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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Bayern Munich logo

Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, pronounced [ˈfuːsbalˌklʊp ˈbaɪɐn ˈmʏnçn̩] ^ⓘ), also known as FC Bayern (pronounced [ˌɛft͡seː ˈbaɪɐn] ^ⓘ), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's association football team, which plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. Bayern is the most successful club in German football history, having won a record 33 national titles, including eleven consecutively from 2013 to 2023, and 20 national cups, along with numerous European honours.

Bayern Munich was founded in 1900 by eleven players, led by Franz John. Although Bayern won its first national championship in 1932, the club was not selected for the Bundesliga at its inception in 1963. The club had its period of greatest success in the mid-1970s when, under the captaincy of Franz Beckenbauer, they won the European Cup three consecutive times (1974–1976). Overall, Bayern have won six European Cup/UEFA Champions League titles (a German record), winning their sixth title in the 2020 final as part of the Treble, after which it became the second European club to achieve the feat twice. Bayern has also won one UEFA Cup, one European Cup Winners' Cup, two UEFA Super Cups, two FIFA Club World Cups and two Intercontinental Cups, making it one of the most successful European clubs internationally, and the only German club to have won both international titles. Bayern players have accumulated five Ballon d'Or awards, two The Best FIFA Men's Player awards, four European Golden Shoe and three UEFA Men's Player of the Year awards, including UEFA Club Footballer of the Year. (Full article...)

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Image 1
Interior of the St. Paulinus church in Trier
Basilica of St. Paulinus
Credit: Berthold Werner
Interior of the St. Paulinus church in Trier, a work of Balthasar Neumann
Image 2
Karl Friedrich Schinkel
Painting credit: Karl Friedrich Schinkel
Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781–1841) was a Prussian architect and city planner. He was one of the most prominent architects in Germany and designed both Neoclassical and Neo-Gothic buildings, the most famous of which are found in and around Berlin. He was also a painter and a designer of furniture and stage sets.

This oil-on-canvas painting, entitled Castle by the River, was created by Schinkel in 1820. As an artist, his architectural talent shone through, and his buildings and landscapes are carefully drafted and meticulously executed. The painting is in the collection of the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin.
Image 3
The Prinzipalmarkt in Münster
Prinzipalmarkt
Credit: Dietmar Rabich
The Prinzipalmarkt in Münster at night
Image 4
Adolf Mosengel
Painting credit: Adolf Mosengel
Adolf Mosengel (1837–1885) was a landscape painter from Hamburg, Germany, who built a reputation painting Alpine scenes, later turning to scenes from Westphalia. From 1854 to 1857, he studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf under Hans Gude, and from 1858 to 1859 in Paris, after which he moved to Geneva to study under Alexandre Calame. He spent most of his life working in Hamburg, but travelled in 1879 to the lakes of Northern Italy, where he painted en plein air. This oil-on-canvas painting by Mosengel shows a village in the Bernese Alps.
Image 5
Stefan Heym
Photograph: Marcel Antonisse / Anefo
Helmut Flieg (1913–2001) was a German writer best-known by the pseudonym Stefan Heym. He lived in the United States (or served in its army abroad) between 1935 and 1952, before moving back to his native Germany. He published works in English and German at home and abroad, including Nazis in the U.S.A. (1938), Goldsborough (1953), and Five Days in June (1977).
Image 6
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 7
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 8
Thomas Müller
Photograph: Michael Kranewitter
Thomas Müller (b. 1989) is a German professional footballer who has played for Bayern Munich since 2009; he is also the team's vice-captain. A versatile player, Müller plays as a midfielder or forward but has also been deployed in attacking roles such as attacking midfielder, second striker, centre forward and on either wing. He has represented Germany on its national team since 2010.
Image 9
Bamberg Cathedral
Bamberg Cathedral
Credit: Unknown author
Bamberg Cathedral in 1880
Image 10
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 11
The Einstein Tower in Potsdam
Einstein Tower
Credit: Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam
The Einstein Tower, a solar observatory in Potsdam
Image 12
Klaus Doldinger playing the saxophone
Klaus Doldinger
Credit: Raimond Spekking
Klaus Doldinger is a German saxophonist known for his work in jazz and as a film music composer. He was the recipient of 1997's Bavarian Film Awards.
Image 13
Reichstag
Photo: Matthew Field
The Reichstag building is a historical edifice in Berlin, Germany, constructed to house the Reichstag, parliament of the German Empire. It was opened in 1894 and housed the Reichstag until 1933, when it was severely damaged in a fire. After German reunification it underwent a reconstruction, completed in 1999, and now houses the modern Bundestag.
Image 14
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 15
The city hall of Werdau, Saxony
The city hall of Werdau, Saxony
Credit: André Karwath aka Aka
Image 16
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 17
German war bond poster
Poster: Lucian Bernhard; restoration: Bellhalla
A 1917 poster by Lucian Bernhard intended to sell war bonds in Germany. The caption, roughly translated, is "This is how your money helps you fight! Turned into submarines, it keeps enemy shells away! That's why you should subscribe to war bonds!" Mostly excluded from international financial markets during World War I, Germany was largely limited to domestic borrowing. The bond drives proved extremely successful, raising approximately 100 billion marks in funds.
Image 18
Lichtenstein Castle
Photo credit: Andreas Tille
Lichtenstein Castle is a fairy-tale castle located near Honau in the Swabian Alb, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Although there have been previous castles on the site, the current castle was constructed by Duke Wilhelm of Urach in 1840 after being inspired by Wilhelm Hauff's novel Lichtenstein. The romantic Neo-Gothic design of the castle was created by the architect Carl Alexander Heideloff.
Image 19
Saar river at Mettlach
Saarschleife
Credit: Wolfgang Staudt]
The Saar loop (Saarschleife) at Mettlach
Image 20
Albert Bierstadt
Painting credit: Albert Bierstadt
Albert Bierstadt (1830–1902) was a German-American painter best known for his lavish, sweeping landscapes of the American West, such as this oil-on-canvas painting, entitled Among the Sierra Nevada, California, created in 1868. He painted the landscape in his Rome studio, and exhibited it in Berlin and London before shipping it to the United States. His choice of grandiose subjects was matched by his entrepreneurial flair; his exhibitions of individual works were accompanied by promotion, ticket sales, and, in the words of one critic, a "vast machinery of advertisement and puffery". This work is in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Image 21
SMS Fürst Bismarck (1897)
Illustration: Hugo Graf; restoration: Adam Cuerden
SMS Fürst Bismarck was Germany's first armored cruiser, built for the Kaiserliche Marine before the turn of the 20th century and launched in 1900. Named for the German statesman Otto von Bismarck, the ship was primarily intended for colonial duties. She served in this capacity as part of the East Asia Squadron until she was relieved in 1909, at which point she returned to Germany. The ship was rebuilt between 1910 and 1914, and after the start of World War I, she was briefly used as a coastal defense ship. She proved inadequate to this task, and so she was withdrawn from active duty and served as a training ship for engineers until the end of the war. Fürst Bismarck was decommissioned in 1919 and sold for scrap.
Image 22
Bode Museum
Photograph: Thomas Wolf
The Bode Museum on Museum Island in Berlin, Germany, named after its founding director, is a museum of antiquities including sculpture, Byzantine art and numismatics. Designed by Ernst von Ihne and completed in 1904, the building was restored extensively from 1997 to 2006.

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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 a reviewer described the approach of soprano Magdalena Hinterdobler to her role as Grete in Zemlinsky's Der Traumgörge as "bold" and "sassy"?
... 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"?
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Selected cuisines, dishes and foods

Königsberg marzipan is a type of marzipan traditionally produced in the former German city of Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia). Königsberg's first marzipan production was established by the Pomatti brothers in 1809, who became confectioners of the Royal Prussian Court. They were joined by Sterkau, Petschliess, Liedtke, Siegel, Steiner, Gehlhaar, Plouda in Kneiphof, as well as Wald in Berlin and Schwermer in Bad Wörishofen. Königsberg marzipan is known for its flamed surface, which results in a golden-brown finish. It contains rose water and is often filled with jam. These characteristics distinguish it from the more common Lübeck Marzipan, which also frequently comes in more elaborate forms. (Full article...)

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