Germany

Table of Contents

Introduction & Quick Facts
Land
- Relief
  - The Central German Uplands
    - Southern Germany
    - The barrier arc
    - The northern fringe of the Central German Uplands
  - The North German Plain
  - The coasts
  - The Alps and the Alpine Foreland
- Drainage
- Soils
- Climate
- Plant and animal life
  - Plants
  - Animals
People
- Ethnic groups
- Languages
- Religion
- Settlement patterns
  - Rural settlement
  - Urban settlement
- Demographic trends
  - Migration
  - Population structure
  - Population distribution
Economy
- Modern economic history: from partition to reunification
  - The West German system
  - The East German system
  - Economic unification and beyond
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing
  - Agriculture
  - Forestry
  - Fishing
- Resources and power
- Manufacturing
- Finance
  - The central banking system
  - The private banking sector
  - Public and cooperative institutions
- Trade
- Services
- Labor and taxation
- Transportation and telecommunications
  - Waterways
  - Seaports
  - Railways
  - Highways
  - Air transport
  - Telecommunications
Government and society
- Constitutional framework
- Regional and local government
- Justice
- Political process
  - The electorate
  - Political parties
    - The Christian Democratic parties
    - The Social Democrats
    - The Free Democrats
    - The Greens
    - The Left Party
    - Fringe parties
- Security
- Health and welfare
  - Insurance and services
  - Additional benefits
  - War reparations
  - Standards of living
- Housing
- Education
  - Preschool, elementary, and secondary
  - Higher education
  - Problems of transition
Cultural life
- Cultural milieu
- Daily life and social customs
- The arts
  - Government and audience support
  - Literature and theatre
  - Music and dance
  - The visual arts
  - Architecture
  - Film
  - Arts festivals
- Cultural institutions
  - Museums and galleries
  - Libraries
- Sports and recreation
  - Sporting culture
  - Leisure activities
- Media and publishing
  - Broadcasting
  - The press
  - Publishing
History
- Ancient history
  - Coexistence with Rome to ad 350
  - The migration period
- Merovingians and Carolingians
  - Merovingian Germany
  - The rise of the Carolingians and Boniface
  - Charlemagne
  - The emergence of Germany
    - The kingdom of Louis the German
    - Rise of the duchies
- Germany from 911 to 1250
  - The 10th and 11th centuries
    - Conrad I
    - The accession of the Saxons
    - The eastern policy of the Saxons
    - Dukes, counts, and advocates
    - The promotion of the German church
    - The Ottonian conquest of Italy and the imperial crown
    - The Salians, the papacy, and the princes, 1024–1125
      Papal reform and the German church
      The discontent of the lay princes
      The civil war against Henry IV
      Henry V
  - Germany and the Hohenstaufen, 1125–1250
    - Dynastic competition, 1125–52
    - Colonization of the east
    - Hohenstaufen policy in Italy
    - The fall of Henry the Lion
    - Hohenstaufen cooperation and conflict with the papacy, 1152–1215
    - Frederick II and the princes
    - The empire after the Hohenstaufen catastrophe
- Germany from 1250 to 1493
  - 1250 to 1378
    - The extinction of the Hohenstaufen dynasty
    - The Great Interregnum
    - The rise of the Habsburgs and Luxembourgs
      Rudolf of Habsburg
      Adolf of Nassau
      Albert I of Habsburg
      Henry VII of Luxembourg
    - The growth of territorialism under the princes
    - Constitutional conflicts in the 14th century
      Charles IV and the Golden Bull
      Decline of the German monarchy
    - The continued ascendancy of the princes
      Southern Germany
      Central Germany
      Northern Germany
      Eastern Germany
      Continued dispersement of territory
  - 1378 to 1493
    - Internal strife among cities and princes
      Wenceslas
      Rupert
      Sigismund
    - The Hussite controversy
      Jan Hus
      The Hussite wars
    - The Habsburgs and the imperial office
      Albert II
      Frederick III
    - Developments in the individual states to about 1500
      The princes and the Landstände
      The growth of central governments
    - German society, economy, and culture in the 14th and 15th centuries
      Transformation of rural life
      The nobility
      Urban life
      The decline of the church
      Trade and industry
      Cultural life
- Germany from 1493 to c. 1760
  - Reform and Reformation, 1493–1555
    - The empire in 1493
    - Imperial reform
    - The Reformation
    - Imperial election of 1519 and the Diet of Worms
    - The revolution of 1525
    - Lutheran church organization and confessionalization
    - Religious war and the Peace of Augsburg
  - The confessional age, 1555–1648
    - German society in the later 1500s
    - Religion and politics, 1555–1618
    - The Thirty Years’ War and the Peace of Westphalia
  - Territorial states in the age of absolutism
    - The empire after Westphalia
    - The consolidation of Brandenburg-Prussia and Austria
    - The age of Louis XIV
    - The contest between Prussia and Austria
- Germany from c. 1760 to 1815
  - Further rise of Prussia and the Hohenzollerns
  - The cultural scene
  - Enlightened reform and benevolent despotism
  - The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic era
    - End of the Holy Roman Empire
    - Period of French hegemony in Germany
    - The Wars of Liberation
  - Results of the Congress of Vienna
- The age of Metternich and the era of unification, 1815–71
  - Reform and reaction
  - Evolution of parties and ideologies
  - Economic changes and the Zollverein
  - The revolutions of 1848–49
  - The 1850s: years of political reaction and economic growth
  - The 1860s: the triumphs of Bismarck
    - The defeat of Austria
    - Bismarck’s national policies: the restriction of liberalism
    - Franco-German conflict and the new German Reich
- Germany from 1871 to 1918
  - The German Empire, 1871–1914
    - Domestic concerns
    - The economy, 1870–90
    - Foreign policy, 1870–90
    - Politics, 1890–1914
    - The economy, 1890–1914
    - Foreign policy, 1890–1914
  - World War I
- Germany from 1918 to 1945
  - The rise and fall of the Weimar Republic, 1918–33
    - Defeat of revolutionaries, 1918–19
    - The Treaty of Versailles
    - The Weimar constitution
    - Years of crisis, 1920–23
    - The Weimar Renaissance
    - Years of economic and political stabilization
    - The end of the republic
  - The Third Reich, 1933–45
    - The Nazi revolution
    - The totalitarian state
    - Foreign policy
    - World War II
- The era of partition
  - Allied occupation and the formation of the two Germanys, 1945–49
    - Formation of the Federal Republic of Germany
    - Formation of the German Democratic Republic
  - Political consolidation and economic growth, 1949–69
  - Ostpolitik and reconciliation, 1969–89
- The reunification of Germany
  - Helmut Kohl and the struggles of reunification
  - Chancellorship of Gerhard Schröder
  - The Merkel administration
  - The chancellorship of Olaf Scholz (2021– )
Leaders of Germany

References & Edit History Facts & Stats

Images, Videos & Interactives

Stolberg, Germany

Modern Berlin: Blending history with modernity

How did Berlin become the capital of reunified Germany?

Zugspitze, Germany

Germany: Black Forest

For Students

Germany summary

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Germany: Facts & Stats

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As	Deutschland • Federal Republic of Germany • Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Head Of Government	Chancellor: Olaf Scholz
Capital	Berlin³
Population	(2024 est.) 86,303,000
Currency Exchange Rate	1 USD equals 0.937 euro
Head Of State	President: Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Form Of Government	federal multiparty republic with two legislative houses (Bundesrat, or Federal Council [69¹]; German Bundestag, or Federal Assembly [631²])
Official Language	German
Official Religion	none
Official Name	Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Federal Republic of Germany)
Total Area (Sq Km)	357,596
Total Area (Sq Mi)	138,068
Monetary Unit	euro (€)
Population Rank	(2023) 19
Population Projection 2030	84,888,000
Density: Persons Per Sq Mi	(2024) 625.1
Density: Persons Per Sq Km	(2024) 241.3
Urban-Rural Population	Urban: (2018) 77.3% • Rural: (2018) 22.7%
Life Expectancy At Birth	Male: (2020–2022) 78.3 years • Female: (2020–2022) 83.2 years
Literacy: Percentage Of Population Age 15 And Over Literate	Male: 100% • Female: 100%
Gni (U.S.$ ’000,000)	(2023) 4,559,133
Gni Per Capita (U.S.$)	(2023) 53,970
¹All seats appointed by local government.²Current number of seats; statutory number is 598.³Some ministries remain in Bonn. The federal supreme court meets in Karlsruhe.

Did You Know?

A portion of Germany's highways have no speed limit.
Escaping prison is legal in Germany.
Giving the Nazi salute is illegal in Germany.
Germany has a museum dedicated to snoring.
In Germany, you can buy beer at McDonald's.

Photos and Videos

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Deutschlandlied

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Quiz

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