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One of the great powers of the industrial world, Germany rose from a collection of small states, principalities, and dukedoms to become a unified empire in 1871. The German empire was strategically located between France and Russia, and it clashed with both nations as it attempted to expand its borders. This rivalry resulted in World War I, in which Germany was defeated. Germany, however, emerged again as a major force in Europe in the 1930s under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. Germany's second defeat in a world war not only ended the period of expansion but also resulted in its division into two states. The role of the two Germanys in European and world politics was greatly reduced, but West Germany remained a major economic power. The borders that isolated the German Democratic Republic, in the east, from the Federal Republic of Germany, in the west, remained closed until late 1989, when Communism was successfully challenged by pro-democracy demonstrations in the Soviet satellites. The ultimate symbol of the East-West division had been the Berlin Wall a massive structure erected in the Cold War atmosphere of 1961 to divide Germany's most important city. On Nov. 9, 1989, the East German government bowed to increasing demands for reform: the wall was opened and families on each side of it were reunited. On Aug. 31, 1990, the two republics signed a unification treaty that detailed the legal and social foundations for German unification, which took place officially on Oct. 3, 1990.
Germany is located in north-central Europe. There have been few changes during the last two centuries on the western border with France, Belgium, and The Netherlands, but the border in the east with Poland has been redrawn several times in the same period and now lies along the Oder and Neisse rivers. Part of Germany's eastern border is shared with Czechoslovakia. The southern German borders with Austria and Switzerland are more clearly defined by the ranges of the Alps and by Lake Constance. The boundary between West and East Germany did not follow natural features to any extent but was a result of the division of Germany into zones of occupation after World War II. Germany's total area is about 138,000 square miles (357,000 square kilometers). It extends about 500 miles (800 kilometers) from north to south and about 400 miles (640 kilometers) from east to west at its widest.
Germany can be divided into four natural regions. The largest consists of part of the great plain that extends across Europe from The Netherlands to the Ural Mountains in Russia. The North German Plain is largely flat, but in the east there are chains of small hills consisting of glacial deposits. In the west there are areas of marshes along the coasts with sandy heath and moorlands inland. Farther south a complex region of hills and valleys forms the Mid-German Uplands. These hills are partially of volcanic origin. The major ranges of hills in the west are the Eifel, Hunsruck, Westerwald, Taunus, and Hardt mountains, which are located on both sides of the Rhine River. In the center are the Harz Mountains and the Thuringer Wald, and in the east the Erzgebirge, which form part of the border with Czechoslovakia (known there as Krusne Hory). The western hills are not high, but Brocken in the Harz reaches 3,747 feet (1,142 meters) and Fichtelberg in the Erzgebirge, 3,980 feet (1,213 meters). South of the Mid-German Uplands a region of plateau and lowlands stretches across the country. It contains a chain of hills known as the Swabian and Franconian Jura, which extends from southwest to northeast. These hills are formed from limestone and present steep scarp slopes to the north. They are not high but are scenically attractive. To the west the Black Forest, or Schwarzwald, follows a north-south direction. The Rhine River flows through a deep valley to its west. Its highest summit is Feldberg at 4,898 feet (1,493 meters). As the name Wald, or "forest," suggests, this range is covered in dense forest. This region of southern Germany also contains a central area of plains and low hills crossed by the Neckar and Main rivers, both tributaries of the Rhine. To the east the range of the Bohemian Forest forms part of the border with Czechoslovakia. It rises to more than 4,700 feet (1,430 meters). The southern region consists of the Bavarian Alps and the Bavarian Plateau. The plateau contains small hills and valleys formed by the tributaries of the Danube River, which fringes the plateau in the north. The Bavarian Alps contain the highest mountain in Germany Zugspitze at 9,721 feet (2,963 meters) and form a region of great natural beauty. Most of Germany's rivers flow northward to the North Sea. The longest is the Rhine 820 miles (1,320 kilometers) long with its tributaries, the Main, Neckar, and Mosel rivers, followed by the Elbe, Weser, and Ems. The Oder flows to the Baltic Sea, and the Danube with its tributaries, the Iller, Lech, and Isar rivers flows to the Black Sea. Most of these are navigable and are connected by a system of canals that cross Germany from east to west. There are few lakes of any size, the largest being Lake Constance, or Bodensee, which forms part of the border with Switzerland and Austria. North of the Alps there is a chain of small lakes, including the Chiemsee, Ammersee, and Lake Starnberger, or Wurmsee. In the north the Muritzsee and Schwerinersee are the largest of a group of small lakes between the Oder and Elbe rivers. South of Berlin there are small chains of lakes formed by the Spree and Havel rivers. There are several islands along the German North Sea coast. The East Frisian Islands are a continuation of the string of islands that stretches along the coast of The Netherlands, and the North Frisian Islands are located to the south of the Danish border. The main island is Sylt, which is connected by a causeway with the mainland. Between the two groups of islands is the small rocky island of Helgoland. The Baltic coast has few islands, the largest being the flat island of Rugen.
The climate of Germany is transitional between a maritime climate in the northwest and a continental climate in the east. Air masses from the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea bring moderate temperatures in winter and cool temperatures in summer to much of western and northwestern Germany. They also bring plentiful moisture. Cologne has an average January temperature of 34 F (1.1 C) and an average July temperature of 64 F (17.8 C) with 27 inches (69 centimeters) of annual precipitation. Farther south winter temperatures drop by a degree or two, while summer temperatures rise. In the foothills of the Alps, Munich has an average temperature of 28 F (-2.2 C) in January and 64 F (17.8 C) in July, with annual precipitation of 36 inches (91 centimeters). These temperature and precipitation figures reflect the higher altitudes of this region of Germany. The Alps are snow-covered from January to March in most years. Eastern temperatures in January are generally below freezing, while summer temperatures are above 65 F (18.3 C) on the average. Berlin, with an average temperature of 30 F (-1.1 C) in January and 66 F (18.9 C) in July and with 23 inches (58 centimeters) of average annual precipitation, is typical of the region's more continental and somewhat drier climate. The Elbe River is generally covered with ice for several months in the winter, a rare occurrence on the Rhine. The mixture of plains, hills, and mountains affects local temperatures and precipitation.
The Germans have taken good care of their forests, though acid rain caused some damage (see Black Forest). The predominant species is pine, followed by beech and oak. Spruce trees are found in the Black Forest and on the Bavarian Plateau. Much of this forest has been planted, and cutting is carefully controlled to prevent the depletion of timber resources. With heather, gorse, and grass as the typical vegetation, the northwestern region is mostly covered with heath. Some of these areas, as well as marshes, have been reclaimed and turned into pasture. The animals of Germany are similar to those of most of Northern Europe. Birds include thrushes, starlings, sparrows, owls, woodpeckers, herons, and falcons. The largest animals are various species of deer, while wildcats, pine martens, muskrats, mice, and hamsters are common. In some areas wolves, wild boars, and beavers are still found.
Germany has a relatively small variety of mineral resources. The most important by far is coal. The Ruhr is the largest bituminous, or soft, coalfield in Europe and accounts for more than 80 percent of Germany's coal production. Other coal deposits exist in the Saar and Aachen regions and near Zwickau. The deposits near Zwickau have large reserves of lignite, or brown coal, however, which is used primarily for the production of electric power. They are located mainly in the south of the country, though small amounts of lignite are also found in the west. Potash is found in large deposits, mostly in the east, while rock salt is an important resource of the north. Both are used in the chemical industry. There are some scattered deposits of low-grade iron ore, along with some copper, lead, zinc, tin, and uranium. Zinc and lead production is of considerable value to the economy. Apart from coal and lignite, energy resources are small. There is a little petroleum in the northwest but not enough to provide more than a fraction of the country's requirements. Some of the rivers of the Bavarian Alps are used to generate electric power.
The population of Germany is about 78 million people. About 84 percent of Germans live in cities. The largest city of Germany as well as its capital is Berlin, which is located in northeastern Germany and has more than 3 million inhabitants. The second largest city is Hamburg, with about 1.6 million inhabitants, followed by Munich, Cologne, Essen, Frankfurt am Main, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, Leipzig, Dresden, and Hanover. (See also Berlin; Cologne; Dortmund; Dresden; Dusseldorf; Essen; Frankfurt am Main; Hamburg; Hanover; Leipzig; Munich; Stuttgart.) Germans are of mixed racial origins. In northern Germany many people have the long heads, fair hair, and blue eyes that are characteristic of the Nordic racial type. In central and southern Germany people of the Alpine racial type predominate. They have broad heads, fair to dark hair, and gray eyes, and they tend to have a short and stocky build. A darker element comes from earlier populations of Celtic peoples. After World War II the population distribution was affected by large movements of refugees from East Germany to West Germany. At the end of the war some 12 million Germans left territories incorporated into Poland, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany. In the 20-year period after the war, more than 12 million more refugees settled in West Germany. Between 1955 and 1961 alone, more than 2 million East Germans arrived. From 1961 to 1989 the number of arrivals dwindled because of the barrier of the Berlin Wall and stringent border control by East Germany. The new policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) promoted by the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev brought great political changes in the other countries of the Soviet bloc. On Sept. 10, 1989, Hungary opened its border with Austria to allow the departure of East German refugees. (More refugees fled East Germany across the frontiers with Poland and Czechoslovakia.) Two months later the borders that had divided Germany for 28 years were opened. Some 2,000 East Germans passed each day into West Germany, straining the housing and employment sectors and devastating the East German economy. In the 1980s the growth rate of the German population as a whole slowed to an annual decrease in West Germany and zero growth rate in East Germany. By the early 1990s the birthrate in Germany was among the lowest in Europe. With an increasing number of older people and fewer young people to support them, the problem of maintaining a pension and welfare system for the elderly became a major economic and social problem. Added to this problem was the growth of the non-German population of Germany in particular the Turks, who numbered about 1.4 million of the total 4.2 million foreign born.
Germany is a country of regional differences in the culture and character of the people. Although one can speak of a German culture in general which is reflected in the literature, poetry, and art of the German people as a whole there are considerable differences in the way of life from region to region.
Although schools teach a standard form of language called High German, and most Germans use it for writing and reading, many people speak local dialects in everyday life. Germans from Munich and from Berlin have considerable difficulty in understanding one another if they speak their local dialects. In northern Germany in particular, a form of German that is known as Low German is very different from standard German, and it has been used by some writers and poets. The influence of television, radio, and other mass media, however, has helped to spread the use of standard German. Differences in dialect point to other regional variations. In spite of political unity, many Germans view people from outside their own region as being different sometimes disapprovingly. The cheerful and easygoing Rhinelanders are contrasted with the sterner and more disciplined Prussians, while the people from Hamburg are regarded as stiff and unfriendly by the more outgoing Bavarians. In general the north and south of Germany are divided by noticeable cultural as well as physical differences. These differences are also seen in the various folk costumes. The regional architecture of farmhouses is also varied from the long houses of northern Germany, with inhabitants and livestock under one roof, to the farms built around a central courtyard in central Germany and the chalets of the Alpine region.
Germans are also divided along religious lines. Much of northern and eastern Germany is Protestant, with the exception of the Rhineland area. Most belong to the Evangelical Lutheran church. The south is predominantly Roman Catholic, with the greatest concentration in Bavaria. In Germany about 66 percent of the people are Protestant and 27 percent Catholic. The celebration of Christmas is very important for the average German family. Various special forms of food and confectionery are prepared for the occasion. The Christmas tree is a German idea that has spread to many other countries.
German culture especially in the areas of music, literature, and poetry has made a great contribution to Europe and the world. During the Nazi period there was a stagnation of German literature in particular, as many writers such as Thomas Mann, Heinrich Mann, Bertolt Brecht, and Alfred Doblin left the country, and others were imprisoned. The revival of German culture after World War II followed a somewhat different direction. In particular, there was a strong reaction to Nazism and a tendency for literature to be more political and more critical of both past and present. (See also German Literature.) The German people have always been lovers of poetry, and some of their greatest poets such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Heinrich Heine are read throughout the world. Since World War II German poetry has been of less significance. Two poets whose works reflect the experiences of the war are Paul Celan and Nelly Sachs. Others, such as Rolf Dieter Brinkmann, have experimented with new forms. In general modern German poetry has been overshadowed by the novel. During Germany's division, literature in East Germany was subject to strong political control, and its quality therefore suffered. Because of their political content, few people in the West read East German novels, and most authors were little known outside their own country. One exception was Christa Wolf. Until 1979, when the state control over writers tightened, some East German authors had their works published in West Germany to avoid censorship. This stricter control followed the expulsion to the West of the poet Wolf Biermann, whose antiestablishment songs and poems had antagonized the regime. Several well-known writers protested Biermann's forced emigration, resulting in further government oppression. Some fled to the West and continued writing there. Among modern German writers of note are Bruno Apitz, Hermann Kant, Monika Reichmann, Arno Plack, Marlene Reidel, and Stefan Heym. Poets include Stefan George, Johannes Bobrowski, Gunter Kunert, Karl Mickel, Volker Braun, and Sarah Kirsch. Ulrich Plenzdorf, Peter Weiss, Franz Xaver Kroetz, and Heiner Muller are prominent modern playwrights.
One of the most notable contributions to German culture was made in the 1970s by motion pictures. From 1919, when the film 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' was made, the German cinema was one of the most important in Europe. After World War II, production of films began again, and by 1955 the industry was producing more than 100 films a year. These films were produced mainly for mass entertainment. They carried no political or social messages. In the 1970s, however, the situation changed with the rise of a group of new directors. Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, Werner Schroeter, and Wim Wenders were the most notable. Fassbinder, who died in 1982 at the young age of 36, was the most active of this group known as the Young German Cinema. His films had a strong political and social message that often did not appeal to the German public. Although his films were praised by critics and were shown in many countries, they were not box office successes. The group was critical in general of modern German society, which it considered very materialistic. In the late 1970s a more conservative trend began to appear in the German cinema as a reaction against the terrorist activities of the extreme left. Films based on literary classics and other less controversial topics began to appear. Although good German films are still produced, the period of experimentation seems to be over. Now a large proportion of films shown in German theaters and on television are of American or other foreign origin. Before the reunification of the two Germanys, the film industry in East Germany was state-owned, and writers and directors were under strong political control. Few films of note were produced. Because of the few films produced by domestic studios, many films were imported, mainly from the Soviet Union and other Eastern European countries. Some Western films were shown but were in general selected from those that show some unfavorable aspect of Western society. Most East Germans, however, were able to receive West German television programs on sets in their homes and thus had exposure to Western films and other programs with a view of life and society that was not approved by their government. East German cinema and television competed with up-to-date and interesting Western programs, which resulted in a somewhat higher level of production and content than was found in most Soviet-bloc countries.
German painting has never had the international fame accorded to German literature and music. During the Nazi period little art of value was produced, and the war destroyed many galleries and museums. After the war artists found that they virtually had to start afresh. Rather than create a specifically German art, they tended to follow international trends. The works of such painters as Willi Baumeister, Joseph Beuys, Julius Bissier, Hans Hartung, Franz Walther, and others reflect the strong influences of modern American and European painters. East German art before reunification was strongly affected by the necessity of following the Soviet model of "socialist realism." Only in the 1970s was permission given to artists to experiment with new ideas.
Modern German music is relatively unimportant on the world scene in contrast to the great contribution made in the past by such composers as Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Wagner, and Mahler. Conductors such as Wilhelm Furtwangler, Otto Klemperer, Herbert von Karajan, and Kurt Masur and the singers Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, however, achieved international fame.
As a source of national pride, sports play a major role in Germany. Favorite activities include track and field, volleyball, basketball, skiing, and ice and field hockey. Until the late 1980s the most popular sport in western Germany was association football, or soccer particularly in cup competitions with other European countries. In international competition the coveted World Cup was won by West Germany in 1954, 1974, and 1990 (runner-up in 1966, 1982, and 1986). Tennis became the status sport when a couple of charismatic teenagers dominated the world tours. At 17 in 1985 Boris Becker was the youngest player to win Wimbledon. Teams led by Becker won West Germany's first Davis Cups in 1988 and 1989. At 18 in 1987 Steffi Graf took over the top ranking in women's tennis and a year later won the first Grand Slam since 1970. They were named the top players of 1989. In 1990 Graf set a record for most weeks as the number one player (male or female). In tribute to these remarkable talents, tennis clubs more than doubled, and regional training centers were expanded. Beginning in 1990 the men's tennis association moved its championship finals from New York City to Frankfurt. Sports were used by the East German government to gain international recognition. In the 1960s young Communist athletes began to win medals in a variety of sports most notably track and field, swimming, and winter games. Their achievements were sometimes tarnished by criticism for the use of drugs like anabolic steroids to improve performance. Their great success usually resulted from a highly organized system in which children were selected at an early age for sports potential and then specially groomed in state-of-the-art training centers. Sports facilities for the ordinary East German citizen, however, did not compare with those available in West Germany. East Germany first competed as a separate national team at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Usually a top competitor, it was the highest-scoring country in the 1980 Winter Games. After the East-West borders reopened in late 1989, sports federations in the two Germanys initiated cooperative training camps.
In Germany the states control the individual educational systems. A permanent commission strives for a certain uniformity in curriculum, requirements, and standards, the implementation of which may vary. Books and study materials are usually free, and financial assistance and other forms of support are available in cases of hardship. Free and compulsory elementary schooling for eight to ten years, beginning at age 6, is followed by a two-year apprenticeship in a trade or a grant for technical or vocational training or secondary schooling. Several universities such as Gottingen, Tubingen, Freiburg, Heidelberg, and Marburg are of ancient origin and famous for their scholarship, but the largest number of students attend big city universities such as Munich, Berlin, Leipzig, Hamburg, Cologne, Rostock, Jena, Greifswald, Halle, Potsdam, and Bonn. There are many universities and a large number of colleges of technology, fine arts, music, physical education, and other specialties.
Germany is one of the leading industrial countries on both European and world scales. Although severely damaged in World War II, the economy of West Germany was rapidly rebuilt and by 1960 had become one of the strongest in Europe. Agriculture. Industry is the backbone of the economy, but agriculture is also important. Some 36 percent of all land is planted with crops, while about 16 percent is pasture. Germany produces about 80 percent of its food requirements. Almost 6 percent of the working population is involved in farming. About half the cropland is used to grow grain crops. The main grain crops are wheat, barley, rye, and oats. Wheat and barley production is not sufficient to meet needs, and some must be imported. Potatoes (for both human and animal consumption and for industrial use) and sugar beets are also important crops. Sugar beets provide sugar for all the country's own requirements as well as for export. The growing of grapes for wine is a major activity in southwestern Germany. The Rhineland and the valleys of the Neckar, Main, and Mosel are the main wine-producing areas. Various types of white wine are exported around the world. Hops for brewing beer are grown mainly in Bavaria. Barley is also an ingredient of beer, which is the most popular alcoholic drink in Germany, and is also exported. The raising of livestock is the major branch of German farming, and the country is mostly self-sufficient in meat and dairy products. It has the largest number of pigs of any country in Western Europe, and pork is a popular meat in German cooking. German farms are in general small and owned by families, many of whose members also have nonfarming jobs. Many farms are highly mechanized. Fish, particularly herrings, are much eaten by Germans, and Germany maintains a sizable fishing fleet. About half the catch comes from the North Sea, with the rest from the Atlantic Ocean. The main fishing ports are Bremerhaven, Rostock, and Sassnitz, where canneries are located. Inland waters are also fished, mainly for carp. Because of the demand for fish, considerable quantities are imported. Forestry and the conservation of forests make up a traditional occupation in Germany. In spite of the care given to the control of cutting and to reforestation, the great demand for timber for such purposes as construction, pulp and paper, and cellulose production requires imports. Industry supplies a great variety of products but is dominated by the engineering and chemical industries. Industry was formerly based primarily on coal, of which western Germany has large supplies. The coal of the Ruhr basin was used as a basis for German industrial development in the late 19th century. An iron and steel industry arose, which became the largest in the world next to that of the United States by the 1930s. Supplies of iron ore, however, were not adequate, and ore was imported from Lorraine in France and from Luxembourg. The iron and steel industry is still largely located in the Ruhr area, which accounts for about 80 percent of the output of these metals. Iron ore comes from Sweden, Brazil, Liberia, and Canada by way of the Rhine. Germany is the fourth largest producer of steel in the world. It has been able to maintain a competitive position on the world market because of its modern plants and production methods. With the drop in the demand for steel in the 1980s and the rise of less expensive Japanese and Korean steel, however, the German industry is not as prosperous as it was in the past. There are also iron and steel plants in the Saar and at Salzgitter, Osnabruck, Bremen, Eisenhuttenstadt, Brandenburg, Riesa, Gromitz, Thale, and Sulzbach-Rosenberg. Engineering employs about a quarter of the work force and accounts for about half of the country's exports by value. The industry produces a variety of goods, including locomotives and railroad stock, automobiles, machine tools, heavy industrial and electrical equipment, optical and precision instruments, cameras, hardware, mining equipment, farm machinery, nails, and cutlery. Almost every city has an engineering plant, but the largest centers are in the Ruhr cities of Essen, Dortmund, and Duisburg as well as in Mannheim, Magdeburg, Chemnitz, Kassel, Solingen, Berlin, and Leipzig. Electric motors, radios, and television sets are produced in Dresden. Optical instruments and cameras are exported around the world. The electronics industry is concentrated primarily in Munich, Nuremberg, Frankfurt am Main, and Stuttgart. The automobile industry is located in several cities. Located in Wolfsburg near Brunswick, Volkswagen is the largest. Daimler-Benz, which manufactures Mercedes-Benz cars, is in Stuttgart, and Ford and General Motors have plants in Cologne and Russelsheim near Frankfurt. Automobiles are also produced at Eisenach and Zwickau and trucks at Chemnitz and Zittau. Many cars are exported. The shipbuilding industry gained considerable importance in the 1960s when it competed favorably with other European countries and Japan. In recent years, however, it has suffered greatly from Japanese and Korean competition. It is located mainly in Hamburg, Kiel, and Rostock. Barges for use on the international waterways are also built on the Elbe River. The chemicals industry is more than 100 years old. It was first based on the use of coal, lignite, and rock salt and produced fertilizer and artificial dyes. It is now located mainly in the Ruhr and in a number of large plants along the Rhine such as Leverkusen and Ludwigshafen and at Hochst on the Main River. There is a large petrochemicals industry at Cologne and petroleum refineries at Hamburg and Ingolstadt in Bavaria. In recent years the petrochemical industry has been developed using petroleum brought by pipeline to plants at Schwedt on the Oder River and to Luena near Halle. Both petroleum and natural gas are imported, the latter coming by pipeline from The Netherlands and Norwegian fields in the North Sea. A major industry centered in eastern Germany is the manufacture of textiles. Cotton and woolen textiles are produced in Zittau, Leipzig, Chemnitz, Cottbus, and elsewhere. Electric power production comes mainly from coal, and there are large generating plants in the Ruhr that supply much of the country's needs. There are a few hydroelectric plants on Alpine rivers such as the Inn. Nuclear power has been developed in recent years, and there are 30 nuclear power plants in operation. Transportation. Parts of Germany have highly efficient transportation networks. Railroads are state-owned and well run and constitute one of the densest networks in Europe. Of the 50,226 miles (80,829 kilometers) of track, about 30 percent is electrified. In spite of their important role in the development of the country's economy, the railroads in the west carry much less freight and passengers than do highways. However, the railroads in the east carry more than twice the amount of freight that moves by highway. The highway system in western Germany is the best in Europe. The construction of the Autobahn, or four-lane expressway, system began in the 1930s, and it totals some 34,400 miles (55,360 kilometers), linking the major cities and regions of the country. Most German families own automobiles, and highways are often extremely busy, especially during holiday periods. The largest German airline, Lufthansa, is 75 percent owned by the government. It offers both domestic and international flights. On Oct. 28, 1990, Lufthansa began flying to Berlin for the first time since 1961. Interflug, the former national airline of East Germany, became a potential competitor of Lufthansa following reunification, and at the end of 1990 Lufthansa and Interflug were negotiating possible mergers and compromises regarding routes. Interflug flies to most of Eastern Europe and to some Western European and Middle Eastern countries. There are several international airports, such as Berlin-Schonefeld in Berlin and those in Frankfurt (one of the busiest in Europe), Dresden, Erfurt, and Leipzig. By the end of the 1990s a new airport is scheduled to be completed south of Berlin. It would make Berlin-Schonefeld and three other airports obsolete. The German merchant marine is not very large by world standards. The major ports are Hamburg and Bremen off the North Sea and Lubeck, Rostock, and Wismar on the Baltic Sea. The movement of freight by internal waterways, however, is of great importance. The length of navigable rivers and waterways is 2,690 miles (4,330 kilometers). Dresden and Magdeburg are important ports. Apart from the Rhine and its tributaries and the Danube, there are such major canals as the Mittelland Canal from the Ruhr to the Elbe, the Dortmund-Ems Canal, and the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal, which is scheduled for use by 1992. There are several canals in a system that connects the Oder and Elbe rivers. It is thus possible for coal and other bulky raw materials to be moved cheaply by barge between the major industrial centers of the country. About 20 percent of total freight moves by the inland waterway system. Communications. Postal and telecommunications services are managed by the federal government. The post office also runs a savings bank and maintains a service of post buses, which carry passengers as well as mail. Television and radio stations are financed by individual states, and programs often reflect local issues or the views of the political party in power in that particular state. There is an organization that promotes cooperation between the various broadcasting stations and that also broadcasts its own television programs throughout the country. There are numerous daily and weekly publications, and many more began appearing when the Communist government fell in East Germany and the press was given greater freedom.
Following World War II and the Soviet occupation of East Germany, a Communist-style planned economy was introduced. At first the Soviets ran their occupation zone solely for their own requirements. Factories were dismantled and machinery moved to the Soviet Union, and other factories were used to produce goods as payment for reparations. All land holdings of more than 250 acres (100 hectares) were seized without compensation. The result was a large-scale flight of people to West Germany. After the Berlin Wall opened in November 1989 thousands of East Germans fled to the West, causing economic problems in both countries and a heavy loss of skilled labor in the East. From the 1960s to 1989 the East German economy became more stable and was one of the most advanced in Eastern Europe, though its economic problems were still great. It could not be compared, however, with that of West Germany, Western Europe's leading economic power. With reunification and the bringing of East Germany up to Western standards, a united Germany would be even stronger. During Communist rule, most farmers worked on collective and state farms organized on the Soviet model. East Germans had more success with their socialized agriculture than most of the other Communist countries, partly because of greater efficiency and organizational ability and partly because of the greater amount of farm machinery, fertilizer, and other modern technology available. After 1960 production of crops increased rapidly. After reunification was completed, agricultural reforms, including private ownership of land, were instituted. The role of industry was important in the East German economy, and the country supplied a variety of industrial products to the rest of Eastern Europe. Before World War II the eastern part of Germany was marked for special development of chemical and electric power industries, using the large lignite deposits that are now Germany's major resource. The chemical industry used large quantities of electric power, and large power stations were built on the lignite fields.
Before Reunification West Germany was a federal republic established in 1949. It officially became a sovereign, independent state in 1955 when the military occupation ceased. It consisted of 10 Lander, or states, plus the territory of West Berlin. The city sent delegates to the federal legislature only on a consultative and nonvoting basis. The constitution was known as the Grundgesetz, or Basic Law. The legislature consisted of two houses, the Bundestag, or Federal Diet, whose members were elected by the public, and the Bundesrat, or Federal Council, composed of representatives of state governments. The number of deputies from each state varied from three to five according to size and population. The head of state was the president, who was elected for a term of five years by an appointed Federal Assembly. The president's main task was to represent the country in matters concerning international relations. The head of the government was the chancellor, who was advised by a cabinet of ministers. The capital was Bonn. Most state governments were headed by a minister-president or prime minister. The states had diets with elected representatives. The main political parties were the Christian Democratic Union, Social Democratic Party of Germany, Free Democratic Party, Christian Social Union, and the Greens (a party devoted to environmental issues). From 1949 to 1989 the German Democratic Republic was a unitary, one-party state. The Communist regime was toppled in late 1989, and the country's first democratic elections were held on March 18, 1990. East Germany's first freely elected parliament declared the country a democracy on April 5, 1990, and began rebuilding the government and rewriting the constitution to resemble that of West Germany. The 500-member parliament, or Volkskammer (People's Chamber), was elected by the people. The ceremonial head of state was the chairman of the Council of State (president), who was elected by the parliament. The head of government was the chairman of the Council of Ministers (prime minister), who was the leader of the party that held the most seats in parliament. The prime minister was advised by a cabinet of ministers. The main political parties were the Christian Democratic Union, German Social Union, Democratic Awakening, and the Social Democratic party. The Party of Democratic Socialism was the renamed Socialist Unity, or Communist, party. The capital was East Berlin.
In mid-1990 the borders of the five historic Lander, or states, of East Germany Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony, and Thuringia were restored, and on Oct. 3, 1990, the states became part of a united Germany. In addition, the Basic Law went into effect in the five newly reconstituted Lander and Berlin on October 3. All laws of the European Communities also were extended to apply to the entire country. Old East German laws that were compatible with those of West Germany and the European Communities remained in effect with two noteworthy exceptions: the liberal abortion law of East Germany was retained for two years after reunification in the five new Lander, and the strict drunk driving law is still enforced in this area. On Dec. 2, 1990, former West German chancellor Helmut Kohl, representing the Christian Democratic Union party, was elected Germany's new chancellor in the first free all-German parliamentary elections to be held in 58 years. During the newly-elected parliament's first session, held in Berlin on Dec. 20, 1990, a vote on whether to move the seat of government and parliament permanently back to Berlin was delayed. Although the unification treaty had set Berlin as the capital of unified Germany, coalition talks to be held in 1991 were expected to divide governmental functions between Bonn and Berlin.
More than 2,000 years ago a tall and fair-haired people roamed Europe. The ancestors of these fierce Teutonic warriors may have come from Northern Europe. The Romans later called them the Germani. As these Germanic tribes migrated south- and westward, they clashed with the Romans. In 113 BC German tribes the Cimbri and Teutoni began invading the Mediterranean regions. The Roman general Gaius Marius defeated them in 102 and 101 BC. To discourage further invasions, Julius Caesar crossed the Rhine in 55 and 53 BC. After the Germans under Arminius destroyed Quinctilius Varus' army in AD 9, Augustus decided not to conquer Germany. The Romans built a line of fortifications, called the Limes Germanicus, from the Rhine to the Danube. When Roman power weakened, waves of German tribes migrated to various regions of the empire. The Franks crossed the Rhine into Gaul (now France). The Goths migrated to the Balkans (see Goths). The Alemanni moved into the Rhineland and the Burgundians and Vandals into the Main River valley (see Vandals). In the 4th century AD Huns from Asia swept into Europe (see Huns). They conquered the Ostrogoths, or East Goths, and drove back the Visigoths, or West Goths. They invaded the Rhineland and Gaul. By the beginning of the Middle Ages, German barbarians occupied the western part of the Roman Empire (see Middle Ages). These tribes accepted Christianity and adopted much of Roman culture. Between present-day Netherlands and Denmark were the Frisians. Between the Rhine and Elbe rivers were the Saxons. In central Germany were the Thuringians. On the upper Rhine in Swabia were the Alemanni and on the lower Rhine the Franks. In 486 at Soissons, Clovis extended Frankish rule over northern Gaul (see Clovis). Under Charlemagne the kingdom covered most of Western Europe, including Germany to the Elbe (see Charlemagne). In 800 the pope crowned Charlemagne emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (see Holy Roman Empire). Charlemagne died in 814. The Treaty of Verdun in 843 divided his empire into three parts. Louis the German acquired the eastern part, which became Germany. Charles the Bald ruled the west, which became France. Lothair obtained the middle part. With the rise of feudalism Germany was cut into five tribal, or Stamm, duchies Saxony, Franconia, Bavaria, Swabia, and Lorraine (see Feudalism). In 911 the Carolingian rule of Germany ended. Conrad I of Franconia was the first German king. The Saxon House began with the rule of Henry I from 919 to 936. The strongest Saxon king was Otto I the Great (936-973). He revived the Holy Roman Empire, which did not include France.
In 1024 the Franconian (Salian) House was elected to rule. Soon the empire was torn by the Investiture Controversy begun between Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII. Of the Hohenstaufens, from 1138 to 1254, the chief rulers were Frederick I (Barbarossa) and Frederick II. (See also Frederick I; Frederick II; Gregory; Henry IV.) Wars and feudalism weakened the empire. The duchies were split into hundreds of smaller powers. Some cities became free cities. Many formed powerful groups such as the Hanseatic League. This was a group of increasingly independent and powerful north German towns and commercial groups who defended their own trade concessions (see Hanseatic League). The decline of the Holy Roman Empire resulted in the Great Interregnum, from 1254 to 1273, when the electors could not agree on an emperor. Then Pope Gregory X forced the electors to name Rudolph of Hapsburg emperor (see Hapsburg). In 1356, Charles IV issued a proclamation, known as the Golden Bull, that gave to seven electors the right to elect the emperor. During the rule of Charles V, Martin Luther led the Reformation, the religious revolt against the Roman Catholic church. The Peace of Augsburg in 1555 gave each German prince the right to choose Catholicism or Lutheranism. The religious struggle continued in the Thirty Years' War, which devastated Germany (see Thirty Years' War). The Peace of Westphalia made the empire a loose confederation of princes. (See also Luther; Lutheranism; Reformation.) During the war Prussia began its rise to power under the Hohenzollern family (see Prussia). Frederick William I created a military state. His son Frederick II the Great made Prussia a leading power of Europe (see Frederick the Great). After he seized Silesia from Austria in the Seven Years' War, from 1756 to 1763, he annexed part of Poland. Napoleon victoriously carried his wars into Germany (see Napoleon I). After he formed the Confederation of the Rhine, the Holy Roman Empire collapsed. The French crushed the Prussians at Jena in 1806. Prussia then undertook reforms. Its leaders abolished serfdom, organized local self-government, and established universal military training. Later Prussia helped defeat Napoleon at Leipzig in 1813. At the Congress of Vienna (1814-15) the several hundred German states were reduced to 39 and grouped into a loose German Confederation (see Vienna, Congress of). After Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo in 1815, Austria and Prussia struggled to control the Confederation. In 1848 a revolutionary movement failed to unify Germany under a democratic government.
Otto von Bismarck finally unified Germany (see Bismarck, Otto von). Known as the Iron Chancellor, he served during the reigns of Emperors William I and Frederick III (see William, Emperors of Germany). In 1864 Prussia and Austria occupied the Danish provinces of Schleswig and Holstein; after Bismarck maneuvered Austria into the Seven Weeks' War in 1866, Prussia annexed the two provinces, as well as Hanover and other north German states. Bismarck reorganized Germany and excluded Austria. The states north of the Main River united with Prussia in 1867 in the North German Confederation. In 1870 Bismarck tricked France into declaring war (see Franco-Prussian War). Defeated, France was forced to cede Alsace-Lorraine, a humiliation that France sought to avenge in 1914. The south German states joined Prussia in a new German empire. The king of Prussia, William I, was proclaimed emperor (or kaiser) of the Second Reich in 1871 at Versailles. Bismarck built up Germany's industries. He also laid the foundation for a colonial realm in Africa (Togoland, Cameroon, German Southwest Africa, German East Africa), China (Jiaozhou Bay in Shandong Province), and the Pacific (Kaiser Wilhelm's Land, Bismarck Archipelago, Caroline Islands). William II succeeded Frederick III in 1888. He dismissed Bismarck and built the country into a military nation. In 1914 Germany backed Austria against Russia and launched World War I (see World War I). Defeat came in 1918, however, and William II abdicated. Under the Treaty of Versailles, Germany ceded land to France, Belgium, Denmark, Poland, Lithuania, and Czechoslovakia. It also lost its colonies.
The German people in 1919 elected a national assembly. At Weimar it drew up a constitution for a democratic republic, and Friedrich Ebert was elected the first president. Unemployment and hunger mounted. In the Treaty of Rapallo Treaty of 1922, the new Soviet Union waived war reparations, but the following year France occupied the Ruhr when reparations lagged. Inflation soared until a thousand billion marks equaled one prewar mark. In 1924 the Allies aided Germany with the Dawes Plan on reparations. The following year President Ebert died, and Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg succeeded him. Germany signed a nonaggression pact at Locarno, Switzerland, and in 1926 joined the League of Nations. The Young Plan in 1929 fixed the amount of reparations to less than one third of the original amount. Germany's prosperity remained unsound. It was based too much on foreign credit. The stock-market crash in 1929 plunged the whole world into a severe depression. It was only a one-year moratorium on debts in 1931 that saved Germany from bankruptcyDictatorship Under Hitler During the depression Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party rose to power (see Hitler). Hindenburg was reelected president in 1932, but the next year he appointed Hitler chancellor. When the Reichstag building burned in a mysterious fire (probably started by the Nazis themselves), Hitler blamed the Communists. He forced through the Enabling Act, which provided a constitutional basis for his dictatorship. The Lander, or states, lost their powers, and the Nazi party was the only political party allowed. In a blood purge of 1934 many party leaders were executed for an alleged plot against Hitler. When Hindenburg died, Hitler abolished the office of president and took the title Fuhrer, or "leader." The totalitarian police state increased in power. Heinrich Himmler was chief of the Gestapo, or secret police. Joseph Goebbels directed the propaganda ministry. Cultural institutions, including the press, theater, and arts, were regimented. Schools and the Hitler Youth indoctrinated young people. The Nazis persecuted both Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, and the infamous Nuremberg Laws of 1935 deprived Jews of citizenship. The infamous Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) in 1938, during which many Jews and their property were brutally attacked, ushered in a new and more violent phase of their persecution, and the Jewish property that was left undestroyed was confiscated. Hitler talked peace but prepared for war. In 1933 Germany withdrew from the League of Nations. It repudiated the Treaty of Versailles in 1935 and began rearming. Universal military training was restored. Hitler denounced the Locarno Pact in 1936 and marched into the Rhineland. Germany formed a Berlin-Rome Axis with Italy. During the Spanish Civil War, Germany aided Francisco Franco and tested its new weapons. By 1938 Hitler had the most powerful mechanized army and largest air force in the world. Great Britain and France followed a policy of appeasement. They offered no opposition in 1938 when Hitler annexed Austria. They signed the Munich Pact to bring "peace in our time." The treaty gave the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia to Germany. In 1939 Hitler took Memel from Lithuania and all of Czechoslovakia. Hitler next demanded the return of Danzig, but Poland refused. Britain and France pledged aid to Poland. Hitler concluded a nonaggression pact with Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union, which removed the danger of a second front.
The German army then invaded Poland and began World War II (see World War II). After crushing the Poles, Hitler subdued Norway, Denmark, Belgium, and The Netherlands. France fell in 1940. Hitler's plan to invade Britain was foiled when the German Luftwaffe, or air force, lost the air battle of Britain. When Italy's invasion of Greece and Africa failed, Hitler seized the Balkans and North Africa. The Nazis imported "inferior races" from conquered countries to relieve the manpower shortage. Those who resisted were herded into concentration camps. About 12 million persons, including about 6 million Jews, were exterminated. (See also Holocaust.) Hitler next invaded the Soviet Union. He swept on to many victories. After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, he declared war on the United States. Hitler's defeat at Stalingrad (now Volgograd), in the Soviet Union, marked the turning point of the war. The Allies drove the Nazis out of Africa, Italy, and the Soviet Union. Germany became a battleground as the Allies closed in from east and west. In 1945 Germany surrendered unconditionally. Just before defeat came, Hitler committed suicide. Allied armies occupied all of Germany. They found it a wasteland. Allied bombers had almost pulverized the large cities. Thousands of civilians had died in air raids. Some 3,250,000 German soldiers had been killed. The war left Germany shrunken in size. In early 1939, it had been a country of 183,000 square miles (474,000 square kilometers) with a population of about 60,000,000. In 1945 it was reduced to 144,000 square miles (373,000 square kilometers) and was also reduced by several million inhabitants. The Soviets annexed northern East Prussia. Poland administered southern East Prussia, Pomerania, and Silesia, and Germany's eastern border was pushed back to the Oder and Neisse rivers.
Pending a peace treaty, Allied leaders met at Potsdam in 1945 and divided Germany into four occupation zones French in the southwest, British in the northwest, American in the south, and Soviet in the east. Berlin, deep in the Soviet zone, was also divided into four sectors (see Berlin). The International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg tried Nazi leaders as war criminals. The trial ended in 1946 with 19 convicted, of whom ten were hanged. Goering escaped hanging by taking poison. Civilian courts held denazification trials. Convicted Nazis were banned from public office and imprisoned. The division of Germany into occupation zones made possible the future development of two separate German states. The breakdown of the alliance between the Western powers and the Soviet Union which became known as the Cold War further led to the partition of Germany (see Cold War). In 1947 the American and the British merged their zones for economic purposes, and the Germans were allowed to set up state parliaments in all three Western zones. These moves laid the foundations for the emergence of the West German state. In 1948 the Soviets showed their unwillingness to cooperate with the Western occupation powers in a reform of the German currency and in the joint administration of Berlin. A blockade of the Western-controlled sectors of Berlin by the Soviet occupation forces led to the organization of a massive airlift of supplies to those sectors by the United States and Britain. By the spring of 1949 the blockade had been abandoned by the Soviets along with attempts to force West Berlin to become part of a Soviet-controlled city. The merger of the French zone of occupation with the other Western zones, along with the adoption of a constitution by representatives of the states forming the occupation zones, resulted in the proclamation on May 23, 1949, of the Federal Republic of Germany, or West Germany. On October 7 of the same year, the Soviet zone was proclaimed as the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany.
The first federal elections in 1949 resulted in the victory of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU). Konrad Adenauer, the leader of the CDU, formed a coalition government with other smaller parties and became the first chancellor of the new state. Adenauer was one of the great political personalities of postwar Europe. He was a strong believer in an alliance with the United States and the Western powers and hoped for an eventual united Europe based on the federal principle. At the same time he hoped for a reunification of Germany but only as a democratic state free of Communist control. Adenauer was faced with pressing problems. One of the most urgent was caused by the arrival of thousands of refugees from the Polish-occupied areas of eastern Germany and former East Prussia as well as from East Germany. The assimilation of these refugees presented both economic and social problems, but as the economy began to improve they found jobs and in fact contributed greatly to the country's revival. As the refugees were mostly anti-Communist, they tended to support the more right-wing parties and ultimately formed a party of their own, which agitated strongly against the partition of Germany and against the annexation by Poland of German territories in the east. Other problems were a result of the Allied occupation. Because the Ruhr region had been the main producer of German armaments as well as the economic heart of the country, some Western governments, led by the French, thought that the region should come under international control in order to prevent uncontrolled German industrial expansion. This naturally displeased the Germans. The international control authority that was set up was a weak organization that was abolished in 1952 when the European Coal and Steel Community was established (see European Union). The status of the Saar and its coal mines became a major concern for Adenauer. The Saar was part of the French occupation zone. After World War I the French had attempted to obtain control of the Saar permanently. They had been forced to hand the territory over to the control of the League of Nations, who in 1935 gave it back to Germany. After World War II the French were determined that they would not lose control again. The French detached the region from their own zone, joined it in a customs union with France, and gave it its own currency. A government was elected that gave France a 55-year lease on the coal mines. Adenauer opposed these moves strongly and argued that no former area of Germany could be transferred permanently to another state. The position of France was weak, and it needed United States aid too much to oppose American and British wishes to see a healthy West German economy. Relations between Germany and France were also improved by personal contacts between Adenauer and the French leader, Charles de Gaulle. In 1957 the Saar was returned to the Federal Republic of Germany. Controls lifted. On May 5, 1955, the occupation powers lifted the controls that they had placed on Germany's political and economic development. The Federal Republic was now completely free to develop its own policies. In 1953 Adenauer had been reelected and was ready to lead West Germany into a period of economic prosperity. He proved to the Germans that democracy could bring success, an idea that helped to counter any pro-Communist sympathy among the population. The poor performance of East Germany strengthened pro-Western feelings, and in 1956 the Communist party was declared illegal in West Germany. In spite of Adenauer's successes, there was criticism of his policies especially from the Social Democratic party, which formed the largest group in opposition to the government. The Social Democrats were unhappy with the continued employment in the government of people who had been Nazis. Education, especially at the universities, was still largely for a small elite, and in general society had changed little since the 1930s except for the political system. The Social Democrats fought the rise of a new German army, but in 1953 the government received the necessary support from the two legislative houses to proceed. In 1955 West Germany joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and in 1957 was an original member of the European Economic Community (EEC), or Common Market. It therefore became one of the leaders of Europe along with France and Great Britain. End of Adenauer era. Adenauer was reelected chancellor in 1957 and again in 1961. In the latter election, however, his party lost seats in the Bundestag, or West German parliament, and many hoped he would resign. He did so in 1963 and was succeeded by Ludwig Erhard. As chancellor, Erhard was not as strong as Adenauer and was under constant criticism from Adenauer, who remained a member of parliament and party leader. Erhard was reelected in 1965 but resigned the following year. The economy was in difficulties, and there was no strong political leadership. The Free Democrats withdrew from the coalition cabinet in 1966 to protect their political future, and a new chancellor, Kurt Kiesinger, was chosen. He formed a coalition government with the Social Democrats; Willy Brandt, a leading Social Democrat, became vice-chancellor and foreign minister. This coalition lasted only three years. During this period an attempt was made to improve relations with Eastern Europe, but this policy of detente was curtailed by the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. (See also Kiesinger, Kurt Georg.) The Social Democrats won the 1969 elections, reflecting a trend toward the left. Willy Brandt became chancellor and formed a coalition with the Free Democrats (see Brandt, Willy). His political strength lay largely in the fact that during the war he had actively opposed the Nazis while in Norway and Sweden. His main interest was foreign policy; he was less successful in dealing with domestic matters. He revived the pursuit of East-West detente, termed Ostpolitik (eastern policy), which he had begun as Erhard's foreign minister, and hoped for better relations with East Germany and Poland. At the end of 1970 he signed a treaty with Poland that recognized Poland's rights to the German territories Poland had annexed after the war. Brandt also visited Moscow that year to sign a treaty with the Soviet Union in which Germany agreed to respect the frontiers and territories of all states in Europe. By this act Germany renounced all claims to Polish and Czechoslovakian territory and recognized the boundary between West and East Germany. Brandt still refused to recognize fully the claim of East Germany to be a sovereign, independent state, as this would put the stamp of approval on the partition of Germany. Both Germanys, however, joined the United Nations separately in 1973. Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev paid a visit to Bonn in 1973, an event welcomed by some as a sign of the end of Soviet-German hostilities and of the Cold War. But Soviet approaches to West Germany were prompted more by a desire to obtain German technology than by a desire for friendship. The Soviet Union in turn offered German industry raw materials and energy supplies, particularly oil and natural gas. This period of seemingly improved relations with the Eastern bloc was brought to an end in 1974 by the revelation that one of Brandt's personal staff was an East German spy. Brandt accepted full responsibility for the mistake and resigned as chancellor. The new chancellor was Helmut Schmidt, a well-educated man who also spoke good English. He was practical, well organized, and a good speaker. In 1976 his position as chancellor was confirmed by an election in which the Social Democrats won by a narrow margin. The new government faced a new element in German politics, namely terrorism. Starting with bombings of government offices, embassies, and military bases and offices, by the mid-1970s people including judges, politicians, business people, and bankers were being shot or kidnapped. In 1977 a West German airliner was hijacked and taken to Mogadishu in Somalia, where the passengers were rescued by a special team of German police. (See also Terrorism.) Another problem arose from the decision by the government to develop nuclear power in order to reduce petroleum imports and to diminish air pollution from the excessive use of coal. Fear of nuclear accidents caused public opposition to those plans, and demonstrations and blockades took place at nuclear plants and proposed construction sites. Much opposition came from the ranks of the ruling Social Democratic party, but a new party devoted to the protection of the environment arose. Known as the Greens, it won a surprising 43 seats in the Bundestag in 1987. Dissension among party ranks, however, and diminished interest among voters in western Germany contributed to the Greens' loss of all but seven seats in the 1990 all-German elections. In 1981 the international economic recession began to affect West Germany, and unemployment rose sharply to a peak of more than 10 percent in 1983. The problem of the 2 million foreign workers mainly Turks and Yugoslavs became acute as many lost their jobs. Schmidt introduced a three-year program to reduce unemployment but had to cut spending on social welfare. At the same time friction developed with the United States over high interest rates, which were seen to be hindering Western European economic recovery, and over United States sanctions against Poland, with which Schmidt did not agree. In 1981 Schmidt visited East Germany in an attempt to improve relations between the two states. When the four Free Democrats in his cabinet resigned over the question of economic policy in 1982, the coalition government collapsed. Christian Democrats return to power. Helmut Kohl of the Christian Democratic party was chosen as chancellor, and in March 1983 he was given a clear mandate when his party was returned to power. (He was reelected in 1987, but his party lost some of its seats.) The United States government was particularly pleased with Kohl's policies, but the chancellor did not neglect the problem of relations with East Germany. In return for East Germany's lifting some currency restrictions on Western visitors, Kohl arranged for East German credits from West German banks.
West Germany marked its 40th anniversary during 1989. East-West relations dominated the political and economic scene throughout the year, with the main focus on the upheaval in East Germany. West Germany's embassies in Budapest, Warsaw, and Prague were flooded with East German refugees trying to flee to the West. The huge numbers that streamed into West Germany after East Germany opened its borders caused a shortage of housing and a fear of unemployment. Kohl promised to provide more than 3 billion dollars in economic aid to finance democratic reform in East Germany. On May 18, 1990, East and West German finance ministers signed a state treaty that would merge the two economies. Kohl and the newly elected East German prime minister, Lothar de Maiziere, named July 1, 1990, as the day for economic and social union, a step toward political union. The government invested 70 billion dollars to boost East Germany's battered economy, and on July 1, the West German mark became the sole legal tender.
In May 1949 a constitution establishing the government of an East German state was adopted by the legislative body that became the Volkskammer (People's Chamber), or parliament. The new government was headed by Otto Grotewohl, with Wilhelm Pieck, a Communist, as president. In order to control the other political parties, in particular the Social Democrats, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany had been formed in 1946. This party assumed power. It consisted mainly of Social Democrats and Communists, with the latter dominating all party decisions. A Soviet-style Politburo controlled the party, with Walter Ulbricht, another veteran Communist, as the party's general secretary. The period from 1949 to 1953 was marked by great unrest within the Socialist Unity party and the country because of what was labeled spy fever. Many people who were thought to be politically unreliable were expelled from the party, and some were imprisoned. At the same time the government was preparing for future economic development with a Soviet-style five-year plan to begin in 1951. This plan stressed the construction of new heavy industry and gave a low priority to consumer goods industries. In 1952 East German authorities began the collectivization of agriculture. From 1952 to 1954 about 700,000 people left for the West, a loss of workers that hampered the planned development of farming and industry. The political upheavals and the low standard of living caused many people to leave for the West. Unrest among workers who remained led in 1953 to strikes in a number of cities, including East Berlin. These strikes were put down with the aid of Soviet armed forces. This was followed by another purge in the Socialist Unity party, whose leaders realized that they had little following among the workers whom they represented. The Berlin Wall that separated East and West Berlin was built in 1961 and marked a turning point. Not only was the country more easily protected against the infiltration of Western agents, but the exodus of badly needed skilled workers and others was halted. At the same time economic reforms that eased central planning controls were introduced. Industrial production increased rapidly, more consumer goods began to appear in stores, and a mood of optimism began to spread through the population. By the mid-1960s the standard of living was higher than in most other Soviet-bloc countries. In 1968 the rise of a more liberal regime in Czechoslovakia alarmed the Soviet and East German governments. East German military units took part in the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. In spite of this development, relations with West Germany began to improve. End of the Ulbricht era. In 1971 Ulbricht resigned and was replaced by Erich Honecker. Although 20 years younger than Ulbricht, his successor was another hard-line Communist. One of Honecker's first acts was to nationalize all the remaining private enterprise. Attempts were made to counter the influence of West German television easily received in many parts of the country. The unique nature of East Germany and its culture was stressed, and loyalty to the state was firmly emphasized. By the 1970s the economy was one of the most industrialized and successful in Eastern Europe, but shortages of labor and natural resources began to occur. A serious food shortage developed in 1982. East Germany had meanwhile been building considerable debt to Western banks, and problems arose with the repayment of interest and capital. The Soviet Union sharply criticized these foreign loans. The regime was also embarrassed when 55 of its citizens sought asylum in the West German diplomatic mission in East Berlin. They left only when assured that they would be given permission to leave for the West. From 1984 to 1985 only 40,000 East German citizens were allowed to move to West Germany.
The totalitarian East German government at first ignored and then opposed the gradual political liberalization that was occurring in the Soviet Union. In 1988, when there were changes in the leadership of other Warsaw Pact states, Honecker pressed for even tighter ideological control. East Germany celebrated its 40th anniversary as a separate Communist nation on Oct. 6-7, 1989. While Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev noted that the Honecker regime was free to choose its own course, his anniversary speech also described the advantages of Soviet-style reform. On the nearby streets of East Berlin, and in all the other major East German cities, enormous pro-democracy demonstrations and marches were simultaneously taking place. Honecker was removed from office on October 18, and his hard-line protege, Egon Krenz, assumed all three of his posts. On November 7 the East German cabinet resigned and a reformer replaced Willi Stoph, the chairman of the Council of Ministers. The culmination of the premier's promise for freer East-West travel was the opening of the Berlin Wall two days later. Honecker and several of his associates were placed under arrest on December 5, and revelations of corruption inside the Communist party forced the resignation of the entire Politburo and the party's central committee. Krenz resigned as chairman of the Council of State on December 6. His replacement, Manfred Gerlach, was the first non-Communist to hold the post. As membership rapidly declined, the party scrambled to save itself by changing its structure and its name and by promising a program of democracy, greater openness, and other reforms. The Communist-led government formed a coalition, with pro-democracy parties in the minority, but was forced to form an interim coalition cabinet, give up its majority, and move up elections to March 18, 1990. East Germans voted overwhelmingly on March 18 for a conservative alliance that proposed quick reunification with West Germany. More than 93 percent of some 12 million eligible voters cast ballots in the elections. The newly elected parliament met for the first time on April 5 and began dismantling the Communist system that had ruled for 40 years. The Alliance for Germany a coalition of the Christian Democratic Union, German Social Union, and Democratic Awakening received more than 48 percent of the vote and 193 seats in parliament. Lothar de Maiziere, head of the Christian Democrats and the designated prime minister, formed a 24-member coalition cabinet that also included the Social Democratic party, the German Social Union, the Democratic Awakening, and the Liberals, but not the Party of Democratic Socialism, the renamed Socialist Unity party. The parliament abolished the old Council of State and created the ceremonial head of state post of president. Sabine Bergmann-Pohl was elected to serve as both the president of parliament and acting head of state.
The unification treaty was signed by West German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schauble and East German State Secretary Gunther Krause on Aug. 31, 1990. It declared that unification would officially take place on Oct. 3, 1990, that Berlin would be the new capital, and that elections would be scheduled for Dec. 2, 1990. Because of East Germany's ruined economy and its outdated industries many West German companies were hesitant to invest there. Nearly half of the East German work force was unemployed and nearly three quarters of the businesses failed by the end of 1990. Poland expressed concern that the country might not accept post-World War II borders. Eventually, however, Germany stated that it would respect the borders with Poland. On Sept. 12, 1990, some further issues were resolved during the "two-plus-four" negotiations (a phrase referring to the four Allies and the two Germanys). It was ultimately decided that the postwar occupation of Germany by these four powers would formally end on Oct. 1, 1990. Furthermore, Germany signed a commitment that it would never again become a threat to world peace. It was agreed that the new Germany would be a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) but that no NATO forces would be stationed on what was East German territory for three to four years after reunification. Also, Soviet, American, British, and French troops agreed to withdraw from what was East German territory and Berlin by the end of 1994. Germany, in turn, agreed to pay the Soviet Union about 7.5 billion dollars to finance the withdrawal of its troops and to build housing for them upon their return home. In addition, Germany agreed to cut the size of its armed forces from more than 600,000 to 370,000 troops.
Official Name. Federal Republic of Germany. Capital. Berlin. Germany. From Latin Germanus, which is probably of Celtic origin, meaning "neighbor" or "brother." Coat of Arms. Weimar Republic arms readopted 1950. Anthem. 'Das Lied der Deutschen' (Song of Germany).
Borders. Coast 554 miles (892 kilometers); land frontier 2,341 miles (3,767 kilometers). Natural Regions. North German Plain low-lying flat area with some rich pastureland, hilly to the east with wide, flat valley floors; Mid-German Uplands highland area crossed by rivers; Southern Germany including lowlands that are among the most fertile land in Germany; Bavarian Alps and Plateau plateau with small hills and valleys drained by the Danube; the Alps include Zugspitze. Major Ranges. Bavarian Alps, Harz, Erzgebirge, Taunus. Notable Peaks. Zugspitze, 9,721 feet (2,963 meters); Auersberg, 3,343 feet (1,019 meters); Brocken, 3,747 feet (1,142 meters); Fichtelberg, 3,980 feet (1,213 meters); Grosser Beerberg, 3,221 feet (982 meters). Major Rivers. Danube, Elbe, Havel, Main, Oder, Rhine, Saale, Spree. Major Lakes. Lake Constance (Bodensee), Muritzsee, Schwerinersee. Climate. Western regions mostly temperate with year-round precipitation; mild weather in the northwest; eastern regions mainly continental, drier; hotter summers and colder winters in the east and southeast.
Population (1990 estimate). 78,164,000; 567 persons per square mile (225 persons per square kilometer); 83.7 percent urban, 16.3 percent rural. Vital Statistics (annual rate per 1,000 population). Births 12.3; deaths 12.0; marriages 7.4. Life Expectancy (at birth). Males 70.6 years; females 76.9 years. Major Language. German (official). Ethnic Groups. German, Turk, Yugoslav, Italian. Major Religions. Protestantism, Roman Catholicism. MAJOR CITIES (1989 estimate) Berlin (3,277,000). Capital of Germany; electronics; mechanical engineering; chemical industries; motorcycle and automobile assembly; food processing; Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church; Academy of Sciences; State Opera House; Free University (see Berlin). Hamburg (1,593,600). Largest commercial center and port in West Germany; copper; vegetable and mineral oils; electrotechnical goods; port city; zoo (see Hamburg). Munich (1,188,800). Capital of Bavaria state; precision instruments; optical and electrical appliances; beer; publishing and printing; financial, convention, and cultural center (see Munich). Cologne (927,500). Cultural and economic capital of the Rhineland; major port; banking; wine and textile production; Cologne Cathedral; Wallraf-Richartz-Museum (see Cologne). Essen (623,000). Major industrial city of Ruhr Valley; coal and steel; construction; chemicals and glass; Minster treasury (see Essen). Frankfurt am Main (618,500). Manufacturing and industrial center; chemicals and dyes; heavy machinery; clothing; rubber; electrical equipment; Goethe House; Goethe Museum; Stadel Art Institute; Senckenberg Museum of Natural History (see Frankfurt am Main). Dortmund (583,600). Transportation and industrial center in the Ruhr region; beer; steel and coal; bridge building; machinery factories; Max Planck Institute for Industrial Physiology; Max Planck Institute for the Physiology of Nutrition; Institute for Spectrochemistry and Spectroanalysis; University of Dortmund; Museum of the History of Culture and Art (see Dortmund). Dusseldorf (563,400). Capital of North Rhine-Westphalia state; center of the Rhine-Ruhr industrial area; iron and steel; chemicals; glass; textiles and clothing; electrical engineering; automobiles; paper; printing presses; banking and wholesale center; University of Dusseldorf; Neanderthal Valley (see Dusseldorf). Stuttgart (552,300). Capital of Baden-Wurttemberg state; transportation and industrial center, on Neckar River; electrical engineering; motor vehicles; printing and publishing; textiles; precision instruments; chemicals; Stuttgart University (see Stuttgart). Leipzig (549,200). Constructional engineering; electronics; textiles; clothing; machine tools; transportation center; trade fair (see Leipzig). Dresden (521,200). Precision and optical instruments; radio and electrical equipment; flowers and shrubs for export; Central Institute for Nuclear Physics (see Dresden). Hanover (505,700). Capital of Lower Saxony state; transportation, commercial, and financial center; motor vehicles; machinery; Great Garden (see Hanover). Chemnitz (313,200). Transportation hub; textiles; engineering; known as Karl-Marx-Stadt 1953-90. Magdeburg (289,800). Food processing center; metalworking; heavy engineering; chemicals; textiles.
Chief Agricultural Products. Crops barley, grapes for wine, hops, oats, potatoes, rye, sugar beets, wheat. Livestock cattle, chickens, goats, horses, pigs, sheep. Chief Mined Products. Barite, chalk, clay, coal, crude petroleum, fluorite, gravel, iron ore, lead, lignite, lime, potash, rock salt, sand, zinc. Chief Manufactured Products. Automobiles, cameras, chemicals, electrical equipment, farm machinery, hardware, heavy industrial equipment, iron and steel, locomotives, machine tools, mining equipment, optical and precision instruments, textiles. Chief Imports. Chemicals and chemical products, clothing and wearing apparel, crude petroleum and petroleum products, food and beverages, iron and steel, machinery and transport equipment, medical and pharmaceutical products, paper and paper products, textiles and yarn. Chief Exports. Chemical products, dyes and dye products, electrical machinery, food and beverages, iron and steel, machinery and transport equipment, medical and pharmaceutical products, paper and paper products, textiles and yarn. Chief Trading Partners. France, United Kingdom, Italy, The Netherlands, United States, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Japan. Monetary Unit. 1 deutsche mark = 100 pfennigs.
Schools. Free and compulsory for children ages 6 through 18. Literacy. Virtually 100 percent. Leading Universities. Free University, Humboldt University, both in Berlin; Karl Marx University of Leipzig; Open University, Hagen; University of Cologne; University of Hamburg; University of Munich; University of Munster; Rhenish Friedrich-Wilhelm University of Bonn; University of Gottingen; University of Tubingen. Notable Libraries. Bavarian State Library, Munich; German Library, Leipzig; German Library, Frankfurt am Main; Technical Library, Hanover; National Library, Prussian Cultural Property Foundation Library, both in Berlin; University of Heidelberg Library; University of Cologne Library; University of Gottingen Library; University of Tubingen Library, University of Munich Library. Notable Museums and Art Galleries. German Museum, Old Pinacotheca, New Pinacotheca, State Museum of Ethnology, all in Munich; Germanic National Museum, Nuremberg; Roman-Germanic Central Museum, Mainz; Dahlem Museums, Egyptian Museum, German Historical Museum, New National Gallery, Old National Gallery, Prussian Cultural Property Foundation, all in Berlin.
Form of Government. Federal Republic. Chief of State. President. Head of Government. Chancellor. Legislature. Federal parliament of two houses the Bundesrat (Federal Council) with 45 members, appointed by state governments; and the Bundestag (Federal Diet) with 520 deputies. Judiciary. Federal Court of Justice highest court for civil and criminal cases. Federal Constitutional Court rules in disputes between the federal government and the Lander (states) and between individual federal bodies. Separate administrative, labor, social, and tax court systems. Voting Qualification. Age 18. Political Divisions. 16 Lander (states) Baden-Wurttemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommerania, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, Thuringia.
Bayreuth. House and tomb of composer Richard Wagner; annual Wagner opera festival. Berchtesgaden. Picturesque alpine town situated at foot of Obersalzburg Mountain and others; former summer residence of Bavarian kings; on the Obersalzburg stood the chalets (destroyed by Allied raid in 1945) of Adolf Hitler and other Nazi leaders; museum, teahouse, skiing facilities, spas, famous for wood carvings. Black Forest. Thickly forested mountain range; resorts and health spas (see Black Forest). Eisenach. Birthplace of composer Johann Sebastian Bach; boyhood residence of Martin Luther and the place where he attended school; Wartburg castle; botanical garden. Hamburg. World renowned night clubs, cabarets, bars, waxworks in the Reeperbahn and St. Pauli districts. Jena. Famed Zeiss optical and precision instruments firm; university city. Linderhof Castle. Near Ettal; built for King Ludwig II from 1870 to 1878 as homage to France's King Louis XIV and his Palace of Versailles; fine collection of statuary; stately gardens, pools, fountains, grotto, temple of Venus. Lorelei. A legendary rock jutting out into the Rhine near St. Goarshausen; poem dedicated to it by Heinrich Heine in 1824 in which he describes how a maiden threw herself into the river in despair over an unfaithful lover and was transformed into a siren who lured sailors to their deaths. Neuschwanstein Castle. In Bavarian Alps; fairy tale-type castle built for King Ludwig II between 1869 and 1886. Oberammergau. In Bavarian Alps; decennial Passion play; summer resort and winter sports center (see Oberammergau). Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Preserved, walled medieval town on the bank of the River Tauber; 14th century gothic Franciscan church; annual reenactment of the Meistertrunk (a medieval drinking challenge won by the mayor of Rothenburg, who thereby saved the city from being razed).
ROME
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