The journey is not yet finished (43)

Berlain Wall Memorial

The journey is not yet finished (43)

(Part forty-three, Depok, West Java, Indonesia, September 6, 2014, 7:30 pm)

At the time I visited Germany in the 1990s, particularly to Berlin and Hamburg, after a trial covering 13 countries members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries OPEC in Vienna, Austria with a senior journalist of Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) Ahmad Parembahan , and Reporters Antara Berlin Bureau Chief, Nanang Sunarto I took a close look at the Berlin Wall. Atmosphere Germany (Berlin) when it feels peaceful and safe, there is no longer any time anxiety forces attacked East Germany, especially Berlin during the cold war was a city surrounded by walls and surrounded by Communist East German territory.

Germany

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Federal Republic of Germany

Bundesrepublik Deutschland

         

Flag  Coat of arms

Motto:

"Einigkeit und ×Recht und Freiheit" (German)

"Unity and Justice and Freedom" (unofficial)

[1][2][3]

Anthem:

Third stanza of

Das Lied der Deutschen[4]

(Song of the Germans)

MENU0:00

Bundesadler

Coat of Arms of the German Government

Location of  Germany  (dark green)– in Europe  (green & dark grey)– in the European Union  (green)  –  [Legend]

Location of  Germany  (dark green)

– in Europe  (green & dark grey)

– in the European Union  (green)  –  [Legend]

Capital

and largest city   Country symbol of Berlin color.svg Berlin

52°31′N 13°23′E

Official languages       German[1]

Ethnic groups ([4])      

91.5% Germans[5]

2.4% German Turks

2.3% German Asians

2.1% Afro-Germans[6]

1.7% Other/Unspecified

Demonym German

Government       Federal parliamentary constitutional republic

 -       President   Joachim Gauck

 -       Chancellor Angela Merkel

 -       President of the Bundestag Norbert Lammert

 -       President of the Bundesrat  Stephan Weil

Legislature         

 -       Upper house      Bundesrat

 -       Lower house      Bundestag

Formation

 -       Holy Roman Empire    2 February 962

 -       German Confederation        8 June 1815

 -       Unification 18 January 1871

 -       Federal Republic         23 May 1949

 -       Founded the EEC (now the European Union)         1 January 1958

 -       Reunification      3 October 1990

Area

 -       Total 357,168 km2 (63rd)

137,847 sq mi

 -       Water (%)  2.416

Population

 -       2014 estimate    80,716,000[7] (16th)

 -       2011 census      80,219,695[8] (16th)

 -       Density      226/km2 (58th)

583/sq mi

GDP (PPP)         2014 estimate

 -       Total $3.338 trillion[9] (5th)

 -       Per capita  $41,248[9] (16th)

GDP (nominal)   2014 estimate

 -       Total $3.876 trillion[9] (4th)

 -       Per capita  $47,893[9] (15th)

Gini (2011)          29.0[10]

low

HDI (2013) Steady 0.911[11]

very high · 6th

Currency   Euro (€) (EUR)

Time zone CET (UTC+1)

 -       Summer (DST)   CEST (UTC+2)

Drives on the      right

Calling code       49

ISO 3166 code   DE

Internet TLD       .de [2]

a.      ^ Danish, Low German, Sorbian, Romany, and Frisian are officially recognised by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML).

b.      ^ The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European Union member states.

Germany (Listeni/ˈdʒɜrməni/; German: Deutschland), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, pronounced [ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant] ( listen)),[12] is a federal parliamentary republic in western-central Europe consisting of 16 constituent states, which retain limited sovereignty. Its capital city and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres (137,847 sq mi) and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With 80.6 million inhabitants, it is the most populous member state in the European Union. Germany is a major economic and political power of the European continent and a historic leader in many cultural, theoretical and technical fields. After the USA, Germany is the second most popular migration destination in the world.[13]

Various Germanic tribes have occupied what is now northern Germany and southern Scandinavia since classical antiquity. A region named Germania was documented by the Romans before AD 100. During the Migration Period that coincided with the decline of the Roman Empire, the Germanic tribes expanded southward and established kingdoms throughout much of Europe. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire.[14] During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation. Occupied during the Napoleonic Wars, the rise of Pan-Germanism inside the German Confederation resulted in the unification of most of the German states in 1871 into the German Empire, which was dominated by Prussia.

After the German Revolution of 1918–1919 and the subsequent military surrender in World War I, the ×Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic in 1918 and lost some of its territory in the Treaty of Versailles. Despite its lead in many scientific and cultural fields at this time, ×Germany experienced significant economic and political instability which intensified during the Great Depression. The establishment of the Third Reich or Nazi Regime in 1933 eventually led to World War II and the Holocaust. After 1945, Germany was divided by Allied occupation, and evolved into two states, East Germany and West Germany. In 1990, the country was reunified.

Germany has the world's fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP and the fifth-largest by purchasing power parity. As a global leader in several industrial and technological sectors, it is both the world's third-largest exporter and third-largest importer of goods. It is a developed country with a very high standard of living, featuring comprehensive social security that includes the world's oldest universal health care system. Known for its rich cultural and political history, Germany has been the home of many influential philosophers, artists, musicians, cineasts, entrepreneurs, scientists and inventors. Germany was a founding member of the European Community in 1957, which became the EU in 1993. It is part of the Schengen Area, and has been a member of the eurozone since 1999. Germany is a great power, and a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, the OECD and the Council of Europe.

Etymology

Further information: Names of Germany

The English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine.[15] More specifically, it was the Gauls who first called the people who crossed east of the Rhine Germani (which the Romans adopted) as the original Germanic tribes did not refer to themselves as Germanus (singular) or Germani (plural). Thus it was only when on Roman soil that this term was employed and the expression generally connoted those peoples who originally hailed east of the Rhine and/or north of the Danube.[16] The German term Deutschland (originally diutisciu land, "the German lands") is derived from deutsch, descended from Old High German diutisc "popular" (i.e. belonging to the diot or diota "people"), originally used to distinguish the language of the common people from Latin and its Romance descendants. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz "popular" (see also the Latinised form Theodiscus), derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- "people".[17]

History

Main article: History of Germany

Prehistory

The discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible in 1907 shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago.[18] The oldest complete hunting weapons ever found anywhere in the world were discovered in a coal mine in Schöningen, Germany in 1995 where three 380,000 year old wooden javelins 6-7.5 feet long were unearthed.[19] The Neander valley in Germany was the location where the first ever non-modern human fossil was discovered and recognised in 1856, the new species of human was named Neanderthal man. The Neanderthal 1 fossils are now known to be 40,000 years old. At a similar age evidence of modern humans has been found in caves in the Swabian Jura near Ulm. The finds include 42,000 year old bird bone and mammoth ivory flutes which are the oldest musical instruments ever found,[20] the 40,000 year old Ice Age Lion Man which is the oldest uncontested figurative art ever discovered,[21] and the 35,000 year old Venus of Hohle Fels which is the oldest uncontested human figurative art ever discovered.[22]

Germanic tribes and Frankish Empire

Main articles: Germania and Migration Period

Second- to fifth-century migrations in Europe

The Germanic tribes are thought to date from the Nordic Bronze Age or the Pre-Roman Iron Age. From southern Scandinavia and north Germany, they expanded south, east and west from the 1st century BC, coming into contact with the Celtic tribes of Gaul as well as Iranian, Baltic, and Slavic tribes in Central and Eastern Europe.[23] Under Augustus, Rome began to invade Germania (an area extending roughly from the Rhine to the Ural Mountains). In AD 9, three Roman legions led by Publius Quinctilius Varus were defeated by the Cheruscan leader Arminius. By AD 100, when Tacitus wrote Germania, Germanic tribes had settled along the Rhine and the Danube (Limes Germanicus), occupying most of the area of modern Germany; Austria, southern Bavaria and the western Rhineland, however, were Roman provinces.[24]

In the 3rd century a number of large West Germanic tribes emerged: Alemanni, Franks, Chatti, Saxons, Frisii, Sicambri, and Thuringii. Around 260, the Germanic peoples broke into Roman-controlled lands.[25] After an invasion by the Huns in 375, and with the decline of Rome from 395, Germanic tribes moved further south-west. Simultaneously several large tribes formed in what is now Germany and displaced the smaller Germanic tribes. Large areas (known since the Merovingian period as Austrasia) were occupied by the Franks, and Northern Germany was ruled by the Saxons and Slavs.[24]

Berlin Wall begin to fall

Holy Roman Empire

The Imperial Crown of the kings of the Holy Roman Empire

Map of the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation in 1600 (in today's state borders)

Main article: Holy Roman Empire

Ads by Trust Media Viewer×On 25 December 800, the Frankish king Charlemagne was crowned emperor and founded the Carolingian Empire, which was divided in 843.[26] Frankish rule was extended under Charlemagne's sons and then later by his grandson 'Louis the German' who was referred to as Germanicus, but the Carolingian Empire he ruled was the old Germania (to the right of the Rhine) and this geographical portion of the east Frankish kingdom additionally subsumed an assemblage of Alamanni, Bavarians, Main Franks, Saxons, Thuringians, Slavic tribes from the Baltic and Adriatic, and even some Pannonian Avars.[27] As such, the Holy Roman Empire comprised the eastern portion of Charlemagne's original kingdom and emerged as the strongest, some of this consequent to the aforementioned reign of 'Louis the German' and its extended cohesion was achieved through the unification efforts of Conrad of Franconia (911-918).[28] Its territory stretched from the Eider River in the north to the Mediterranean coast in the south.[26] Under the reign of the Ottonian emperors (919–1024), several major duchies were consolidated, and the German king Otto I was crowned Holy Roman Emperor of these regions in 962. In 996 Gregory V became the first German Pope, appointed by his cousin Otto III, whom he shortly after crowned Holy Roman Emperor.[29] The Holy Roman Empire absorbed northern Italy and Burgundy under the reign of the Salian emperors (1024–1125), although the emperors lost power through the Investiture Controversy.[30]

Martin Luther initiated the Protestant Reformation

Under the Hohenstaufen emperors (1138–1254), the German princes increased their influence further south and east into territories inhabited by Slavs, preceding German settlement in these areas and further east (Ostsiedlung). Northern German towns grew prosperous as members of the Hanseatic League.[31] Starting with the Great Famine in 1315, then the Black Death of 1348–50, the population of Germany declined.[32] The edict of the Golden Bull in 1356 provided the basic constitution of the empire and codified the election of the emperor by seven prince-electors who ruled some of the most powerful principalities and archbishoprics.[33]

Martin Luther publicised The Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 in Wittenberg, challenging the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church and initiating the Protestant Reformation. A separate Lutheran church became the official religion in many German states after 1530. Religious conflict led to the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), which devastated German lands.[34] The population of the German states was reduced by about 30%.[35] The Peace of Westphalia (1648) ended religious warfare among the German states, but the empire was de facto divided into numerous independent principalities. In the 18th century, the Holy Roman Empire consisted of approximately 1,800 such territories.[36]

From 1740 onwards, dualism between the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy and the Kingdom of Prussia dominated German history. In 1806, the Imperium was overrun and dissolved as a result of the Napoleonic Wars.[37]

German Confederation and Empire

Main articles: German Confederation, German Empire and Pan-Germanism

Origin of the Black-Red-Gold: German Revolution of 1848 (Berlin, 19 March 1848)

Foundation of the German Empire in Versailles, 1871. Bismarck is at the center in a white uniform.

Following the fall of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna convened in 1814 and founded the German Confederation (Deutscher Bund), a loose league of 39 sovereign states. Disagreement with restoration politics partly led to the rise of liberal movements, followed by new measures of repression by Austrian statesman Metternich. The Zollverein, a tariff union, furthered economic unity in the German states.[38] National and liberal ideals of the French Revolution gained increasing support among many, especially young, Germans. The Hambach Festival in May 1832 was a main event in support of German unity, freedom and democracy. In the light of a series of revolutionary movements in Europe, which established a republic in France, intellectuals and commoners started the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states. King Frederick William IV of Prussia was offered the title of Emperor, but with a loss of power; he rejected the crown and the proposed constitution, leading to a temporary setback for the movement.[39]

Conflict between King William I of Prussia and the increasingly liberal parliament erupted over military reforms in 1862, and the king appointed Otto von Bismarck the new Minister President of Prussia. Bismarck successfully waged war on Denmark in 1864. Prussian victory in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 enabled him to create the North German Confederation (Norddeutscher Bund) and to exclude Austria, formerly the leading German state, from the federation's affairs. After the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, the German Empire was proclaimed in 1871 in Versailles, uniting all scattered parts of Germany except Austria (Kleindeutschland, or "Lesser Germany").

East Germany soldier

The German Empire (1871–1918), with the dominant Kingdom of Prussia in blue

With almost two-thirds of its territory and population, Prussia was the dominating constituent of the new state; the Hohenzollern King of Prussia ruled as its concurrent Emperor, and Berlin became its capital.[39] In the Gründerzeit period following the unification of Germany, Bismarck's foreign policy as Chancellor of Germany under Emperor William I secured Germany's position as a great nation by forging alliances, isolating France by diplomatic means, and avoiding war. As a result of the Berlin Conference in 1884 Germany claimed several colonies including German East Africa, German South-West Africa, Togo, and Cameroon.[40] Under Wilhelm II, however, Germany, like other European powers, took an imperialistic course leading to friction with neighbouring countries. Most alliances in which Germany had previously been involved were not renewed, and new alliances excluded the country.[41]

The assassination of Austria's crown prince on 28 June 1914 triggered World War I. Germany, as part of the Central Powers, suffered defeat against the Allies in one of the bloodiest conflicts of all time. In total, approximately two million German soldiers were killed in World War I.[42] The German Revolution broke out in November 1918, and Emperor Wilhelm II and all German ruling princes abdicated. An armistice ended the war on 11 November, and Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919. Germans perceived the treaty as humiliating and unjust and it was later seen by historians as influential in the rise of Hitler.[43][44][45][46]

Weimar Republic and the Third Reich

Main articles: Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany

At the beginning of the German Revolution in November 1918, Germany was declared a republic. However, the struggle for power continued, with radical-left Communists seizing power in Bavaria. The revolution came to an end on 11 August 1919, when the democratic Weimar Constitution was signed by President Friedrich Ebert.[47] After a tumultuous period seeing the occupation of the Ruhr by Belgian and French troops and the rise of inflation culminating in the hyperinflation of 1922-23, a debt restructuring plan (the Dawes Plan) and the creation of a new currency in 1924 ushered in the Golden Twenties, an era of increasing national confidence, artistic innovation, liberal cultural life and economic prosperity. This ended with the Great Depression of 1929.

In September 1930 the Nazi Party won just under 18% of the votes in the federal election of 1930. Forming a coalition government proved impossible and Chancellor Heinrich Brüning's government asked President Paul von Hindenburg to grant him Article 48 powers so that he could enact emergency policies without parliamentary approval. Hindenburg approved the request and Brüning's government pursued a policy of fiscal austerity and deflation which caused higher unemployment and left ×Germans, especially the unemployed, with fewer social services.

Adolf Hitler, Führer[48] of Nazi Germany

By 1932 nearly 30% of Germany's workforce was unemployed[49] and in the special federal election of 1932 the Nazi Party won 37% of the vote but could not form a coalition government. After a series of unsuccessful cabinets, President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933.[50] On 27 February 1933 the Reichstag building went up in flames, the Reichstag Fire Decree was passed abrogating basic civil rights and the Enabling Act of 1933 gave Hitler unrestricted legislative power. Hitler established a centralised totalitarian state and opened Germany's first concentration camps in February 1933. In September 1933 Germans voted to withdraw from the League of Nations. Hitler began to pursue military rearmament[51] and used deficit spending to employ millions of Germans in public works projects and industry.

In August 1934 the cabinet enacted the "Law Concerning the Highest State Office of the Reich" which altered the traditional loyalty oath of servicemen so that they affirmed loyalty to Hitler personally rather than to the office of supreme commander or the state[52] and in a special referendum 90 per cent of the electorate approved merging the presidency with the chancellorship.[53] In 1935 the Nazi regime reintroduced compulsory military service, withdrew from the Treaty of Versailles and introduced the Nuremberg Laws which targeted Jews and other groups.

Germany reacquired control of the Saar in 1935 and in 1936 sent troops into the Rhineland, which had been forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles.[54] Austria was annexed in 1938 and despite the Munich Agreement in September 1938, Germany occupied Czechoslovakia on 15 March 1939. Hitler's government then prepared for the invasion of Poland by signing the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact and planning a fake Polish attack. On 1 September 1939 the German Wehrmacht launched their Invasion of Poland, and swiftly occupied the country along with the Soviet Red Army. As a result of the invasion the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany, marking the beginning of World War II.[55] As the war progressed, Germany and the other Axis powers quickly gained control of most of continental Europe and North Africa, though plans to force the United Kingdom to an armistice or surrender failed. On 22 June 1941, Germany broke the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact and invaded the Soviet Union. Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor led Germany to declare war on the United States in December 1941. The Battle of Stalingrad was a turning point in the war and forced the German army to retreat on the Eastern front.[55]

In September 1943, Germany's ally Italy surrendered, and additional German troops were needed to defend against Allied forces in Italy. The D-Day invasion of France opened a Western front in the war and despite a German counter offensive Allied forces had entered Germany by 1945. Following Hilter's suicide and the Battle of Berlin, the German armed forces surrendered on 8 May 1945.[56] The war was humanity's bloodiest conflict and caused the deaths of around 40 million people in Europe alone.[57] German army war casualties were between 3.25 million and 5.3 million soldiers,[58] and between 1 and 3 million German civilians were killed.[59][60]

In what later became known as The Holocaust, the Nazi regime enacted policies which targeted minorities as well as political and religious opposition. Over 10 million civilians were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust, including six million Jews, between 220,000 and 1,500,000 Romani people, 275,000 persons with mental and/or physical disabilities, thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses, thousands of homosexuals, and hundreds of thousands of members of the political and religious opposition.[61] Six million Ukrainians and Poles and an estimated 2.8 million Soviet war prisoners were also killed by the Nazi regime.

Berlin in ruins after World War II.

Losing the war resulted in territorial losses for Germany, the expulsion of millions of ethnic Germans from the former eastern territories of Germany and formerly occupied countries. Germany, like many of the countries it had occupied,[62] suffered mass rape[63] and the destruction of numerous major cities due to bombing and fighting during the war. After World War II, Nazis, former Nazis and others were tried for war crimes, including crimes related to the Holocaust, at the Nuremberg trials.[64]

East and West Germany

Main article: History of Germany (1945–1990)

Occupation zones in Germany, 1947. The territories east of the Oder-Neisse line, under Polish and Soviet de jure administration and de facto annexation, are shown as white, as is the detached Saar protectorate.

After the surrender of Germany, the remaining German territory and Berlin were partitioned by the Allies into four military occupation zones. Together, these zones accepted more than 6.5 million of the ethnic Germans expelled from eastern areas.[65] The western sectors, controlled by France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, were merged on 23 May 1949 to form the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland); on 7 October 1949, the Soviet Zone became the German Democratic Republic (Deutsche Demokratische Republik, or DDR). They were informally known as "West Germany" and "East Germany". East Germany selected East Berlin as its capital, while West Germany chose Bonn as a provisional capital, to emphasise its stance that the two-state solution was an artificial and temporary status quo.[66] The Federal Republic of Germany became a major recipient of reconstruction aid under the Marshall Plan.

West Germany, established as a federal parliamentary republic with a "social market economy", was allied with the United States, the UK and France. Konrad Adenauer was elected the first Federal Chancellor (Bundeskanzler) of Germany in 1949 and remained in office until 1963. Under his and Ludwig Erhard's leadership, the country enjoyed prolonged economic growth beginning in the early 1950s, that became famous as the "economic miracle" (German: Wirtschaftswunder). West Germany joined NATO in 1955 and was a founding member of the European Economic Community in 1957.

East Germany was an Eastern Bloc state under political and military control by the USSR via the latter's occupation forces and the Warsaw Pact. Though East Germany claimed to be a democracy, political power was exercised solely by leading members (Politbüro) of the communist-controlled Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), supported by the Stasi, an immense secret service,[67] and a variety of sub-organisations controlling every aspect of society. A Soviet-style command economy was set up; the GDR later became a Comecon state.[68]

The Berlin Wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate shortly before its fall in 1989. Today the Gate is often regarded as Germany's main national landmark.

While East German propaganda was based on the benefits of the GDR's social programmes and the alleged constant threat of a West German invasion, many of its citizens looked to the West for freedom and prosperity.[69] The Berlin Wall, built in 1961 to stop East Germans from escaping to West Germany, became a symbol of the Cold War,[39] hence its fall in 1989, following democratic reforms in Poland and Hungary, became a symbol of the Fall of Communism, German Reunification and Die Wende.

Tensions between East and West Germany were reduced in the early 1970s by Chancellor Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik. In summer 1989, Hungary decided to dismantle the Iron Curtain and open the borders, causing the emigration of thousands of East Germans to West Germany via Hungary. This had devastating effects on the GDR, where regular mass demonstrations received increasing support. The East German authorities unexpectedly eased the border restrictions, allowing East German citizens to travel to the West; originally intended to help retain East Germany as a state, the opening of the border actually led to an acceleration of the Wende reform process. This culminated in the Two Plus Four Treaty a year later on 12 September 1990, under which the four occupying powers renounced their rights under the Instrument of Surrender, and Germany regained full sovereignty. This permitted German reunification on 3 October 1990, with the accession of the five re-established states of the former GDR (new states or "neue Länder").[39]

German reunification and the EU

The German Unity Flag, raised outside the Reichstag building on 3 October 1990 as a national memorial to German reunification. The Reichstag is the meeting place of the Bundestag, the German parliament.

Main articles: German reunification and History of Germany since 1990

Based on the Berlin/Bonn Act, adopted on 10 March 1994, Berlin once again became the capital of the reunified Germany, while Bonn obtained the unique status of a Bundesstadt (federal city) retaining some federal ministries.[70] The relocation of the government was completed in 1999.[71]

Since reunification, Germany has taken a more active role in the European Union and NATO. Germany sent a peacekeeping force to secure stability in the Balkans and sent a force of German troops to Afghanistan as part of a NATO effort to provide security in that country after the ousting of the Taliban.[72] These deployments were controversial since, after the war, Germany was bound by domestic law only to deploy troops for defence roles.[73] In 2005, Angela Merkel became the first female Chancellor of Germany as the leader of a grand coalition.[39] Germany hosted the 2007 G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Mecklenburg. In 2009, a liberal-conservative coalition under Merkel assumed leadership of the country. In 2013, another grand coalition was established in a Third Merkel cabinet.

Geography

Topographic map

Main article: Geography of Germany

Germany is in Western and Central Europe, with Denmark bordering to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, France and Luxembourg to the southwest, and Belgium and the Netherlands to the northwest. It lies mostly between latitudes 47° and 55° N (the tip of Sylt is just north of 55°), and longitudes 5° and 16° E. The territory covers 357,021 km2 (137,847 sq mi), consisting of 349,223 km2 (134,836 sq mi) of land and 7,798 km2 (3,011 sq mi) of water. It is the seventh largest country by area in Europe and the 62nd largest in the world.[4]

Elevation ranges from the mountains of the Alps (highest point: the Zugspitze at 2,962 metres or 9,718 feet) in the south to the shores of the North Sea (Nordsee) in the northwest and the Baltic Sea (Ostsee) in the northeast. The forested uplands of central Germany and the lowlands of northern Germany (lowest point: Wilstermarsch at 3.54 metres or 11.6 feet below sea level) are traversed by such major rivers as the Rhine, Danube and Elbe. Glaciers are found in the Alpine region, but are experiencing deglaciation. Significant natural resources are iron ore, coal, potash, timber, lignite, uranium, copper, natural gas, salt, nickel, arable land and water.[4]

Climate

Steep coast of Darß, Western Pomerania - typical of the Baltic coastal landscape in northern Germany

Most of Germany has a temperate seasonal climate in which humid westerly winds predominate. The country is situated in between the oceanic Western European and the continental Eastern European climate. The climate is moderated by the North Atlantic Drift, the northern extension of the Gulf Stream. This warmer water affects the areas bordering the North Sea; consequently in the northwest and the north the climate is oceanic. Germany gets an average of 789 mm (31 in) precipitation per year. Rainfall occurs year-round, with no obligatory dry season. Winters are mild and summers tend to be warm, temperatures can exceed 30 °C (86 °F).[74]

The east has a more continental climate; winters can be very cold and summers very warm, and longer dry periods can occur. Central and southern Germany are transition regions which vary from moderately oceanic to continental. In addition to the maritime and continental climates that predominate over most of the country, the Alpine regions in the extreme south and, to a lesser degree, some areas of the Central German Uplands have a mountain climate, characterised by lower temperatures and greater precipitation.[74]

Biodiversity

The golden eagle is a protected bird of prey.

The territory of Germany can be subdivided into two ecoregions: European-Mediterranean montane mixed forests and Northeast-Atlantic shelf marine.[75] As of 2008 the majority of Germany is covered by either arable land (34%) or forest and woodland (30.1%); only 13.4% of the area consists of permanent pastures, 11.8% is covered by settlements and streets.[76]

Plants and animals are those generally common to middle Europe. Beeches, oaks, and other deciduous trees constitute one-third of the forests; conifers are increasing as a result of reforestation. Spruce and fir trees predominate in the upper mountains, while pine and larch are found in sandy soil. There are many species of ferns, flowers, fungi, and mosses. Wild animals include deer, wild boar, mouflon, fox, badger, hare, and small numbers of beavers.[77] The blue cornflower was once a German national symbol.[78]

The 14 national parks in Germany include the Jasmund National Park, the Vorpommern Lagoon Area National Park, the Müritz National Park, the Wadden Sea National Parks, the Harz National Park, the Hainich National Park, the Saxon Switzerland National Park, the Bavarian Forest National Park and the Berchtesgaden National Park. In addition, there are 14 Biosphere Reserves, as well as 98 nature parks.

More than 400 registered zoos and animal parks operate in Germany, which is believed to be the largest number in any country.[79] The Berlin Zoo opened in 1844 is the oldest zoo in Germany, and presents the most comprehensive collection of species in the world.[80]

Politics

Main article: Politics of Germany

See also: Judiciary of Germany and Law enforcement in Germany

Political system of Germany

The Reichstag building in Berlin is the site of the German parliament (Bundestag)

Germany is a federal, parliamentary, representative democratic republic. The German political system operates under a framework laid out in the 1949 constitutional document known as the Grundgesetz (Basic Law). Amendments generally require a two-thirds majority of both chambers of parliament; the fundamental principles of the constitution, as expressed in the articles guaranteeing human dignity, the separation of powers, the federal structure, and the rule of law are valid in perpetuity.[81]

The president is the head of state and invested primarily with representative responsibilities and powers. He is elected by the Bundesversammlung (federal convention), an institution consisting of the members of the Bundestag and an equal number of state delegates. The second-highest official in the German order of precedence is the Bundestagspräsident (President of the Bundestag), who is elected by the Bundestag and responsible for overseeing the daily sessions of the body.

2011 Joachim Gauck-2.jpg  Angela Merkel (August 2012) cropped.jpg

Joachim Gauck

President since 2012  Angela Merkel

Chancellor since 2005

The third-highest official and the head of government is the Chancellor, who is appointed by the Bundespräsident after being elected by the Bundestag.[39] The chancellor, currently Angela Merkel, is the head of government and exercises executive power, similar to the role of a Prime Minister in other parliamentary democracies.

Federal legislative power is vested in the parliament consisting of the Bundestag (Federal Diet) and Bundesrat (Federal Council), which together form the legislative body. The Bundestag is elected through direct elections, by proportional representation (mixed-member).[4] The members of the Bundesrat represent the governments of the sixteen federated states and are members of the state cabinets.[39]

Since 1949, the party system has been dominated by the Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party of Germany. So far every chancellor has been a member of one of these parties. However, the smaller liberal Free Democratic Party (which had members in the Bundestag from 1949 to 2013) and the Alliance '90/The Greens (which has had seats in parliament since 1983) have also played important roles.[82]

Minor parties such as The Left, Free Voters and the Pirate Party are represented in some state parliaments.

Law

German state police officers, with a typical German police car

Main article: Law of Germany

Germany has a civil law system based on Roman law with some references to Germanic law. The Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court) is the German Supreme Court responsible for constitutional matters, with power of judicial review.[39][83] Germany's supreme court system, called Oberste Gerichtshöfe des Bundes, is specialised: for civil and criminal cases, the highest court of appeal is the inquisitorial Federal Court of Justice, and for other affairs the courts are the Federal Labour Court, the Federal Social Court, the Federal Finance Court and the Federal Administrative Court. The Völkerstrafgesetzbuch regulates the consequences of crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes, and gives German courts universal jurisdiction in some circumstances.[84]

Criminal and private laws are codified on the national level in the Strafgesetzbuch and the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch respectively. The German penal system is aimed towards rehabilitation of the criminal and the protection of the general public.[85] Except for petty crimes, which are tried before a single professional judge, and serious political crimes, all charges are tried before mixed tribunals on which lay judges (Schöffen) sit side by side with professional judges.[86][87]

Many of the fundamental matters of administrative law remain in the jurisdiction of the states, though most states base their own laws in that area on the 1976 Verwaltungsverfahrensgesetz (Administrative Proceedings Act) covering important points of administrative law. The Oberverwaltungsgerichte are the highest level of administrative jurisdiction concerning the state administrations, unless the question of law concerns federal law or state law identical to federal law. In such cases, final appeal to the ×Federal Administrative Court is possible.

Constituent states

Main article: States of Germany

Germany comprises sixteen states which are collectively referred to as Länder.[88] Each state has its own state constitution[89] and is largely autonomous in regard to its internal organisation. Because of differences in size and population the subdivisions of these states vary, especially as between city states (Stadtstaaten) and states with larger territories (Flächenländer). For regional administrative purposes five states, namely Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony, consist of a total of 22 Government Districts (Regierungsbezirke). As of 2009 Germany is divided into 403 districts (Kreise) at a municipal level; these consist of 301 rural districts and 102 urban districts.[90]

Coat of arms of Lower Saxony.svg Lower SaxonyBremen Wappen.svg BremenCoat of arms of Hamburg.svg HamburgCoat of arms of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (great).svg Mecklenburg-

VorpommernWappen Sachsen-Anhalt.svg Saxony-

AnhaltCoat of arms of Saxony.svg SaxonyBrandenburg Wappen.svg BrandenburgCountry symbol of Berlin color.svg BerlinCoat of arms of Thuringia.svg ThuringiaCoat of arms of Hesse.svg HesseCoat of arms of North Rhine-Westfalia.svg North Rhine-

WestphaliaCoat of arms of Rhineland-Palatinate.svg Rhineland-

PalatinateLandessymbol Freistaat Bayern.svg BavariaCoat of arms of Baden-Württemberg (lesser).svg Baden-

WürttembergWappen des Saarlands.svg SaarlandCoat of arms of Schleswig-Holstein.svg Schleswig-Holstein

State Capital       Area (km²) Population[91]

Baden-Württemberg    Stuttgart     35,752       10,569,100

Bavaria      Munich       70,549       12,519,600

Berlin         Berlin         892   3,375,200

Brandenburg      Potsdam    29,477       2,449,500

Bremen      Bremen      404   654,800

Hamburg   Hamburg   755   1,734,300

Hesse        Wiesbaden         21,115       6,016,500

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern  Schwerin   23,174       1,600,300

Lower Saxony    Hanover    47,618       7,779,000

North Rhine-Westphalia       Düsseldorf 34,043       17,554,300

Rhineland-Palatinate  Mainz         19,847       3,990,300

Saarland    Saarbrücken       2,569         994,300

Saxony      Dresden    18,416       4,050,200

Saxony-Anhalt   Magdeburg         20,445       2,259,400

Schleswig-Holstein      Kiel   15,763       2,806,500

Thuringia   Erfurt          16,172       2,170,500

Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of Germany

Chancellor Angela Merkel hosting the G8 summit in Heiligendamm

Germany has a network of 229 diplomatic missions abroad[92] and maintains relations with more than 190 countries.[93] As of 2011 it is the largest contributor to the budget of the European Union (providing 20%)[94] and the third largest contributor to the UN (providing 8%).[95] Germany is a member of NATO, the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the G8, the G20, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It has played a leading role in the European Union since its inception and has maintained a strong alliance with France since the end of World War II. Germany seeks to advance the creation of a more unified European political, defence, and security apparatus.[96][97]

The development policy of the Federal Republic of Germany is an independent area of German foreign policy. It is formulated by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and carried out by the implementing organisations. The German government sees development policy as a joint responsibility of the international community.[98] It is the world's third biggest aid donor after the United States and France.[99][100]

During the Cold War, Germany's partition by the Iron Curtain made it a symbol of East–West tensions and a political battleground in Europe. However, Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik was a key factor in the détente of the 1970s.[101] In 1999, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's government defined a new basis for German foreign policy by taking part in the NATO decisions surrounding the Kosovo War and by sending German troops into combat for the first time since World War II.[102] The governments of Germany and the United States are close political allies.[39] The 1948 Marshall Plan and strong cultural ties have crafted a strong bond between the two countries, although Schröder's vocal opposition to the Iraq War suggested the end of Atlanticism and a relative cooling of German-American relations.[103] The two countries are also economically interdependent: 8.8% of German exports are US-bound and 6.6% of German imports originate from the US.[104]

Military

Main article: Bundeswehr

File:Eurofighter 9803.ogg

The Eurofighter Typhoon is part of the Luftwaffe

Germany's military, the Bundeswehr, is organised into Heer (Army), Marine (Navy), Luftwaffe (Air Force), Bundeswehr Joint Medical Service and Streitkräftebasis (Joint Support Service) branches. The role of the Bundeswehr is described in the Constitution of Germany (Art. 87a) as absolutely defensive only. Its only active role before 1990 was the Katastropheneinsatz (disaster control). Within the Bundeswehr, it helped after natural disasters both in ×Germany and abroad. After 1990, the international situation changed from East-West confrontation to one of general uncertainty and instability. Today, after a ruling of the ×Federal Constitutional Court in 1994 the term "defense" has been defined to not only include protection of the borders of ×Germany, but also crisis reaction and conflict prevention, or more broadly as guarding the security of ×Germany anywhere in the world.

Leopard 2 tanks of the German Army

In 2011, military spending was an estimated 1.3% of the country's GDP, which is low in a ranking of all countries; in absolute terms, German military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world.[105] In peacetime, the Bundeswehr is commanded by the Minister of Defence. If Germany went to war, which according to the constitution is allowed only for defensive purposes, the Chancellor would become commander-in-chief of the Bundeswehr.[106]

As of March 2012 the Bundeswehr employs 183,000 professional soldiers and 17,000 volunteers.[107] The German government plans to reduce the number of soldiers to 170,000 professionals and up to 15,000 short-term volunteers (voluntary military service).[108] Reservists are available to the Armed Forces and participate in defence exercises and deployments abroad.[108] As of April 2011, the German military had about 6,900 troops stationed in foreign countries as part of international peacekeeping forces, including about 4,900 Bundeswehr troops in the NATO-led ISAF force in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, 1,150 German soldiers in Kosovo, and 300 troops with UNIFIL in Lebanon.[109]

Until 2011, military service was compulsory for men at age 18, and conscripts served six-month tours of duty; conscientious objectors could instead opt for an equal length of Zivildienst (civilian service), or a six-year commitment to (voluntary) emergency services like a fire department or the Red Cross. On 1 July 2011 conscription was officially suspended and replaced with a voluntary service.[110][111] Since 2001 women may serve in all functions of service without restriction, but they have not been subject to conscription. There are presently some 17,500 women on active duty and a number of female reservists.[112]

Economy

Main article: Economy of Germany

Frankfurt is Germany's financial capital (New ECB HQ pictured)

The labour productivity level of Germany is one of the highest in Europe. OECD, 2012

A Mercedes-Benz car. Germany was the world's leading exporter of goods from 2003 to 2008.[113]

Germany is part of a monetary union, the eurozone (dark blue), and of the EU single market.

Germany has a social market economy with a highly skilled labour force, a large capital stock, a low level of corruption,[114] and a high level of innovation.[115] It has the largest and most powerful national economy in Europe, the fourth largest by nominal GDP in the world,[116] the fifth largest by PPP,[117] and was the biggest net contributor to the EU budget in 2011.[118] The service sector contributes approximately 71% of the total GDP, industry 28%, and agriculture 1%.[4] The official average national unemployment rate in April 2014 was 6.8%.[119] However, the official average national unemployment rate also includes people with a part-time job that are looking for a full-time job.[120] The unofficial average national unemployment rate in 2013 was 5.3%.[4]

Germany is an advocate of closer European economic and political integration. Its commercial policies are increasingly determined by agreements among European Union (EU) members and by EU legislation. Germany introduced the common European currency, the euro, on 1 January 2002.[121][122] Its monetary policy is set by the European Central Bank, which is headquartered in Frankfurt. Two decades after German reunification, standards of living and per capita incomes remain significantly higher in the states of the former West Germany than in the former East.[123] The modernisation and integration of the eastern German economy is a long-term process scheduled to last until the year 2019, with annual transfers from west to east amounting to roughly $80 billion.[124] In January 2009 the German government approved a €50 billion economic stimulus plan to protect several sectors from a downturn and a subsequent rise in unemployment rates.[125]

Around two thirds of the world's leading trade fairs take place in Germany.[126]

Of the world's 500 largest stock-market-listed companies measured by revenue in 2010, the Fortune Global 500, 37 are headquartered in Germany. 30 Germany-based companies are included in the DAX, the German stock market index. Well-known global brands are Mercedes-Benz, BMW, SAP, Siemens, Volkswagen, Adidas, Audi, Allianz, Porsche, Bayer, Bosch, and Nivea.[127] Germany is recognised for its specialised small and medium enterprises. Around 1,000 of these companies are global market leaders in their segment and are labelled hidden champions.[128]

The list includes the largest ×German companies by revenue in 2011:

Rank[129]  Name         Headquarters     Revenue

(Mil. €)        Profit

(Mil. €)        Employees

(World)

1.      Volkswagen AG Wolfsburg  159,000     15,800       502,000

2.      E.ON SE    Düsseldorf 113,000     −1,900       79,000

3.      Daimler AG         Stuttgart     107,000     6,000         271,000

4.      Siemens AG       Berlin, München 74,000       6,300         360,000

5.      BASF SE   Ludwigshafen am Rhein      73,000       6,600         111,000

6.      BMW AG   München   69,000       4,900         100,000

7.      Metro AG   Düsseldorf 67,000       740   288,000

8.      Schwarz Gruppe (Lidl/Kaufland)   Neckarsulm        63,000       N/A   315,000

9.      Deutsche Telekom AG         Bonn 59,000       670   235,000

10.    Deutsche Post AG      Bonn 53,000       1,300         471,000

 —     Allianz SE  München   104,000     2,800         141,000

 —     Deutsche Bank AG     Frankfurt am Main       21,600       4,300         101,000

Infrastructure

Main articles: Transport in Germany and Energy in Germany

The ICE 3 in Cologne railway station

With its central position in Europe, Germany is a transport hub for the continent. This is reflected in one of the world’s largest and most sophisticated transportation systems.[130] Like its neighbours in Western Europe, Germany's road network is amongst the densest in the world.[131] The motorway (Autobahn) network ranks as the third-largest worldwide in length and is known for its lack of a general speed limit.[132] Germany has established a polycentric network of high-speed trains. The InterCityExpress or ICE network of the Deutsche Bahn serves major German cities as well as destinations in neighbouring countries with speeds up to 300 kph (186 mph).[133] The largest German airports are Frankfurt Airport and Munich Airport, both hubs of Lufthansa, while Air Berlin has hubs at Berlin Tegel and Düsseldorf. Other major airports include Berlin Schönefeld, Hamburg, Cologne/Bonn and Leipzig/Halle. Both airports in Berlin will be consolidated at a site adjacent to Berlin Schönefeld, which will become Berlin Brandenburg Airport.[134] The Port of Hamburg is one of the top twenty largest container ports in the world.[135]

Adolf Hittler

In 2008, Germany was the world's sixth-largest consumer of energy,[136] and 60% of its primary energy was imported.[137] Government policy promotes energy conservation and renewable energy commercialisation. Energy efficiency has been improving since the early 1970s; the government aims to meet the country's electricity demands using 40% renewable sources by 2020 and 100% by 2050.[138] In 2010, energy sources were: oil (33.7%); coal, including lignite (22.9%); natural gas (21.8%); nuclear (10.8%); hydro-electric and wind power (1.5%); and other renewable sources (7.9%).[139] In 2000, the government and the nuclear power industry agreed to phase out all nuclear power plants by 2021.[140] Germany is committed to the Kyoto protocol and several other treaties promoting biodiversity, low emission standards, recycling, and the use of renewable energy, and supports sustainable development at a global level.[141] The German government has initiated wide-ranging emission reduction activities and the country's overall emissions are falling.[142] Nevertheless the country's greenhouse gas emissions were the highest in the EU in 2010, while it is also the largest country by population and economical output.[143] The German energy transition (German: Energiewende) is the globally recognised move to a sustainable economy by means of renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainable development. The final goal is the abolition of coal and other non-renewable energy sources.[144] With the Wendelstein 7-X experiment in Greifswald, Germany is also a leading country in the research of fusion power.

Science and technology

Main articles: Science and technology in Germany and List of German inventors and discoverers

Albert Einstein

Germany's achievements in the sciences have been significant, and research and development efforts form an integral part of the economy.[145] The Nobel Prize has been awarded to 104 German laureates.[146] For most of the 20th century, German laureates had more awards than those of any other nation, especially in the sciences (physics, chemistry, and physiology or medicine).[147][148]

Notable German physicists before the 20th century include Hermann von Helmholtz, Joseph von Fraunhofer and Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit, among others. Albert Einstein introduced the relativity theories for light and gravity in 1905 and 1915 respectively, which remain mainstream theories in physics to this day. Along with Max Planck, he was instrumental in the introduction of quantum mechanics, in which Werner Heisenberg and Max Born later made major contributions.[149] Wilhelm Röntgen discovered X-rays and was the first winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901.[150] Otto Hahn was a pioneer in the fields of radioactivity and radiochemistry and discovered nuclear fission,[151] while Ferdinand Cohn and Robert Koch were founders of microbiology. Numerous mathematicians were born in Germany, including Carl Friedrich Gauss, David Hilbert, Bernhard Riemann, Gottfried Leibniz, Karl Weierstrass, Hermann Weyl and Felix Klein. Research institutions in Germany include the Max Planck Society, the Helmholtz Association and the Fraunhofer Society. The Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize is granted to ten scientists and academics every year. With a maximum of €2.5 million per award it is one of highest endowed research prizes in the world.[152]

Germany has been the home of many famous inventors and engineers, such as Johannes Gutenberg, credited with the invention of movable type printing in Europe; Hans Geiger, the creator of the Geiger counter; and Konrad Zuse, who built the first fully automatic digital computer.[153] German inventors, engineers and industrialists such as Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, Otto Lilienthal, Gottlieb Daimler, Rudolf Diesel, Hugo Junkers and Karl Benz helped shape modern automotive and air transportation technology.[154] Aerospace engineer Wernher von Braun developed the first space rocket and later on was a prominent member of NASA and developed the Saturn V Moon rocket, which paved the way for the success of the US Apollo programme. Heinrich Rudolf Hertz's work in the domain of electromagnetic radiation was pivotal to the development of modern telecommunication.[155]

Germany is one of the leading countries in developing and using green technologies. Companies specialising in green technology have an estimated turnover of €200 billion. Key sectors of Germany's green technology industry are power generation, sustainable mobility, material efficiency, energy efficiency, waste management and recycling, and sustainable water management.[156]

Tourism

A church in the Berchtesgaden region of Bavaria. Bavaria has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in Germany in recent years.

Main article: Tourism in Germany

See also: List of museums in Germany

Germany is the seventh most visited country in the world,[157][158] with a total of 407.26 million overnights during 2012.[159] This number includes 68.83 million nights by foreign visitors. In 2012, over 30.4 million international tourists arrived in Germany, bringing over US$38 billion in international tourism receipts to the country.[160] Additionally, more than 30% of Germans spend their holiday in their own country, with the biggest share going to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. According to Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Reports, Germany is rated as one of the safest travel destinations worldwide. The official body for tourism in Germany is the German National Tourist Board (GNTB). Domestic and international travel and tourism combined directly contribute over EUR43.2 billion to German GDP. Including indirect and induced impacts, the industry contributes 4.5% of German GDP and supports 2 million jobs (4.8% of total employment).[161]

There are 39 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Germany, including the famous old towns of Regensburg, Bamberg and Lübeck. Germany's most visited landmarks by visitors are: Cologne Cathedral (with 6 million visitors per year), Berlin Bundestag (2.7 million), Hofbräuhaus Munich (1.8 million), Heidelberg Castle, Neuschwanstein Castle, Dresden Zwinger, Fernsehturm Berlin and Aachen Cathedral. The Europa-Park near Freiburg is ×Europe's second most popular theme park resort, following Disneyland Paris. The most visited protected nature parks are the Pomeranian Lagoons, Saxon Switzerland, Bavarian Forest, Jasmund, Wadden Sea, Berchtesgaden Alps, Harz and Mainau Island.

Germany is well known for its diverse tourist routes, such as the Romantic Road, the German Wine Route, the Castle Road, the Timber-Frame Road and the German Avenue Road. The common ×German term for an old town is Altstadt.

Demographics

Main articles: Demographics of Germany, Germans, Social issues in Germany and List of cities in Germany by population

With a population of 80.2 million according to the May 2011 census,[8] Germany is the most populous country in the European Union, the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and ranks as the 16th most populous country in the world.[162] Its population density stands at 225 inhabitants per square kilometre. The overall life expectancy in Germany at birth is 80.19 years (77.93 years for males and 82.58 years for females).[4] The fertility rate of 1.41 children born per woman (2011 estimates), or 8.33 births per 1000 inhabitants, is one of the lowest in the world.[4] Since the 1970s, Germany's death rate has continuously exceeded its birth rate.[163] The Federal Statistical Office of Germany has forecast that the population could shrink to between 65 and 70 million by 2060 (depending on the level of net migration).[164] However, such forecasts have often been proven wrong in the past, and Germany is currently witnessing increased birth rates[165] and migration rates since the beginning of the 2010s. It is notably experiencing a strong increase in the number of well-educated migrants.[166][167] In 2012, 300,000 more immigrants than emigrants were reported in Germany.[168]

National minorities

Four sizable groups of people are referred to as "national minorities" (nationale Minderheiten) because they have lived in their respective regions for centuries: Danes, Frisians, Roma and Sinti, and Sorbs.[169] There is a Danish minority (about 50,000, according to government sources) in the northern-most state of Schleswig-Holstein.[169] Eastern and Northern Frisians live at Schleswig-Holstein's western coast, and in the north-western part of Lower Saxony. They are part of a wider community (Frisia) stretching from Germany to the northern Netherlands. The Sorbs, a Slavic people with about 60,000 members (according to government sources), are in the Lusatia region of Saxony and Brandenburg.[169] They are the last remnants of the Slavs that lived in central and eastern Germany since the 7th century to have kept their traditions and not been completely integrated into the wider German nation through Germanization.

Immigrant population

Growth of the German population since 1800

A person like Simone Hauswald, who has a German and a Korean parent, is considered a "person with immigrant background" in German statistics, even if born in Germany. Another statistical term that is used to classify individuals with one German and one Asian parent is German Asian or Eurasian.

Germans by nationality make up 92.3% of the population of Germany as of 9 May 2011.[8] As of 2011, about six million foreign citizens (7.7% of the population) were registered in Germany.[8] Regarding ethnic background, 20%[170] of the country's residents, or more than 16 million people, were of foreign or partially foreign descent in 2009 (including persons descending or partially descending from ethnic German repatriates), 96% of whom lived in the former West Germany or Berlin.[171] In 2010, 2.3 million families with children under 18 years were living in Germany, in which at least one parent had foreign roots. They represented 29% of the total of 8.1 million families with minor children. Compared with 2005 – the year when the microcensus started to collect detailed information on the population with a migrant background – the proportion of migrant families has risen by 2 percentage points.[172]

Most of the families with a migrant background live in the western part of Germany. In 2010, the proportion of migrant families in all families was 32% in the pre-unification territory of the Federal Republic. This figure was more than double that in the new Länder (including Berlin) where it stood at 15%.[172] Families with a migrant background more often have three or more minor children in the household than families without a migrant background. In 2010, about 15% of the families with a migrant background contained three or more minor children, as compared with just 9% of the families without a migrant background.[172]

The United Nations Population Fund lists Germany as host to the third-highest number of international migrants worldwide, about 5% or 10 million of all 191 million migrants.[173] As a consequence of restrictions to Germany's formerly rather unrestricted laws on asylum and immigration, the number of immigrants seeking asylum or claiming German ethnicity (mostly from the former Soviet Union) has been declining steadily since 2000.[174] In 2009, 20% of the population had immigrant roots, the highest since 1945.[175] As of 2008, the largest national group was from Turkey (2.5 million), followed by Italy (776,000) and Poland (687,000).[176] Since 1987, around 3 million ethnic Germans, mostly from the former eastern bloc, have taken advantage of their right of return and emigrated to Germany.[177] Large numbers of people with full or significant German ancestry are found in the United States,[178] Brazil,[179] Argentina[180] and Canada.[181] Most ethnic minorities (especially those of non-European origin) reside in large urban areas like Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Rhine-Ruhr, Rhine-Neckar and Munich. The percentage of non-Germans and immigrants is rather low in rural areas and small towns, especially in the East German states of the former GDR territory.

Germany is home to the third-highest number of international migrants worldwide.[182]

Urbanization

Germany has a number of large cities. There are 11 officially recognised metropolitan regions in Germany – and since 2006, 34 potential cities were identified which can be called a Regiopolis. The largest conurbation is the Rhine-Ruhr region (11.7 million in 2008), including Düsseldorf (the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia), Cologne, Bonn, Dortmund, Essen, Duisburg, and Bochum.[183]

  v t e

Largest cities or towns of Germany

List of statistical offices in Germany 24 December 2010

Rank Name         State Pop.  Rank Name         State Pop. 

Berlin

Berlin

Hamburg

Hamburg   1       Berlin         Berlin         3,471,756  11     Dresden    Saxony      523,058          Munich

Munich

Cologne

Cologne

2       Hamburg   Hamburg   1,786,448  12     Leipzig       Saxony      522,883

3       Munich       Bavaria      1,353,186  13     Hannover  Lower Saxony    522,686

4       Cologne     North Rhine-Westphalia       1,007,119  14     Nuremberg         Bavaria          505,664

5       Frankfurt    Hesse        688,664     15     Duisburg    North Rhine-Westphalia          489,599

6       Stuttgart     Baden-Württemberg    606,588     16     Bochum     North Rhine-Westphalia          374,737

7       Düsseldorf North Rhine-Westphalia       598,786     17     Wuppertal  North Rhine-Westphalia          349,721

8       Dortmund  North Rhine-Westphalia       580,444     18     Bonn North Rhine-Westphalia          324,899

9       Essen        North Rhine-Westphalia       574,635     19     Bielefeld    North Rhine-Westphalia          323,270

10     Bremen      Bremen (state)   547,340     20     Mannheim Baden-Württemberg          313,174

Religion

The Catholic Cologne Cathedral at the Rhine river is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Berlin Cathedral, one of the main Evangelical cathedrals in Germany

Main article: Religion in Germany

According to the latest official nationwide census of 2011, Christianity is the largest religion in Germany claiming 66.8% of the total population.[184] The census provided detailed statistics regarding religion in the Federal Republic. Results relative to the total population of Germany were as follows: 30.8% belonged to the Roman Catholic Church; 30.3% were Protestants belonging to the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD); 38.8% were atheist, not specified or others (including also Protestants outside the EKD).[185] Germans with no stated religious adherence make up 34.1% of the population.[186] 1.6% of the country's overall population declare themselves Orthodox Christians.[187]

Geographically, Protestantism is concentrated in the northern, central and eastern part of the country, while Roman Catholicism is concentrated in the south and west. People with no and other religions are concentrated in the former East Germany and major metropolitan areas.[188]

The second largest religion is Islam with an estimated 3.8 to 4.3 million adherents (4.6% to 5.2%),[189] followed by Buddhism with 250,000 and Judaism with around 200,000 adherents (0.3%); Hinduism has some 90,000 adherents (0.1%). All other religious communities in Germany have fewer than 50,000 adherents.[190] Of the roughly 4 million Muslims, most are Sunnis and Alevites from Turkey, but there are a small number of Shi'ites and other denominations.[189] German Muslims, a large portion of whom are of Turkish origin, lack full official state recognition of their religious community.[188] Germany has Europe's third largest Jewish population (after France and the United Kingdom).[191] Approximately 50% of the Buddhists in Germany are Asian immigrants.[192]

German reunification of 1990 greatly increased the country's non-religious population, a legacy of the state atheism of the previously Soviet-controlled East. Christian population has decreased in recent decades, particularly among Protestants.[188]

Languages

The German language is the most widely spoken first language in the European Union, with around 100 million native speakers.[193]

Main article: Languages of Germany

German is the official and predominant spoken language in Germany.[194] It is one of 24 official and working languages of the European Union,[195] and one of the three working languages of the European Commission.

Recognized native minority languages in Germany are Danish, Low German, Sorbian, Romany, and Frisian; they are officially protected by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The most used immigrant languages are Turkish, Kurdish, Polish, the Balkan languages, and Russian. 67% of German citizens claim to be able to communicate in at least one foreign language and 27% in at least two languages other than their own.[194]

Standard German is a West Germanic language and is closely related to and classified alongside English, Low German, Dutch, and the Frisian languages. To a lesser extent, it is also related to the East (extinct) and North Germanic languages. Most German vocabulary is derived from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family.[196] Significant minorities of words are derived from Latin and Greek, with a smaller amount from French and most recently English (known as Denglisch). German is written using the Latin alphabet. German dialects, traditional local varieties traced back to the Germanic tribes, are distinguished from varieties of standard German by their lexicon, phonology, and syntax.[197]

Education

Main articles: Education in Germany and List of universities in Germany

Heidelberg University is the oldest of Germany's universities and among its best ranked.[198] It was established in 1386.

Over 99% of Germans age 15 and above are estimated to be able to read and write.[4] Responsibility for educational supervision in Germany is primarily organised within the individual federal states. Since the 1960s, a reform movement attempted to unify secondary education in a Gesamtschule (comprehensive school); several West German states later simplified their school system to two or three tiers. A system of apprenticeship called Duale Ausbildung ("dual education") allows pupils in vocational training to learn in a company as well as in a state-run vocational school.[199] This successful model is highly regarded and reproduced all around the world.[200]

Optional kindergarten education is provided for all children between three and six years old, after which school attendance is compulsory for at least nine years. Primary education usually lasts for four to six years and public schools are not stratified at this stage.[199] In contrast, secondary education includes three traditional types of schools focused on different levels of academic ability: the Gymnasium enrols the most gifted children and prepares students for university studies; the Realschule for intermediate students lasts six years; the Hauptschule prepares pupils for vocational education.[201]

Wendelstein 7-X, a research facility at the Max Planck Institute of Plasma Physics in Greifswald. Much of Germany's academic research is done in independent institutes.

The general entrance requirement for university is Abitur, a qualification normally based on continuous assessment during the last few years at school and final examinations; however there are a number of exceptions, and precise requirements vary, depending on the state, the university and the subject. Germany's universities are recognised internationally; in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) for 2008, six of the top 100 universities in the world are in Germany, and 18 of the top 200.[202]

Most of the German universities are public institutions, funded by the Länder governments, and students have traditionally undertaken study without fee payment. In 2005 the public universities introduced tuition fees of around €60 per semester (and up to €500 in the state of Niedersachsen) for each student for a trial period;[203][204] however, the German public was not amenable to the experiment and the temporary fee-based system was mostly abolished, with two remaining universities to cease the fee requirement by the end of 2014.[205]

Academic education is open to most citizens and studying is increasingly common in Germany.[206] The dual education system that combines practical and theoretical learning, but does not lead to an academic degree, is typical for Germany and is recognised as an exemplary model for other countries.[207]

The established universities in Germany are among the oldest in the world, with Heidelberg University being the oldest in Germany (established in 1386 and in continuous operation since then). Heidelberg is followed by Leipzig University (1409), Rostock University (1419), Greifswald University (1456), Freiburg University (1457), LMU Munich (1472) and the University of Tübingen (1477).

Academic research is also performed at independent non-university research institutions, such as the Max Planck, Fraunhofer, Leibniz and Helmholtz institutes. Many of these institutions have close connections with nearby universities.

Health

Main article: Health in Germany

Hospice of the Holy Spirit in Lübeck - one of the world's oldest humanitarian institutions and a precursor to modern hospitals

Germany has the world's oldest universal health care system, dating back to Bismarck's social legislation in 1883.[208] He stressed the importance of three key principles; solidarity, the government is responsible to ensure access by those who are in need, subsidiarity, policies are implemented with smallest no political and administrative influence, and corporatism, the government representative bodies in health care professions deems feasible procedures.[209] Since then there have been many reforms and provisions to ensure a balanced health care system. Currently the population is covered by a fairly comprehensive health insurance plan provided by statute. Certain groups of people (lifetime officials, self-employed persons, employees with high income) can opt out of the plan and switch to a private insurance contract. Previously, these groups could also choose to do without insurance, but this option was dropped in 2009.[210] According to the World Health Organization, Germany's health care system was 77% government-funded and 23% privately funded as of 2005.[211] In 2005, Germany spent 11% of its GDP on health care. Germany ranked 20th in the world in life expectancy with 77 years for men and 82 years for women, and it had a very low infant mortality rate (4 per 1,000 live births).[211]

In 2010, the principal cause of death was cardiovascular disease, at 41%, followed by malignant tumours, at 26%.[212] In 2008, about 82,000 Germans had been infected with HIV/AIDS and 26,000 had died from the disease (cumulatively, since 1982).[213] According to a 2005 survey, 27% of German adults are smokers.[213]

Culture

Main article: Culture of Germany

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), composer

From its roots, culture in German states has been shaped by major intellectual and popular currents in Europe, both religious and secular. Historically Germany has been called Das Land der Dichter und Denker ("the land of poets and thinkers"),[214] because of the major role its famous writers and philosophers have played in the development of Western thought and culture.

The federated states are in charge of the cultural institutions. There are 240 subsidised theatres, hundreds of symphonic orchestras, thousands of museums and over 25,000 libraries spread in Germany. These cultural opportunities are enjoyed by many: there are over 91 million German museum visits every year; annually, 20 million go to theatres and operas; 3.6 million per year listen to the symphonic orchestras.[215] As of 2013 the UNESCO inscribed 38 properties in Germany on the World Heritage List.[216]

Germany has established a high level of gender equality,[217] promotes disability rights, and is legally and socially tolerant towards homosexuals. Gays and lesbians can legally adopt their partner's biological children, and civil unions have been permitted since 2001.[218] Germany has also changed its attitude towards immigrants; since the mid-1990s, the government and the majority of Germans have begun to acknowledge that controlled immigration should be allowed based on qualification standards.[219] Germany has been named the world's second most valued nation among 50 countries in 2010.[220] A global opinion poll for the BBC revealed that Germany is recognised for having the most positive influence in the world in 2011,[221] and for being the most positively viewed nation in the world, in 2013[222] and 2014.[223]

Art

Main article: German art

Chalk Cliffs on Rügen (1818) by Caspar David Friedrich, the most prominent artist of Romanticism

Numerous German painters have enjoyed international prestige through their work in diverse artistic styles. Albrecht Dürer, Hans Holbein the Younger, Matthias Grünewald and Lucas Cranach the Elder were important artists of the Renaissance, Peter Paul Rubens and Johann Baptist Zimmermann of Baroque, Caspar David Friedrich and Carl Spitzweg of Romanticism, Max Liebermann of Impressionism and Max Ernst of Surrealism.

Several German artist groups formed in the 20th century, such as the November Group or Die Brücke (The Bridge) and Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) in Expressionism. The New Objectivity arose as a counter-style to it during the Weimar Republic. After WWII, main movements of Neo-expressionism, performance art and Conceptual art evolved, with notable artists such as Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Jörg Immendorff, HA Schult, Aris Kalaizis, Neo Rauch (New Leipzig School) and Andreas Gursky (photography). Major art exhibitions and festivals in ×Germany are the documenta, transmediale and Art Cologne.

Music

Main article: Music of Germany

J.S. Bach

Präludium und Fuge   L.v. Beethoven

5. Sinfonie R. Wagner

Die Walküre

German classical music comprises works by some of the world's most well-known composers, including Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johannes Brahms, Richard Wagner, Richard Strauss, Franz Schubert, Georg Friedrich Händel, Carl Maria von Weber, Robert Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Carl Orff.

Germany is the second largest music market in Europe, and fourth largest in the world.[224] German popular music of the 20th and 21st century includes the movements of Neue Deutsche Welle (Nena, Trio), Pop (Alphaville, Modern Talking), Ostrock (City, Keimzeit), Metal/Rock (Rammstein, Scorpions), Punk (Die Ärzte, Die Toten Hosen), Pop rock (Beatsteaks, Tokio Hotel), Indie (Tocotronic, Blumfeld) and Hip Hop (Die Fantastischen Vier, Deichkind). Especially the German Electronic music gained global influence, with Kraftwerk being a pioneer group in this genre,[225] and the Minimal and Techno scenes in Germany being very popular (e.g. Paul van Dyk, Tomcraft, Paul Kalkbrenner and Scooter).

Architecture

Main articles: Architecture of Germany, Altstadt, World Heritage Sites in Germany, Castles in Germany and List of spa towns in Germany

Kurhaus Binz on Rugia Island, a typical example of resort architecture. This style is common on the German Baltic Sea coast.

Architectural contributions from ×Germany include the Carolingian and Ottonian styles, which were precursors of Romanesque. Brick Gothic in medieval times and Brick Expressionism in modern times are two distinctive styles that developed in Germany. Also in Renaissance and Baroque art, regional and typically ×German elements evolved (e.g. Weser Renaissance and Dresden Baroque). Among many renowned ×Baroque masters were Pöppelmann, Balthasar Neumann, Knobelsdorff and the Asam brothers.

Germany is especially renowned for its timber frame old towns, with many well-kept examples to be found along the German Timber-Frame Road, leading from the very south of Germany to Northern Germany and its coasts.

When industrialisation spread across Europe, Classicism and a distinctive style of historism developed in ×Germany, sometimes referred to as Gründerzeit style, due to the economical boom years at the end of the 19th century. Resort architecture and Spa architecture are sub-styles, that evolved since the 18th century in ×Germany, with the first modern Spas and Seaside resorts of Europe. Many architects formed this era, with Schinkel, Semper, Stüler, von Gärtner, Schwechten and Lipsius among them.

Jugendstil became a dominant architectural style at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, with a strong influence of the Art Nouveau movement.[226] The Art Deco movement did not gain much influence in Germany, instead the Expressionist architecture spread across the country, with e.g. Höger, Mendelsohn, Böhm and Schumacher being influential architects.

Germany was particularly important in the early modern movement - it is the home of the Bauhaus movement founded by Walter Gropius. And thus Germany is a cradle of modern architecture. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe became one of the world's most renowned architects in the second half of the 20th century. He conceived of the glass façade skyscraper.[227]

Renowned contemporary architects and offices include Hans Kollhoff, Helmut Jahn, Graft, Behnisch, Albert Speer Junior, Frei Otto, GMP, AWA, Ingenhoven, Sauerbruch Hutton, Sergei Tchoban, Hadi Teherani, Oswald Mathias Ungers, Gottfried Böhm, Stephan Braunfels and Anna Heringer.

Literature and philosophy

Main articles: German literature and German philosophy

The Brothers Grimm

German literature can be traced back to the Middle Ages and the works of writers such as Walther von der Vogelweide and Wolfram von Eschenbach. Well-known German authors include Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Schiller, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and Theodor Fontane. The collections of folk tales published by the Brothers Grimm popularised German folklore on an international level. Influential authors of the 20th century include Gerhart Hauptmann, Thomas Mann, Hermann Hesse, Heinrich Böll and Günter Grass.[228] German-speaking book publishers produce some 700 million books every year, with about 80,000 titles, nearly 60,000 of them new. Germany comes third in quantity of books published, after the English-speaking book market and the People's Republic of China.[229] The Frankfurt Book Fair is the most important in the world for international deals and trading, with a tradition spanning over 500 years.[230]

German philosophy is historically significant. Gottfried Leibniz's contributions to rationalism; the enlightenment philosophy by Immanuel Kant; the establishment of classical German idealism by Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling; Arthur Schopenhauer's composition of metaphysical pessimism; the formulation of communist theory by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels; Friedrich Nietzsche's development of perspectivism; Gottlob Frege's contributions to the dawn of analytic philosophy; Martin Heidegger's works on Being; and the development of the Frankfurt school by Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse and Jürgen Habermas have been particularly influential. In the 21st century, Germany has contributed to the development of contemporary analytic philosophy in continental Europe.[231] Along with the earlier mention of achievements in science by Germans, it is clear that German literature and philosophy have profoundly shaped Western society's development. Correspondingly, 20th century author Peter Watson, who has written extensively on the progressive development of modern thought, incisively remarks, "Kant, Humboldt, Marx, Clausius, Mendel, Nietzsche, Planck, Freud, Einstein, Weber — for good or ill, can any other nation boast a collection of eleven (or even more) individuals who compare with these figures in regard to the enduring influence they have had on modern ways of thought?"[232]

Cinema

Main article: Cinema of Germany

Star of Fritz Lang on the Boulevard of Stars at Berlin's Potsdamer Platz. Lang was the director of Metropolis, the first science fiction film (in feature length), that premiered in 1927.[233]

German cinema dates back to the earliest years of the medium, it has made major technical and artistic contributions to film, as with the work of the Skladanowsky Brothers, who showed the first film sequences ever to an audience, in 1895. Early German cinema was particularly influential with German expressionists such as Robert Wiene and Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau. Director Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927) is referred to as the first modern science-fiction film. In 1930 Josef von Sternberg directed The Blue Angel, the first major German sound film.[234] With the rise of Nazi Germany, the work of Leni Riefenstahl came to international fame and was stylistically copied in several productions, especially in post-war advertisements.

During the 1970s and 1980s, New German Cinema directors such as Volker Schlöndorff, Werner Herzog, Wim Wenders, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder put West German cinema on the international stage.[235] The annual European Film Awards ceremony is held every other year in Berlin, home of the European Film Academy (EFA); the Berlin Film Festival, held annually since 1951, is one of the world's foremost film festivals.[236]

In the 21st century, several German movies have had international success, such as Nowhere in Africa (2001), Das Experiment (2001), Good Bye, Lenin! (2003), Gegen die Wand (Head-On) (2004), Der Untergang (Downfall) (2004), Perfume (2006), The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008), The Wave (2008), The White Ribbon (2009), Pandorum (2009), Soul Kitchen (2009), Animals United (2010), Combat Girls (2011) and Cloud Atlas (2012). The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film went to the German production Die Blechtrommel (The Tin Drum) in 1979, to Nowhere in Africa in 2002, and to Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) in 2007.[237]

Media

Main articles: Media of Germany, Television in Germany, Radio in Germany, List of newspapers in Germany and Video gaming in Germany

Germany's television market is the largest in Europe, with some 34 million TV households. Around 90% of German households have cable or satellite TV, with a variety of free-to-view public and commercial channels.[238] The most watched television broadcast of all-time in Germany was the Germany vs Spain semi-fnal game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[239] Nine out of ten of the top ten most watched television broadcasts of all-time in Germany feature the German national football team.

The German video gaming market is one of the largest in the world.[240] The Gamescom in Cologne is Europe's leading gaming convention. Popular game series from Germany include Turrican, the Anno series, The Settlers series, the Gothic series, SpellForce, the X series, the FIFA Manager series, Far Cry and Crysis. The most relevant game developers and publishers are Ascaron, Bigpoint, Blue Byte, Crytek, Deck13, Deep Silver, EA Phenomic, Gameforge, Nintendo Europe, Piranha Bytes, Radon, Related, Spellbound and Wooga.

Cuisine

Main article: German cuisine

A waitress at Oktoberfest. She is wearing a dirndl, a traditional German dress, and holds a Maß - a one litre glass of beer.

German cuisine varies from region to region. The southern regions of Bavaria and Swabia, for instance, share a culinary culture with Switzerland and Austria. In all regions, meat is often eaten in sausage form.[241] Organic food has gained a market share of ca. 2%, and is expected to increase further.[242] Although wine is becoming more popular in many parts of Germany, the national alcoholic drink is beer. German beer consumption per person is declining, but at 121.4 litres in 2009 it is still among the highest in the world.[243] The Michelin guide has awarded nine restaurants in Germany three stars, the highest designation, while 15 more received two stars.[244] German restaurants have become the world's second-most decorated after France.[245]

Pork, beef, and poultry are the main varieties of meat consumed in ×Germany, with pork being the most popular. The average person in ×Germany will consume up to 61 kg (134 lb) of meat in a year. Among poultry, chicken is most common, although duck, goose, and turkey are also enjoyed. Game meats, especially boar, rabbit, and venison are also widely available all year round. Trout is the most common freshwater fish on the ×German menu; pike, carp, and European perch also are listed frequently. Vegetables are often used in stews or vegetable soups, but are also served as side dishes. Carrots, turnips, spinach, peas, beans, broccoli and many types of cabbage are very common. A wide variety of cakes and tarts are served throughout the country, most commonly made with fresh fruit. Apples, plums, strawberries, and cherries are used regularly in cakes. Cheesecake is also very popular, often made with quark. Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (Black Forest cake, made with cherries) is probably the most well-known example of a wide variety of typically German tortes filled with whipped or butter cream.

Sports

Main article: Sport in Germany

The German national football team after winning the FIFA World Cup for the fourth time in 2014. Football is the most popular sport in Germany.

Twenty-seven million Germans are members of a sports club and an additional twelve million pursue sports individually.[246] Association football is the most popular sport. With more than 6.3 million official members, the German Football Association (Deutscher Fußball-Bund) is the largest sports organisation of its kind worldwide.[246] The Bundesliga, the top league of men's club football in Germany, is the most popular sports league in Germany and attracts the second highest average attendance of any professional sports league in the world. The Frauen-Bundesliga is the top league of women's club football in Germany.

The German men's national football team won the FIFA World Cup in 1954, 1974, 1990, and 2014 and the UEFA European Championship in 1972, 1980 and 1996. Germany hosted the FIFA World Cup in 1974 and 2006 and the UEFA European Championship in 1988. Among the most well-known footballers are Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Müller, Jürgen Klinsmann, Lothar Matthäus, Oliver Kahn, Miroslav Klose and Thomas Müller.

Other popular spectator sports include wintersports, boxing, handball, volleyball, basketball, ice hockey, tennis, horse riding and golf. Water sports like sailing, rowing, swimming, wind- and kitesurfing, wakeboarding, underwater diving, fishing, powerboating and yachting are popular in Germany as well, especially with large annual events such as Kiel Week or Hanse Sail Rostock.[246]

Germany is one of the leading motor sports countries in the world. Constructors like BMW and Mercedes are prominent manufacturers in motor sport. Additionally, Porsche has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, an annual endurance race held in France, 16 times, and Audi has won it 11 times. The Formula One driver Michael Schumacher has set many motor sport records during his career, having won more Formula One World Drivers' Championships and more Formula One races than any other driver; he is one of the highest paid sportsmen in history.[247] Sebastian Vettel has won the championships from 2010 until 2013 and thus is among the most successful F1 drivers of all times.

Historically, German sportsmen have been successful contenders in the Olympic Games, ranking third in an all-time Olympic Games medal count, combining East and West German medals. In the 2012 Summer Olympics, Germany finished fifth in the medal count, while in the 2006 Winter Olympics they finished first.[248] Germany has hosted the Summer Olympic Games twice, in Berlin in 1936 and in Munich in 1972. The Winter Olympic Games took place in Germany once in 1936 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Fashion

Main article: German fashion

Claudia Schiffer is a renowned German model

Germany has been influential on western fashion throughout history. Today it is a leading country in the fashion industry. In around 1,300 companies with more than 130,000 employees a revenue of 28 billion Euro is generated by the German textile industry. Almost 44 percent of the products are exported. The textile branch thus is the second largest producer of consumer goods after food production.[249]

German fashion is famed for its elegant lines, as well as unconventional young designs and its great variety of styles. Berlin is the center of young and creative fashion in Germany, prominently displayed at Berlin Fashion Week (twice a year). It also hosts Europe's largest fashion trade fair called Bread & Butter. Other important centers of the scene are Munich, Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Cologne. Also smaller places are important design and production hubs of the German fashion industry, such as Herford, Metzingen, Herzogenaurach, Schorndorf, Albstadt, Chemnitz and Detmold.[250]

The most renowned fashion designers from Germany include Karl Lagerfeld, Hugo Boss, Wolfgang Joop, Torsten Amft, Rudolph Moshammer, Etienne Aigner and Michael Michalsky. Famous high-end brands are e.g. BOSS, Escada, Valisere, JOOP! and Wunderkind. Mainstream, outdoor, sport and street fashion labels from Germany are globally popular, such as adidas, PUMA, P&C, Marc O'Polo, Tom Tailor, s.Oliver, Closed, Esprit, Buffalo, Reusch and Jack Wolfskin.

German fashion is popular in celebrity circles and with high fashion models.[251] Successful German fashion models include Claudia Schiffer, Heidi Klum, Diane Kruger, Eva Padberg, Julia Stegner, Toni Garrn, Julia Stegner, Kirsten Dunst, Tatjana Patitz, Manon von Gerkan, Nico, Uschi Obermaier, Franziska Knuppe, Lena Gercke, Sara Nuru, Barbara Meier, Nadja Auermann, Claudia Ciesla, Aslı Bayram, Shermine Shahrivar, Evelyn Sharma, Nico Schwanz and Marten Laciny.

Berlin Wall

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the chess opening variation, sometimes known as Berlin Wall, see Berlin Defence.

Page semi-protected

Berlin Wall

Berlinermauer.jpg

View from the West Berlin side of graffiti art on the wall in 1986. The wall's "death strip", on the east side of the wall, here follows the curve of the Luisenstadt Canal (filled in 1932).

Berlin-wall-map.png

Map of the location of the Berlin Wall, showing checkpoints

General information

Type Wall

Country      East Germany

Flag of East Berlin (1956-1990).svg East Berlin (Soviet-occupied sector of Berlin)

Coordinates        52.516111°N 13.376944°ECoordinates: 52.516111°N 13.376944°E

Construction started    13 August 1961

Dimensions

Other dimensions       

Border length around West Berlin: 155 km (96 mi)

Border length between West Berlin and East Germany: 111.9 km (69.5 mi)

Border length between West and East Berlin: 43.1 km (26.8 mi)

Border length through residential areas in East Berlin: 37 km (23 mi)

Concrete segment of wall height: 3.6 m (12 ft)

Concrete segment of wall length: 106 km (66 mi)

Wire mesh fencing: 66.5 km (41.3 mi)

Anti-vehicle trenches length: 105.5 km (65.6 mi)

Contact/signal fence length: 127.5 km (79.2 mi)

Column track width: 7 m (7.7 yd)

Column track length: 124.3 km (77.2 mi)

Number of watch towers: 302

Number of bunkers: 20

Technical details

Size  155 km (96 mi)

Satellite image of Berlin, with the wall's location marked in yellow

West and East Berlin borders overlaying a current road map (interactive map)

The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer) was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin.[1] The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls,[2] which circumscribed a wide area (later known as the "death strip") that contained anti-vehicle trenches, "fakir beds" and other defenses. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked East Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.

The Berlin Wall was officially referred to as the "Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart" (German: Antifaschistischer Schutzwall) by GDR authorities, implying that neighbouring West Germany had not been fully de-Nazified.[3] The West Berlin city government sometimes referred to it as the "Wall of Shame"—a term coined by mayor Willy Brandt—while condemning the Wall's restriction on freedom of movement. Along with the separate and much longer Inner German border (IGB), which demarcated the border between East and West Germany, it came to symbolize the "Iron Curtain" that separated Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War.

Before the Wall's erection, 3.5 million East Germans circumvented Eastern Bloc emigration restrictions and defected from the GDR, many by crossing over the border from East Berlin into West Berlin, from where they could then travel to West Germany and other Western European countries. Between 1961 and 1989, the wall prevented almost all such emigration.[4] During this period, around 5,000 people attempted to escape over the wall, with an estimated death toll of over 100[5] in and around Berlin, although that claim is disputed.[6]

In 1989, a series of radical political changes occurred in the Eastern Bloc, associated with the liberalization of the Eastern Bloc's authoritarian systems and the erosion of political power in the pro-Soviet governments in nearby Poland and Hungary. After several weeks of civil unrest, the East German government announced on 9 November 1989 that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. Crowds of East Germans crossed and climbed onto the wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere. Over the next few weeks, euphoric public and souvenir hunters chipped away parts of the wall; the governments later used industrial equipment to remove most of what was left. The physical wall was primarily destroyed in 1990. The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification, which was formally concluded on 3 October 1990.

Background

Post-war Germany

After the end of World War II in Europe, what remained of pre-war Germany west of the Oder-Neisse line was divided into four occupation zones (as per the Potsdam Agreement), each one controlled by one of the four occupying Allied powers: the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union. The capital of Berlin, as the seat of the Allied Control Council, was similarly subdivided into four sectors despite the city's location fully within the Soviet zone.[7]

Within two years, political divisions increased between the Soviets and the other occupying powers. These included the Soviets' refusal to agree to reconstruction plans making post-war Germany self-sufficient and to a detailed accounting of the industrial plants, goods and infrastructure already removed by the Soviets.[8] Britain, France, the United States and the Benelux countries later met to combine the non-Soviet zones of the country into one zone for reconstruction and to approve the extension of the Marshall Plan.

Angela Merkel

The Eastern Bloc and the Berlin airlift

Further information: Eastern Bloc and Berlin Blockade

Warsaw Pact

The Eastern Bloc

Soviet Socialist Republics[show]

Allied states[show]

Related organisations[show]

Dissent and opposition[show]

Cold War events[show]

Decline[show]

v t e

Following World War II, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin headed a union of nations on his Western border, the Eastern Bloc, that then included Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, which he wished to maintain alongside a weakened Soviet-controlled Germany.[9] As early as 1945, Stalin revealed to German communist leaders that he expected to slowly undermine the British position within the British occupation zone, that the United States would withdraw within a year or two, and that nothing would then stand in the way of a united communist Germany within the bloc.[10]

The major task of the ruling communist party in the Soviet zone was to channel Soviet orders down to both the administrative apparatus and the other bloc parties, which in turn would be presented as internal measures.[11] Property and industry was nationalized in the East German zone.[12][13] If statements or decisions deviated from the described line, reprimands and, for persons outside public attention, punishment would ensue, such as imprisonment, torture and even death.[11]

Indoctrination of Marxism-Leninism became a compulsory part of school curricula, sending professors and students fleeing to the West. The East Germans created an elaborate political police apparatus that kept the population under close surveillance,[14] including Soviet SMERSH secret police.[12]

In 1948, following disagreements regarding reconstruction and a new German currency, Stalin instituted the Berlin Blockade, preventing food, materials and supplies from arriving in West Berlin.[15] The United States, Britain, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and several other countries began a massive "airlift", supplying West Berlin with food and other supplies.[16] The Soviets mounted a public relations campaign against the western policy change. Communists attempted to disrupt the elections of 1948, preceding large losses therein,[17] while 300,000 Berliners demonstrated for the international airlift to continue.[18] In May 1949, Stalin lifted the blockade, permitting the resumption of Western shipments to Berlin.[19][20]

The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) was declared on 7 October 1949. By a secret treaty, the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs accorded the East German state administrative authority, but not autonomy. The Soviets penetrated East German administrative, military and secret police structures and had full control.[21][22]

East Germany differed from West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany), which developed into a Western capitalist country with a social market economy ("Soziale Marktwirtschaft" in German) and a democratic parliamentary government. Continual economic growth starting in the 1950s fuelled a 20-year "economic miracle" ("Wirtschaftswunder"). As West Germany's economy grew, and its standard of living steadily improved, many East Germans wanted to move to West Germany.

Emigration westward in the early 1950s

Main articles: Eastern Bloc emigration and defection and Eastern Bloc

After the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe at the end of World War II, the majority of those living in the newly acquired areas of the Eastern Bloc aspired to independence and wanted the Soviets to leave.[23] Taking advantage of the zonal border between occupied zones in Germany, the number of GDR citizens moving to West Germany totaled 187,000 in 1950; 165,000 in 1951; 182,000 in 1952; and 331,000 in 1953.[24][25] One reason for the sharp 1953 increase was fear of potential further Sovietization, given the increasingly paranoid actions of Joseph Stalin in late 1952 and early 1953.[26] 226,000 had fled in just the first six months of 1953.[27]

Erection of the inner German border

Further information: Inner German border and Eastern Bloc emigration and defection

By the early 1950s, the Soviet approach to controlling national movement, restricting emigration, was emulated by most of the rest of the Eastern Bloc, including East Germany.[28] The restrictions presented a quandary for some Eastern Bloc states, which had been more economically advanced and open than the Soviet Union, such that crossing borders seemed more natural—especially where no prior border existed between East and West Germany.[29]

Up until 1952, the lines between East Germany and the western occupied zones could be easily crossed in most places.[30] On 1 April 1952, East German leaders met the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in Moscow; during the discussions Stalin's foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov proposed that the East Germans should "introduce a system of passes for visits of West Berlin residents to the territory of East Berlin [so as to stop] free movement of Western agents" in the GDR. Stalin agreed, calling the situation "intolerable". He advised the East Germans to build up their border defenses, telling them that "The demarcation line between East and West Germany should be considered a border—and not just any border, but a dangerous one ... The Germans will guard the line of defence with their lives."[31]

Consequently, the inner German border between the two German states was closed, and a barbed-wire fence erected. The border between the Western and Eastern sectors of Berlin, however, remained open, although traffic between the Soviet and the Western sectors was somewhat restricted. This resulted in Berlin becoming a magnet for East Germans desperate to escape life in the GDR, and also a flashpoint for tension between the United States and the Soviet Union.

In 1955, the Soviets gave East Germany authority over civilian movement in Berlin, passing control to a regime not recognized in the West.[32] Initially, East Germany granted "visits" to allow its residents access to West Germany. However, following the defection of large numbers of East Germans under this regime, the new East German state legally restricted virtually all travel to the West in 1956.[30] Soviet East German ambassador Mikhail Pervukhin observed that "the presence in Berlin of an open and essentially uncontrolled border between the socialist and capitalist worlds unwittingly prompts the population to make a comparison between both parts of the city, which unfortunately, does not always turn out in favor of the Democratic [East] Berlin."[33]

The Berlin emigration loophole

Further information: Eastern Bloc emigration and defection

With the closing of the inner German border officially in 1952,[33] the border in Berlin remained considerably more accessible then because it was administered by all four occupying powers.[30] Accordingly, Berlin became the main route by which East Germans left for the West.[34] On 11 December 1957, East Germany introduced a new passport law that reduced the overall number of refugees leaving Eastern Germany.

It had the unintended result of drastically increasing the percentage of those leaving through West Berlin from 60% to well over 90% by the end of 1958.[33] Those caught trying to leave East Berlin were subjected to heavy penalties, but with no physical barrier and subway train access still available to West Berlin, such measures were ineffective.[35] The Berlin sector border was essentially a "loophole" through which Eastern Bloc citizens could still escape.[33] The 3.5 million East Germans who had left by 1961 totalled approximately 20% of the entire East German population.[35]

An important reason that the West Berlin border was not closed earlier was that doing so would cut off much of the railway traffic in East Germany. Construction of a new railway bypassing West Berlin, the Berlin outer ring, commenced in 1951. Following the completion of the railway in 1961, closing the barrier became a more practical position.

Brain drain

Further information: Eastern Bloc emigration and defection

The emigrants tended to be young and well-educated, leading to the "brain drain" feared by officials in East Germany.[23] Yuri Andropov, then the CPSU Director on Relations with Communist and Workers Parties of Socialist Countries, wrote an urgent letter on 28 August 1958, to the Central Committee about the significant 50% increase in the number of East German intelligentsia among the refugees.[36] Andropov reported that, while the East German leadership stated that they were leaving for economic reasons, testimony from refugees indicated that the reasons were more political than material.[36] He stated "the flight of the intelligentsia has reached a particularly critical phase."[36]

An East German SED propaganda booklet published in 1955 dramatically described the serious nature of 'flight from the republic':

Both from the moral standpoint as well as in terms of the interests of the whole German nation, leaving the GDR is an act of political and moral backwardness and depravity.

Those who let themselves be recruited objectively serve West German Reaction and militarism, whether they know it or not. Is it not despicable when for the sake of a few alluring job offers or other false promises about a "guaranteed future" one leaves a country in which the seed for a new and more beautiful life is sprouting, and is already showing the first fruits, for the place that favours a new war and destruction?

Is it not an act of political depravity when citizens, whether young people, workers, or members of the intelligentsia, leave and betray what our people have created through common labour in our republic to offer themselves to the American or British secret services or work for the West German factory owners, Junkers, or militarists? Does not leaving the land of progress for the morass of an historically outdated social order demonstrate political backwardness and blindness? ...

[W]orkers throughout Germany will demand punishment for those who today leave the German Democratic Republic, the strong bastion of the fight for peace, to serve the deadly enemy of the German people, the imperialists and militarists.[37]

By 1960, the combination of World War II and the massive emigration westward left East Germany with only 61% of its population of working age, compared to 70.5% before the war.[35] The loss was disproportionately heavy among professionals: engineers, technicians, physicians, teachers, lawyers and skilled workers.[35] The direct cost of manpower losses to East Germany (and corresponding gain to the West) has been estimated at $7 billion to $9 billion, with East German party leader Walter Ulbricht later claiming that West Germany owed him $17 billion in compensation, including reparations as well as manpower losses.[35] In addition, the drain of East Germany's young population potentially cost it over 22.5 billion marks in lost educational investment.[38] The brain drain of professionals had become so damaging to the political credibility and economic viability of East Germany that the re-securing of the German communist frontier was imperative.[39]

Construction begins, 1961

East German Combat Groups of the Working Class close the border on 13 August 1961 in preparation of the Berlin Wall construction.

East German construction workers building the Berlin Wall, 20 November 1961

On 15 June 1961, First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party and GDR State Council chairman Walter Ulbricht stated in an international press conference, "Niemand hat die Absicht, eine Mauer zu errichten!" (No one has the intention of erecting a wall!). It was the first time the colloquial term Mauer (wall) had been used in this context.

The record of a telephone call between Nikita Khrushchev and Ulbricht on 1 August in the same year, suggests that it was from Khrushchev that the initiative for the construction of the wall came.[40][41] However, other sources suggest that Khrushchev had initially been wary about building a wall, fearing negative Western reaction. What is beyond dispute, though, is that Ulbricht had pushed for a border closure for quite some time, arguing that East Germany's very existence was at stake.[42]

Khrushchev had been emboldened by US President John F. Kennedy’s tacit indication[how?] that the US would not actively oppose this action in the Soviet sector of Berlin.[43] On Saturday, 12 August 1961, the leaders of the GDR attended a garden party at a government guesthouse in Döllnsee, in a wooded area to the north of East Berlin. There Ulbricht signed the order to close the border and erect a wall.

At midnight, the police and units of the East German army began to close the border and, by Sunday morning, 13 August, the border with West Berlin was closed. East German troops and workers had begun to tear up streets running alongside the border to make them impassable to most vehicles and to install barbed wire entanglements and fences along the 156 kilometres (97 mi) around the three western sectors, and the 43 kilometres (27 mi) that divided West and East Berlin.

The barrier was built slightly inside East Berlin or East German territory to ensure that it did not encroach on West Berlin at any point. Later, it was built up into the Wall proper, the first concrete elements and large blocks being put in place on 17 August. During the construction of the Wall, National People's Army (NVA) and Combat Groups of the Working Class (KdA) soldiers stood in front of it with orders to shoot anyone who attempted to defect. Additionally, chain fences, walls, minefields and other obstacles were installed along the length of East Germany's western border with West Germany proper. A huge no man's land was cleared to provide a clear line of fire at fleeing refugees.[44]

Immediate effects

US President John F. Kennedy visiting the Berlin Wall on 26 June 1963

With the closing of the East-West sector boundary in Berlin, the vast majority of East Germans could no longer travel or emigrate to West Germany. Many families were split, while East Berliners employed in the West were cut off from their jobs. West Berlin became an isolated exclave in a hostile land. West Berliners demonstrated against the wall, led by their Mayor (Oberbürgermeister) Willy Brandt, who strongly criticized the United States for failing to respond. Allied intelligence agencies had hypothesized about a wall to stop the flood of refugees, but the main candidate for its location was around the perimeter of the city. In 1961, Secretary of State Dean Rusk proclaimed, "The Wall certainly ought not to be a permanent feature of the European landscape. I see no reason why the Soviet Union should think it is—it is to their advantage in any way to leave there that monument to Communist failure."[44]

US and UK sources had expected the Soviet sector to be sealed off from West Berlin, but were surprised by how long the East Germans took for such a move. They considered the wall as an end to concerns about a GDR/Soviet retaking or capture of the whole of Berlin; the wall would presumably have been an unnecessary project if such plans were afloat. Thus they concluded that the possibility of a Soviet military conflict over Berlin decreased.[45]

The East German government claimed that the Wall was an "anti-fascist protective rampart" (German: "antifaschistischer Schutzwall") intended to dissuade aggression from the West.[46] Another official justification was the activities of western agents in Eastern Europe.[47] The Eastern German government also claimed that West Berliners were buying out state-subsidized goods in East Berlin. East Germans and others greeted such statements with skepticism, as most of the time, the border was only closed for citizens of East Germany traveling to the West, but not for residents of West Berlin travelling to the East.[48] The construction of the Wall had caused considerable hardship to families divided by it. Most people believed that the Wall was mainly a means of preventing the citizens of East Germany from entering or fleeing to West Berlin.

Secondary response

The National Security Agency was the only American intelligence agency that was aware that East Germany was to take action to deal with the brain drain problem, i.e. the outflow of East-Germans via Berlin. On 9 August 1961, the NSA intercepted an advance warning information of the East German Communist Party's plan to close the intra-Berlin border between East and West Berlin completely for foot traffic. The interagency intelligence Watch Committee assessed that this intercept "might be the first step in a plan to close the border."[49][50] This warning did not reach U.S. President John F. Kennedy until noon on 13 August 1961, who was vacationing in his yacht off the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. While Kennedy was angry that he had no advance warning, he was relieved that the East Germans and the Soviets had only divided Berlin without taking any action against West Berlin's access to the West. However he denounced the Berlin Wall, whose erection worsened the relations between the United States and the Soviet Union.[49][50]

In response to the erection of the Berlin Wall, Kennedy appointed retired General Lucius D. Clay, who had been the Military Governor of the US Zone of Occupation in Germany during the period of the Berlin Blockade and had ordered the first measures in what became the Berlin Airlift, as his special advisor, sending him to Berlin with ambassadorial rank. Clay was immensely popular with the residents of West Berlin, and his appointment was an unambiguous sign that Kennedy would not compromise on the status of West Berlin. Clay and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson arrived at Tempelhof Airport on the afternoon of Saturday, 19 August 1961.

They arrived in a city defended by three Allied brigades—one each from the UK, the US, and France (the Forces Françaises à Berlin). On 16 August, Kennedy had given the order for them to be reinforced. Early on 19 August, the 1st Battle Group, 18th Infantry (commanded by Colonel Glover S. Johns Jr.) was alerted.[51]

On Sunday morning, U.S. troops marched from West Germany through East Germany, bound for West Berlin. Lead elements—arranged in a column of 491 vehicles and trailers carrying 1,500 men, divided into five march units—left the Helmstedt-Marienborn checkpoint at 06:34. At Marienborn, the Soviet checkpoint next to Helmstedt on the West German/East German border, US personnel were counted by guards. The column was 160 kilometres (99 mi) long, and covered 177 kilometres (110 mi) from Marienborn to Berlin in full battle gear. East German police watched from beside trees next to the autobahn all the way along.

The front of the convoy arrived at the outskirts of Berlin just before noon, to be met by Clay and Johnson, before parading through the streets of Berlin in front of a large crowd. At 04:00 on 21 August, Lyndon Johnson left West Berlin in the hands of Gen. Frederick O. Hartel and his brigade of 4,224 officers and men. Every three months for the next three and a half years, a new American battalion was rotated into West Berlin; each traveled by autobahn to demonstrate Allied rights.

The creation of the wall had important implications for both German states. By stemming the exodus of people from East Germany, the East German government was able to reassert its control over the country: in spite of discontent with the wall, economic problems caused by dual currency and the black market were largely eliminated. The economy in the GDR began to grow. But, the wall proved a public relations disaster for the communist bloc as a whole. Western powers portrayed it as a symbol of communist tyranny, particularly after East German border guards shot and killed would-be defectors. Such fatalities were later treated as acts of murder by the reunified Germany.

Structure and adjacent areas

Layout and modifications

East Berlin "death strip" of the Berlin Wall, as seen from the Axel Springer AG Building, 1984

This section of the Wall's "death strip" featured Czech hedgehogs, a guard tower and a cleared area, 1977.

The top of the wall was lined with a smooth pipe, intended to make it more difficult to scale, 1984

Structure of Berlin Wall

Position and course of the Berlin Wall and its border control checkpoints (1989)

The Berlin Wall was more than 140 kilometres (87 mi) long. In June 1962, a second, parallel fence was built some 100 metres (110 yd) farther into East German territory. The houses contained between the fences were razed and the inhabitants relocated, thus establishing what later became known as the Death Strip. The Death Strip was covered with raked sand or gravel, rendering footprints easy to notice, easing the detection of trespassers and also enabling officers to see which guards had neglected their task;[52] it offered no cover; and, most importantly, it offered clear fields of fire for the wall guards.

Through the years, the Berlin Wall evolved through four versions:

Wire fence (1961)

Improved wire fence (1962–1965)

Concrete wall (1965–1975)

Grenzmauer 75 (Border Wall 75) (1975–1989)

The "fourth-generation wall", known officially as "Stützwandelement UL 12.11" (retaining wall element UL 12.11), was the final and most sophisticated version of the Wall. Begun in the year 1975[53] and completed about 1980,[54] it was constructed from 45,000 separate sections of reinforced concrete, each 3.6 metres (12 ft) high and 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) wide, and cost DDM 16,155,000 or about US$3,638,000.[55] The concrete provisions added to this version of the Wall were done so as to prevent escapees from driving their cars through the barricades.[56] At strategic points, the wall was constructed to a somewhat weaker standard, so that East German and Soviet armored vehicles could easily break through in the event of war.[57]

The top of the wall was lined with a smooth pipe, intended to make it more difficult to scale. The wall was reinforced by mesh fencing, signal fencing, anti-vehicle trenches, barbed wire, dogs on long lines, "beds of nails" under balconies hanging over the "death strip", over 116 watchtowers,[58] and 20 bunkers. This version of the Wall is the one most commonly seen in photographs, and surviving fragments of the Wall in Berlin and elsewhere around the world are generally pieces of the fourth-generation Wall. The layout came to resemble the inner German border in most technical aspects, except that the Berlin Wall had no landmines nor spring-guns.[52]

Surrounding municipalities

Besides the sector-sector boundary within Berlin itself, the wall also separated West Berlin from the present-day state of Brandenburg. The following present-day municipalities, listed in counter-clockwise direction, share a border with former West Berlin:

Oberhavel : Mühlenbecker Land (partially), Glienicke/Nordbahn, Hohen Neuendorf, Hennigsdorf

Havelland : Schönwalde-Glien, Falkensee, Dallgow-Döberitz

Potsdam (urban district)

Potsdam-Mittelmark : Stahnsdorf, Kleinmachnow, Teltow

Teltow-Fläming : Großbeeren, Blankenfelde-Mahlow

Dahme-Spreewald : Schönefeld (partially)

Official crossings and usage

See also: Berlin border crossings

A You Are Leaving sign at a border of the American sector

Road sign delimiting the British zone of occupation in Berlin, 1984

There were nine border crossings between East and West Berlin. These allowed visits by West Berliners, other West Germans, Western foreigners and Allied personnel into East Berlin, as well as visits by GDR citizens and citizens of other socialist countries into West Berlin, provided that they held the necessary permits. These crossings were restricted according to which nationality was allowed to use it (East Germans, West Germans, West Berliners, other countries). The most famous was the vehicle and pedestrian checkpoint at the corner of Friedrichstraße and Zimmerstraße, also known as Checkpoint Charlie, which was restricted to Allied personnel and foreigners.[59]

Several other border crossings existed between West Berlin and surrounding East Germany. These could be used for transit between West Germany and West Berlin, for visits by West Berliners into East Germany, for transit into countries neighbouring East Germany (Poland, Czechoslovakia, Denmark), and for visits by East Germans into West Berlin carrying a permit. After the 1972 agreements, new crossings were opened to allow West Berlin waste to be transported into East German dumps, as well as some crossings for access to West Berlin's exclaves (see Steinstücken).

Four autobahns connected West Berlin to West Germany, the most famous being the Berlin-Helmstedt autobahn, which entered East German territory between the towns of Helmstedt and Marienborn (Checkpoint Alpha), and which entered West Berlin at Dreilinden (Checkpoint Bravo for the Allied forces) in southwestern Berlin. Access to West Berlin was also possible by railway (four routes) and by boat for commercial shipping via canals and rivers.

Non-German Westerners could cross the border at Friedrichstraße station in East Berlin and at Checkpoint Charlie. When the Wall was erected, Berlin's complex public transit networks, the S-Bahn and U-Bahn, were divided with it.[54] Some lines were cut in half; many stations were shut down. Three western lines traveled through brief sections of East Berlin territory, passing through eastern stations (called Geisterbahnhöfe, or ghost stations) without stopping. Both the eastern and western networks converged at Friedrichstraße, which became a major crossing point for those (mostly Westerners) with permission to cross.

Crossing

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Travel orders to go to Berlin as used by U.S. forces in the 1980s

West Germans and citizens of other Western countries could generally visit East Germany, often after applying for a visa at an East German embassy several weeks in advance. Visas for day trips restricted to East Berlin were issued without previous application in a simplified procedure at the border crossing. However, East German authorities could refuse entry permits without stating a reason. In the 1980s, visitors from the western part of the city who wanted to visit the eastern part had to exchange at least DM 25 into East German currency at the poor exchange rate of 1:1. It was forbidden to export East German currency from the East, but money not spent could be left at the border for possible future visits. Tourists crossing from the west had to also pay for a visa, which cost DM 5; West Berliners did not have to pay this.

West Berliners initially could not visit East Berlin or East Germany at all - all crossing points were closed to them between 26 August 1961 and 17 December 1963. In 1963, negotiations between East and West resulted in a limited possibility for visits during the Christmas season that year (Passierscheinregelung). Similar, very limited arrangements were made in 1964, 1965 and 1966.

In 1971, with the Four Power Agreement on Berlin, agreements were reached that allowed West Berliners to apply for visas to enter East Berlin and East Germany regularly, comparable to the regulations already in force for West Germans. However, East German authorities could still refuse entry permits.

East Berliners and East Germans could not, at first, travel to West Berlin or West Germany at all. This regulation remained in force essentially until the fall of the wall, but over the years several exceptions to these rules were introduced, the most significant being:

Elderly pensioners could travel to the West starting in 1965

Visits of relatives for important family matters

People who had to travel to the West for professional reasons (for example, artists, truck drivers, musicians, writers, etc.)

However, each visit had to be applied for individually and approval was never guaranteed. In addition, even if travel was approved, GDR travellers could exchange only a very small amount of East German Marks into Deutsche Marks (DM), thus limiting the financial resources available for them to travel to the West. This led to the West German practice of granting a small amount of DM annually (Begrüßungsgeld, or welcome money) to GDR citizens visiting West Germany and West Berlin to help alleviate this situation.

Citizens of other East European countries were in general subject to the same prohibition of visiting Western countries as East Germans, though the applicable exception (if any) varied from country to country.

Allied military personnel and civilian officials of the Allied forces could enter and exit East Berlin without submitting to East German passport controls, purchasing a visa or being required to exchange money. Likewise, Soviet military patrols could enter and exit West Berlin. This was a requirement of the post-war Four Powers Agreements. A particular area of concern for the Western Allies involved official dealings with East German authorities when crossing the border, since Allied policy did not recognize the authority of the GDR to regulate Allied military traffic to and from West Berlin, as well as the Allied presence within Greater Berlin, including entry into, exit from, and presence within East Berlin.

The Allies held that only the Soviet Union, and not the GDR, had authority to regulate Allied personnel in such cases. For this reason, elaborate procedures were established to prevent inadvertent recognition of East German authority when engaged in travel through the GDR and when in East Berlin. Special rules applied to travel by Western Allied military personnel assigned to the Military Liaison Missions accredited to the commander of Soviet forces in East Germany, located in Potsdam.

Allied personnel were restricted by policy when travelling by land to the following routes:

Transit between West Germany and West Berlin

Road: the Helmstedt-Berlin autobahn (A2) (Checkpoints Alpha and Bravo respectively). Soviet military personnel manned these checkpoints and processed Allied personnel for travel between the two points. Military personnel were required to be in uniform when traveling in this manner.

Rail: Western Allied military personnel and civilian officials of the Allied forces were forbidden to use commercial train service between West Germany and West Berlin, because of GDR passport and customs controls when using them. Instead, the Allied forces operated a series of official (duty) trains that traveled between their respective duty stations in West Germany and West Berlin. When transiting the GDR, the trains would follow the route between Helmstedt and Griebnitzsee, just outside of West Berlin. In addition to persons traveling on official business, authorized personnel could also use the duty trains for personal travel on a space-available basis. The trains traveled only at night, and as with transit by car, Soviet military personnel handled the processing of duty train travelers.

Entry into and exit from East Berlin

Checkpoint Charlie (as a pedestrian or riding in a vehicle)

As with military personnel, special procedures applied to travel by diplomatic personnel of the Western Allies accredited to their respective embassies in the GDR. This was intended to prevent inadvertent recognition of East German authority when crossing between East and West Berlin, which could jeopardize the overall Allied position governing the freedom of movement by Allied forces personnel within all Berlin.

Ordinary citizens of the Western Allied powers, not formally affiliated with the Allied forces, were authorized to use all designated transit routes through East Germany to and from West Berlin. Regarding travel to East Berlin, such persons could also use the Friedrichstraße train station to enter and exit the city, in addition to Checkpoint Charlie. In these instances, such travelers, unlike Allied personnel, had to submit to East German border controls.

Defection attempts

Further information: List of deaths at the Berlin Wall

NVA soldier Conrad Schumann defecting to West Berlin during the wall's early days in 1961

During the years of the Wall, around 5,000 people successfully defected to West Berlin. The number of people who died trying to cross the wall, or as a result of the wall's existence, has been disputed. The most vocal claims by Alexandra Hildebrandt, Director of the Checkpoint Charlie Museum and widow of the Museum's founder, estimated the death toll to be well above 200.[5][60] A historic research group at the Center for Contemporary Historical Research (ZZF) in Potsdam has confirmed 136 deaths.[6] Prior official figures listed 98 as being killed.

The East German government issued shooting orders (Schießbefehl) to border guards dealing with defectors, though such orders are not the same as "shoot to kill" orders. GDR officials denied issuing the latter. In an October 1973 order later discovered by researchers, guards were instructed that people attempting to cross the wall were criminals and needed to be shot: "Do not hesitate to use your firearm, not even when the border is breached in the company of women and children, which is a tactic the traitors have often used".[61]

Early successful escapes involved people jumping the initial barbed wire or leaping out of apartment windows along the line, but these ended as the wall was fortified. East German authorities no longer permitted apartments near the wall to be occupied, and any building near the wall had its windows boarded and later bricked up. On 15 August 1961, Conrad Schumann was the first East German border guard to escape by jumping the barbed wire to West Berlin.[62]

On 22 August 1961, Ida Siekmann was the first casualty at the Berlin Wall: she died after she jumped out of her third floor apartment at 48 Bernauer Strasse.[63] The first person to be shot and killed while trying to cross to West Berlin was Günter Litfin, a twenty-four-year-old tailor. He attempted to swim across the Spree Canal to West Germany on 24 August 1961, the same day that East German police had received shoot-to-kill orders to prevent anyone from escaping.[64]

Another dramatic escape was carried out on April 1963 by Wolfgang Engels, a 19-year-old civilian employee of the Nationale Volksarmee. Engels stole a Soviet armored personnel carrier from a base where he was deployed and drove it right into the wall. He was fired at and seriously wounded by border guards. But a West German policeman intervened, firing his weapon at the East German border guards. The policeman removed Engels from the vehicle, which had become entangled in the barbed wire.[65]

Memorial to the Victims of the Wall, with graffiti, 1982

East Germans successfully defected by a variety of methods: digging long tunnels under the wall, waiting for favorable winds and taking a hot air balloon, sliding along aerial wires, flying ultralights and, in one instance, simply driving a sports car at full speed through the basic, initial fortifications. When a metal beam was placed at checkpoints to prevent this kind of defection, up to four people (two in the front seats and possibly two in the boot) drove under the bar in a sports car that had been modified to allow the roof and windscreen to come away when it made contact with the beam. They lay flat and kept driving forward. The East Germans then built zig-zagging roads at checkpoints. The sewer system predated the wall, and some people escaped through the sewers, in a number of cases with assistance from the Girmann student group.

An airborne escape was made by Thomas Krüger, who landed a Zlin Z 42M light aircraft of the Gesellschaft für Sport und Technik, an East German youth military training organization, at RAF Gatow. His aircraft, registration DDR-WOH, was dismantled and returned to the East Germans by road, complete with humorous slogans painted on it by RAF airmen, such as "Wish you were here" and "Come back soon". DDR-WOH is still flying today, but under the registration D-EWOH.

If an escapee was wounded in a crossing attempt and lay on the death strip, no matter how close they were to the Western wall, Westerners could not intervene for fear of triggering engaging fire from the 'Grepos', the East Berlin border guards. The guards often let fugitives bleed to death in the middle of this ground, as in the most notorious failed attempt, that of Peter Fechter (aged 18). He was shot and bled to death, in full view of the Western media, on 17 August 1962. Fechter's death created negative publicity worldwide that led the leaders of East Berlin to place more restrictions on shooting in public places, and provide medical care for possible "would-be escapers".[66] The last person to be shot and killed while trying to cross the border was Chris Gueffroy on 6 February 1989.

The Wall gave rise to a widespread sense of desperation and oppression in East Berlin, as expressed in the private thoughts of one resident, who confided to her diary "Our lives have lost their spirit…we can do nothing to stop them."[67]

Rocking the Wall-Bruce Springsteen Visit

On 19 July 1988, 16 months before the wall came down, Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band, played a live concert in East-Berlin, which was attended by 300,000 in person, and broadcast delayed on television. Springsteen spoke to the crowd in German, saying: "I'm not here for or against any government. I've come to play rock 'n' roll for you in the hope that one day all the barriers will be torn down".[68] East Germany and its FDJ youth organization were worried they were losing an entire generation. They hoped that by letting Springsteen in, they could improve their sentiment among East Germans. However, this strategy of "one step backwards, two steps forwards" backfired and the concert only made East Germans hungrier for more of the freedoms that Springsteen epitomized. While John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan delivered their famous speeches from the safety of West Berlin, Springsteen's speaking out against the Wall in the middle of East Berlin added to the euphoria.[68]

"Ich bin ein Berliner" and "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."

Main articles: Ich bin ein Berliner and Tear down this wall!

Ich bin ein Berliner (I am a Berliner) speech

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Speech from the Rathaus Schöneberg by John F. Kennedy, 26 June 1963. Duration 9:01.

Ich bin ein Berliner ("I am a Berliner") speech (audio)

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File:Tear down this wall.ogv

Complete speech by Ronald Reagan at the Brandenburg Gate, 12 June 1987. Famous passage begins at 11:10 into this video.

22 months after the erection of the Berlin Wall, on 26 June 1963, U.S. President John F. Kennedy visited West-Berlin. Speaking from a platform erected on the steps of Rathaus Schöneberg for an audience of 450,000 he declared in his Ich bin ein Berliner speech the support of the United States for West Germany and the people of West-Berlin in particular:

Two thousand years ago, the proudest boast was civis romanus sum ["I am a Roman citizen"]. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is "Ich bin ein Berliner!"... All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words "Ich bin ein Berliner!"

The message was aimed as much at the Soviets as it was at Berliners and was a clear statement of U.S. policy in the wake of the construction of the Berlin Wall. The speech is considered one of Kennedy's best, both a notable moment of the Cold War and a high point of the New Frontier. It was a great morale boost for West Berliners, who lived in an exclave deep inside East Germany and feared a possible East German occupation.

In a speech at the Brandenburg Gate commemorating the 750th anniversary of Berlin[69] on 12 June 1987, U.S. President Ronald Reagan challenged Mikhail Gorbachev, then the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, to tear down the wall as a symbol of increasing freedom in the Eastern Bloc:

We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall![70]

The Fall

After allowing for loopholes throughout the summer, Hungary effectively disabled its physical border defenses with Austria on 19 August 1989 and, in September, more than 13,000 East German tourists escaped through Hungary to Austria.[71] This set up a chain of events. The Hungarians prevented many more East Germans from crossing the border and returned them to Budapest. These East Germans flooded the West German embassy and refused to return to East Germany.[72]

The East German government responded by disallowing any further travel to Hungary, but allowed those already there to return. This triggered a similar incident in neighboring Czechoslovakia. On this occasion, the East German authorities allowed them to leave, provided that they use a train that transited East Germany on the way. This was followed by mass demonstrations within East Germany itself. (See Monday demonstrations in East Germany.) The longtime leader of East Germany, Erich Honecker, resigned on 18 October 1989 and was replaced by Egon Krenz a few days later. Honecker had predicted in January of that year that the wall would stand for 50 or 100 more years[72] if the conditions that had caused its construction did not change.

Protest demonstrations broke out all over East Germany in September 1989. Initially, protesters were mostly people wanting to leave to the West, chanting "Wir wollen raus!" ("We want out!"). Then protestors began to chant "Wir bleiben hier", ("We're staying here!"). This was the start of what East Germans generally call the "Peaceful Revolution" of late 1989.[73] The protest demonstrations grew considerably by early November. The movement neared its height on 4 November, when half a million people gathered at the Alexanderplatz demonstration, a rally for change in East Berlin's large public square and transportation hub. (Henslin, 07)

Meanwhile, the wave of refugees leaving East Germany for the West had increased and had found its way through Hungary via Czechoslovakia (or via the West German Embassy in Prague), tolerated by the new Krenz government and in agreement with the communist Czechoslovak government. To ease the complications, the politburo led by Krenz decided on 9 November to allow refugees to exit directly through crossing points between East Germany and West Germany, including West Berlin. On the same day, the ministerial administration modified the proposal to include private travel. The new regulations were to take effect the next day.

Günter Schabowski, the party boss in East Berlin and the spokesman for the SED Politburo, had the task of announcing this; however, he had not been involved in the discussions about the new regulations and had not been fully updated.[74] Shortly before a press conference on 9 November, he was handed a note announcing the changes, but given no further instructions on how to handle the information. These regulations had only been completed a few hours earlier and were to take effect the following day, so as to allow time to inform the border guards—however, nobody had informed Schabowski.[42]

He read the note out loud at the end of the conference. One of the reporters, ANSA's Riccardo Ehrman,[75] asked when the regulations would take effect. After a few seconds' hesitation, Schabowski assumed it would be the same day based on the wording of the note and replied, "As far as I know effective immediately, without delay".[42] After further questions from journalists, he confirmed that the regulations included the border crossings towards West Berlin, which he had not mentioned until then.[76]

Excerpts from Schabowski's press conference were the lead story on West Germany's two main news programs that night—at 7:17 PM on ZDF's heute and at 8 PM on ARD's Tagesschau; this, of course, meant that the news was broadcast to nearly all of East Germany as well. Later that night, on ARD's Tagesthemen, anchorman Hans Joachim Friedrichs proclaimed, "This is a historic day. East Germany has announced that, starting immediately, its borders are open to everyone. The GDR is opening its borders ... the gates in the Berlin Wall stand open."[42][74]

After hearing the broadcast, East Germans began gathering at the wall and at the six checkpoints between East and West, demanding that border guards immediately open the gates.[74] The surprised and overwhelmed guards made many hectic telephone calls to their superiors about the problem. At first, they were ordered to find the "more aggressive" people gathered at the gates and stamp their passports with a special stamp that barred them from returning to East Germany—in effect, revoking their citizenship. However, this still left thousands of people demanding to be let through "as Schabowski said we can."[42]

It soon became clear that no one among the East German authorities would take personal responsibility for issuing orders to use lethal force, so the vastly outnumbered soldiers had no way to hold back the huge crowd of East German citizens. Finally, at 10:45 pm, the guards yielded, opening the checkpoints and allowing people through with little or no identity checking. As the Ossis swarmed through, they were greeted by Wessis waiting with flowers and champagne amid wild rejoicing. Soon afterward, a crowd of West Berliners jumped on top of the wall, and were soon joined by East German youngsters. They danced together to celebrate their new freedom.

Walking through Checkpoint Charlie, 10 November 1989

Germans stand on top of the wall in the days before it was torn down

At the Brandenburg Gate, 10 November 1989

Juggling on the Wall on 16 November 1989

"Mauerspecht" (November 1989)

Demolition

The date on which the Wall fell is considered to have been 9 November 1989, but the Wall in its entirety was not torn down immediately. Starting that evening and in the days and weeks that followed, people came to the wall with sledgehammers or otherwise hammers and chisels to chip off souvenirs, demolishing lengthy parts of it in the process and creating several unofficial border crossings. These people were nicknamed "Mauerspechte" (wall woodpeckers).[77]

The East German regime announced the opening of ten new border crossings the following weekend, including some in historically significant locations (Potsdamer Platz, Glienicker Brücke, Bernauer Straße). Crowds on both sides waited there for hours, cheering at the bulldozers which took parts of the Wall away to reinstate old roads. Photos and television footage of these events is sometimes mislabeled "dismantling of the Wall", even though it was merely the construction of new crossings. New border crossings continued to be opened through the middle of 1990, including the Brandenburg Gate on 22 December 1989.

File:Berlin Wall segment in Los Angeles.webm

Berlin Wall segment in Los Angeles at 5900 Wilshire Boulevard

West Germans and West Berliners were allowed visa-free travel starting 23 December. Until then, they could only visit East Germany and East Berlin under restrictive conditions that involved application for a visa several days or weeks in advance and obligatory exchange of at least 25 DM per day of their planned stay, all of which hindered spontaneous visits. Thus, in the weeks between 9 November and 23 December, East Germans could actually travel more freely than Westerners.

Television coverage of citizens demolishing sections of the wall on the evening of 9 November and the new border crossings opened weeks later, led some foreigners to think the Wall was torn down quickly. Technically, the Wall remained guarded for some time after 9 November, though at a decreasing intensity. In the first months, the East German military even tried to repair some of the damages done by the "wall peckers". Gradually these attempts ceased, and guards became more lax, tolerating the increasing demolitions and "unauthorized" border crossing through the holes.

On 13 June 1990, the official dismantling of the Wall by the East German military began in Bernauer Straße and somehow around the Mitte district. It thus spread throughout the Berlin area through Prenzlauer Berg/Gesundbrunnen, Helligensee and throughout the city of Berlin which had been ended in December 1990. The dismantling of the Berlin/Brandenburg border wall also ended in November 1991 by various military units. Every road that has been affected by Berlin Wall without border crossings and no-through road sections (that links from West Berlin to East Berlin) were reconstructed and reopened by 1 August 1990.

On 1 July, the day East Germany adopted the West German currency, all de jure border controls ceased, although the inter-German border had become meaningless for some time before that.

The fall of the Wall marked the first critical step towards German reunification, which formally concluded a mere 339 days later on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of East Germany and the official reunification of the German state along the democratic lines of the West German government.[77]

An East German guard talks to a Westerner through a broken seam in the wall. Late November 1989

A crane removes a section of the Wall near Brandenburg Gate on 21 December 1989

Almost all of the remaining sections were rapidly chipped away. December 1990

West Germans peer at East German border guards through a hole in the wall. 5 January 1990

Short section of Berlin Wall at Potsdamer Platz, March 2009

Souvenir chunk of concrete from the Wall

Opposition

In some European capitals at the time, there was a deep anxiety over prospects for a reunified Germany. In September 1989, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher pleaded with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev not to let the Berlin Wall fall and confided that she wanted the Soviet leader to do what he could to stop it.[78][79]

"We do not want a united Germany. This would lead to a change to postwar borders and we cannot allow that because such a development would undermine the stability of the whole international situation and could endanger our security", Thatcher told Gorbachev.[78]

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, French President François Mitterrand warned Thatcher that a unified Germany could make more ground than Adolf Hitler ever had and that Europe would have to bear the consequences.[80]

Celebrations

On November 21, 1989, Crosby, Stills & Nash performed the song "Chippin' Away" from Graham Nash's 1986 solo album Innocent Eyes in front of the Brandenburg Gate.[81]

On 25 December 1989, Leonard Bernstein gave a concert in Berlin celebrating the end of the Wall, including Beethoven's 9th symphony (Ode to Joy) with the word "Joy" (Freude) changed to "Freedom" (Freiheit) in the lyrics sung. The orchestra and choir were drawn from both East and West Germany, as well as the United Kingdom, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States.[82] On New Year's Eve 1989, David Hasselhoff performed his song "Looking for Freedom" while standing atop the partly demolished wall.[83]

Roger Waters performed the Pink Floyd album The Wall just north of Potsdamer Platz on 21 July 1990, with guests including Bon Jovi, Scorpions, Bryan Adams, Sinéad O'Connor, Cyndi Lauper, Thomas Dolby, Joni Mitchell, Marianne Faithfull, Levon Helm, Rick Danko and Van Morrison.

Over the years, there has been a repeated controversial debate[84] as to whether 9 November would make a suitable German national holiday, often initiated by former members of political opposition in East Germany, such as Werner Schulz.[85] Besides being the emotional apogee of East Germany's peaceful revolution, 9 November is also the date of the end of the Revolution of 1848 and the date of the 1918 abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II and declaration of the Weimar Republic, the first German republic. However, 9 November is also the anniversary of the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch and the infamous Kristallnacht pogroms of the Nazis in 1938. Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel criticized the first euphoria, noting that "they forgot that 9 November has already entered into history—51 years earlier it marked the Kristallnacht."[86] As reunification was not official and complete until 3 October, that day was finally chosen as German Unity Day.

20th Anniversary celebrations

On 9 November 2009, Berlin celebrated the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall with a "Festival of Freedom" with dignitaries from around the world in attendance for an evening celebration around the Brandenburg Gate. A high point was when over 1,000 colourfully designed foam domino tiles, each over 8 feet (2.4 m) tall, that were stacked along the former route of the wall in the city center were toppled in stages, converging in front of the Brandenburg Gate.[73]

A Berlin Twitter Wall was set up to allow Twitter users to post messages commemorating the 20th anniversary. The Chinese government quickly shut down access to the Twitter Wall after masses of Chinese users began using it to protest the Great Firewall of China.[87][88][89]

In the United States, the German Embassy coordinated a public diplomacy campaign with the motto "Freedom Without Walls", to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The campaign was focused on promoting awareness of the fall of the Berlin Wall among current college students. Students at over 30 universities participated in "Freedom Without Walls" events in late 2009. First place winner of the Freedom Without Walls Speaking Contest[90] Robert Cannon received a free trip to Berlin for 2010.[91]

An international project called Mauerreise (Journey of the Wall) took place in various countries. Twenty symbolic wall bricks were sent from Berlin starting in May 2009. Their destination: Korea, Cyprus, Yemen and other places where everyday life is characterised by division and border experience. In these places, the bricks will become a blank canvas for artists, intellectuals and young people to tackle the "wall" phenomenon.[92]

To commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, Twinity reconstructed a true-to-scale section of the wall in virtual Berlin.[93] The MTV Europe Music Awards, on 5 November, had U2 and Tokio Hotel perform songs dedicated to, and about the Berlin Wall. U2 performed at the Brandenburg Gate, and Tokio Hotel performed "World Behind My Wall".

Palestinians in the town of Kalandia, West Bank pulled down parts of the Israeli West Bank barrier, in a demonstration marking the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.[94]

The International Spy Museum in Washington DC hosted a Trabant car rally where 20 Trabants gathered in recognition of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Rides were raffled every half-hour and a Trabant crashed through a Berlin Wall mock up. The Trabant was the East German people's car that many used to leave DDR after the collapse.

The Allied Museum in the Dahlem district of Berlin hosted a number of events to mark the Twentieth Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. The museum held a Special Exhibition entitled "Wall Patrol – The Western Powers and the Berlin Wall 1961–1990" which focused on the daily patrols deployed by the Western powers to observe the situation along the Berlin Wall and the fortifications on the GDR border.[95] A sheet of "Americans in Berlin" Commemorative Cinderella stamps designed by T.H.E. Hill, the author of Voices Under Berlin, was presented to the Museum by David Guerra, Berlin veteran and webmaster of the site www.berlinbrigade.com. The stamps splendidly illustrate that even twenty years on, veterans of service in Berlin still regard their service there as one of the high points of their lives.[96]

Legacy

Remaining stretch of the Wall near Ostbahnhof in Friedrichshain called East Side Gallery, August 2006

Remains of the Wall adjacent to the Topography of Terror, August 2007

A memorial of over a thousand crosses and a segment of the wall for those who died trying to cross. The memorial stood for ten months in 2004 and 2005 before it was removed.

A "BERLINER MAUER 1961–1989" plaque near Checkpoint Charlie signifying where the wall stood

Display of two sections of the wall and a "You are leaving" sign at Fort Gordon, Georgia

Berlin wall from the East Berlin side

A sign reading "Come back to the capital of GDR"

Czech hedgehog antitank obstacles and the Wall

Little is left of the Wall at its original site, which was destroyed almost everywhere. Three long sections are still standing: an 80-metre-long (260 ft) piece of the first (westernmost) wall at the Topography of Terror, site of the former Gestapo headquarters, halfway between Checkpoint Charlie and Potsdamer Platz; a longer section of the second (easternmost) wall along the Spree River near the Oberbaumbrücke, nicknamed East Side Gallery; and a third section that is partly reconstructed, in the north at Bernauer Straße, which was turned into a memorial in 1999. Some other isolated fragments and a few watchtowers also remain in various parts of the city.

None still accurately represents the Wall's original appearance. They are badly damaged by souvenir seekers. Fragments of the Wall were taken and some were sold around the world. Appearing both with and without certificates of authenticity, these fragments are now a staple on the online auction service eBay as well as German souvenir shops. Today, the eastern side is covered in graffiti that did not exist while the Wall was guarded by the armed soldiers of East Germany. Previously, graffiti appeared only on the western side. Along the tourist areas of the city centre, the city government has marked the location of the former wall by a row of cobblestones in the street. In most places only the "first" wall is marked, except near Potsdamer Platz where the stretch of both walls is marked, giving visitors an impression of the dimension of the barrier system.

Museum

15 years after the fall, a private museum rebuilt a 200-metre (656 ft) section close to Checkpoint Charlie, although not in the location of the original wall. They temporarily erected more than 1,000 crosses in memory of those who died attempting to flee to the West. The memorial was installed in October 2004 and demolished in July 2005.[97]

Cultural differences

For many years after reunification, people in Germany talked about cultural differences between East and West Germans (colloquially Ossis and Wessis), sometimes described as Mauer im Kopf (The wall in the head). A September 2004 poll found that 25 percent of West Germans and 12 percent of East Germans wished that East and West should be separated again by a "Wall".[98] A poll taken in October 2009 on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall indicated, however, that only about a tenth of the population was still unhappy with the unification (8 percent in the East; 12 percent in the West). Although differences are still perceived between East and West, Germans make similar distinctions between North and South.[99]

A 2011 poll conducted by Russia's VTsIOM, found that more than half of all Russians do not know who built the Berlin Wall. Ten percent of people surveyed thought Berlin residents built it themselves. Six percent said Western powers built it and four percent thought it was a "bilateral initiative" of the Soviet Union and the West. Fifty-eight percent said they did not know who built it, with just 24 percent correctly naming the Soviet Union and its then-communist ally East Germany.[100]

Wall segments around the world

Main article: List of Berlin Wall segments

Not all segments of the wall were ground up as the wall was being torn down. Many segments have been given to various institutions around the world. They can be found, for instance, in presidential and historical museums, lobbies of hotels and corporations, at universities and government buildings, and in public spaces around the world.

50th anniversary commemoration

On 13 August 2011, Germany marked the 50th anniversary of East Germany beginning the erection of the Berlin Wall. Chancellor Angela Merkel joined with President Christian Wulff and Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit at the Bernauer Straße memorial park to remember lives and liberty. Speeches extolled freedom and a minute of silence at noon honored those who died trying to flee to the West. "It is our shared responsibility to keep the memory alive and to pass it on to the coming generations as a reminder to stand up for freedom and democracy to ensure that such injustice may never happen again," entreated Mayor Wowereit. "It has been shown once again: Freedom is invincible at the end. No wall can permanently withstand the desire for freedom", proclaimed President Wulff (Continoe)