Portal:Germany

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

Germany (German: Deutschland), officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central and Western Europe, lying between the Baltic and North Seas 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 357,578 square kilometres (138,062 sq mi) and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With 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 largest metropolis 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.

Today, Germany is a federal parliamentary republic led by a chancellor. It is a great power with a strong economy. The Federal Republic of Germany was a founding member of the European Economic Community in 1957 and the European Union in 1993. Read more...

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Jürgen Ehlers (German: [ˈjʏʁɡŋ̩ ˈeːlɐs]; 29 December 1929 – 20 May 2008) was a German physicist who contributed to the understanding of Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity. From graduate and postgraduate work in Pascual Jordan's relativity research group at Hamburg University, he held various posts as a lecturer and, later, as a professor before joining the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Munich as a director. In 1995, he became the founding director of the newly created Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Potsdam, Germany.

Ehlers' research focused on the foundations of general relativity as well as on the theory's applications to astrophysics. He formulated a suitable classification of exact solutions to Einstein's field equations and proved the Ehlers–Geren–Sachs theorem that justifies the application of simple, general-relativistic model universes to modern cosmology. He created a spacetime-oriented description of gravitational lensing and clarified the relationship between models formulated within the framework of general relativity and those of Newtonian gravity. In addition, Ehlers had a keen interest in both the history and philosophy of physics and was an ardent populariser of science. (Full article...)

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Image 1
German Instrument of Surrender
The German Instrument of Surrender, the main portion of which was signed at Reims, France, at 02:41 on 7 May 1945, was the legal instrument that established the armistice ending World War II in Europe. It was signed by representatives of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, the Allied Expeditionary Force and Soviet High Command. Another act of military surrender was signed, shortly before midnight, on 8 May in the outskirts of Berlin, Germany, at the insistence of the Soviets.
Image 2
Sparrenburg Castle
Photo credit: Daniel Schwen
Sparrenburg Castle, located in Bielefeld, Germany, as seen from the western lawn. The castle was constructed between 1240 and 1250 by the Counts of Ravensberg. The castle has been rebuilt many times. Although often under siege, it was never stormed. After extensive restoration work, the castle now presents itself as an imposing historic site.
Image 3
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.
Image 4
Wernigerode Castle in winter
Wernigerode Castle
Credit: Andreas Tille
Wernigerode Castle in winter
Image 5
City of Workers
Painting: Hans Baluschek
City of Workers is an oil painting on canvas completed by the Berlin Secessionist painter Hans Baluschek in 1920. It depicts a dark and dirty working class sector of the German capital, Berlin, in which industrial smoke dominates the skyline and the few lights of windows are drowned in the gloom. The 48.44 × 36.25 in (123 × 92.1 cm) work is held at the Milwaukee Art Museum.
Image 6
Bastei (Elbe Sandstone Mountains) in Saxony
Bastei
Credit: Thomas Wolf
Bastei (Elbe Sandstone Mountains) in Saxony
Image 7
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 8
Wind beeches on the Schauinsland in the Black Forest
Wind beeches on the Schauinsland in the Black Forest
Credit: Richard Fabi
Image 9
The Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin
Alte Nationalgalerie
Credit: Manfred Brückels
The Alte Nationalgalerie, a gallery on Museum Island, Berlin
Image 10
The Prinzipalmarkt in Münster
Prinzipalmarkt
Credit: Dietmar Rabich
The Prinzipalmarkt in Münster at night
Image 11
German Rentenmark
Banknote: Weimar Republic, National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History
The Rentenmark was a currency introduced on 15 November 1923 in Weimar Germany after the value of the previous currency had been destroyed by hyperinflation.

The banknote shown at left was printed in 1937 or later. It bears an adhesive coupon attached by the East German government in 1948, extending its validity while new East German mark banknotes were being printed.
Image 12
Monument to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in Berlin-Mitte
Marx-Engels Forum
Credit: Manfred Brückels
Monument to Marx and Engels on the Marx-Engels-Forum in Berlin-Mitte. The Berliner Dom is visible in the background.
Image 13
Bamberg Cathedral
Bamberg Cathedral
Credit: Unknown author
Bamberg Cathedral in 1880
Image 14
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 15
Neue Wache
Photo credit: Daniel Schwen
The interior of the Neue Wache, the central memorial of Germany for victims of war and tyranny. Located in Berlin, the building was originally built as a guardhouse, and has been used as a war memorial since 1931. The statue, Mother with her Dead Son is directly under the oculus, and so is exposed to the rain, snow and cold, symbolising the suffering of civilians during World War II.
Image 16
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 17
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 18
Frankfurt
Image credit: Nicolas17
The night skyline of Frankfurt, showing the Commerzbank Tower (centre) and the Maintower (right of centre). Frankfurt is the fifth-largest city in Germany, and the surrounding Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region is Germany's second-largest metropolitan area.
Image 19
Dresden
Photochrom: Detroit Publishing Co.
Restoration: Lise Broer
An 1890s photochrom print of Dresden, the capital city of Saxony in Germany, with Dresden Frauenkirche (left), Augustus Bridge (centre), and Katholische Hofkirche (right) visible. Dresden in the early 20th century was a leading European centre of culture and science, but suffered heavy damage due to an Allied bombing on February 13, 1945.
Image 20
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 21
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 22
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.

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History

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

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Anniversaries for May 10

1521 - Death of humanist and satirist Sebastian Brant, author of the Ship of Fools
1566 - Death of botanist Leonhart Fuchs
1760 - Birth of poet Johann Peter Hebel
1878 - Birth of politician Gustav Stresemann, Chancellor of Germany 1923 and recipient of the 1926 Nobel Peace Prize
1933 - Nazis and like-minded professors and students start the book burning on the Opernplatz in Berlin

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Did you know...

... that Oksana Lyniv founded the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine in 2016 and conducted them in thirty concerts across ten music festivals in 2022?
... that Thomas Mann insisted on omitting a passage on homoeroticism in the English translation of his work "On the German Republic"?
... that Heike Heubach became the first deaf member of the German Bundestag?
... that in opposition to his parents, opera star Joseph Schwarz began his career by running away from home to join a band of traveling minstrels?
... that Robert Winterberg's 1911 operetta Die Dame in Rot was adapted into English for Broadway?
... that in 1933 Nazi sympathisers attempted to kidnap two German-Jewish filmmakers in Liechtenstein?
... that in just one night, thousands of books on the experiences and medical care of transgender people in Nazi Germany were burned for being "un-German"?
... that Tilmann Köhler directed Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro in 2023 with playful "serious games" in which the women win by "wit, cleverness and presence of mind"?
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Selected cuisines, dishes and foods

Berliner Weisse (German: Berliner Weiße, pronounced [bɛʁˌliːnɐ ˈvaɪ̯sə] ) is a cloudy, sour beer of around 3.5% alcohol by volume. It is a regional variation of the wheat beer style from Northern Germany, dating back to at least the 16th century. It can be made from combinations of malted barley and wheat, with the stipulation that the malts are kilned at very low temperatures or even air-dried to minimise colour formation. The fermentation takes place with a mixture of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Brettanomyces) and lactic acid bacteria, a prerequisite that creates the lactic acid taste, a distinguishing feature of Berliner Weisse. By the late 19th century, Berliner Weisse was the most popular alcoholic drink in Berlin, with up to fifty breweries producing it. By the late 20th century, there were only two breweries left in Berlin producing the beer. (Full article...)

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