Portal:Germany

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

edit

Welcome to the Germany Portal!
Willkommen im Deutschland-Portal!

P:DE
P:GER

Germany (German: Deutschland), officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central and Western Europe, lying between the Baltic and North Seas to the north and the Alps to the south. It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, France to the southwest, and Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands to the west.

Germany includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,578 square kilometres (138,062 sq mi) and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With 83 million inhabitants, it is the second most populous state of Europe after Russia, the most populous state lying entirely in Europe, as well as the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is a very decentralized country. Its capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while Frankfurt serves as its financial capital and has the country's busiest airport.

In 1871, Germany became a nation-state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the revolution of 1918–19, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic. The Nazi seizure of power in 1933 led to World War II, and the Holocaust. After the end of World War II in Europe and a period of Allied occupation, two new German states were founded: West Germany, formed from the American, British, and French occupation zones, and East Germany, formed from the western part of the Soviet occupation zone, reduced by the newly established Oder-Neisse line. Following the Revolutions of 1989 that ended communist rule in Central and Eastern Europe, the country was reunified on 3 October 1990.

Today, Germany is a federal parliamentary republic led by a chancellor. It is a great power with a strong economy. The Federal Republic of Germany was a founding member of the European Economic Community in 1957 and the European Union in 1993. Read more...

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

edit

Selected article

The Göttingen Seven (German: Göttinger Sieben) were a group of seven liberal professors at University of Göttingen. In 1837, they protested against the annullment of the constitution of the Kingdom of Hanover by its new ruler, King Ernest Augustus, and refused to swear an oath to the king. The company of seven was led by historian Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann, who himself was one of the key advocates of the previous constitution. The other six were the Germanist brothers Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm (famed fairy tale and folk tale writers and storytellers, known together as the Brothers Grimm), jurist Wilhelm Eduard Albrecht, historian Georg Gottfried Gervinus, physicist Wilhelm Eduard Weber, and theologian and orientalist Heinrich Georg August Ewald. (Full article...)

edit

Selected picture

Image 1
Einstein Tower
Credit: Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam
The Einstein Tower, a solar observatory in Potsdam
Image 2
Bellevue Palace
Photograph: Taxiarchos228
Bellevue Palace is a palace (schloss) in Berlin's Tiergarten district, along the northern edge of the Großer Tiergarten park. Designed by architect Michael Philipp Boumann, Schloss Bellevue was erected in 1786 as a summer residence for Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia. Variously used as a residence, museum, and guest house in subsequent decades, Bellevue was damaged heavily in World War II. Following substantial refurbishments, it has served as the secondary residence of the President of West Germany and official residence of the President of Germany.
Image 3
German New Guinea
Design credit: German New Guinea Company; photographed by the National Numismatic Collection
German New Guinea was a German colonial protectorate established in 1884 in the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups. The German New Guinea Company was founded in Berlin by Adolph von Hansemann and a syndicate of German bankers for the purpose of colonizing and exploiting the protectorate's resources. This gold coin, worth 20 New Guinean marks, was issued by the German New Guinea Company in 1895, and is now part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution.
Image 4
Bode Museum
Photograph: Thomas Wolf
The Bode Museum on Museum Island in Berlin, Germany, named after its founding director, is a museum of antiquities including sculpture, Byzantine art and numismatics. Designed by Ernst von Ihne and completed in 1904, the building was restored extensively from 1997 to 2006.
Image 5
Adolf Mosengel
Painting credit: Adolf Mosengel
Adolf Mosengel (1837–1885) was a landscape painter from Hamburg, Germany, who built a reputation painting Alpine scenes, later turning to scenes from Westphalia. From 1854 to 1857, he studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf under Hans Gude, and from 1858 to 1859 in Paris, after which he moved to Geneva to study under Alexandre Calame. He spent most of his life working in Hamburg, but travelled in 1879 to the lakes of Northern Italy, where he painted en plein air. This oil-on-canvas painting by Mosengel shows a village in the Bernese Alps.
Image 6
German war bond poster
Poster: Lucian Bernhard; restoration: Bellhalla
A 1917 poster by Lucian Bernhard intended to sell war bonds in Germany. The caption, roughly translated, is "This is how your money helps you fight! Turned into submarines, it keeps enemy shells away! That's why you should subscribe to war bonds!" Mostly excluded from international financial markets during World War I, Germany was largely limited to domestic borrowing. The bond drives proved extremely successful, raising approximately 100 billion marks in funds.
Image 7
City of Workers
Painting: Hans Baluschek
City of Workers is an oil painting on canvas completed by the Berlin Secessionist painter Hans Baluschek in 1920. It depicts a dark and dirty working class sector of the German capital, Berlin, in which industrial smoke dominates the skyline and the few lights of windows are drowned in the gloom. The 48.44 × 36.25 in (123 × 92.1 cm) work is held at the Milwaukee Art Museum.
Image 8
Basilica of St. Paulinus
Credit: Berthold Werner
Interior of the St. Paulinus church in Trier, a work of Balthasar Neumann
Image 9
Moritzburg Castle
Credit: Olaf Leillinger
Jagdschloss (hunting lodge) Moritzburg near Dresden in Saxony (1999)
Image 10
Charlottenburg Palace
Photograph: Thomas Wolf
Charlottenburg Palace is a large palace in Charlottenburg, a part of the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf borough of Berlin, Germany. The palace was built at the end of the 17th century and expanded during the 18th century. It includes much exotic internal decoration in baroque and rococo styles. It was badly damaged during the Second World War, but has since been reconstructed, becoming a major tourist attraction.
Image 11
Dresden
Photochrom: Detroit Publishing Co.
Restoration: Lise Broer
An 1890s photochrom print of Dresden, the capital city of Saxony in Germany, with Dresden Frauenkirche (left), Augustus Bridge (centre), and Katholische Hofkirche (right) visible. Dresden in the early 20th century was a leading European centre of culture and science, but suffered heavy damage due to an Allied bombing on February 13, 1945.
Image 12
Bamberg Cathedral
Credit: Unknown author
Bamberg Cathedral in 1880
Image 13
German Papiermark
Banknote design credit: Danzig Central Finance Department; photographed by Andrew Shiva
The Papiermark is the name given to the German currency from 4 August 1914, when the link between the Goldmark and gold was abandoned. In particular, the name is used for the banknotes issued during the period of hyperinflation in Germany in 1922 and especially 1923. During this period, the Papiermark was also issued by the Free City of Danzig. The last of five series of the Danzig mark was the 1923 inflation issue, which consisted of denominations of 1 million to 10 billion issued from August to October 1923. The Danzig mark was replaced on 22 October 1923 by the Danzig gulden.

This ten-million-mark banknote, issued on 31 August 1923, features a portrait of Danzig-born astronomer Johannes Hevelius on the obverse and is in the National Numismatic Collection of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.

Other denominations:
'"`UNIQ--templatestyles-00000011-QINU`"'

* 1 million
* 100 million
* 500 million
* 5 billion
* 10 billion
Image 14
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Poster credit: Henri Télory; restored by Adam Cuerden
Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791–1864) was a German opera composer. Born to a wealthy Berlin family, he began his musical career as a pianist but soon decided to devote himself to opera. Meyerbeer spent several years in Italy studying and composing, before moving to Paris, where he became a dominant figure in the world of opera. This poster advertised the premiere of Meyerbeer's opera Le pardon de Ploërmel, which opened at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 4 April 1859.
Image 15
Deutsche Bank Twin Towers
Credit: Raimond Spekking
The Deutsche Bank Twin Towers, headquarters of the Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt
Image 16
Speicherstadt
Credit: Dietmar Rabich
Speicherstadt in Hamburg, June 2016
Image 17
German Instrument of Surrender
Photograph credit: Lt. Moore; restored by Adam Cuerden
The German Instrument of Surrender was the legal document that effected the termination of the Nazi regime and ended World War II in Europe. A July 1944 draft version had also included the surrender of the German government, but this was changed due to concern that there might be no functional German government that could surrender; instead, the document stated that it could be "superseded by any general instrument of surrender imposed by, or on behalf of the United Nations", which was done the next month.

This photograph shows Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel signing the German Instrument of Surrender in Berlin. The first surrender document was signed on 7 May 1945 in Reims by General Alfred Jodl, but this version was not recognized by the Soviet High Command and a revised version was required. Prepared in three languages on 8 May, it was not ready for signing in Berlin until after midnight; consequently, the physical signing was delayed until nearly 1:00 a.m. on 9 May, and backdated to 8 May to be consistent with the Reims agreement and public announcements of the surrender already made by Western leaders.
Image 18
Göttingen
Photo credit: Daniel Schwen/Antilived
The marketplace of Göttingen, a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, with the old city hall, Gänseliesel fountain and pedestrian zone. Founded before 1200, the city is famous for Georg-August University, which was founded in 1737 and became the most visited university of Europe.
Image 19
Marx-Engels Forum
Credit: Manfred Brückels
Monument to Marx and Engels on the Marx-Engels-Forum in Berlin-Mitte. The Berliner Dom is visible in the background.
Image 20
Cairn in Snow
Painting: Caspar David Friedrich
Cairn in Snow is a landscape painting by Caspar David Friedrich that was completed in 1807. The painting is a Romantic allegorical landscape, showing a pagan burial site between three oaks, near the town Gützkow in Germany. It is held by the Galerie Neue Meister in Dresden, Germany.
Image 21
Law enforcement in Germany
Photo credit: Daniel Schwen
A portrait of a senior police officer in Hamburg, wearing the new blue uniform in accordance with the policy of using the same colour for police uniforms and vehicles throughout the European Union. Law enforcement in Germany is divided into two groups: the federal police and the state police.
Image 22
Karl Friedrich Schinkel
Painting credit: Karl Friedrich Schinkel
Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781–1841) was a Prussian architect and city planner. He was one of the most prominent architects in Germany and designed both Neoclassical and Neo-Gothic buildings, the most famous of which are found in and around Berlin. He was also a painter and a designer of furniture and stage sets.

This oil-on-canvas painting, entitled Castle by the River, was created by Schinkel in 1820. As an artist, his architectural talent shone through, and his buildings and landscapes are carefully drafted and meticulously executed. The painting is in the collection of the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin.

edit

Related portals

Parent portals

Europe
European Union

Regional

History

Holy Roman Empire (900–1806)
German Empire (1871–1918)
East Germany (1949–1990)

Other

Military of Germany

Neighbouring countries

edit

Anniversaries for February 9

1781 – Birth of naturalist Johann Baptist von Spix (pictured)
1834 – Birth of author Felix Dahn
1905 – Death of artist Adolph Menzel

edit

Did you know...

... that the Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX (pictured) traveled more than 1,000 km (621 mi) from Sindelfingen to Cassis on a single charge with energy to spare?
... that Berta Berkovich, who was skilled in sewing, managed to survive Auschwitz in a fashion salon established by the wife of the concentration camp commandant?
... that in 1998, the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR received the Guinness World Record for the most expensive production car?
... that as a last-minute substitute in a premiere performance at Oper Frankfurt, Elena Manistina sang from the side while the assistant director mimed onstage?
... that the mass Messe in A by Christopher Tambling, originally set for high voices, proved so popular that a four-part version was commissioned.
... that Nobel laureate Thomas Mann reportedly did not want his Reflections of a Nonpolitical Man to be translated into English during his lifetime due to its chauvinistic content?
... that hot springs at Aachen nurtured its 1,000-year-old textile industry?
... that the story of a lone German artillery officer disabling up to 16 British tanks on the first day of the 1917 Battle of Cambrai was encouraged by the German Nazi Party?

edit

Selected cuisines, dishes and foods

Handkäse (pronounced [ˈhantkɛːzə]; literally: "hand cheese") is a German regional sour milk cheese (similar to Harzer) and is a culinary speciality of Frankfurt am Main, Offenbach am Main, Darmstadt, Langen, and other parts of southern Hesse. It gets its name from the traditional way of producing it: forming it with one's own hands.

It is a small, translucent, yellow cheese with a pungent aroma that some people may find unpleasant. It is sometimes square, but more often round in shape. (Full article...)

edit

Topics

edit

Things you can do

A list of articles needing cleanup associated with this project is available. See also the tool's wiki page and the index of WikiProjects.

Here are some tasks you can do. Please remove completed tasks from the list.

Requests: German Archaeological Institute at Rome [de], Deutsche Familienversicherung [de], Dietlof von Arnim-Boitzenburg [de], Franz von Ballestrem, Hennes Bender [de], Eduard Georg von Bethusy-Huc [de], Jan Philipp Burgard [de], Ferdinand Heribert von Galen [de], Gustav von Goßler, Dieter Haack [de], Herbert Helmrich [de], Hans Katzer [de], Siegfried Kauder [de], Matze Knop [de], Tom Koenigs [de], Albert von Levetzow, Markus Löning [de], Anke Plättner [de], Hans Heinrich X. Fürst von Pless [de], Gerd Poppe [de], Victor-Emanuel Preusker [de], Hans Sauer (inventor) [de], Franz August Schenk von Stauffenberg [de], Oscar Schneider [de], Hajo Schumacher [de], Otto Theodor von Seydewitz [de], Dorothea Siems [de], Werner Sonne [de], Anton Stark [de], Udo zu Stolberg-Wernigerode [de], Christoph Strässer [de], Torsten Sträter [de], Joseph von Utzschneider [de], Franz Josef Wagner, Jürgen Wieshoff [de], Hans Wilhelmi [de],
Unreferenced: Unreferenced BLPs, Bundesautobahn 93, Benjamin Trinks, Steeler (German band), Amelie Beese, Zoologisches Museum in Kiel, Emil Krebs, Prussian semaphore system, Partenstein, Peter Krieg, Porsche 597, Christa Bauch, Curt Cress
Cleanup: Oberlichtenau, Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord, Potsdamer Platz
Translate: Articles needing translation from German Wikipedia
Stubs: Albersdorf, Thuringia, Gabi Zimmer, Ingo Friedrich, Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann, Berndt Seite, Federal Social Court,
Update: Deutsches Wörterbuch
Portal maintenance: Update News, Did you know, announcements and the todo list
Orphans: Orphaned articles in Germany
Photo: Take/Add requested photographs
Help assess the quality of 268 unassessed articles