Area Total | 357,022 sq km |
Climate | temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm mountain (foehn) wind |
Natural Resources | coal, lignite, natural gas, iron ore, copper, nickel, uranium, potash, salt, construction materials, timber, arable land |
Imports | Netherlands 13.8%, China 7%, France 6.6%, Belgium 5.9%, Italy 5.4%, Poland 5.4%, Czechia 4.8%, US 4.5%, Austria 4.3%, Switzerland 4.2% (2017) – machinery, data processing equipment, vehicles, chemicals, oil and gas, metals, electric equipment, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, agricultural products |
Government | federal parliamentary republic |
Capital | Berlin |
Population | 80.6 million (July 2017 est.) |
Ethnicity | German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, other 6.1% (made up largely of Polish, Italian, Romanian, Syrian, and Greek) |
Language | German (official) note: Danish, Frisian, Sorbian, and Romani are official minority languages; |
Exports | US 8.8%, France 8.2%, China 6.8%, Netherlands 6.7%, UK 6.6%, Italy 5.1%, Austria 4.9%, Poland 4.7%, Switzerland 4.2% (2017) – motor vehicles, machinery, chemicals, computer and electronic products, electrical equipment, pharmaceuticals, metals, transport equipment, foodstuffs, textiles, rubber and plastic products |
News about Germany
- KEY POINTS: What to know about Germany’s partial legalisation of cannabisby The Local on March 28, 2024
Cannabis is to be partially freed for consumption in Germany starting April 1st. Why is this such a landmark legal reform, and what new rules and restrictions are in place?
- OPINION: New cannabis law in Germany isn't dangerous - it's common senseby The Local on March 28, 2024
Following much controversy, Germany's new cannabis act partially legalising the drug comes into force on Monday April 1st. Brian Melican writes about why that's not a moment too soon.
- How to celebrate Easter 2024 in Germanyby The Local on March 28, 2024
Easter weekend has arrived. Here's an overview of some of Germany's most significant Ostern traditions - and where and how you can partake.
- What's open and closed in Germany over the Easter weekend?by The Local on March 28, 2024
People in Germany get a four day weekend over Easter. How are shops, transport and medical services affected by the public holidays?
- Spargelzeit: Warm weather marks the beginning of 'asparagus season' in Germanyby The Local on March 28, 2024
Asparagus farmers in Germany are expecting a good growing season this year. Here's everything you need to know about 'Spargelzeit' this year, including a few recipe ideas if you'd like to participate.
- Is there any hope for Berlin’s strained rental market?by The Local on March 28, 2024
Rents in Germany’s capital city have more than doubled in the last decade, according to a recent report from Investment Bank Berlin. What keeps pushing up prices, and is the trend set to continue?
- What exactly is Germany's 'Green Thursday' and is it a public holiday?by The Local on March 28, 2024
Thursday March 28th, 2024 marks 'Gründonnerstag' in Germany. How exactly did the day get its name, and is it a bank holiday?
- Today in Germany: A roundup of the latest news on Thursdayby The Local on March 28, 2024
Lufthansa reaches agreement with striking ground staff, German economy to 'flatline', and more news from around Germany on Thursday.
- No Easter strikes: Germany's Lufthansa and ground staff reach pay dealby The Local on March 28, 2024
German airline giant Lufthansa and a union representing ground staff said Wednesday they had reached an agreement on pay after a lengthy dispute, averting the threat of Easter holiday strikes.
- Six fascinating events to dive into spring in Germanyby The Local on March 27, 2024
Forsythia flowers are in full bloom and April is loaded with events to celebrate the warmer weather and sunshine to come. Here are some of our top picks.
- LATEST: Four killed in Flixbus accident on German motorwayby The Local on March 27, 2024
Four people were killed and around 35 injured when a bus overturned on a German motorway near Leipzig on Wednesday, police said.
- Nicholas Jacobs obituaryby Lizzie Jacobs (Germany | The Guardian) on March 27, 2024
My father, Nick Jacobs, who has died aged 85, was a publisher who brought German writers closer to British readers at a time when there was little interest in doing so. Few have paid attention to the dissemination of German literature in the English-speaking world as much as he did.While in Germany on national service aged 18, he began to take an interest […]
- Several killed in coach crash near Leipzig, say German policeby Reuters (Germany | The Guardian) on March 27, 2024
Five reported killed and numerous others injured after FlixBus carrying 55 people overturned on A9 motorwayMultiple people were killed and more injured in a coach crash on a motorway near the eastern German city of Leipzig on Wednesday, police said.“Several people were fatally injured in the serious accident on the A9 motorway. There are numerous […]
- Alexanderplatz: Berlin’s Ulysses – archive, April 1974by WL Webb (Germany | The Guardian) on March 27, 2024
4 April 1974: WL Webb reviews a reissue of Alfred Döblin’s classic novel about a small-time crook in Weimar-era BerlinAlexanderplatz, by Alfred Döblin, translated by Eugene Jolas (Secker & Warburg, £3).Alexanderplatz is the great showplace of East Berlin now, with a towering hotel block in People’s Hilton style, the House of the Teachers, with […]
- Elation and worry as German citizenship law passes final hurdleby The Local on March 27, 2024
With dual citizenship set to come into force at the end of June, foreigners in Germany are feeling overjoyed - but there are fears that the country's notorious bureaucracy could stand in the way.
- Two German supermarkets to go on strike ahead of Easter weekendby The Local on March 27, 2024
Staff at two German discount supermarkets are planning a national strike on Thursday in the ongoing push for higher wages.
- Boardrooms to bedrooms: Can converting offices create housing in Germany?by The Local on March 27, 2024
Unused office space has been transformed into new apartments in some German cities. Ramping up office-to-housing conversions won’t end the housing shortage, but it could be a promising step in the right direction.
- REVEALED: The new questions being added to Germany's citizenship testby The Local on March 27, 2024
Foreigners who want to naturalise as Germans will soon have to tackle a range of new questions that are being added to the citizenship test. Here's what to expect.
- The Zone of Interest is a portrait of guilt. No wonder it has divided opinion in Germany | Fatma Aydemirby Fatma Aydemir (Germany | The Guardian) on March 27, 2024
Most Germans insist their ancestors weren’t Nazis. Jonathan Glazer’s film pries away at the cracks in this narrativeThere is something unsettling about sitting in a German theatre laughing at Nazis. How unsettling depends on the type of humour that prompts the laughter. Is it meant to set the audience apart from the stage action, or does the laughter […]
- 'Special responsibility': Why Germany is shaking up citizenship test questionsby The Local on March 26, 2024
As part of its efforts to crack down on anti-Semitism, the German Interior Ministry will add multiple questions on Israel, the Holocaust and Germany's 'historic responsibility' to the citizenship test.
- Today in Germany: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesdayby The Local on March 26, 2024
Poverty has spiked in Germany since the Covid pandemic, the German national football team has regained its confidence after beating France last week, and more news from around Germany country on Wednesday.
- Airport workers 'rule out' strikes in Germany over Easter holidaysby The Local on March 26, 2024
The risk of strikes at German airports has decreased significantly for the Easter holidays, as security workers entered a peace truce ahead of the next round of negotiations.
- KEY POINTS: What you need to know about Germany's citizenship law reformby The Local on March 26, 2024
President Frank Walter-Steinmeier gave the bill the final seal of approval on Tuesday, paving the way for all foreigners in Germany to be allowed to keep their original nationality when they become German. Here's a look at key aspects of the reform.
- How does Germany warn people about the threat of terrorist attacks?by The Local on March 26, 2024
Following the recent terrorist attack in Moscow, France has shifted onto the highest possible alert level for terrorist threats. Why doesn't Germany use a similar system - and how does it alert people instead?
- ‘Free speech is a facade’: how Gaza war has deepened divisions in German arts worldby Philip Oltermann European culture editor (Germany | The Guardian) on March 25, 2024
Strong pro-Israel consensus among political leaders has led to conflict with Berlin’s diverse cultural sector and a fraught debate over antisemitismTwo weeks after Hamas’s brutal attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, Berlin’s senate for culture commissioned a legal report to establish whether a cultural centre in the German capital’s Neukölln […]
- ‘Mum knew what was going on’: Brigitte Höss on living at Auschwitz, in the Zone of Interest familyby Thomas Harding (Germany | The Guardian) on March 24, 2024
Her father was Rudolf Höss, the camp’s commandant. He was arrested by the Jewish great-uncle of the writer Thomas Harding, to whom Brigitte gave this, her final interview – and confessionIt was the morning of 16 December 2021, a week before Christmas. Across from me sat Brigitte, the daughter of Rudolf Höss, the commandant of Auschwitz. I was here to […]
- ‘We are dealing with fundamentalist rightwingers’: Berlin statues are latest battleground in Germany’s culture warsby Philip Oltermann European culture editor (Germany | The Guardian) on March 23, 2024
Monuments erected on the Stadtschloss are an ‘infiltration’ of the city and its skyline by nationalists, say criticsSilently towering into the grey Berlin sky, the latest addition to the German capital’s skyline is easily missed by passengers passing along the Unter den Linden boulevard below. Eight statues of Old Testament prophets, each more than 3 […]
- From cutting off men’s ties to throwing dried herrings, can traditions help build a more open Europe? | Alexander Hurstby Alexander Hurst (Germany | The Guardian) on March 21, 2024
As an outsider, I’m delighted by the continent’s local rituals – and their sense of a collective identity that’s more complex than we assumeEvery time I go to Germany I seem to stumble into a festival or tradition I wasn’t aware of – and no, I’m not just talking about Oktoberfest. Polterabend, where guests smash porcelain the night before a […]
- Populist parties’ divisions jeopardise chances of setting European agendaby Jon Henley Europe correspondent (Germany | The Guardian) on March 21, 2024
Survey shows supporters of nationalist parties hold widely differing views on EU membership, migration and support for UkrainePopulist and nationalist parties fighting the European elections in June are deeply divided on almost all key issues, according to a survey, in a finding that questions their chances of defining the bloc’s agenda even in the event […]
- Serbian author Barbi Marković: ‘The real horror story is life itself’by Philip Oltermann (Germany | The Guardian) on March 20, 2024
The horror author on stealing from other writers, why she can’t stand pathos and how Mickey Mouse has inspired her new short-story collection MinihorrorIn Vienna, every second building looks like it was built for a king, the waiters who serve your coffee wear tuxedos, and public transport is not just efficient and cheap, the council pays musicians to play […]