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Culture in Germany (culture_in_germany.doc)

Culture in Germany

Germany is often called das Land der Dichter und Denker (the land of poets and thinkers). German culture began long before the rise of Germany as a nation-state and spanned the entire German speaking world. From its roots, culture in Germany has been shaped by major intellectual and popular currents in Europe, both religious and secular. As a result, it is difficult to identify a specific German tradition separated from the larger context of European high culture. 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. Various German authors and poets have won great renown including Goethe and Schiller. The collections of folk tales published by the Brothers Grimm popularized German folklore on the international level. Germany's influence on philosophy is historically significant and many notable German philosophers have helped shape western philosophy since the Middle Ages. Leibniz's contributions to rationalism, Kant's establishment of German idealism, Marx's formulation of Communist theory, and Nietzsche's development of Perspectivism were especially influential.

Germany claims some of the world's most renowned classical music composers, including Beethoven, Bach, and Mozart. As of 2006, Germany is the fifth largest music market in the world and has influenced pop and rock music through artists such as Kraftwerk or Rammstein. Numerous German painters have enjoyed international prestige through their work in diverse artistic currents. Grünewald and Dürer were important artists of the Renaissance, Friedrich of Romanticism, and Ernst of Surrealism. Architectural contributions from Germany include the Carolingian and Ottonian styles, which were important precursors of Romanesque. The region later became the site for significant works in styles such as Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque. Germany was particularly important in the early modern movement, especially through the Bauhaus movement founded by Walter Gropius. German cinema dates back to the very early years of the medium with the work of Skladanowsky. It was particularly influential during the years of the Weimar Republic with German expressionists such as Wiene and Murnau. New German Cinema directors such as Schlöndorff and Herzog, and films such as Good Bye Lenin! (2003) have enjoyed international success. The German film "The Lives of Others" about how the East German secret police invaded people's lives has won an Oscar for best foreign language film this year. First-time director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck said at the ceremony in Los Angeles that he hopes the success will counteract a trend in Germany towards feeling nostalgic about the communist era.

Germany has been the home of some of the most prominent researchers in various scientific fields. The work of Albert Einstein and Max Planck was crucial to the foundation of modern physics, which Werner Heisenberg and Erwin Schrödinger developed further. They were preceded by such key physicists as Hermann von Helmholtz, Joseph von Fraunhofer, and Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit, among others. Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered X-rays, an accomplishment that made him the first winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901. Heinrich Rudolf Hertz's work in the domain of electromagnetic radiation was pivotal to the development of modern telecommunication. Wilhelm Wundt is credited with the establishment of psychology as an independent empirical science through his construction of the first laboratory at the University of Leipzig in 1879. Alexander von Humboldt's work as a natural scientist and explorer was foundational to biogeography. Numerous important mathematicians were born in Germany, including Gauss, Hilbert, Riemann, Weierstrass and Weyl. Germany has been the home of many famous inventors and engineers, such as Johannes Gutenberg, who is 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 computer. German inventors, engineers and industrialists such as Zeppelin, Daimler, Diesel, and Benz helped shape modern automotive and air transportation technology.

Sport forms an integral part of German life, as demonstrated by the fact that 27 million Germans are members of a sports club and an additional twelve million pursue such an activity individually. Football is by far the most popular sport, and the German Football Association (Deutscher Fussballbund) with more than 6.3 million members is the largest sports organisation of this kind worldwide. It also attracts the greatest audience, with hundreds of thousands of spectators attending Bundesliga matches and millions more watching on television. The other two most popular sports in Germany are marksmanship and tennis represented by the German Marksmen’s Federation and the German Tennis Federation respectively, both including more than a million members. Other popular sports include handball, volleyball, basketball, and ice hockey. Germany has historically been one of the strongest contenders in the Olympic Games. In the 2004 Summer Olympics, Germany finished sixth overall, whereas in the 2006 Winter Olympics Germany finished first.

GERMANY - SOME FACTS

Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Western-Central Europe. It is bordered on the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea, on the east by Poland and the Czech Republic, on the south by Austria and Switzerland, and on the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Germany is a democratic parliamentary federal republic of 16 states (Bundesländer). The country previously consisted of several sovereign states with their own history, culture, and religious affiliation. Germany was first unified as a nation-state amidst the Franco-Prussian War in 1871.

The Federal Republic of Germany is a member state of the United Nations, NATO, the G8 and the G4 nations, and is a founding member of the European Union. It has the largest population and largest economy of all European Union member states. As a modern great power, Germany is the world's third largest economy (after the United States and Japan), the world's largest exporter of goods, and the world's second largest importer of goods.

History

Main article: History of Germany

The state now known as Germany was unified as a modern nation-state only in 1871, when the German Empire was forged, with the Kingdom of Prussia as its largest constituent. This began the German Reich, usually translated as empire, but also meaning kingdom, domain or realm.

1. Early history of the Germanic tribes (100 BC – AD 300)
2. The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (843-1806)
3. Restoration and revolution (1814-71)
4. Second German Empire (1871-1918)
5. Weimar Republic (1919-33)
6. Third Reich (1933–45)

Division and reunification (1945-90)

Main article: History of Germany since 1945

The war resulted in the death of several million German soldiers and civilians, in total nearly ten million; large territorial losses; the expulsion of about 15 million Germans from other countries; and the destruction of multiple major cities. Germany and Berlin were partitioned by the Allies into four military occupation zones. The sectors controlled by France, the United Kingdom, and the United States were merged on May 23, 1949, to form the democratic nation of the Federal Republic of Germany; on October 7, 1949, the Soviet Zone established the German Democratic Republic. In English, the two states were known informally as "West Germany" and "East Germany".

West Germany, established as a liberal parliamentary republic with a "social market economy", was allied with the United States, the UK and France. The country eventually came to enjoy prolonged economic growth beginning in the early 1950s (Wirtschaftswunder). West Germany joined NATO in 1955 and was a founding member of the European Economic Community in 1958. Across the border, East Germany was at first occupied by, and later (May 1955) allied with, the USSR. An authoritarian country with a Soviet-style command economy, East Germany soon became the richest, most advanced country in the Warsaw Pact, but many of its citizens looked to the West for political freedoms and economic prosperity. The Berlin Wall, built in 1961 to stop East Germans from escaping to West Germany, became a symbol of the Cold War. However, tensions between East and West Germany were somewhat reduced in the early 1970s by Chancellor Willy Brandts Ostpolitik, which included the de facto acceptance of Germany's territorial losses in World War II.

During the summer of 1989, in the face of a growing migration of East Germans to West Germany via Hungary and mass demonstrations, East German authorities unexpectedly eased the border restrictions in November 1989, allowing East German citizens to travel to the West. This led to the acceleration of the process of reforms in East Germany that concluded with German reunification on October 3, 1990. Under the terms of the treaty between West and East Germany, Berlin again became the capital of the reunited Germany.

Since reunification, Germany has taken a leading role in the European Union and NATO. Germany sent a peacekeeping force to secure stability in the Balkans and sent a force of Bundeswehr troops to Afghanistan as part of a NATO effort to provide security in that country after the ousting of the Taliban.

German occupation zones in 1946 after territorial annexations in the East.

The Saarland (in stripes) became a protectorate of France between 1947 and 1956

Government

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 to the Grundgesetz require a two-thirds majority of both chambers of parliament; the articles guaranteeing fundamental rights, a democratic state, and the right to resist attempts to overthrow the constitution is valid in perpetuity and cannot be amended. The Grundgesetz remained in effect, with minor amendments, after German reunification in 1990.

The Chancellor is the head of government and exercises executive power. Federal legislative power is vested the parliament called Bundestag and Bundesrat, a unique legislative body, that can't be compared to any other system. The Bundestag is elected through direct elections; the members of the Bundesrat represent the governments of the 16 federal states and are members of the state cabinets, which appoint them and can remove them at any time.

Since 1949, the party system has been dominated by the Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party of Germany although smaller parties, such as the liberal Free Democratic Party (which has had members in the Bundestag since 1949) and the Alliance '90/The Greens (which has controlled seats in parliament since 1983) have also played important roles.

The German head of state is the President of Germany, 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 President of the Bundestag, who is elected by the Bundestag itself. He is responsible for overseeing the daily sessions of the body. The third-highest official and the head of government is the chancellor. He or she is nominated by the President of Germany and elected by the Bundestag. If necessary, he or she can be removed by a constructive motion of no confidence of the Bundestag, with constructive referring to the fact that the Bundestag has to elect a successor in such a case.

Legal system

The Judiciary of Germany is independent of the executive and the legislative branches. Germany has a civil or statute law system that is based on Roman law with some references to Germanic law. Legislative power is divided between the Federation and the individual federated states. Criminal law and private law are codified on the national level in the Strafgesetzbuch and the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch respectively. Many of the fundamental matters in administrative law remain in the jurisdiction of the individual federated states, though most states follow the 1976 Verwaltungsverfahrensgesetz (Administrative Proceedings Law) in important points of administrative law. Germany's supreme court system is specialized. For civil and criminal cases, the highest court of appeal is the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice), located in Karlsruhe. The courtroom style is inquisitorial. The Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court), also located in Karlsruhe, is the German Supreme Court responsible for constitutional matters, with power of judicial review. It acts as the highest legal authority and ensures that legislative and judicial practice conforms to the Constitution. It acts independently of the other state bodies, but cannot act on its own behalf.

Administrative divisions

Main articles: Administrative Divisions of Germany and States of Germany

Germany is divided into 16 states (in German called Länder, singular Land; commonly Bundesländer, singular Bundesland). It is further subdivided into 439 districts (Kreise) and cities (kreisfreie Städte)

Geography and climate

Main article: Geography of Germany

Germany has the largest population in Europe, after the European parts of Russia, and is seventh in area. The territory of Germany covers 357,021 km² , of which land makes up 349,223 km² and water makes up 7,798 km² . Elevation ranges from the mountains of the Alps (highest point: the Zugspitze at 2,962 m in the south to the shores of the North Sea (Nordsee) in the north-west and the Baltic Sea (Ostsee) in the north-east. Between lie the forested uplands of central Germany and the low-lying lands of northern Germany (lowest point: Wilstermarsch at 3.54 metres below sea level), traversed by some of Europe's major rivers such as the Rhine, Danube and Elbe. Because of its central location, Germany shares borders with more European countries than any other country on the continent. Its neighbours are Denmark in the north, Poland and the Czech Republic in the east, Austria and Switzerland in the south, France and Luxembourg in the south-west and Belgium and the Netherlands in the north-west.

Most of Germany has a cool, temperate climate in which humid westerly winds predominate. The climate is moderated by the North Atlantic Drift, which is the northern extension of the Gulf Stream. This warmer water affects the areas bordering the North Sea including the peninsula of Jutland in north Germany and the area along the Rhine, which flows into the North Sea. Consequently in the north-west and the north, the climate is oceanic; rainfall occurs year round with a maximum during summer. Winters there are mild and summers tend to be cool, though temperatures can exceed 30 °C for prolonged periods. In the east, the climate is more continental; winters can be very cold, summers can be very warm, and long dry periods are often recorded. Central and the southern Germany is a transition region which varies from moderately oceanic to continental. The maximum temperature can exceed 30 °C in summer.

Economy

Germany is the largest economy in Europe and the third largest economy in the world, behind the United States and Japan. It is ranked fifth in the world in terms of purchasing power parity. The export of goods is an essential part of the German economy and one of the main factors of its wealth. According to the World Trade Organization, Germany is the world's top exporter with $912 billion exported in 2005. It is second in imports only to the United States and has a large trade surplus. In the trade of services (tourism, financial services, engineering, etc) it ranks second behind the United States. Most of the country's exports are in engineering, especially in automobiles, machinery, and chemical goods. In terms of total capacity to generate electricity from wind power, Germany is first in the world and it is also the main exporter of wind turbines.

Although problems created by the German Reunification of 1990 have begun to diminish, the standard of living remains higher in the western half of the country. Germans continue to be concerned about a relatively high level of unemployment, especially in the former East German states where unemployment tops 18%. In spite of its extremely good performance in international trade, domestic demand has stalled for many years because of stagnating wages and consumer insecurity. Germany's government runs a restrictive fiscal policy and has cut numerous regular jobs in the public sector. But while regular employment in the public sector shrank, "irregular" government employment such as "one euro" jobs (temporary low-wage positions), government supported self-employment, and job training increased.

Education

Responsibility for educational oversight in Germany lies primarily with the federal states individually whilst the government only has a minor role. Optional kindergarten education is provided for all children between three and six years old, after which school attendance is compulsory for at least ten years. Primary education usually lasts for four years and public schools are not stratified at this stage. In contrast, secondary education includes four types of schools based on a pupil's ability as determined by teacher recommendations: the Gymnasium includes the most gifted children and prepares students for university studies and attendance lasts eight or nine years depending on the state; the Realschule has a broader range of emphasis for intermediary students and lasts six years; the Hauptschule prepares pupils for vocational education, and the Gesamtschule or comprehensive school combines the three approaches. In order to enter a university, high school students are required to take the Abitur examination, however students possessing a diploma from a vocational school may also apply to enter. A special system of apprenticeship called Duale Ausbildung allows pupils in vocational training to learn in a company as well as in a state-run school. Although Germany has had a history of a strong educational system, recent PISA student assessments demonstrated a weakness in certain subjects. In the test of 31 countries in the year 2000, Germany ranked 21st in reading and 20th in both mathematics and the natural sciences, prompting calls for reform.

In the annual league of top-ranking universities compiled by Shanghai Jiaotong University in 2004, Germany came 4th overall, with 7 universities in the top 100. The highest ranking German university, at number 45, was the Technical University of Munich. Most German universities are state-owned and until recently did not charge for tuition; a 2006 education reform measure calls for fees of around €500 per semester from each student.

German philosopher Immanuel Kant

Max Planck presenting Albert Einstein with the Max-Planck medal in 1929

German Stasi Drama “The Lives of Others” Wins Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film

Von Donnersmarck's film beat off

stiff competition

Opened in 2005: the Allianz Arena, one of the world's most modern football stadiums