Germany

The Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland), commonly known as Germany (German: Deutschland), is a country in Central Europe. It has a territory of Germany km² and is bordered to the North by the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and Denmark, in the East to Poland and Czech Republic, to the South by Austria andSwitzerland, and to the West by France, Luxembourg, Netherlandsand Belgium . Germany (2013) with 81.147.265 inhabitants the largest population of all the countries in theEuropean Union. The capital and largest city of the country is Berlin.

The German nation State was formed in 1867 with the establishment of the North German Confederation. In 1870/1871 occurred some South German States. The current name of the State, Federal Republic of Germany, was built in 1949. Since 1 January 1957 also made the Saarland (again) part of Germany, and the German reunification in 1990 came into being, of the old Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). In that year the six East German States joined the Federal Republic.

As the predecessor of the German nation State can the German Confederation (1815-1866) and be seen, the Holy Roman Empire that existed nearly a thousand years. TheGerman history begins in a sense already in the 1st century BC, when all of Germania, an area mainly inhabited by Germanic tribes.

The Federal Republic of Germany is a Federation of sixteen Federal States, in German Bundesländer or Länder (singular Land) known as. It is a Federal Republic and an important member of the economic, political and military organizations in Europe and the world. The country is a member of the European Union and the euro area, theNATO, the UNand the G8. Germany is in addition the Netherlands and Belgium's main trading partner and was the third economy in 2008 to nominal GDP, the largest exporter and the third largest importer in the world.



Content
[hide] *1 Geography 
 * 1.1 North-Germany
 * 1.2 West-Germany
 * 1.3 Eastern Germany
 * 1.4 South-Germany
 * 1.5 Climate
 * 1.6 Cities
 * 2 History
 * 2.1 Before the nation State
 * 2.2 creation and development of the nation State
 * 2.3 age of world wars
 * 2.4 After the second world war
 * 3 demographics
 * 3.1 Population
 * 3.2 Religion
 * 3.3 Language
 * 4 Politics
 * 4.1 political system
 * 4.2 Federal system
 * 4.3 Parties
 * 4.4 Defence
 * 5 Economy
 * 6 traffic and transport
 * 7 Culture
 * 7.1 Cinema
 * 7.2 Literature
 * 7.3 Science
 * 7.4 Architecture
 * 8 external links

Geography
Germany is located in the Western half of Central Europe, in the North bordering the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and Denmark, in the East to Poland and Czech Republic, to the South by Austria and Switzerland, and to the West by France, Luxembourg, Netherlandsand Belgium . Old descriptions call Germany the country between the sea and the Alps .

The country can be divided in three main geographical areas: the North German plain, the Central German, and the restin the South, the Alps. The climate is temperate, although there is considerable variation. Nearly two-thirds of the country's forests consists of coniferous trees, the rest is mainly beech wood.

Germany has relatively few mineral resources. The agricultural land is usually very fertile.

On German territory are 16 Federal States, officially in German Länder (singular Land, often in the form Bundesländer) known as. They also have many powers and participation on the federal level.

North-Germany
Hamburg in Northern GermanyAt the North one counts next to Hamburg and Bremen, which own federal States are also the States of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, and often also the former East German Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The North is located on North Sea andBaltic Sea and, inter alia, by the rivers Ems (Ems), Viper (Weser), crossed the Oder and Elbe . The country is flat (North German plain) and fairly sparsely populated. The largest city is Hamburg with 1.7 million inhabitants; It is also an important industrial centre and has an important port. To a lesser extent the same is true for Bremen and Kiel.

The North is heavily cultivated, despite the bad soil. The crops from this region include wheat, rye, barley, oats, potatoes and sugar beet. Dairy cattle is widely bred, especially in Schleswig-Holstein. Pork, beef and chicken are other livestock. In general, the North of Germany, East Germany, after the economically weakest part of.

West-Germany
The Ruhr Area.North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), which Belgium to Netherlands and adjacent, is the State with the most inhabitants (18 million) and is usually referred to as the West of Germany.Further, it is also possible to Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and Saarland in the West the small count. The largest city is Cologne (Köln) with around one million inhabitants, it is also important the NRW- Düsseldorf capital with its large airport and of course the Ruhr area with a total of more than five million inhabitants. All these cities are located in NRW, Rhineland-Palatinate are also give much credence to the capital Mainz and Frankfurt am Main in Hessen in particular.

West Germany is largely a hilly area with the Rhine and the Moselle as main rivers. The Rhine between Bingen and Bonn flows through a steep gorge. This section of the Rhine Valley is famous for its beautiful scenery, vineyards and castles. Along the northern edge of the Rhine Valley are the industrial areas of Germany, including the Ruhr area, that is plagued by high unemployment. The southern section of the Rhineland, the Eifel and Hunsrückthat-contains mountains, is largely farmland and has famous vineyards, especially in the Valley of the Moselle river.

Eastern Germany
Dresden with its Frauenkirche, which in 1945 destroyed and was rebuilt in 1994-2005.Before 1945 understood one under Eastern Germany especially the old Prussia East of the river Elbe. After the concept first was reserved to the lost Ostgebieten (which are now largely in Poland). Mean now the territory of the former GDR, so the Federal States Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and the already mentioned under North Germany Mecklenburg-Vorpommern with it. The State and German capital Berlin includes also an area with its western half that between 1945 and 1990 was connected closely with the Federal Republic. Berlin with are now 3.4 million inhabitants is situated besides but 60 kilometers from the Polish border.

In the South of the East are industrial centres located close to the Elbe River and its tributaries. The most important cities are Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz, Halle and Erfurt.

South-Germany
Zugspitze in Bavaria<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In the South are the two large federal States Baden-Württembergand Bavaria . Munich, the Bavarian capital, is the largest city in the South with 1.3 million inhabitants and an important economic and cultural center. Stuttgart is the capital of Baden-Württemberg. In general, the South is the richest part of Germany.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Through the South flows the rivers Danube, Iller, Lech, Isar, Mainand the Neckar . The highest point is the Zugspitze (2963 m) in the Bavarian Alps. It is the area from plateaus and forested mountains, such as the Black Forest, the Highlands of Swabia and the Bohemian Forest. The area around the Lake is a popular tourist area. The main agricultural products of the region are fruit, wheat, barley and dairy products.

Climate
<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">North and central Germany common mild summers and cool, damp winters. In the South and the mountain ranges such as the Harz mountains, the Black Forest and Bavaria are the summers much warmer, winters much colder and there is much snow.

Cities
<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">There are many large German cities, most in the South and West. The fifteen largest are:

Before the nation State
The Holy Roman Empire, 1648<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">While in other parts of Western Europe such as the UK, some centralized States arose, France or Spain, the Holy Roman Empire (' of the German nation ') in the middle ages and then a kind of Confederation (Confederation). The German Emperor had relatively little power, and the modernization in the early modern era happened at the level of the single countries. Many regions in terms of development ran behind compared to elsewhere. The emperor was chosen by the Princes of some countries, the electors. From the 15th century, all emperors from the Habsburgdynasty, which ruled Austria then. In addition to Austria and Bavaria in the South was also later one of the most important German StatesPrussia .

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In the era of the French Revolution and Napoleon (1789-1815) Germany substantially changed, including by reducing the number of German States of over 350 to several dozen.Especially in the South were formed a few medium-sized States. Much of Western and Northern Germany was annexed by France, another was part of the Rhine Confederation, actually a French satellite state.

The March revolution in Germany:Frankfurter Parliament in thePaulskirche.<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">After 1815 formed the majority German-speaking (but also non-German-speaking) areas the German Confederation, who like the old Kingdom no Confederation but a Confederation was. The main body of the Bakshi was the Federal Assembly ( Bundestag also called), a Congress of delegates of the few Princes. Among them was also the King of Netherlands in its function as Grand Duke of Luxembourg (later also Limburg). At the emerging liberal and national movement was the Bond little loved: he served mainly as an instrument in their vision of the Princes to press freedom and to suppress the formation of political parties.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In March 1848, after a new revolution in France, there were disturbances in Germany. Afraid of a violent revolution promised many German princes elected parliaments and constitutions (in so far as such did not exist). The Germans chose a National Assembly for the first time. They came together in Frankfurt ( Frankfurter Nationalversammlungtherefore) and had to give Germany a national Constitution. The old powers could stir though times and suppress the revolution in 1849; the Prussian King took the Imperial Crown from the hands of the revolutionaries not to. The tremendous achievements in some States were reversed. Still made the democratic experience impression; for example, the universal suffrage of 1848/1849 was the example for the later nation State.

Creation and development of the nation State
<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The German Confederation was restored, but in 1858/1859 came forth movement in the development of a German nation State. It succeeded the Prussian Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck in order to break the Bond in the 1860s, much of the national movement to gain and to cooperate with the (right-wing) Liberals. After the Prussian War againstAustria in 1866 Prussia founded the North German States with the North German Confederation in 1867 on. This was the first German nation-State. Still during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/1871 entered the South German States other than Austria (and Liechtenstein) to the North German Confederation far. At a barely changed Constitution took the Bond the name ' German Reich ' to. Prussia made in terms of territory and population two thirds of Germany from.

Proclamation of the Empire 1871 inVersailles, famous painting by Anton von Werner.<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The German Empire was a modern federal rule of law, with aristocratic and democratic elements. Laws were scored by the consent of the Reichstag Building, the chosen national Parliament, and the Federal Council, the organ of the Princes. The Prussian King was President of the Federal Council with the title German Emperor. The Emperor presented the Chancellor in, which was the de facto head of Government. Because the Liberals were strong in the Reichstag (later also Catholics and Socialists) Chancellor Bismarck 's politics was more modern than expected. From 1884 Germany also acquired colonies (especially in Africa).

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">During the Empire found the height of the industrial revolution in Germany place. In addition to various liberal, Catholic, Socialist and pacifist movements were anti-Semitic and hyper-nationalist. Around 1900 was one of the most developed countries and Germany was the German after English and French one of the world's major languages. The political system, however, remained behind: the Government was not determined by Parliament.

Era of world wars
<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The European powers France, Germany, Russia and Great Britain competed to (political and military) power and (economic and cultural) influence on the Earth. There was an arms race; from German perspective strained the other superpowers together to einzukreisenGermany. Great Britain went to an alliance with France. To the causes of the first world war is still being fought. In the crisis following the assassination of Austrian Crown Prince, who led up to the war, it was the attitude of the then Germany that a war was expected anyway and soon had to more favourable now than a few years later.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The war lasted four years, because both Germany and the other central powers and the allies on a auspicious time waited to a peace proposal to present to your own advantage. Germany wanted in Western and Eastern Europe country recapture, and the odds seemed favorable after Russia had been defeated in early 1918. In the course of the summer went by, it became clear that the fresh troops now from America had reached the European scene. The German military leadership left politics in september know that a victory was impossible.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">On november 11, 1918, Germany had to front of France the British Empire and other countries capitulate. The victors imposed heavy fines on the country and took it off but also all foreign colonies not only ten per cent of its territory had to be ceded to neighbouring countries, most to France (Alsace-Lorraine) and Poland (mainly the Refoundation West Prussia and Posen).

November revolution in Berlin, 9 november 1918, the last day of the German (Prussian) monarchy. On november 11, Germany signed a cease-fire.<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In 1918/1919 Germany a Republic, Weimar Republic was called. The heavy burdens that were imposed from outside the country, the failing political system, social unrest and the global economic crisis made in 1933, paving the way for the takeover of the country by the National Socialists under the leadership of Adolf Hitler.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The Third Reich started by the Second World War was the biggest catastrophe in German history and led in 1945 to the total occupation of the country by the Allied Russian, British, American and French armed forces. Virtually all large and medium-sized cities lay in ruins and the entire industry and infrastructure was destroyed in the course of the war.The areas east of the Oder-Neisse line were to Poland and the Soviet Union and the German population was assigned from these areas and the rest of Eastern Europe expelled which many perished. The survivors of this total of over 15 million people were included in the rest of Germany.

After the second world war
<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The Allied occupying powers could not come to an agreement in the post-war years to govern Germany as a unit. Germany in 1946 became politically split by the forced merger of the social democratic Social Democratic Party of Germany with the Communist KPD to Socialist Unity Party (SED) in the Soviet zone. Also have the necessary money reform the occupying powers could not come to an agreement. The introduction of the D-Mark in the Western occupation zones in 1948 by the Soviet Union was answered with the Berlin blockade. The Soviet Union broke down In november 1948 the Board of Berlin and suggested its own magistrate in East Berlin for.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">On 23 May 1949 came in the Western occupation zones, the Federal Republic of Germany established a parliamentary democracy. The capital of the Federal Republic became Bonn, on the river Rhine. In the Eastern occupation zone of Germany, on 7 October of that year the Communists with the help of the Soviet occupiers a dictatorship, called German Democratic Republic (GDR). Even before the creation of the GDR became the Soviet zone by border measures of the West closed. Though remained the boundary between West Berlin, which remained occupied by Western troops, and East Berlin open. After about 3 million Germans from the GDR to the West via Berlin in particular had fled, the East German regime built the Berlin wall in 1961.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">During the fifty years took place in the Federal Republic of the so called. Wirtschaftswunder in which the cities, industry and economic infrastructure was repaired again. That was made possible by the Marshall plan of the United States and the efforts of the Germans themselves. With the treaties of Paris which came into force in 1955 was the sovereignty of the Federal Republic ratified and was allowed to rearm and to become a member of the NATO, because the Federal Republic was indispensable and Western ally in the cold war. Other than the two other major European powers, the United Kingdom and France, it has never developed nuclear weapons. The Federal Republic was France together with the old nemesis one of the initiators of development that led to the European Union . Germany was the economic center of gravity of Europe.

Disassembly of the Berlin wall, december 1989<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In 1989 fell communism in Eastern Europe, with the highlight the symbolic fall of the Berlin wall on 9 november 1989. The opening of borders between the two German States eventually led to the reunification on 3 October 1990.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">It has the Federal Republic of Germany also difficult in the two parts of Germany to unite social and economic terms. Former East still makes it a less economically florissante development by than the West of Germany.

Population
<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Germany (2013) has 81.147.265 inhabitants of which approximately 67 percent and 33 percent has not a religion. With almost 31 percent (25,46 million people)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" len="159" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[6]  (31 december 2007) forms the largest group theCatholics . They live mainly in the South and the West.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Since the beginning of the 1970s are millions of guest workers from other countries (especially former Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey and Italy) came to Germany to work there. Below there are currently approximately 3.3 million Muslims, mainly Turks and Kurds. In total there are seven million foreigners, with which the total population leads to 81.7 million.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7" len="159" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"> [7]  91.5% of the population is German. After the United States, Germany is the second most popular migration destination in the world.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8" len="159" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"> [8]

Religion
The Cologne Cathedral is one of the largest churches in the world<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">About 30 percent (24.8 million)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9" len="159" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[9]  of the population is a member of the Evangelical Church in Germany (31-12-2007). This Covenant of churches is especially Luther's and partly reformed (Calvinist and zwingliaans). They live mainly in the North. About as many people in Germany are Catholic. In addition, there are about 2 percent Orthodox Christians.There are 63 percent Christians in Germany<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10" len="161" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[10] . Going to church figures show that 4.2 percent of the population and 1.2% a a Catholic Church on Sunday the EKD-Church visit (in 2007). There is a small Jewish minority of 0.2 percent (mostly recent immigrants from Eastern Europe and Russia). 3.8% is Muslim.

<p lang="en" len="136" style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">More than half the population in the area of the former GDR and in the northern part of the State of Hamburg depends to no religion.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The Catholic and Evangelical churches and synagogues are financed by a special church tax on the basis of income tax. It is only by escaping from the Church community to escape. Many churches struggle with great loss of members and therefore financial problems.

Language
<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The language that is spoken in Germany is mainly German. This Germanic language is closely related to Dutch, English and Northern European languages. German is also in Austria, Switzerland and other countries bordering on Germany, but the German has nowhere as many speakers as in Germany itself. In addition to standard German, also called Hochdeutsch, there are dialects. That is the most important border between the North and the South German dialects. In the North was originally low German (Platt) spoken. The dialects of the Southwest (where linguistic also hear Swiss German ) differ from the rest.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Virtually all Germans speak German. The Danes, Frisians, Gypsies and non-German-speaking Sorbs are the native minorities. Due to a recent immigration is also in Germany a lot of Turkish and Russian spoken.

Political system
The Reichstag Parliament building in Berlin, 1894-1933 and again since 1999.<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The Federal Republic of Germany, with its Constitution of 23 May 1949 a democratic-parliamentary federal State. The Constitution may by a two-thirds vote in Bundestagand Bundesrat be changed. Some articles, in which the basic principles of the Constitution as the federal structure of the State, the democratic, social and legal principles of the State, and the inviolability of human worth of the individual, of any change are excluded.

Joachim Gauck,Federal president since 2012<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The German Parliament Bundestag is called (Deutscher Bundestag) and is normally chosen every four years by the adult Germans. Theelectoral system for the Bundestag is based in principle on proportional representation but also has characteristics of the majority system. An electoral threshold of five percent causes very small parties outside the Parliament.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The Bundestag meets in the historic building of the Reichstag in Berlin. There are at least 598 members, because of the electoral system are usually slightly more. The current Bundestag, chosen in 2013, France members, the president of the German Bundestag is the Christian Democrat Norbert Lammert.

<p lang="en" len="759" style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The Bundestag is the most powerful organ in the political system: the votes on laws, it chooses the head of Government, the Federal Chancellor, the Federal president and partly the federal judges, it controls the Government and the secret services and it decides on international treaties and about the military deployment of the army.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The German Federal president (Bundespräsident der Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is the head of State. He represents the Republic. He signs laws further and appoints the members of the Government. He also has a minor role in the election of a new head of Government, which, however, in principle, is elected by the Bundestag. He is hardly involved In the daily politics, but how he is to him his ceremonial functions itself. Although he is expected from him above the parties he may express political opinions.

Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel (since 2005) of the Christian Democrats is the first female head of Government of Germany.<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The Federal president is elected every five years by a special body, the Federal Assembly, which meets just for this purpose. The Federal Assembly consists of all Bundestag members and an equal number of representatives from the State parliaments. A president can be re-elected to his first term of Office once.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The Federal Government (Bundesregierung) consists of the Federal Chancellor (Bundeskanzler) and the federal ministers. The Federal Chancellor is elected by the Bundestag by the Federal Chancellor, the federal ministers. In practice, however, the Federal Chancellor to the wishes of his party and the coalition parties meet, really figure out he can no more than two, three ministers.

<p lang="en" len="77" style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The Government, also called Bundeskabinett, works according to three principles:


 * Minister principle: Every Minister can decide on matters that have to do with his own Ministry.
 * Kollegiaalprincipe: on issues that concern multiple ministries decides the kabinett.
 * Chancellors principle: according to art. 65 of the Constitution, the Federal Chancellor the Richtlinienkompetenz. About things that he very important he can only decide. This law the Chancellor hardly used In practice because it would lead to great dissatisfaction of kabinett. However, the position of the Chancellor more strongly than those of government leaders in many other countries.

Federal system
<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">To hear the Federal Republic Länder, Federal States (not officially, but more often to hear is Bundesländer). Since 1990, the sixteen, before ten plus West Berlin that had a special status.The Constitution provides that only the bond, on which the Federation and the Länder together and which only the Federal States can decide.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">A State has a Constitution, a Parliament and a Government as a full-fledged State. The State Governments will send representatives to the Federal Council (Bundesrat). This body is not regarded as a Federal Chamber, but does have that feature: laws, which is also within the competence of the Länder also must be approved by the Federal Council. The Federal Council has 69 members. Each country has, depending on the size of its population, three to six votes, which, however, must be exercised in ' block '. Because in many State Governments are not the same parties as in the Federal Government, it is often difficult to get a consent of the Federal Council. Federal States of Germany* Baden-Württemberg
 * Bavaria (Bayern)
 * Berlin (Berlin)
 * Brandenburg
 * Bremen
 * Hamburg
 * Hessen
 * Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)
 * Lower Saxony (Lower-Saxony)
 * North Rhine-Westphalia (North Rhine-Westphalia)
 * Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz)
 * Saarland
 * Saxonia (Sachsen)
 * Saxonia-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt)
 * Schleswig-Holstein (Schleswig-Holstein)
 * Thuringia

Parties
<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Parties in Germany since the 1860s. Already in the empire they fulfilled an important function in Parliament, since 1918 also come the Government members from its rows. From 1933 to 1945 in Nazi Germany banned all parties except. Most current parties were founded in 1945 (again).

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The largest party is the Christian Democratic CDUin Bavaria, which itself does not occur but the field leave it to her sister party CSU. Together they form one group in the Bundestag. Most Federal Chancellor and federal Presidents were members of the CDU/CSU, which together are called also that Union . The other major party, the social democratic SPD, which has this name since 1891. These two parties, one center-right and the other center-left, because of their size called Volksparteien .

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Still in 1980 got CDU/CSU and SPD together more than 90 percent of the votes. Since then, smaller parties were more important. The Liberal FDP has existed since 1945/1948 and was represented in many federal governments. In 1983, the ecological Die Grünen -alternative the Bundestag-electoral threshold for the first time. Linkssocialistische by the reunification in 1990 a party thereto, the former Communist Party of East Germany. Since 2007 she has after a merger with a left-wing SPD-offshoot the name Die Linke.

Defence
<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The German armed forces are called the Bundeswehr, it exists since 1955 and includes the three: Mr Teilstreitkräfte(Army), Bundesmarine and Luftwaffe (air force). From the beginning was the Bundeswehr a conscript, but in 2011 the draft suspended. The Bundeswehr had the longest time during the cold war a small half a million soldiers and approximately a quarter of a million in 2011. Since the early 90 's is the Bundeswehr also active outside the NATO area, including in Afghanistan.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The highest rank in the army has the Generalinspekteur as an advisor to the Federal Government. The military high command has called the Federal Minister of defence, in wartime the Federal Chancellor.

Economy
Frankfurt am Main is the largest financial centre after London of Europe<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Germany possesses technologically, the fourth-strongest economy in the world, after the us, China and Japan, but the substantial structural market requirements, including gross costs for hiring new workers, have made a long-term, persistent unemployment problem. An ageing population, combined with high unemployment, hampered the enforcement of laws, social security: become the burden on werkhebbenden are disproportionately high. The modernisation and integration of the Eastern German economy continues to be a costly long-term problem.

Traffic and transport

 * Germany's large cities have international airports; see list of airports in Germany.
 * Germany has an excellent road network of motorways and highways; see roads in Germany.
 * There is also an excellent rail network for transport by train.

Culture
Berlin is a center of culture and science.<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">As in many other countries of Europe in Germany the culture of the Romans also had a great influence, if only the part West of the Rhine and South of the Danube by the Romans occupied for quite some time. Since the middle ages there came new impulses from Germany itself, for example by Albertus Magnus in philosophy.

Cinema
<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The German cinema has been around as long as the medium is film, ever since the end of the 19th century. In 1895 gave the brothers Max and Emil Skladanowsky their first performance with the film projector called Bioskop, which for the first time a film presentation was given with a paying audience. The cinema was born.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The years following the first world war were the heyday of the German cinema. The silent films of the period were mostly expressionist films, such as Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari(1920), Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1921) and metropolis (1927). Also did the genre mountain film made its appearance in which showed how the main characters had to save themselves in the hard nature of the mountains.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In the mid-1920s did the new objectivity made its appearance in the film world. This involved sexuality, scandals and people who perished on the silver screen, as in That Büchse der Pandora (1929) and the Blue Angel(1930). The latter was also the first German film with sound and became both in German as in English included. The film made by Marlene Dietrich an instant international star.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The Germans look like most Europeans nowadays especially to American films. Important exceptions were Run Lola run (1998) and Der Schuh des Manitu (2001). Per year, there is a small place in almost 150,000 cinema visits five thousand movie theaters.

Literature
<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The (written) German literature has existed since the 8th century. Often, however, it went to translations from Latin or French or to short stories. The first important German novel is from 1668, Of the adventurous Simplicissimus. As the classical period of the German literature, the years around 1800 with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller.

Science
<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The 19th century saw the political unification of Germany, but also a growth of scientific and cultural expressions. Around 1900 Germany was one of the leading countries in these areas. Thereof in the following years witnessed the many Nobel prizes for Germans, for example for Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (physics, 1901), Emil von Behring (medicine, 1901) and the historian Theodor Mommsen (literature, 1902). Many modern inventions have more than one inventor; important for the development of the car were Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler, for the Paul Nipkow tv and Karl Ferdinand Braun and Philipp Travel for the phone.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The isolation during the first world war, the emigration because of national socialism since 1933 and the uncertain situation after 1945 were major setbacks for the German culture and science. The consequences are partly still going to feel. Despite brain-drain to the US is the German contribution to culture and science of the world though still large.

<p lang="en" len="200" style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The German health care is one of the most advanced in the world, which is reflected in the very low infant mortality, high life expectancy and the high percentage of successful operations.

Architecture
Neuschwanstein Castle<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">According to a survey by the Deutsche Tourismusverband meinestadt.de is the Cologne Cathedral and the most popular attraction of Germany. Second place is theNeuschwanstein Castle and Frauenkirche in Dresdenon place three.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11" len="161" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"> [11]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In the second world war Germany has many buildings lost; partly they are rebuilt as the historic centre of Münster. Especially in smaller towns are mostly historical ensembles preserved from the middle ages, the most well-known is perhaps Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

<p lang="en" len="505" style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Germany is at the natural landscapes of large forests, often in the mountains such as the Bavarian Forest, and to the Wadden Sea as the Niedersächsisches Wattenmeer.