Introduction
It is a federal state located in central Europe and its official name is the Federal Republic of Germany. The capital is Berlin and the official language is German, with several dialects depending on the region. It is made up of 16 cantons (Länder), including three cities, Berlin, Hamburg, and Bremen, which have autonomy equal to that of the cantons. It is the founding country of the European Economic Community (EEC), the predecessor of the European Union (EU), and is the most populous country in the European Union and the third most populous country in Europe as a whole after Russia and Turkic Republic.
The English name for Germany, ‘Germany’, originates from the Roman politician and general Julius Caesar calling the people living east of the Rhine River ‘Germania’. Also, the German name ‘Deutschland’ comes from ‘German land (diutisciu land)’.
Several Germanic tribes have lived in the area of present-day Germany since before BC, and Germania was first mentioned in literature around 100 AD. By the 10th century, the Germanic people had become the core ethnic group of the Holy Roman Empire, and in the 16th century, North Germany had become the center of the Reformation. When the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in the Napoleonic Wars in 1806, it was divided into several princely states and city-states. In 1871, with Prussia in the north at the center, the German Empire was formed and reigned as a powerhouse in Central Europe.
However, with the defeat in World War I, the Weimar Republic was established in 1918, and the Nazis took power in 1933, starting World War II. At the end of the war in 1949, it was divided and ruled by the four victorious countries, including the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union, and was divided into the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) in 1949. Since the 1950s, West Germany has achieved rapid economic growth, referred to as the ‘Miracle on the Rhine’. In 1961, when the Cold War reached its peak, East Germany unilaterally built the Berlin Wall dividing the city of Berlin, heightening tensions. However, since the 1970s, political confrontation has eased and economic exchanges have progressed due to West Germany’s Ostpolitik, and unification was achieved in 1990 with the collapse of East Germany’s communist regime following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. After unification, Germany is expanding its political and economic influence as a core member of the European Union.
Geography of germany
North German Plain
The North German Plain is entirely covered with glacial sediments. In the west, sedimentary soil of sand-sized particles forms a flat topography, and in the lowlands, marshlands and peatlands formed by the deposition of aquatic plants are widely distributed. The North German Plain is mainly used for livestock farming as the acidic soil contains iron and is not suitable for plant growth. A reclaimed land was created in the coastal area, and the land was fertile so it was used as pasture, and behind it were dry farmland and a wasteland called ‘Heide’.
German Central Highlands
The Central Highlands, also known as the Middle Rhine Highlands, are fertile sedimentary terrain and have been inhabited since prehistoric times. Most of the rivers created along the valleys formed by glaciers are connected by canals built in an east-west direction. The central highland is a mountainous area of less than 1,500 m that runs from east to west, with the Rhine Gorge and the valleys of the Weser and Elbe rivers crossing from north to south. The Weser River has long been used as a transportation route connecting North and South Korea. The Rhine River and its tributary, the Mosel River, flow here, and many canyons are formed in the section from Bingen to Bonn. Between the Rhön Mountains in North Rhine-Westphalia and the Thüringer Wald in Thuringia, a complex topography of highlands and lowlands is formed.
Southern germany
Southern Germany is a region stretching from the Vosges Mountains in the west to the Bohemian Forest in the east, and is located between the Central Highlands in the north and the German Alps in the south. The Main and Neckar river basins are one of the most fertile areas in Germany. The warm and dry climate produces a lot of grapes and wheat.
Several cities developed in the Neckar River basin, including Stuttgart and Heidelberg, and in the Main River basin, Nuremberg, Bamberg, Würzburg, and Frankfurt. The Rhine Valley, a region in which the soil has been depressed by faults from Basel to Mainz in Switzerland, has long been used as a transportation network.
To the east of the Rhine River, the forest is dense and the Schwarzwald Forest, also called the ‘Black Forest’, and mountainous terrain are located, and to the west, the Vosges Mountains and Harz Mountains form steep, nearly vertical slopes. There are many volcanic mountains and hot springs in the Rhine Rift due to volcanic activity accompanying fault movement. The section from Worms to Bingen via Mainz is the most fertile sedimentary terrain in Germany and is active in agriculture, including grape growing.
Alps
The southern Alps are composed of hills and mountain ranges extending in a straight line through the Swabian and Franconia regions, including the state of Baden-Württemberg. The Alps occupied by Germany are located in the border area and are smaller than Switzerland and Austria, but the Zugspitze Mountain, the highest mountain in Germany at 2,962m above sea level, is home to many glacial lakes, providing excellent scenery. Additionally, the southern mountain region is the birthplace of the Danube River, the second longest river in Europe, and borders the Czech Republic across the Bavarian Forest.
economy
Germany is based on a free market economy, but strict government regulations are combined with the principles of a social market economy. Germany’s labor market is a system in which the government deeply intervenes in working conditions to ensure that all economic workers receive fair wages, and the government supports education and health care by securing financial resources through high tax rates. Germany’s nominal and real gross domestic product (GDP) ranks 4th to 5th in the world, following the United States, China, and Japan, and it is an economic powerhouse with a GDP share of about 20% within the European Union. In Germany, similar to most countries in Western Europe, the service sector is the largest at about 70% of GDP, followed by manufacturing at 29% and agriculture at 1%.
Due to its solid manufacturing base, its economic structure is relatively less affected by economic downturns and economic fluctuations due to the financial crisis compared to other Western European countries. This economic environment is due to several factors, including the harmony between basic and applied science, effectively established industry-academia linkages, and high technical skills of workers. However, in the long term, Germany faces the problem of financial pressure due to rising welfare costs and a decline in the highly skilled and highly educated workforce due to aging and low birth rates.
Germany is the member state that has benefited the most economically from European integration, and in a single market of approximately 450 million people, many competitive industries carry out production and sales activities without borders. In addition, with the deepening of European integration since the 2000s, the movement of labor has become easier, resulting in a large influx of highly educated technical personnel from Poland, the Czech Republic, and other countries into the industrial, medical, and research and development fields, resulting in abundant human resources. Frankfurt is developing as a financial center replacing London as the European Central Bank and several European Union financial regulatory organizations are located. In addition, thanks to its status as the economic center of Europe and its well-equipped transportation network, major German cities such as Hanover, Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Frankfurt hold international industrial fairs all year round.
Economy of Germany
Industry
The advantage of the German economy is that industries are not concentrated in specific regions and each state achieves balanced development. Simply put, Germany’s largest automobile manufacturer, Volkswagen, is located in Wolfsburg, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche are located in Stuttgart, and Audi and BMW are located in Munich. Even the same industries are distributed throughout the country. Nevertheless, Duisburg and Dortmund in the Ruhr region, a coal and steel producing area in the west, have traditionally been Germany’s industrial zones, with 27 of the 100 largest companies located in this region. In addition, the states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria in the south, and Hesse in the midwest have lower unemployment rates than other states and a high concentration of major industries, including the automobile industry. Since the 2010s, startups based on new technologies have been active in Berlin, emerging as a new economic center.
Agroforestry and mining
The scale of Germany’s agriculture, forestry and mining industry is less than 1% of gross domestic product (GDP), and the employment scale is slightly more than 2%. However, Germany’s agriculture is the third largest in the European Union after France and Italy, and the cultivation of potatoes, wheat, barley, and sugar beets is active, and cabbage and various fruits are also produced. In addition, 1/3 of the country is forested, so it is rich in various types of economically valuable wood, and about 2/3 of the wood for domestic consumption can be self-sufficient. It is a representative iron ore and coal producing area in Europe and has deposits of lignite, uranium, nickel, and copper. The northwestern German state of Lower Saxony also has natural gas reserves, albeit in small amounts. Before unification, the world’s fourth largest amount of uranium was mined in the Ore Mountains in East Germany. On the other hand, essential resources for oil, natural gas and other industries depend on imports.
Manufacturing
Germany’s manufacturing industry accounts for about 30% of GDP and 24% of employment. Automobiles, machinery, electronic equipment, and chemicals are globally competitive, and about 30 German companies are included in the Fortune 500 list every year. In the automobile industry, there are many companies such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, and Porsche, which account for approximately 90% of the global premium sedan market. In the information and communications and IT industry, Siemens, Deutsche Telekom, and SAP are representative companies. The financial industry is also active, and world-renowned German companies include Munich Re Group and Allianz, the world’s No. 1 reinsurance companies, Bayer and BASF in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries, and Adidas in the consumer goods sector.
Small business
In Germany, 99% of all companies are small and medium-sized enterprises (Mittelstand), and these companies account for about 70% of exports. Most small and medium-sized businesses are run by families and have grown through niche market strategies based on technological prowess. Approximately 1,500 small but strong companies, focusing on machinery, automobile parts, chemicals, and electronic equipment, have a market share within the top three in the global market in their respective fields. It is also the world’s fifth largest defense industry exporter.
Service industry
The service sector accounts for approximately 70% of GDP and 75% of employment. The size of GDP in the service sector is about 30% for finance and corporate support, 18% for trade, accommodation, restaurants, and transportation, and about 22% for other services. Germany is the 7th largest tourism country in the world based on the number of visitors. When including related industries such as conventions, exhibitions, and industrial fairs, as well as indirect effects on other industries, the tourism industry accounts for approximately 4.% of the total GDP and 5% of the employed workforce. It is an important industry.
Germany’s rich music
Germany, along with Italy and Austria, is the birthplace of classical music and has produced many great composers and performers. Classical music was born in the 17th century with Heinrich Schütz and Johann Sebastian Bach. Afterwards, through the Baroque, Classicism, and Romanticism of the 18th and 19th centuries, great composers such as Robert Alexander Schumann, Richard Wagner, Ludwig Beethoven, and Franz Schubert continued the golden age of German classical music.
Baroque music, which originated in northern Italy in the 16th century, was brought to Germany and enjoyed a renaissance by Johann Sebastian Bach and Georg Friedrich Handel in the early and mid-18th century. Bach published many works combining traditional German music with forms borrowed from Italian music and was revered as the father of German classical music.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who was active in the 18th century, was born in Austria, but worked throughout Europe, including Germany and France, leaving behind over 600 works and providing great musical inspiration to Beethoven. The Magic Flute, Die Zauberflöte, composed by Mozart in 1791, is considered the beginning of German opera. Beethoven, a disciple of Franz Joseph Haydn and active between Romanticism and Classicism, is revered as a saint of music for his sonatas and symphonies that combine harmony and rhythm. At a similar time, Romantic composer Schubert composed many lyrical songs.
In the 19th century, Richard Wagner gained fame throughout Europe as an opera composer and Carl Maria von Weber as the founder of German national song. Even in the 20th century, German composers such as Wolfgang Rihm, Hans Werner Henze, and avant-garde musician Karlheinz Stockhausen were active in the classical music world.
Germany is a country with the fourth largest music market in the world, and in addition to classical music, various genres of music such as pop, rock, and jazz coexist. In the 1970s, experimental music called ‘Krautrock’ was popular, and electronic music such as Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream gained great popularity around the world. Many German rock groups, including Scorpions, were active in Europe and the United States. Germany is also a powerhouse of house and techno music, with world-class DJs such as Paul Kalkbrenner.
Conclusion
A country in central Europe, several independent states were formed into the German Empire after the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. After World War II, it was divided into the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) in 1949 and unified in 1990.
Geographically, it borders the North Sea and Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, and France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands to the west. Inside the border are the Alps, Rhine River, Danube River, and Schwarzwald Mountains. Its territorial area is 357,02㎢, which is about two-thirds of France and the seventh largest in Europe.