Portal:Germany

Welcome to the Germany Portal!
Willkommen im Deutschland-Portal!

Germany (German: Deutschland), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland), is a country in Central and Western Europe, lying between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, France to the southwest, and Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands to the west.

Germany includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,596 square kilometres (138,069 sq mi) and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With nearly 83 million inhabitants, it is the second most populous state of Europe after Russia, the most populous state lying entirely in Europe, as well as the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is a very decentralized country. Its capital and most populous city is Berlin, while Frankfurt serves as its financial capital and has the country's busiest airport.

In 1871, Germany became a nation-state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the Revolution of 1918–19, the empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic. The Nazi seizure of power in 1933 led to World War II, and the Holocaust. After the end of World War II in Europe and a period of Allied occupation, two new German states were founded: West Germany, formed from the American, British, and French occupation zones, and East Germany, formed from the western part of the Soviet occupation zone, reduced by the newly established Oder-Neisse line. Following the Revolutions of 1989 that ended communist rule in Central and Eastern Europe, the country was reunified on 3 October 1990.

Germany is a federal parliamentary republic led by a chancellor. It is a great power with a strong economy. As a global leader in several industrial, scientific and technological sectors, it is a major trading nation. The Federal Republic of Germany was a founding member of the European Economic Community in 1957 and the European Union in 1993. Read more...

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

edit

Selected article

Richard Wagner (22 May 1813 – 13 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is primarily known for his operas (or, as some of his later works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most opera composers, Wagner wrote both the libretto and the music for each of his stage works. Initially establishing his reputation as a composer of works in the romantic vein of Weber and Meyerbeer, Wagner revolutionised opera through his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk ("total work of art"), by which he sought to synthesise the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts, with music subsidiary to drama. He described this vision in a series of essays published between 1849 and 1852. Wagner realised these ideas most fully in the first half of the four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung).

His compositions, particularly those of his later period, are notable for their complex textures, rich harmonies and orchestration, and the elaborate use of leitmotifs—musical phrases associated with individual characters, places, ideas or plot elements. His advances in musical language, such as extreme chromaticism and quickly shifting tonal centres, greatly influenced the development of classical music. His Tristan und Isolde is sometimes described as marking the start of modern music. More...

All selected articles

edit

Selected picture

Image 1
Göttingen
Photo credit: Daniel Schwen/Antilived
The marketplace of Göttingen, a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, with the old city hall, Gänseliesel fountain and pedestrian zone. Founded before 1200, the city is famous for Georg-August University, which was founded in 1737 and became the most visited university of Europe.
Image 2
Regensburg, Germany
Photo credit: Karsten Dörre
A twilight panorama of Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany with the 12th century bridge Steinerne Brücke and Regensburg Cathedral on the left and the river Danube in the foreground. Located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, the first settlements in the area date to the Stone Age. A Roman fort was constructed in 179. In contrast to almost all other major German cities, Regensburg had little damage from Allied air raids in World War II and thus has an almost intact medieval city center, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Image 3
Deutsche Mark
Banknote: Allied-occupied Germany (image courtesy of the National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History)
A one Deutsche Mark banknote issued by Allied-occupied Germany and circulated by the United States Army Command in 1948. This was the first of three issues of West German currency introduced that year. The Mark remained the official currency of West Germany until German reunification in 1990, then the official currency of Germany until the adoption of the euro in 2002.
Image 4
Schloss Neuschwanstein
Photo credit: Softeis
Schloss Neuschwanstein ("new swan stone castle") in southwest Bavaria is one of Germany's most popular tourist destinations. Construction was started by King Ludwig II and took 17 years. After his death in 1886, the castle was opened to the public. During World War II, many valuable items (all stolen) were stored at the castle, destined for Adolf Hitler's personal collection.
Image 5
Bamberg Cathedral
Bamberg Cathedral
Credit: Unknown author
Bamberg Cathedral in 1880
Image 6
Völkerschlachtdenkmal in Leipzig
Monument to the Battle of the Nations
Credit: André Karwath
A night shot of the Völkerschlachtdenkmal (Monument of the Battle of the Nations) in Leipzig, Germany.
Image 7
German New Guinea
Design credit: German New Guinea Company; photographed by the National Numismatic Collection
German New Guinea was a German colonial protectorate established in 1884 in the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups. The German New Guinea Company was founded in Berlin by Adolph von Hansemann and a syndicate of German bankers for the purpose of colonizing and exploiting the protectorate's resources. This gold coin, worth 20 New Guinean marks, was issued by the German New Guinea Company in 1895, and is now part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution.
Image 8
Moritzburg Castle
Moritzburg Castle
Credit: Olaf Leillinger
Jagdschloss (hunting lodge) Moritzburg near Dresden in Saxony (1999)
Image 9
Hohenzollern Bridge and Cologne Cathedral
Hohenzollern Bridge and Cologne Cathedral
Credit: Thomas Robbin
The Hohenzollern Bridge crossing the Rhine in Cologne, Germany, with the Cologne Cathedral in the background. The bridge is a tied-arch railway bridge, as well as a pedestrian bridge. Originally built in 1911, it survived numerous Allied bombings in World War II, only to be destroyed by German engineers as the war drew to a close. Reconstruction began soon after and the bridge was opened to pedestrian traffic in 1948 and completely opened in 1959.
Image 10
Bellevue Palace
Photograph: Taxiarchos228
Bellevue Palace is a palace (schloss) in Berlin's Tiergarten district, along the northern edge of the Großer Tiergarten park. Designed by architect Michael Philipp Boumann, Schloss Bellevue was erected in 1786 as a summer residence for Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia. Variously used as a residence, museum, and guest house in subsequent decades, Bellevue was damaged heavily in World War II. Following substantial refurbishments, it has served as the secondary residence of the President of West Germany and official residence of the President of Germany.
Image 11
New Synagogue, Berlin
Image credit: Wilhelm Ernst & Sohn
An 1896 engraving of the interior of the New Synagogue, Berlin. The synagogue was noted for its Moorish style and resemblance to the Alhambra. During the Kristallnacht pogrom of 1938, the Synagogue was set ablaze. Today the synagogue serves as an exhibit for various aspects of the Holocaust, particularly Kristallnacht.
Image 12
East Frisia
Photo credit: Matthias Süßen
Morning fog on the plains of East Frisia, a coastal region in the northwest of the German federal state of Lower Saxony. It connects Western Frisia (in the Netherlands) with the district of Nordfriesland ("Northern Frisia") in Schleswig-Holstein, all of which belong to the historic and geographic Frisia.
Image 13
Geography of Germany
Map credit: Lencer and NordNordWest
A general map, showing the geography of Germany, the seventh largest country in Europe and the second most populous. Located in Central Europe, Germany is second only to Russia in the number of borders it shares with other European countries (9).
Image 14
Walchensee Hydroelectric Power Station
Photograph credit: Diego Delso
The Walchensee Hydroelectric Power Station is a storage power station in Bavaria, Germany. The turbines, seen here, are fed by water from the Walchensee which is then released into the Kochelsee. The power station uses the hydraulic head of about 200 metres (660 ft) between the two natural lakes, and water from the Rißbach river is also used to augment the supply. The installed capacity is 124 MW with an annual production of 300 GWh; this is one of the largest of such power plants in Germany.
Image 15
Cologne Stadtbahn
Photograph credit: Martin Falbisoner
The underground station Rochusplatz on the Cologne Stadtbahn, a light rail system in the German city of Cologne. The station entrance is at the junction of Venloer Straße with Äußere Kanalstraße in the district of Ehrenfeld. It was opened in 1992 and consists of a mezzanine and one island platform with two rail tracks. The station was previously known as Äußere Kanalstraße, but was renamed to its present title on 15 December 2019. The system uses pairs of K5000/K5200 units built by Bombardier Transportation, which are almost identical to the M5000 trams used by Metrolink in Manchester, England.
Image 16
Town hall of Hildesheim
Town hall of Hildesheim
Credit: old postcard, public domain
Image 17
Königsallee in Düsseldorf
Königsallee
Credit: Mikhail Shcherbakov
The Königsallee (literally "King's Avenue") is an urban boulevard in Düsseldorf, state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The Königsallee is noted for both the landscaped canal that runs along its center, as well as for the fashion showrooms and luxury retail stores located along its sides.
Image 18
Cathedral of Magdeburg
Photo credit: Chris 73
The Cathedral of Magdeburg (known as Magdeburger Dom in German) is the first gothic cathedral in Germany and with a height of 104 m the highest cathedral in Eastern Germany. The current cathedral was constructed over the period of 300 years starting from 1209, and the completion of the steeples took place only in 1520. In 2004 a funding drive for a new organ that was started in 1997 was completed, collecting 2 Million Euro. The new organ has been ordered from a company near Potsdam, constructing a 36 ton instrument with 93 registers and approximately 5000 pipes. The construction is planned to be completed in 2007, and the new organ will hopefully be used for the first time in 2008.
Image 19
Charlottenburg Palace
Photograph: Thomas Wolf
Charlottenburg Palace is a large palace in Charlottenburg, a part of the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf borough of Berlin, Germany. The palace was built at the end of the 17th century and expanded during the 18th century. It includes much exotic internal decoration in baroque and rococo styles. It was badly damaged during the Second World War, but has since been reconstructed, becoming a major tourist attraction.
Image 20
The city hall of Werdau, Saxony
The city hall of Werdau, Saxony
Credit: André Karwath aka Aka
Image 21
Cairn in Snow
Painting: Caspar David Friedrich
Cairn in Snow is a landscape painting by Caspar David Friedrich that was completed in 1807. The painting is a Romantic allegorical landscape, showing a pagan burial site between three oaks, near the town Gützkow in Germany. It is held by the Galerie Neue Meister in Dresden, Germany.
Image 22
Wanderer above the Sea of Fog
Painting: Caspar David Friedrich
Wanderer above the Sea of Fog is an 1818 painting by Caspar David Friedrich, a German Romantic. It has been read as a metaphor for the uncertainty of the future.

All selected pictures

edit

Related portals

Parent portals

Europe
European Union

Regional

History

Holy Roman Empire (900–1806)
East Germany (1949–1990)

Neighbouring countries

Austria
Belgium
Czech Republic
Denmark
France
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Poland
Switzerland
Sweden

edit

Anniversaries for March 16

1789 - Birth of physicist Georg Simon Ohm
1920 - Birth of Dorothea Binz, supervisor at Ravensbrück concentration camp
1920 - Birth of Traudl Junge, secretary of Adolf Hitler
1935 - Adolf Hitler introduces conscription in Germany to form the Wehrmacht
1945 - More than 90% of Würzburg is destroyed in an air raid

More March anniversaries

edit

Did you know...

... that Russia funded the building of the Russian Memorial Church in Leipzig (pictured) as a monument to the 22,000 Russians who died in the 1813 Battle of Leipzig against Napoleon?
... that in 1994 Kazuyoshi Akiyama conducted the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra in the first performance of Schoenberg's Moses und Aron with Japanese musicians?
... that Hans Dieter Beck (pictured), a co-head of the publisher C. H. Beck, rode a bicycle to work until he was 92?
... that John Beaglehole described the appointment of Johann Reinhold Forster as naturalist on Cook's second voyage as "one of the Admiralty's vast mistakes"?
... that Maria Einsmann claimed to be her own husband, Josef, when she registered the births of her companion Helene Müller's two children in 1921 and 1930?
... that Theresia Bauer was named science minister of the year four times?
... that while Germans murdered millions of prisoners of war during WWII, the survival ratio of Jewish POWs was generally tied to the army or nation they served with, and not to their ethnicity?
... that on 26 December 1724 J. S. Bach directed the first performance of Christum wir sollen loben schon, BWV 121, based on a hymn written by Martin Luther in 1524?
Did you know archive · More new articles

edit

Selected cuisines, dishes and foods

Beer (German: Bier, pronounced [biːɐ̯] ^ⓘ) is a major part of German culture. According the Reinheitsgebot (German beer purity law), only water, hops, yeast and malt are permitted as ingredients in its production. Beers not exclusively using barley-malt, such as wheat beer, must be top-fermented.

In 2020, Germany ranked third in Europe in terms of per-capita beer consumption, trailing behind the Czech Republic and Austria. (Full article...)

More selected fare/cuisine articles

edit