Germany
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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.[1]
[edit] History
[edit] Administrative divisions
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).
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[edit] Geography
Germany has the second largest population in Europe (after European Russia) and is seventh largest in area. The territory of Germany covers 357,021 square kilometres (137,850 sq mi), consisting of 349,223 square kilometres (134,835 sq mi) of land and 7,798 square kilometres (3,010 sq mi) of water. Elevation ranges from the mountains of the Alps (highest point: the Zugspitze at 2,962 metres (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.[2] 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.
[edit] Demographics
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,[2] 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).[3] Chemnitz is thought to be the city with the lowest birth rate in the world.[4] 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.
[edit] Religion
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.
[edit] Culture
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Germany is often called Das Land der Dichter und Denker (the land of poets and thinkers).[5] 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.[6]
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.[7]
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.
Germany claims some of the world's most renowned classical music composers, including Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Richard Wagner.
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.[8]
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. The Nazi era produced mostly propaganda films although the work of Leni Riefenstahl still introduced new aesthetics in film.[9] 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.[10] More recently, films such as Das Boot (1981), Run Lola Run (1998), Das Experiment (2001), Good Bye Lenin! (2003) 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.[11] The Berlin Film Festival, held yearly since 1951, is one of the world's foremost film festivals.[12]
[edit] Science
Germany has been the home of some of the most prominent researchers in various scientific fields.[13] The work of Albert Einstein and Max Planck was crucial to the foundation of modern physics, which Werner Heisenberg and Erwin Schrödinger developed further.[14] 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.[15] Heinrich Rudolf Hertz's work in the domain of electromagnetic radiation was pivotal to the development of modern telecommunication.[16] 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.[17] Alexander von Humboldt's work as a natural scientist and explorer was foundational to biogeography.[18]
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.[19] 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.[20][21]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Germany Foreign Direct Investment Magazine. January 5, 2005. Retrieved 2006, 12-07.
- ^ a b Germany CIA Factbook. November 14, 2006. Retrieved 2006, 11-29.
- ^ (German) Destatis. Im Jahr 2050 doppelt so viele 60-Jährige wie Neugeborene. Retrieved on 2007-06-20.
- ^ German births decline to new low BBC. Aug. 15, 2006. Retrieved 2006, 12-07.
- ^ Wasser, Jeremy. Spätzle Westerns Spiegel Online International. Apr. 6, 2006. Retrieved 2006, 12-06.
- ^ Federal Republic of Germany: Culture. Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2006. Retrieved 2007, 01-02.
- ^ Kjell Espmark (1999-12-03). The Nobel Prize in Literature. Nobelprize.org. Retrieved on 2006-08-14.
- ^ [2006] A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (Paperback), Second (in English), Oxford University Press, 880. ISBN 0198606788
- ^ Leni Riefenstahl, FILMBUG, Accessed April 13, 2007
- ^ Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Fassbinder Foundation, Accessed April 13, 2007
- ^ Awards:Das Leben der Anderen, IMDb, Accessed April 13, 2007
- ^ 2006 FIAPF accredited Festivals Directory, International Federation of Film Producers Associations, retrieved on December 11, 2006.
- ^ Back to the Future: Germany - A Country of Research German Academic Exchange Service (2005, 02-23). Retrieved 2006, 12-08.
- ^ Roberts, J. M. The New Penguin History of the World, Penguin History, 2002. Pg. 1014. ISBN 0141007230.
- ^ The Alfred B. Nobel Prize Winners, 1901–2003 History Channel from The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2006. Retrieved 2007, 01-02.
- ^ Historical figures in telecommunications. International Telecommunication Union. January 14, 2004. Retrieved 2007, 01-02.
- ^ Kim, Alan. Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Jun. 16, 2006. Retrieved 2007, 01-02.
- ^ The Natural History Legacy of Alexander von Humboldt (1769 to 1859), Humboldt Field Research Institute and Eagle Hill Foundation. Retrieved 2007, 01-02.
- ^ Horst, Zuse. The Life and Work of Konrad Zuse Everyday Practical Electronics (EPE) Online. Retrieved 2007, 01-02.
- ^ Automobile. Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2006. Retrieved 2007, 01-02.
- ^ The Zeppelin U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission. Retrieved 2007, 01-02.
[edit] External links
General
- Deutschland.de — Official German portal
- Germany Tourism
- History of Germany since 1945PDF
(1.28 MiB)
Facts and figures
- CIA statistics
- (English) Destatis.de — Federal Statistical Office Germany
Travel
- {{{2}}} travel guide from Wikitravel
- Germany Travel Info — by the German National Tourist Office
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| Wikipedia | Category:Mountains of Germany +, Category:Rivers of Germany +, Category:Lakes of Germany +, Category:Arts in Germany +, Category:Sport in Germany +, Category:Rail transport in Germany +, Category:Tram transport in Germany +, Category:Aviation in Germany +, Category:Transport operators of Germany +, Category:German media +, Category:German television +, Category:German radio +, Category:German magazines +, Category:Newspapers published in Germany +, Category:Media companies of Germany +, and en:Portable Document Format + |
