religion	59.3% Christianity 34.4% Irreligion 5.5% Islam 0.8% Other religions[3]
Demonym	German
Government	Federal constitutional parliamentary republic
• President	Frank-Walter Steinmeier
• Chancellor	Angela Merkel
• President of the Bundestag	Wolfgang Schäuble
• President of the Bundesrat	Michael Müller
• President of the Federal Constitutional Court	Andreas Voßkuhle
Legislature
• Upper house	Bundesrat
• Lower house	Bundestag
Area
• Total	357,168 km2 (137,903 sq mi) (62nd)
Population
• 2017 estimate	82,800,000[4] (16th)
• Density	232/km2 (600.9/sq mi) (58th)
GDP (PPP)	2018 estimate
• Total	$4.374 trillion[5] (5th)
• Per capita	$52,801[5] (18th)
GDP (nominal)	2018 estimate
• Total	$4.212 trillion[5] (4th)
• Per capita	$50,842[5] (17th)
Gini (2016)	29.5[6] low
HDI (2015)	0.926[7] very high · 4th
Currency	Euro (€) (EUR)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Drives on the	right
Calling code	+49
ISO 3166 code	DE
Internet TLD	.de and .eu

Germany (German: Deutschland [ˈdɔʏtʃlant]), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland,  listen (help·info)),^[e][8] is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres (137,847 sq mi), and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany's capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, with its main centres of Dortmund and Essen. The country's other major cities are Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Leipzig, Bremen, Dresden, Hannover, and Nuremberg.
Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity. A region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period, the Germanic tribes expanded southward. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire.^[9] During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation. After the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire, the German Confederation was formed in 1815. The German revolutions of 1848–49 resulted in the Frankfurt Parliament establishing major democratic rights.
In 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the revolution of 1918–19, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic. The Nazi seizure of power in 1933 led to the establishment of a dictatorship, World War II and the Holocaust. After the end of World War II in Europe and a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded: West Germany, formed of the American, British and French occupation zones, and East Germany, formed of the Soviet occupation zone. Following the Revolutions of 1989 that ended communist rule in Central and Eastern Europe, the country was reunified on 3 October 1990.^[10]
In the 21st century, Germany is a great power with a strong economy; it has the world's 4th largest economy by nominal GDP, and the 5th largest by PPP. As a global leader in several industrial and technological sectors, it is both the world's third-largest exporter and importer of goods. A developed country with a very high standard of living, it upholds a social security and universal health care system, environmental protection, and a tuition-free university education.
The Federal Republic of Germany was a founding member of the European Economic Community in 1957 and the European Union in 1993. It is part of the Schengen Area and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999. Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G7, the G20, and the OECD. Known for its rich cultural history, Germany has been continuously the home of influential and successful artists, philosophers, musicians, sportspeople, entrepreneurs, scientists, engineers, and inventors.

History

Main article: History of Germany

The Nebra sky disk, c. 1700 BC

The discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago.^[13] The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a coal mine in Schöningen where three 380,000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed.^[14] The Neander Valley was the location where the first ever non-modern human fossil was discovered; the new species of human was called the Neanderthal. The Neanderthal 1 fossils are known to be 40,000 years old. Evidence of modern humans, similarly dated, has been found in caves in the Swabian Jura near Ulm. The finds include 42,000-year-old bird bone and mammoth ivory flutes which are the oldest musical instruments ever found,^[15] the 40,000-year-old Ice Age Lion Man which is the oldest uncontested figurative art ever discovered,^[16] and the 35,000-year-old Venus of Hohle Fels which is the oldest uncontested human figurative art ever discovered.^[17] The Nebra sky disk is a bronze artifact created during the European Bronze Age attributed to a site near Nebra, Saxony-Anhalt. It is part of UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme.^[18]

Germanic tribes and Frankish Empire

Main articles: Germania, Migration Period, and Frankish Realm

Migrations in Europe (100–500 AD)

The Germanic tribes are thought to date from the Nordic Bronze Age or the Pre-Roman Iron Age. From southern Scandinavia and north Germany, they expanded south, east and west from the 1st century BC, coming into contact with the Celtic tribes of Gaul as well as Iranian, Baltic, and Slavic tribes in Central and Eastern Europe.^[19] Under Augustus, Rome began to invade Germania (an area extending roughly from the Rhine to the Ural Mountains). In 9 AD, three Roman legions led by Varus were defeated by the Cheruscan leader Arminius. By 100 AD, when Tacitus wrote Germania, Germanic tribes had settled along the Rhine and the Danube (the Limes Germanicus), occupying most of the area of modern Germany. However, Austria, Baden Württemberg, southern Bavaria, southern Hessen and the western Rhineland had been conquered and incorporated into Roman provinces: Noricum, Raetia, Germania Superior, and Germania Inferior.^{[20][21][22][23]}

Frankish Realm and its expansion. As it was partitioned in 843, West Francia (blue) and East Francia (red) became predecessors of France and Germany, respectively

In the 3rd century a number of large West Germanic tribes emerged: Alemanni, Franks, Chatti, Saxons, Frisii, Sicambri, and Thuringii. Around 260, the Germanic peoples broke into Roman-controlled lands.^[24] After the invasion of the Huns in 375, and with the decline of Rome from 395, Germanic tribes moved farther southwest. Simultaneously several large tribes formed in what is now Germany and displaced or absorbed smaller Germanic tribes. Large areas known since the Merovingian period as Austrasia, Neustria, and Aquitaine were conquered by the Franks who established the Frankish Kingdom, and pushed farther east to subjugate Saxony and Bavaria. Areas of what is today the eastern part of Germany were inhabited by Western Slavic tribes of Sorbs, Veleti and the Obotritic confederation

Politics

Main articles: Politics of Germany, Taxation in Germany, and Federal budget of Germany

Frank-Walter Steinmeier President since 2017	Angela Merkel Chancellor since 2005

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 generally require a two-thirds majority of both chambers of parliament; the fundamental principles of the constitution, as expressed in the articles guaranteeing human dignity, the separation of powers, the federal structure, and the rule of law are valid in perpetuity.^[104]
The president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier (19 March 2017–present), is the head of state and invested primarily with representative responsibilities and powers. He is 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 Bundestagspräsident (President of the Bundestag), who is elected by the Bundestag and responsible for overseeing the daily sessions of the body. The third-highest official and the head of government is the Chancellor, who is appointed by the Bundespräsident after being elected by the Bundestag.^[40]

The political system of Germany

The chancellor, Angela Merkel (22 November 2005–present), is the head of government and exercises executive power, similar to the role of a Prime Minister in other parliamentary democracies. Federal legislative power is vested in the parliament consisting of the Bundestag (Federal Diet) and Bundesrat (Federal Council), which together form the legislative body. The Bundestag is elected through direct elections, by proportional representation (mixed-member).^[95] The members of the Bundesrat represent the governments of the sixteen federated states and are members of the state cabinets.^[40]
Since 1949, the party system has been dominated by the Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party of Germany. So far every chancellor has been a member of one of these parties. However, the smaller liberal Free Democratic Party (in parliament from 1949 to 2013) and the Alliance '90/The Greens (in parliament since 1983) have also played important roles.^[105] Since 2005, the left-wing populist party The Left, formed through the merger of two former parties, has been a staple in the German Bundestag though they have never been part of the federal government. In the German federal election, 2017, the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany gained enough votes to attain representation in the parliament for the first time.
The debt-to-GDP ratio of Germany had its peak in 2010 when it stood at 80.3% and decreased since then.^[106] According to Eurostat, the government gross debt of Germany amounts to €2,152.0 billion or 71.9% of its GDP in 2015.^[107] The federal government achieved a budget surplus of €12.1 billion ($13.1 billion) in 2015.^[108] Germany's credit rating by credit rating agencies Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch Ratings stands at the highest possible rating AAA with a stable outlook in 2016.^[109]

Law

Main articles: Law of Germany, Judiciary of Germany, and Law enforcement in Germany

Judges of the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court) in Karlsruhe in 1989

Germany has a civil law system based on Roman law with some references to Germanic law. The Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court) is the German Supreme Court responsible for constitutional matters, with power of judicial review.^[40][110] Germany's supreme court system, called Oberste Gerichtshöfe des Bundes, is specialised: for civil and criminal cases, the highest court of appeal is the inquisitorial Federal Court of Justice, and for other affairs the courts are the Federal Labour Court, the Federal Social Court, the Federal Finance Court and the Federal Administrative Court.
Criminal and private laws are codified on the national level in the Strafgesetzbuch and the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch respectively. The German penal system seeks the rehabilitation of the criminal and the protection of the public.^[111] Except for petty crimes, which are tried before a single professional judge, and serious political crimes, all charges are tried before mixed tribunals on which lay judges (Schöffen) sit side by side with professional judges.^[112][113] Many of the fundamental matters of administrative law remain in the jurisdiction of the states.
Germany has a low murder rate with 0.9 murders per 100,000 in 2014.

Military

Main article: Bundeswehr

Play media

The Eurofighter Typhoon is part of the Luftwaffe fleet

Germany's military, the Bundeswehr, is organised into Heer (Army and special forces KSK), Marine (Navy), Luftwaffe (Air Force), Bundeswehr Joint Medical Service and Streitkräftebasis (Joint Support Service) branches. In absolute terms, German military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world.^[131] In 2015, military spending was at €32.9 billion, about 1.2% of the country's GDP, well below the NATO target of 2%.^[132]
As of 2017 the Bundeswehr employed roughly 178,000 service members, including about 9,000 volunteers.^[133] Reservists are available to the Armed Forces and participate in defence exercises and deployments abroad.^[134] Since 2001 women may serve in all functions of service without restriction.^[135] About 19,000 female soldiers are on active duty. According to SIPRI, Germany was the fifth largest exporter of major arms in the world from 2012–2016.^[136]

A German Navy Brandenburg-class frigate (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)

In peacetime, the Bundeswehr is commanded by the Minister of Defence. In state of defence, the Chancellor would become commander-in-chief of the Bundeswehr.^[137]
The role of the Bundeswehr is described in the Constitution of Germany as defensive only. But after a ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court in 1994 the term "defence" has been defined to not only include protection of the borders of Germany, but also crisis reaction and conflict prevention, or more broadly as guarding the security of Germany anywhere in the world. As of 2017, the German military has about 3,600 troops stationed in foreign countries as part of international peacekeeping forces, including about 1,200 supporting operations against Daesh, 980 in the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan, and 800 in Kosovo.^[138]
Until 2011, military service was compulsory for men at age 18, and conscripts served six-month tours of duty; conscientious objectors could instead opt for an equal length of Zivildienst (civilian service), or a six-year commitment to (voluntary) emergency services like a fire department or the Red Cross. In 2011 conscription was officially suspended and replaced with a voluntary service.

Religion

Main article: Religion in Germany

Upon its establishment in 1871, Germany was about two-thirds Protestant^[f] and one-third Roman Catholic, with a notable Jewish minority. Other faiths existed in the state, but never achieved a demographic significance and cultural impact of these three confessions. Germany lost nearly all of its Jewish minority during the Holocaust. Religious makeup changed gradually in the decades following 1945, with West Germany becoming more religiously diversified through immigration and East Germany becoming overwhelmingly irreligious through state policies. It continues to diversify after the German reunification in 1990, with an accompanying substantial decline in religiosity throughout all of Germany and a contrasting increase of evangelical Protestants and Muslims.^[215]

Baroque Dresden Frauenkirche (Evangelical)

Gothic Cologne Cathedral (Roman Catholic)

Geographically, Protestantism is concentrated in the northern, central and eastern parts of the country.^[g] These are mostly members of the EKD, which encompasses Lutheran, Reformed and administrative or confessional unions of both traditions dating back to the Prussian Union of 1817.^[h] Roman Catholicism is concentrated in the south and west.
According to the 2011 German Census, Christianity is the largest religion in Germany, claiming 66.8% of the total population.^[216] Relative to the whole population, 31.7% declared themselves as Protestants, including members of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) (30.8%) and the free churches (German: Evangelische Freikirchen) (0.9%), and 31.2% declared themselves as Roman Catholics.^[217] Orthodox believers constituted 1.3%. Other religions accounted for 2.7%. According to the most recent data from 2016, the Catholic Church and the Evangelical Church claimed respectively 28.5% and 27.5% of the population.^[218][219] Both large churches have lost significant numbers of adherents in recent years.
In 2011, 33% of Germans were not members of officially recognised religious associations with special status.^[217][i] Irreligion in Germany is strongest in the former East Germany, which used to be predominantly Protestant before state atheism, and major metropolitan areas.^{[221][222][223]}
Islam is the second largest religion in the country.^[217] In the 2011 census, 1.9% of the census population (1.52 million people) gave their religion as Islam, but this figure is deemed unreliable because a disproportionate number of adherents of this religion (and other religions, such as Judaism) are likely to have made use of their right not to answer the question.^[224] Figures from Religionswissenschaftlicher Medien- und Informationsdienst suggest a figure of 4.4 to 4.7 million (around 5.5% of the population) in 2015.^[225] A study conducted by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees found that between 2011 and 2015 the Muslim population rose by 1.2 million people, mostly due to immigration.^[226] Most of the Muslims are Sunnis and Alevites from Turkey, but there are a small number of Shi'ites, Ahmadiyyas and other denominations.^[227]
Other religions comprising less than one per cent of Germany's population^[217] are Buddhism with 270,000 adherents, Judaism with 200,000 adherents, and Hinduism with some 100,000 adherents. All other religious communities in Germany have fewer than 50,000 adherents each.^[228]

Languages

Main articles: German language and Languages of Germany

The Goethe Institut, a German language academy, in São Paulo, Brazil

German is the official and predominant spoken language in Germany.^[229] Standard German is a West Germanic language and is closely related to and classified alongside Low German, Dutch, Afrikaans, Frisian and English. To a lesser extent, it is also related to the North Germanic languages. Most German vocabulary is derived from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family.^[230] Significant minorities of words are derived from Latin and Greek, with a smaller amount from French and most recently English (known as Denglisch). German is written using the Latin alphabet.
German dialects, traditional local varieties traced back to the Germanic tribes, are distinguished from varieties of standard German by their lexicon, phonology, and syntax.^[231] It is one of 24 official and working languages of the European Union,^[232] and one of the three working languages of the European Commission. German is the most widely spoken first language in the European Union, with around 100 million native speakers.^[233]
Recognised native minority languages in Germany are Danish, Low German, Low Rhenish, Sorbian, Romany, North Frisian and Saterland Frisian; they are officially protected by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The most used immigrant languages are Turkish, Kurdish, Polish, the Balkan languages, and Russian. Germans are typically multilingual: 67% of German citizens claim to be able to communicate in at least one foreign language and 27% in at least two.^[229]
The Goethe-Institut is a non-profit German cultural association operational worldwide with 159 institutes. It is offering the study of the German language and encouraging global cultural exchange