1. Germany
Johanna Gschwendner, 24.03.2011

2. Contents:
❖ Geography
❖ Basics
❖ Government and history
❖ Economy
❖ German minorities
❖ Culture and historical monuments
❖ Cuisine
❖ Stereotypes
❖ Sources

3. Geography:
❖ 16 federal states:
Bavaria, Saxony, Baden-Würrtemberg,
Hesse, Hamburg, Rhineland-Palatinate,
Saarland, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt,
North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony,
Brandenburg, Bremen, Schleswig-Holstein,
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Berlin
❖ 9 neighbouring states:
Denmark, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, France,
Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands

4. ❖ Mountains in the south: The Alps
The Zugspitze (2962): In Bavaria
the highest point in Germany
❖ North Sea and the East Sea in the north
Ruegen: Is located in front of
the East coast and is the largest
German island
❖ Europe's major rivers:
Such as the Rhine, the Danube and
the Elbe

5. Basics:
❖ Language: German
❖ Capital: Berlin
❖ EU Admission: Founding member The Reichstag building
Seat of the German
Bundestag
❖ Form of government: Federal parliamentary democracy
❖ Head of State: Federal President Christian Wulff
❖ Head of government: Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel
❖ Population: 81,742 Mio

6. Government and history:
❖ Germany is a federal republic
❖ Legislation: Bundestag (4 years voted by the folk), Bundesrat (69
representatives of the 16 states)
❖ Now: Union party since 2009, FDP (Guido Westerwelle) and
CDU(Angela Merkel)
❖ 23/05/1949: As a result of World War II Germany
was divided in the democratic West and the
socialist East part (German Democratic Republic,
foundation 07/10/1949)

7. ❖ 1961: The Berlin Wall (Iron Curtain) was
a symbol of that division
❖ 1989: The Berlin Wall fell and a year later Germany was
reunified
❖ Nowadays:
Over 20 of german unit = 20 years overcome the unnatural
division of our country:
approach, progress and community, still differences in social and
economic nature

8. Economy:
❖ Europe's largest economy and fourth largest in the world: Vehicles,
products of precision engineering, electronic equipment, chemicals and
pharmaceuticals
❖ 2009: second largest export and third largest import nation
❖ Until 2009: More exports than any other country in the world (export
champion)
❖ Mainly concentrated on the secondary (industry) and tertiary (services)
sector
❖ In the use of solar energy internationally groundbreaking
❖ Long mining tradition: Significant natural resources (coal, precious salts
and building materials)

9. German minorities:
❖ Belgium: 70000 people according to the first World War
❖ France: Alsace-Lorraine from 17th Century gradually annexed by
France since then it rotated four times between Germany and
France
❖ Italy: 300000 German-speaking in South Tyrol (belonged to
Empire of Austria-Hungary, 1920 annexed by Italy)
❖ Poland: 300000-400000 citizens of German nationality (have
remained after the end of the Second World War and the
expulsion of 1945 in the former eastern territories of the
German Empire)
❖ Hungary: 200000 Germans (emigrated in several waves)

10. Culture and historical
monuments:
❖ Period of 1871: Land of poets and thinkers
❖ Philosophers: Immanuel Kant, Luther, Nietzsche and Thomas
Mann
❖ Authors: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Schiller and
the brothers Grimm
❖ Classical music composers: Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van
Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Schubert

11. ❖ UNESCO World Heritage and other famous sights:
Regensburg:
Berlin:
Historical
Museum
center
island
❖ The UNESCO lists 33 German contributions to world heritage:
31 world cultural heritage and 2 natural heritage which are spread
over 15 of the 16 German states
Berlin:
Brandenburg Schwangau:
Gate Neuschwanstein
Castle

12. Cuisine:
❖ Germany is particularly known for its hearty and heavy meals
❖ Northern Germany: A lot of potatoes in diverse forms of
preparation
❖ In the south: Dumplings, spätzle and pasta
❖ Local specifies e.g. in Bavaria: The white sausages with mustard
and pretzels or pork roast
❖ Black bread
❖ Regionally very different beer

13. Stereotypes:
❖ GfK market research (12000 citizens): European neighbors
regard the Germans well organized, accurate and easy-pedantic
❖ The Germans are reliable, punctual, hard working, efficient,
have no humor, drink beer, eat sausages, well educated, very
controlled, want that everything works, environmentally aware,
"Without his car, the German is nobody"
sandals with white
tennis socks garden gnome

14. Sources:
❖ http://www.magazin-deutschland.de/
❖ http://www.destatis.de/jetspeed/portal/cms/
❖ http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutschland
❖ http://userpage.chemie.fu-berlin.de/adressen/brd.html
❖ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10962017
❖ http://www.focus.de/wissen/bildung/deutsch/
stereotype_aid_21930.html
❖ http://www.y-project.info/yggdrasil/tasks/Typicals/
typically_german_stuttgart_1.PDF

15. Thank you for your
attention!