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Germany

 Flag of Germany
Last reviewed: 16 November 2009

Country information

Map of Germany

Area: 357,050 sq km
Population: 82.5 million
Capital City: Berlin (population – 3.4 million)
People (ethnicity): Germans 94%, Turks 2.2%
Language: German
Religion: Protestant 34%, Roman Catholic 34%, unaffiliated or other 28.3%, Muslim 3.7%
Currency: euro
Major Political Parties: Social Democrats (SPD); Christian Democrats (CDU); Christian Social Union (CSU); Alliance 90/The Greens; Free Democrats (FDP); The Left Party (Die Linke).
Government: Germany is a federal republic made up of 16 states, called Länder. The Federal Parliament comprises two chambers: the lower house, called the Bundestag, which is elected every 4 years by a mixed constituency and PR list system; and the upper house, called the Bundesrat, which represents the 16 state governments. The Federal Government is formed by whichever party or coalition of parties has a majority in the Bundestag and is lead by the Chancellor. The Federal President, elected by a Federal Assembly for a term of five years, is the formal Head of State, but only acts on the advice of the Federal Government.
Head of State: Professor Horst Köhler (CDU) was elected on 23 May 2004 and was officially inaugurated on 1 July 2004. He was re-elected to a second term on 23 May 2009.
Chancellor: Angela Merkel (since November 2005) - CDU
Foreign Minister: Guido Westerwelle - FDP
Europe Minister: Werner Hoyer – FDP
Membership of international organisations: European Union (EU), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), G8, World Trade Organisation (WTO), United Nations (UN) , North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), Organisation for Co-operation and Security in Europe (OSCE), Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

DID YOU KNOW?

  • The composition of German beer is tightly governed by a 16th century law on brewing, the Reinheitsgebot, which rules that only barley, hops and water may be used.
  • Men should be careful when wearing a tie in Germany on Weiberfastnacht (Women’s Day – the Thursday before Ash Wednesday). On this day, women have the right to cut men’s ties off.
  • Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter Vicky, briefly became German Empress in 1888.

ECONOMY

Basic Economic Facts (2007)

GDP: €2,492 bn
GDP per head: €30,342
Annual Growth: 2.5%
Inflation: 1.3% (2008)
Economic Structure: Services 70%, Industry 30% (major sectors: car manufacturing, engineering, chemistry), Agriculture 1%

As the world’s third largest economy Germany has been the largest exporter for six years and the second largest importer whilst China is picking up. Germany is also the UK’s second largest export market worldwide, after the US. Germany’s economy grew by 2.6% in 2007 and around 1.5% in 2008. The Government expects the economy to shrink by 5% tin 2009 and to grow by 1.2% next year. Following record trade in 2008 this previous strength of the German economy stemming from strong global demand has led to a strong fall in production. Singe the middle of the year production has picked up again. Private domestic demand has however remained relatively stable at a relatively low level. The previous upswing has positively effected the labour market and wages. Unemployment fell from 5.2 million in 2005 down to 3.0 million in 2008. Temporary measures such as short time working allowance (KUG) and efforts to retian their skilled workers have so far limited the increase in unemplo9yment, which now stands at 3.23 million (ILO: 3.15 million, 7.2%).

Whilst getting close to a balanced budget in 2007, the Government had to give up this long term aim of achieving the first balanced general government budget in 40 years due to the financial crisis, which required fiscal stimulus spending and falling tax revenues. The two packages amount to €80bn spent over two years in 2009 and 2010 (i.e. 3% of GDP over two years). The financial crisis has mainly impacted on public Landesbanks whilst the public savings banks proved relatively stable. However, some private banks including German’s second biggest institute Commerzbank as well as others such as IKB and Hypo Real Estate required government bailouts. The new CDU/CSU-FDP (i.e. centre-right/liberal Government) has agreed some tax cuts to promote growth during the next year and postponed a concrete consolidation strategy.

HISTORY

Following the end of the Second World War, Germany was divided up into four zones, as was the capital, Berlin. Following the Potsdam conference in 1945, the introduction of the Deutschmark in the Western zones in 1948 and the Berlin blockade, the Federal Republic of Germany FRG (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic GDR (East Germany) were founded in 1949. The Berlin wall was built in 1961, as the East German authorities fought to prevent the exodus of citizens fleeing to the West. The FRG became a member of NATO and a founding member of the EU, whilst the GDR became firmly entrenched in the Soviet pact. Political pressure and the increasing détente between East and West led to a lifting of travel restrictions from the GDR and to the eventual fall of the Berlin Wall. Following free elections in the GDR, the two countries were re-united on 3 October 1990.

Almost two decades after reunification, there are still differences in living standards between the eastern (or new) and western Länder and unemployment is still a key issue in the East. Germany has been at the forefront of EU economic union and since 1 January 2002, the Euro has been legal tender.

BBC Timeline of Germany

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Germany enjoys good relations with other EU member states and with the US. As a founding member of the EU, Germany has maintained a close post-war relationship with France. Following reunification Germany has sought to strengthen its relations with Eastern Europe and Russia. Germany as also signed a treaty with Poland recognising its external borders.

Germany’s relations with the UK

British cultural relations in Germany are led by the British Council.

British Council: Germany

Over 400 British towns have a twin in Germany. A database of all UK town twinnings - including those with Germany - can be found on the website of the Local Government International Bureau.

There are also a number of British-German organisations that promote better relations between our two countries:

British-German Forum Wilton Park

The British-German Forum is an annual event, sponsored by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to bring together 40 young "high flyers" from the United Kingdom and Germany for four days to discuss key issues of relevance to both countries. The British German Forum takes place in the relaxed atmosphere of Wilton House in the Sussex countryside. If you are interested in participating, contact Wilton Park by telephone on 00 44 1903 815020 or go to:

British-German Forum - Wilton Park

German-British Forum

A privately funded organisation set up in 1995. The Forum supports ventures in the political, social and economic fields, aimed at increasing understanding and knowledge among Britons and Germans about the partner country. It gives high priority to raising and improving the profile of the German-British partnership in the media and public opinion.

German-British Forum

The Anglo-German Foundation for the Study of Industrial Society

The Anglo-German Foundation for the Study of Industrial Society was established in 1973 by an agreement between the British and German governments following a state visit by the then German President, Gustav Heinemann. The Foundation is incorporated by Royal Charter and awards £500,000 - £600,000 per year in grants for British-German collaborative research projects, seminars, workshops and conferences. Its four priority topics are health care systems, the work-life balance, employment and social policies for an ageing society, and migration and the labour market.

The Royal Charter expires in December 2009 and will not be renewed.

The Anglo-German Foundation for the Study of Industrial Society

The British-German Association

The British-German Association, a registered charity, seeks to promote the closest possible understanding between the United Kingdom and Germany. The association organises events in the London area, while its affiliated societies run varied programmes throughout the UK.

The British-German Association

UK-German Connection

UK-German Connection is a bilateral youth links initiative that arose out of HM the Queen’s State Visit to Germany in November 2004. It was set up by the two governments in to promote contact between young people in the two countries. It is supported by both the British and the German governments.
(www.ukgermanconnection.org)

Königswinter

The Königswinter conference is a high-level forum bringing together leading figures from politics, industry, academia and the media in Britain and Germany. It has been an annual event since 1949 and is held alternately in the UK and Germany. This year’s conference took place in Oxford from 23-25 March 2006.

The Königswinter family also includes the ‘Young Königswinter’ conference (a week long conference held in Berlin for 25-30 year olds), and the annual Economic Königswinter.

German Tourist Board

Recent Visits

HM Queen & HRH Prince Phillip made a state visit to Germany in November 2004, where they were greeted by President Köhler. HRH The Prince of Wales visited Germany in April 2009.

The Prime Minister and Chancellor Merkel meet regularly, underlining the close co-operation between the UK and Germany. Both the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secreatry were in Berlin on 9 November 2009 for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Foreign and Europe Ministers also meet frequently and UK Ministers from across government meet their German counterparts in both EU and bilateral contexts.

GEOGRAPHY

Germany is in Central Europe, bordering the North Sea and the Baltic Sea between the Netherlands and Poland, and to the south of Denmark. It has land boundaries with Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland. Germany has a coastline of 2,389 km. The terrain is generally lowland in the north, with uplands in the centre and the Bavarian Alps in the south. The climate is temperate with cool, cloudy, wet winters and occasional warm summers. Over 30% of the country is forest and woodland.

TRADE AND INVESTMENT

Trade and Investment with the UK

Germany is the UK’s second largest export market world-wide and the largest in Europe. Exports to Germany in 2008 totalled € 44 bn. To put this in perspective: the UK exports more goods and services to the German state of North-Rhine Westphalia alone than it does to China and India together.. UK export success in Germany covers a broad field, including machinery, vehicles, oil, aircraft and chemicals. Both countries are also major investors in each other.

Meanwhile, the UK is the third largest export market for German goods. In 2008, German exports to the UK totalled €67bn.

More than 3000 German companies are active in the UK, employing almost 400,000 people. In Germany, roughly 1000 British firms employ 180,000 people.

UK Trade & Investment Country Profile: Germany

POLITICS

The most recent federal elections were held in September 2009. Following the success of the CDU/CSU (33%) and the FDP (14.6%), Chancellor Merkel separated from the previous coalition partners (the SPD, which polled 23%), and formed a government with the FDP. This was the first time a governing party had won an election and changed to a partner of choice. The Coalition commands 332 of 622 seats in the Bundestag.

In September all three of the major 'small' parties in Geman plitics - the FDP (14.6%), the Greens (11%) and the Left Party (12%) - achieved their best ever result in a federal election.

No far-right parties could overcome the 5% hurdle for representation in the Bundestag.

Composition of Parliament (Bundestag):

  • CDU/CSU (239 seats)
  • SPD (146 seats)
  • FDP (93)
  • Die Linke(76)
  • Greens (68)

Elections

The next federal election is in autumn 2013.

German Parliament
German Government

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