Abstract: Federal Republic of Germany. German Democratic Republic

Germany

The division of Germany into the FRG and the GDR

The geopolitical results of World War II were disastrous for Germany. She lost statehood for several years and long years- territorial integrity. Was torn off 24% of the territory Germany occupied in 1936, including East Prussia, divided between Poland and the USSR. Poland and Czechoslovakia received the right to evict ethnic Germans from their territories, as a result of which a stream of refugees moved into Germany (by the end of 1946, their number amounted to about 9 million people).

By decision of the Crimean Conference, the territory of Germany was divided into four zones of occupation: Soviet, American, British and French. Similarly, Berlin was divided into four sectors. At the Potsdam Conference, the main principles of the occupation policy of the Allied states (demilitarization, denazification, decartelization, democratization of Germany) were agreed upon. However, the lack of firm agreements with the German problem led the administrations of the occupation zones to apply the Potsdam principles at their own discretion.

The leadership of the Soviet military administration in Germany immediately took steps to form an obedient regime in its zone. The local committees spontaneously created by the anti-fascists were disbanded. To solve administrative and economic issues, central departments were created. main role they were played by communists and social democrats. In the summer of 1945, the activities of 4 political parties were allowed: the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (LDP). Theoretically, all permitted parties enjoyed equal rights, but in practice Soviet authority openly preferred the KKE.

Based on the notion that Nazism was a product of capitalism and denazification implies a struggle against capitalist influence in German society, the Soviet government in the first months of the occupation seized "commanding heights" in the economy. Many large enterprises were nationalized on the grounds that they belonged to the Nazis or their supporters. These enterprises were either dismantled and sent to the Soviet Union as reparations, or continued to operate as Soviet property. In September 1945, a land reform was carried out, during which more than 7,100 estates with an area of ​​more than 100 hectares were expropriated free of charge. About 120 thousand landless peasants, agricultural workers and migrants received small allotments from the created land fund. WITH public service the reactionaries were fired.

The Soviet administration forced the SPD and the KPD to unite into a new party called the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). In subsequent years, control by the communists became more and more severe. In January 1949, the SED conference decided that the party should become a Leninist "party of a new type" along the lines of the Communist Party. Soviet Union. Thousands of socialists and communists who disagreed with this line were expelled from the party in a purge. In general, in Soviet zone The occupation followed the same model as in other Eastern European countries. She meant the Stalinization of the Marxist party, the deprivation of the independence of the “middle class” parties, further nationalization, repressive measures and the virtual elimination of the competitive electoral system.

The Western states acted in Germany as authoritarianly as the Soviet administration in its zone. The anti-fascist committees were disbanded here as well. Land governments were created american zone during 1945, in the British and French - in 1946). Appointment to posts was carried out by a strong-willed decision of the occupying authorities. In the western occupation zones, the KKE and SPD also resumed their activities. The CDU was created, with which it established relations of the "commonwealth"; the Christian Social Union (CSU) was created in Bavaria; this party bloc began to be called the CDU / CSU. The liberal democracy camp was represented by the Free Democratic Party (FDP).

Soon the United States and Great Britain came to the conclusion that the revival of the German economy was vital to the recovery of Western Europe. The Americans and the British moved to concerted action. The first steps towards the unification of the western zones were made at the end of 1946, when the American and British administrations agreed to unite the economic management of their zones from January 1, 1947. The so-called Bizonia was formed. The Bizonia administration received the status of parliament, i.e. acquired political rice. In 1948, the French also annexed their zone in Bizonia. The result was Trizonia.

In June 1948, the Reichsmark was replaced by the new "Deutsche mark". The healthy tax base created by the new currency helped Germany join the Marshall Plan in 1949.

Monetary reform led to the first clash between West and East in the Cold War was beginning. In an effort to isolate their occupation zone from the influence of the Western economy, the Soviet leadership rejected both Marshall Plan assistance and the introduction of a new currency in their zone. It also relied on the introduction of the German mark in Berlin, but the Western Allies insisted that the new currency become legal tender in the western sectors of the city. In order to prevent the penetration of the new brand into Berlin, the Soviet administration impeded the transport of goods from the west to Berlin by rail and road. On June 23, 1948, the supply of Berlin by rail and road was completely blocked. The so-called Berlin Crisis emerged. The Western powers organized an intensive air supply ("air bridge"), which provided everything necessary not only for the military garrisons of Berlin, but also for its civilian population. May 11, 1949 Soviet side admitted defeat and ended the blockade. The Berlin crisis is over.

The strengthening of the confrontation between the USSR and the countries of the West made it impossible to create a single German state. In August 1949, general parliamentary elections were held in West Germany, which brought victory to the CDU / CSU party, and on September 7, the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany was proclaimed. In response, on October 7, 1949, the German Democratic Republic was proclaimed in the east of the country. So, in the fall of 1949, the split of Germany received legal formalization.

1952 The United States, Britain and France signed an agreement with the FRG, which ended the formal occupation of West Germany, but their troops remained on German territory. 1955 between the USSR and the GDR was signed an agreement on the full sovereignty and independence of the GDR.

West German "economic miracle"

In the parliamentary (Bundestag) elections of 1949, two leading political forces were determined: the CDU / CSU (139 mandates), the SPD (131 mandates) and the “third force” - the FDP (52 mandates). The CDU/CSU and the FDP formed a parliamentary coalition, allowing them to create a joint government. Thus, in Germany, a “two-half” party model has developed (in contrast to the two-party model in the USA and Great Britain). This model was kept in the future.

The first chancellor (head of government) of the FRG was the Christian Democrat K. Adenauer (he held this position from 1949 to 1963). characteristic feature his political style was the desire for stability. An equally important circumstance was the implementation of an exceptionally effective economic course. Its ideologist was the permanent Minister of Economics of Germany L. Erhard.

The social market economy model created as a result of Erhard's policy was based on the concept of ordoliberalism (from German "Ordung" - order). Ordoliberals defended the free market mechanism, not in spite of, but thanks to state intervention. They saw the basis of economic well-being in strengthening the economic order. At the same time, key functions were given to the state. Its intervention was supposed to replace the action of market mechanisms, but to create conditions for their effective functioning.

The difficult period of economic reform fell on 1949-1950, when the liberalization of pricing caused an increase in prices with a relative decrease in the level of incomes of the population, and the restructuring of production was accompanied by a surge in unemployment. But already in 1951 there was a turn to the side, and in 1952 the rise in prices stopped, and the unemployment rate began to decline. In subsequent years, there was an unprecedented economic growth: 9-10% per year, and in 1953-1956 - up to 10-15% per year. Germany came in second place among Western countries in terms of industrial production(and only in the late 60s was pushed aside by Japan). Large exports made it possible to create a significant gold reserve in the country. The German currency has become the strongest in Europe. In the second half of the 1950s, unemployment practically disappeared, and real incomes of the population tripled. Until 1964, the gross national product (GNP) of the FRG increased 3 times, and it began to produce more products than all of pre-war Germany. At that time, they started talking about the German "economic miracle".

The West German "economic miracle" was due to a number of factors. Chosen by Erhard economic system where liberal market mechanisms were combined with a targeted tax and credit policy of the state. Erhard succeeded in getting firm anti-monopoly legislation passed. A significant role was played by revenues from the Marshall Plan, the absence of military spending (before the FRG joined NATO), as well as the influx of foreign investment ($350 billion). In German industry, which was destroyed during the war years, there was a massive renewal of fixed capital. The introduction of the latest technologies that accompanied this process, combined with the traditionally high efficiency and discipline of the German population, caused a rapid increase in labor productivity.

Successfully developed Agriculture. As a result of the agrarian reform of 1948-1949, carried out with the assistance of the occupying authorities, land property was redistributed. As a result, most of the land fund passed from large owners to medium and small ones. In subsequent years, the share of those employed in agriculture steadily decreased, however, extensive mechanization and electrification of peasant labor made it possible to ensure overall growth products of this sector.

Turned out to be very successful social politics which encouraged direct relationships between employers and workers. The government acted under the motto: "Neither capital without labor, nor labor without capital can not exist." have been expanded pension funds, housing construction, a system of free and preferential education, vocational training. The rights of labor collectives in the field of production management were expanded, but their political activity. The wage system was differentiated depending on the length of service at a particular enterprise. In 1960, the “Law on the Protection of the Rights of Working Youth” was adopted, and since 1963, a minimum leave was introduced for all workers. The tax policy encouraged the transfer of part of the wage fund into special "people's shares", which were distributed among the employees of the enterprise. All these government measures made it possible to ensure an adequate growth in the purchasing power of the population in the conditions of economic recovery. Germany was in the grip of a consumer boom.

In 1950, Germany became a member of the Council of Europe and began to take an active part in negotiations on European integration projects. In 1954, Germany became a member of the Western European Union, and in 1955 joined NATO. In 1957, Germany became one of the founders of the European Economic Community (EEC).

In the 1960s, a regrouping of political forces took place in Germany. The FDP supported the SPD and, forming a new coalition, the two parties formed a government in 1969. This coalition lasted until the early 1980s. During this period, the social democrats W. Brandt (1969-1974) and G. Schmidt (1974-1982) were chancellors.

A new political regrouping took place in the early 80s. The FDP supported the CDU/CSU and withdrew from the coalition with the SPD. In 1982, the Christian Democrat G. Kohl became chancellor (he held this post until 1998). He was destined to become chancellor of a united Germany.

German unification

During the forty post-war years, Germany was divided by the Cold War front into two states. The GDR was losing more and more to West Germany in terms of economic growth and living standards. The Berlin Wall, built in 1961 to prevent the flight of citizens of the GDR to the West, became a symbol of the Cold War and the split of the German nation.

In 1989, a revolution began in the GDR. The main demand of the participants in the revolutionary uprisings was the unification of Germany. In October 1989, the leader of the East German Communists E. Honecker resigned, and on November 9 the Berlin Wall fell. The unification of Germany became a practical task.

It was no longer possible to contain the process of German unification. But in the West and East of the country, different approaches to the future unification have been formed. The Constitution of the FRG provided for the reunification of Germany as a process of joining the lands of East Germany to the FRG, and assumed the liquidation of the GDR as a state. The leadership of the GDR sought to unify through a confederal union.

However, in the elections in March 1990, the GDR defeated the non-communist opposition led by the Christian Democrats. From the very beginning, they advocated the speedy reunification of Germany on the basis of the FRG. On June 1, the German mark was introduced into the GDR. On August 31, the Treaty between the FRG and the GDR on the establishment of state unity was signed.

It only remained to agree on the unification of Germany with 4 states - the USSR, the USA, Great Britain and France. To this end, negotiations were held according to the "2 + 4" formula, that is, between the FRG and the GDR, on the one hand, and the victorious powers (USSR, USA, Great Britain and France), on the other. The Soviet Union made a fundamentally important concession - it agreed to the retention of the membership of a united Germany in NATO and the withdrawal of Soviet troops from East Germany. On September 12, 1990, the Treaty on the Final Settlement with regard to Germany was signed.

On October 3, 1990, 5 lands restored in East Germany became part of the FRG, and the GDR ceased to exist. December 20, 1990 was formed the first Spilnonimets government headed by Chancellor G. Kohl.

Economic and social achievements, problems of the 90s

Contrary to optimistic forecasts, the socio-economic consequences of German reunification turned out to be ambiguous. The hopes of the East Germans for the miraculous economic effect of the unification did not come true. The main problem was the transfer of the command-administrative economy of the 5 eastern lands to the principles of a market economy. This process was carried out without strategic planning, by trial and error. The most "shocking" version of the transformation of the economy of East Germany was chosen. Its features include the introduction of private property, the decisive denationalization of state-owned enterprises, the tight deadlines for the transition period to a market economy, etc. Moreover, East Germany received socio-economic and political forms organization of society immediately and in finished form.

The adaptation of the economy of the eastern lands to the new conditions was quite painful and led to a reduction in industrial production in them to 1/3 of the previous level. The German economy emerged from the state of crisis caused by the unification of the country and negative trends in the world economy only in 1994. However, the restructuring of industry, adaptation to the new conditions of a market economy caused a sharp increase in unemployment. In the mid-90s, it covered more than 12% work force(more than 4 million people). Most plight with employment has developed in East Germany, where the unemployment rate exceeded 15%, and the average wage significantly lagged behind the "old lands". All this, as well as the influx of foreign workers, caused growing social tensions in German society. In the summer of 1996 mass protests broke out, organized by trade unions.

G. Kohl called for comprehensive savings. The government had to go for an unprecedented increase in taxes, which accounted for more than half of total earnings, for a drastic reduction in government spending, including economic support for the eastern lands. All this, as well as G. Kohl's course for further reduction social programs ultimately led to the defeat of the ruling conservative-liberal coalition in the next parliamentary elections.

The rise to power of the Social Democrats

The 1998 elections brought victory to a new coalition formed by the SPD (received 40.9% of the vote) and the Green Party (6.7%). Before the official entry into the coalition, both parties have developed a large, well-done government program. It included measures to reduce unemployment, revise tax system, the closure of 19 nuclear power plants, the remaining ones, etc. The government of the "pink-green" coalition was headed by the Social Democrat G. Schroeder. In the context of the economic recovery that began, the policy of the new government proved to be very effective. The new government did not abandon the savings in public spending. But these savings were achieved not by curtailing state social programs, but mainly at the expense of land budgets.

The 1998 elections brought victory to a new coalition formed by the SPD (received 40.9% of the vote) and the Green Party (6.7%). Before the official entry into the coalition, both parties have developed a large, well-done government program. It provided for measures to reduce unemployment, revise the tax system, close 19 nuclear power plants, the remaining ones, etc. The government of the "pink-green" coalition was headed by the Social Democrat G. Schroeder. In the context of the economic recovery that began, the policy of the new government proved to be very effective. The new government did not abandon the savings in public spending. But these savings were achieved not by curtailing state social programs, but mainly at the expense of land budgets. In 1999, the government announced its intention to launch a large-scale education reform to make it more effective. Additional appropriations for promising scientific and technical research began to be allocated.

IN early XXI century, Germany with its 80 million population became the largest state in Western Europe. In terms of industrial production, the level of economic development, it ranks third in the world, second only to the United States and Japan.

Second World War, unleashed by the states of the aggressive bloc, brought enormous disasters to the German people. Germany ceased to exist independent state. She lost 1/4 of her pre-war territory, was divided into occupation zones. Questions concerning the whole of Germany were decided by the Control Council, consisting of four commanders-in-chief.
Production at the beginning of 1948 barely reached half the level of 1936. The standard of living of the population fell sharply. The food supplies of the victorious countries saved the Germans from hunger. Germany suffered significant casualties. The population was demoralized by war and devastation. There were 12 million refugees in the country. Worn out real capital, destroyed infrastructure, undermined financial system, rationing system further complicated the economic and social status in Germany.
The allies in the anti-Hitler coalition, following the decisions of the Crimean and Potsdam conferences, pursued a policy of three "de": demilitarization, denazification, democratization. Conditions were created for the transformation of Germany into a peaceful, democratic state. Restored banned by the Nazis political parties And public organizations. The Communists and Social Democrats were the first to come out of the underground. In April 1946, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) was formed in the Soviet zone as a result of the unification of the Communist (KPD) and Social Democratic (SPD) parties.
In September 1948, the Parliamentary Council was convened. He drafted the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany, which came into force on May 23, 1949. The constitution proclaimed West Germany as a democratic, federal state, enshrined basic civil and political freedoms.
In August 1949, the CDU/CSU bloc won the elections to the Bundestag, forming a government coalition with the FDP. The government was headed by a prominent political figure - the Christian Democrat Konrad Adenauer, who was federal chancellor for 14 years. On September 21, 1949, the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany was officially proclaimed. The capital of the country was a small resort town of Bonn.
On October 7, 1949, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was established in the eastern zone of occupation. Its capital is East Berlin. The split of Germany took place, which lasted 40 years.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the economy developed rapidly. Insignificant military spending, generous American loans under the Marshall Plan, the widespread use of cheap foreign labor, the supply of the latest equipment, and a high share of accumulation in the national income contributed to the accelerated revival of the country's economy. From 1950 to 1964 the gross national product doubled. The most rapidly developing sectors were various branches of machine building, power generation, chemical and metallurgical industries. Profound qualitative changes in the economy also took place under the influence of the unfolding scientific and technological revolution.
Successes in economic development made it possible to quickly increase the export potential. About half of all manufactured products went to the European and world markets. Germany paid off its debts, created significant gold and foreign exchange reserves. The West German mark has become one of the most reliable currencies in the world.
Financial and credit regulation played an important role in the recovery and development of the economy. First post-war years the government assisted in the restoration of large monopolies, providing concerns labor force. This, in turn, caused an expansion of housing construction, a rapid increase in direct public investment associated with the restoration of the housing stock destroyed by the war. Since the beginning of the 1950s, the share of indirect public investment has increased in the structure of capital investments. The main emphasis was placed on supporting basic industries through government loans and subsidies. In the 1960s, state investments increased in the form of direct investments in science and education.
Significant allocations for infrastructure contributed to the acceleration of economic growth, the qualitative development social sphere. The standard of living of the population rose rapidly.
The successes of social and economic development were based on the liberal market policy, at the origins of which was the Minister of Economics L. Erhard, who later became Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. The economic reform he developed was carried out under the slogan "welfare for all." It contributed to the removal of social tension in the country. The involvement of workers in the management of production also played an important role in this.
Back in 1951. in Germany, in specific post-war conditions, a law on "participation in decision-making" was issued. It applied only to enterprises employing more than 1,000 people in the coal and metallurgical industries. These industries were especially important for the initial stage of economic recovery. In 1976, Germany adopted new law on complicity, which applies to all industries (except coal and ferrous metallurgy) and all companies with more than 2 thousand employees.
A lower level of participation in Germany is the activity of works councils, which were elected at all enterprises with at least 5 employees. The council had advisory powers.
Under the conditions of economic progress and relative class peace, political radicalism has ceased to be a noticeable phenomenon. In 1956 the Communist Party of Germany was banned. Founded in 1968, the KKE never became an influential force. Attempts by the revanchist forces to create a mass right-wing nationalist party were also unsuccessful. IN political life dominated by the CDU / CSU, the SPD and the FDP, which by the end of the 60s occupied almost the same positions on the main issues domestic policy and supported the idea of ​​developing a welfare state. This contributed to the strengthening of the political consensus, a striking manifestation of which was the existence in 1966-1969 of the "grand" ruling coalition of the CDU / CSU and the SPD.
In foreign policy Germany was guided by the leading countries of the West. During the Cold War, she became a member of the European Council. In 1954 she was allowed to have an army (Bundeswehr). In 1955, the FRG became a member of NATO, then entered the EEC, where it began to play a leading role. Consistent Atlanticism in foreign policy gave the FRG certain advantages, but was carried to the point of absurdity. Non-recognition of the countries of Eastern Europe, with which it was in close proximity, made German diplomacy inflexible.
In 1969, 20 years after the formation of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Social Democrat Willy Brandt (1913–1992), an outstanding political figure, became Federal Chancellor for the first time. youthful years participated in the social democratic movement. There have been changes in internal development. Increased social benefits for a significant part of the population. New phenomena have emerged in political life. New mass movements emerged. The most significant was the movement in defense environment, the green movement. Leftist organizations have also spread - anarchists, Maoists, neo-Trotskyists.
Significant changes have taken place in the international activities of Germany. The government of W. Brandt developed and implemented the "new eastern policy". Post-war borders in Eastern Europe were recognized. In 1970 an agreement was signed with the Soviet Union. The FRG undertook to regard the existing borders as inviolable. Similar agreements were signed with Poland and Czechoslovakia. Interstate relations were established with the GDR. The mutual recognition of the German states opened the way for them to the UN.
In the early 1980s, a new regrouping of political forces took place. The FDP supported the CDU/CSU and withdrew from the coalition with the SPD. In 1982, the Christian Democrat Helmut Kohl became Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. The SPD was in opposition. On May 4, 1983, Chancellor G. Kohl made a government statement in which he outlined 7 theses, or the program of conservatives for the near future: 1) personal freedom, creative work, welfare for all and social security should be achieved through the spirit and strength of the social market economy ; 2) we want society with human face; 3) for the formation modern society keeping pace with scientific and technological progress; 4) return the state to the essence of its tasks - to stand guard over justice and monitor the fulfillment of the duties of citizens; 5) we belong to the West; 6) for the political union of Europe; 7) the German nation continues to exist, it is necessary to achieve German unity. G. Kohl's government began to carry out measures similar to those that M. Thatcher had already begun to carry out in Great Britain and R. Reagan in the USA. Taxes were cut and government spending streamlined, measures were taken to reduce government regulation of business and to stimulate competition. The economic recovery that began helped consolidate the positions of the ruling coalition in the elections to the Bundestag in 1983 and 1987.
In December 1987, the government adopted a special economic stimulus program for 1988-1990. It provided for a significant reduction in income tax and corporate tax, investment incentives. It was planned to allocate preferential loans in the amount of 21 billion marks. These funds were intended for urban reconstruction and environmental protection. For the purpose of subsidizing interest rates on loans, 200 million marks were allocated annually from the state budget. The government expected that new program will stimulate investments totaling approximately 40 billion marks.
In 1989, a revolution began in the GDR. Democracy has been restored. On November 9, after the forced resignation of E. Honecker and his government, the Berlin Wall was destroyed. Negotiations on the unification of both parts of Germany were successfully completed. On October 3, 1990, the formation of a unified German state was proclaimed. In the early elections to the Bundestag in December 1990, the ruling coalition won again.
1990 was a special year for Germany. The unification of the two Germanys sharply posed the problem of overcoming the backwardness of the former GDR.
Market reforms in the eastern part of Germany were financed mainly by the western part. In 1990-1992, the transfer of funds from West to East Germany exceeded 200 billion marks. In 1994, elections were held in Germany at all levels. The coalition of Christian Democrats and liberals still remained in power. Since 1982, a liberal-conservative political course has been carried out. The SPD remained the leading opposition party. Union 90/The Greens has improved its position. Right-wing extremists again found themselves out of political life. The results of the 1994 elections once again proved the stability of the party- political system Germany and refuted some political forecasts about the crisis of "party democracy".
Despite the fact that the pace of economic development in 1992–1995 was not as high as before, the FRG is one of the world's leading economic powers. The country has a strong state social policy. Citizens of Germany feel quite secure. However, they are concerned about high persistent unemployment. In January 1997, the number of unemployed in Germany reached 4.7 million people, which amounted to 11.3% of the working population. This is the highest unemployment rate in the history of Germany.
On September 27, 1998, regular parliamentary elections were held in Germany. The SPD won. The main slogan of the election campaign is "renewal and justice". The Union 90/Greens party allied with the SPD and a "red-green" coalition government was formed.
The government of Gerhard Schroeder is carrying out a deep reform of the economy and the social sphere: creating the most favorable conditions for enterprises, supporting small and medium-sized businesses, which leads to a reduction in unemployment. The financial system is being restructured, the pension system has been reformed, medical and social insurance is being restructured.
At the turn of the century, Germany achieved tangible results in socio-economic and scientific and technological development. Germany has the most powerful economic potential in Europe and ranks third in the world after the US and Japan in terms of GDP.
Germany's progress in social and cultural terms is evident. All this creates a new quality of life that meets the challenges of the 21st century.

Capital:East Berlin

Largest cities: East Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig

Language: German

Currency unit: GDR stamp

Square : 108333km 2

Population: 16675 million people

Form of government :one-party socialist republic

The German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) is a now defunct socialist state located in Central Europe, founded on October 7, 1949 in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany and the eastern sector of Berlin. The republic officially ceased to exist and was merged with GermanyOctober 3, 1990.

Timeline of GDR dates

Creation of the GDR

The Soviet government transferred to the GDR the control functions that belonged to the Soviet military administration. In 1949, the USSR, China, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, DPRK and Mongolian People's Republic recognized the GDR by establishing diplomatic relations with it; Yugoslavia established diplomatic relations with the GDR in 1957, and Cuba in 1963.

Socialist transformations

The formation of the GDR was a decisive milestone in the process of the peaceful and gradual development of the anti-fascist-democratic revolution into a socialist one.

With the emergence of the GDR, along with the strengthening of the anti-fascist-democratic order, the process of creating the foundations of socialism began in it. Under the leadership of the SED, the working class, in alliance with the peasantry and other sections of the working people, carried out the transition from the anti-fascist-democratic state power to the worker-peasant power as a form of proletarian dictatorship, the 2nd conference of the SED (July 1952) proclaimed building the foundations of socialism the main task of the GDR. In building a new society, the GDR relied on the experience and comprehensive assistance of the USSR.

The GDR had to overcome difficulties associated primarily with the split of the country. The ruling circles of the FRG exercised the strongest political and economic pressure on the GDR, conducted subversive activities against it and organized numerous provocations. Also, the development of the country was hindered by a dangerous internal enemy- many former social democrats who ended up in the party as a result of the unification of the SPD and the KPD wanted only one thing - the speedy restoration of bourgeois order in the country. It was they who played a decisive role in the destruction of the GDR.Measures were taken to improve the work of state bodies and to involve the broad masses of workers in government.

In an effort to ensure its state interests, as well as the security of other socialist countries and to stop the subversive activities carried out from West Berlin, the GDR, in agreement and with the approval of the Warsaw Pact states, carried out in August 1961 the necessary measures to strengthen security and control on the border with West Berlin . This had a beneficial effect on the entire further development of the GDR.In conditions of immediate danger to the GDR created by the remilitarization of the FRG, the working people of the GDR resolutely came out in favor of taking measures to defend the socialist gains. For this purpose, the National People's Army was formed in 1956..

The leadership of the GDR sought, despite the "Halstein Doctrine", through foreign policy activity to achieve international legal recognition of their state. It tried to overcome the diplomatic blockade set up by the FRG. That is why the SPD proposed the idea of ​​a "new eastern policy"establishing, first of all, trade, economic and consular relations with developing countries.

Industry

The eastern regions of Germany, which became part of the GDR, were less industrially developed than the western ones, and suffered more during the war. In this regard, in the GDR it was necessary to re-create whole line industries. The nationalization of large industrial enterprises made it possible to move to a planned economy. As a result of the implementation of the two-year (1949-1951) and five-year (1951-1955) plans, old industrial enterprises were restored and expanded, metallurgical plants were built based on raw materials imported from the USSR and other socialist countries.

In 1962, industrial production increased 3.6 times as compared with the production in these areas in 1936. In terms of industrial production, the GDR ranked fifth in Europe and tenth in the world. In terms of the rate of development, the GDR is ahead of the FRG. The main part of production (up to 90%) comes from the socialist sector of the economy. Over the years of its existence, the GDR has become a developed industrial state of the socialist type.

Among the socialist countries, the GDR is one of the largest suppliers of equipment, which goes primarily to the countries of Asia and Africa that have embarked on the path of independent development. According to the developed seven-year plan for the development of the economy (1959-1965), further development of heavy industry and an increase in material and cultural level the lives of workers.

By 1961, it became clear that all more people do not want to build a socialist bright future, border crossings have become more frequent. The young people left, the future of the country. In July alone, about 200,000 people left the GDR across the border with West Berlin. ANDRThe leadership of the GDR, supported by the Warsaw Pact countries, decided to strengthen the country's state border with West Berlin.

August 13, 1961 on the recommendation of the meeting of the secretaries of the communist and workers' parties of the Warsaw Pact countriesand on the basis of the decision of the People's Chamber of the GDRwas erected Berlin Wall.

However, the construction of the rampart did not prevent further emigration from the territory of East Germany. People made their way through the rivers and dug. On average (before the construction of the fence), about half a million people traveled daily from the GDR to the FRG for various reasons. And in the twenty-eight years since the wall was built, only 5,075 successful illegal crossings have been made. For this, waterways, tunnels (145 meters underground), Balloons and hang gliders, rams in the form of cars and bulldozers, even moved along a rope between buildings.

was interesting next feature. People received free education in the socialist part of Germany, and began to work in Germany, because there were higher salaries.

Plan:

page

I. Introduction (introductory article).................................................. .........3

II. General information about the country:

1) geographical position................................................ ............3

2) federal structure of the country .............................................................. .4

3) federal states .................................................................. .........................6

4) peculiarities population ................................................. .................8

III. Chronicle of unification (1989 - 1991) ........................................11

IV. Contemporary politics states:

1) Foreign policy................................................ ............................13

2) The basic law of the Federal Republic of Germany - the constitution .............................................. .14

3) Parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany .............................................. ................................14

4) Security policy................................................ ..................16

v. A country's economy:

1) Social Market Economy: A Robust Model.............................17

2) Agriculture................................................ ...........................19

3) Industry................................................. ............................20

4) Transport................................................. .........................................22

5) International trade................................................ ...............................24

6) Environment................................................ .........................25

VI. Bundeswehr - the armed forces of Germany .....................................26

VII . Economy and culture of the federal states ..............................27

VIII. Churches and religious communities ..................................................41

IX. Conclusion .......................................................................................43

X. List of used literature ................................................44

I .Introduction

Germany- an industrial country, a country with many industrial agglomerations, large and small cities. But this does not mean at all that life here is full of fuss, that there are only plants and factories around, smoking chimneys and roads clogged to capacity. Of course, high-voltage transmission lines often spoil the landscape with their appearance, on the other hand, they deliver electricity even to the most remote corners of the country. To many areas

Germany is characterized by peace and quiet, an abundance of picturesque hills and river landscapes, and most importantly - forests. It is impossible not to mention the cultural life, which is mainly concentrated in major cities x with their countless theaters, concert halls and museums, but does not bypass the provinces.

II .General information about the country.

1) Geographic location:

The Federal Republic of Germany is located in the center of Europe. It borders nine neighboring states: Denmark in the north, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg and France in the west, Switzerland and Austria in the south, and the Czech Republic and Poland in the east. This central position emerges even more clearly now, after the restoration of German unity on October 3, 1990. The Federal Republic of Germany is more than ever the hub between East and West, as well as between Scandinavia and the Mediterranean region. As a member of the European Community and NATO, Germany plays the role of a link with the states of Central and Eastern Europe. The territory of Germany is 357,000 sq. km. The greatest length from north to south is 876 km, from west to east - 640 km. The extreme points of the borders: in the north - the village of List on the island of Sylt, in the east - the Saxon village of Deshka, in the south - the Bavarian village of Oberstdorf and in the west - the village of Zelfkant (North Rhine-Westphalia). The total length of the borders is 3767 km. The population of Germany is about 80 million people. After Russia, Germany is the most populated state in Europe, followed by: Italy - 58, Great Britain - 57 and France - 56 million inhabitants. However, Germany is smaller in size than France (552,000 sq. km) and Spain (505,000 sq. km).

German landscapes are unusually varied and attractive. Low and high mountain ranges are interspersed with plateaus, staggered terrain, hilly, mountainous, and lacustrine rims, as well as wide, open plains. From north to south, Germany is divided into five landscape zones: the North German lowland, the mid-mountain threshold, the South-West German mid-mountain of the folded basement, the South German pre-alpine plateau and the Bavarian Alps. The lowlands in the north are characterized by rich lakes, hilly guest and clay plateaus with heathlands and peat bogs, but also with fertile soils south of the mid-mountain threshold: these basins include the Lower Rhine, Westphalian and Saxon-Thuringian. In the north, the marches of the North Sea extend to the outskirts of the guesthouses. In Schleswig-Holstein, the Baltic coast is indented by fjords, while in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, estuaries and flattened shores predominate. The most important islands in the North Sea are the East Frisian Islands: Borkum or Norderney, the North Frisian Islands: Amrum, Föhr, Sylt and Galligen, as well as Helgoland in the German Bight, and in the Baltic Sea - Rügen, Hiddensee and Fehmarn. On the Baltic coast there are both gentle sandy and rocky steep shores. Between the North and Baltic Seas lies "Holstein Switzerland" - a lowland hilly area. The mid-mountain threshold separates the north of Germany from the south, and the valley of the middle Rhine and the Hessian basins serve as natural markers in the transport system linking the north with the south. The Middle Mountains include, in particular, the Rhine Slate Massif with the Hunsrück, Eifel, Taunus, Westerwald, Bergisches Land and Sauerland ridges, Hessian Bergland, Weser und Leinebergland in the west and in the center of Germany. In the center of the country is the island mountain range Harz. To the east are the Rhön Mountains, the Bavarian Forest, the Upper Palatinate Forest, the Fichtel Mountains, the Franconian Forest, the Thuringian Forest and the Ore Mountains. The Southwestern German midlands include the Upper Rhine Plateau with the outlying mountain ranges of the Black Forest, Odenwald and Spessart, the Palatinate Mountains with the Hardt and the Swabian-Franconian Jura with the Alb. (See diagram No. 1)

The Rhine, the country's largest transport artery, winds its way from north to south through the narrow valley between Bingen and Bonn, through the Rhenish Schist Massif, whose less fertile plateaus and mountain ranges are much less populated than the protected valley landscapes on the right and left banks of the Rhine with their viticulture and foreign tourism. The South German Alpine foothills cover the Swabian-Bavarian plateau with its hills and large lakes in the south, as well as gravel plains, the Lower Bavarian hilly area and the Danube lowland. This area is characterized by peat bogs, chains of domed hills with lakes (Chiem See, Lake Starnberg) and small villages. The German Alps between Lake Constance and the city of Berchtesgaden cover only a narrow part of these mountains: they are limited only by the Allgäu, Bavarian and Berchtesgaden Alps. There are many picturesque lakes surrounded by Alpine mountain peaks, such as König See near Berchtesgaden, as well as popular tourist destinations, such as Garmisch-Partenkirchen or Mittenwald.

Climatically, Germany is located in the zone of influence of moderately cool westerly winds between the zones of the mild climate of the Atlantic Ocean and the continental climate in the east. Large temperature fluctuations are rare. Precipitation falls in all seasons. In winter, the average temperature ranges from 1.5 degrees Celsius in the lowlands to minus 6 degrees Celsius in the mountains. July averages: 18 degrees Celsius in the lowlands and 20 degrees in the sheltered valleys of the south. The exceptions are the upper Rhine-Graben with its very mild climate, Upper Bavaria, where a foehn, a warm alpine wind, regularly blows from the south, and, as a separate climatic zone, the Harz with its harsh winds, cool summers and snowy winters.

2) The federal structure of the country

The Federal Republic of Germany is a federal state. The 16 lands of the federation therefore have their own statehood with all sovereign rights and competencies. This means: everything that needs to be arranged and regulated in the common interest belongs to the competence of the federation. All other issues are the responsibility of the land. The consequence of the federal structure is that the citizen does not oppose a single, indivisible, and hence omnipotent, central state power.

The purpose of the federal order is to prevent excessive concentration of power. The distribution of competence means the distribution of power. The participation of the population in political decisions is also greater, since there are many political bodies in a limited area.

Federal state structure contains special chances for the opposition in the federation. If the opposition sets up several or even the majority of land governments, and this has been almost always the case since 1949, then it (the opposition) had the opportunity to implement its ideas and perform state functions responsibly both within certain lands and within the entire state The Federal Republic of Germany, exerting influence through the Bundesrat (chamber of states) on legislation and administration.

The competence of 16 states includes legislation and management in the field of culture and education. In their hands are the police, municipal law, land planning, regulation and construction law, road and water law. The legislative rights of the Länder derive from the Basic Law, which states that the Länder have the right to legislate in cases where it does not fall within the legislative competence of the federation.

A further basis are articles 70-91 of the Basic Law, which describe the delimitation of legislative competences between the federation and the states. The Länder are given legislative competence in areas not mentioned at all in the Constitution, and also where the federation does not exercise its powers.

All Länder have parliaments elected for a term of four to five years. The parliaments of the 16 states have a different number of deputies. Parliaments have different names - the Landtag, the Civil Assembly, the Chamber of Deputies. Most parliaments can self-dissolve on the basis of a majority vote. Organizationally, the state parliaments are similar to the structure of the German Bundestag: presidium, factions, commissions, etc. Often in the lands there is a need to regulate, according to the same principles, issues that fall within their competence. In these cases, the Länder parliaments develop model bills in the Bundesrat (chamber of the Länder).

Parliaments elect the prime minister of the land, and in the city-republics of Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen, the ruling or first burgomaster. Governments are composed - and there is a similarity with the federal government - of the head of government and ministers responsible for a certain range of duties. In city-republics, ministers are called senators. The task of these governments is primarily to develop land bills and implement laws after their approval by the land parliaments. However, the Länder governments are also responsible for implementing federal laws such as in the field of taxation.

The second legislative body along with the German Bundestag is the Bundesrat (chamber of states). Through the Bundesrat, the 16 Länder participate in the drafting of laws and in the administration of the federation. Governments currently delegate three to six representatives to the Bundesrat, according to the amount of land. If the opposition is in the majority in the Bundesrat, then, of course, it can have a greater influence on the legislation of the federation. The presidency of the Bundesrat, assumed by the head of the state government, is replaced at the rhythm of the year, so that all prime ministers appear in this post.

The communes carry out most of the tasks of the federal and state governments. Communal people's representations at the level of communities and districts are even endowed to some extent with legislative functions, since, firstly, they develop charters on which the work of communal administration is based, and secondly, deputies of communal parliaments are elected democratically. The tasks of the communes include making decisions on the development and use of space, the construction and maintenance of communal roads, sanitation, sewerage, public transport and supplies, the construction and maintenance of social and sports institutions, theaters, museums, libraries, as well as other cultural and educational centers consisting of their budget. Last but not least, this includes decisions on the amount of tariffs, contributions and taxes.

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY

Area - 356.957 sq. km

Population - 79.7 million people.

Capital - Berlin

Seat of government - while Bonn, later Berlin

The ruling parties are the CDU / CSU and the FDP

Population density - 222 people/km8

Foreign citizens - 5.04 million people.

The share of foreign citizens among the population of the federation - 6.4%

3) FEDERAL LAND

The Federal Republic of Germany consists of 16 federal states. Eleven states of the old Federal Republic of Germany were recreated or created anew after 1945. After the peaceful revolution in the GDR, on October 3, 1990, new federal states were created there. Since then they have been part of the republic.

The Federal Republic of Germany consists of 16 states (capitals in brackets): Baden-Württemberg (Stuttgart), Bavaria (Munich), Berlin, Brandenburg (Potsdam), Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse (Wiesbaden), Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Schwerin), Lower Saxony (Hanover), North Rhine-Westphalia (Düsseldorf), Rhineland-Palatinate (Mainz), Saarland (Saarbrücken), Saxony (Dresden), Saxony-Anhalt (Magdeburg), Schleswig-Holstein (Kiel) and Thuringia (Erfurt). Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg are city-states.

Federal lands are not provinces, but states with their own state power. They have their own constitutions, but these constitutions must comply with the principles of a republican, democratic and social constitutional state in the spirit of the Basic Law. In all other respects, the lands are free to form their own constitutions. The principle of the federal state is one of the unshakable principles of the constitution. However, the composition of today's lands is not unchanged. For the new administrative division of the territory of the federation, the Basic Law provides for the relevant rules. The federal system has a great constitutional tradition, which was interrupted only by the unitary state of the National Socialists in 1933-1945. Germany is considered a classical country of federalist statehood. Federalism has justified itself: under it, the peculiarities and problems of the regions are taken into account much better than under the centralized power of the government.

Benefits of federalism

German federalism links external unity and internal diversity, just as, for example, is the case in the United States or Switzerland. Preservation of regional diversity is a traditional task of federalism. This feature is getting today new essence in connection with such regional requirements as the protection of monuments, the preservation of urban traditions and the development of the culture of the regions. First of all, the federal state must ensure freedom. The distribution of tasks between the federation and the Länder is an essential element in the system of separation and balancing of powers provided for in the Basic Law. This includes the participation of the states in the formation of political will at the level of the federation, namely through the Bundesrat.

The federal state also strengthens the democratic principle. It provides political activity local citizens. Democracy becomes more active if, precisely in their familiar sphere of the federal state, citizens influence political process participating in elections and voting. The federal system has other advantages, such as the possibility of experimentation in a narrow area and competition of lands. Thus, an individual state can try new things and create models for reforms throughout the federation, for example, in the field of education.

In addition, the federal structure better takes into account the different majority ratios in the regions. Opposition parties at the federation level can have a majority in the Länder and thus assume responsibility as a government.

Länder Competence

In the Basic Law, the competence of the federation is determined depending on whether the regulations should be the same for all the Länder or whether it is desirable to leave the Länder their own constitutive sphere. This is clearly seen in the division of federation competence into exclusive, competing and framework legislation. Legislation that is exclusively within the competence of the federation includes, for example, relations with foreign countries, defense issues, currency, monetary and monetary systems, railways, air traffic and part of the tax legislation. In the area of ​​competing legislation, the Länder have legislative power only if the federation has not regulated the same subjects by law. This is allowed to be done by the federation only when there is a special need for a uniform regulation for the federation. The areas of competing legislation include, in particular, civil and criminal law, economic and nuclear law, labor and land law. Then legislation in matters of foreign citizens, housing, shipping and traffic, waste disposal, air quality control and noise control. Constitutional practice has shown that it is necessary to have uniform rules on these topics. In practice, this is no longer in the legislative power of the lands.

Within the limits of the framework prescriptions of the federation, individual legislative spheres are under the jurisdiction of the Länder. This includes, for example, higher education, nature and landscape protection, terrain planning and water balance. A number of other inter-regional, future-oriented tasks, which are not listed in the Basic Law, are today also planned, legalized and funded jointly by the federation and the Länder. In 1969, they were included in the Basic Law as "General Tasks" and concern the expansion of existing and construction of new universities, the improvement of the regional economic structure, as well as the agrarian structure and coastal protection.

Elections to all popular representations are general, direct, free, equal and secret. Every German over the age of 16 has the right to vote. There are no primary elections, candidates for election are nominated by the parties.

Electoral system

The electoral system for the German Bundestag is a "system proportional elections with a focus on individual figures. "Each voter has two votes. He gives the first vote to the candidate of his constituency, namely, by relative majority system elections: the one with the most votes (first votes) is elected. With a second vote, he influences the passage of deputies to the Bundestag according to the so-called state lists of parties (second votes).

The composition of the Bundestag as a result of the counting of votes for individual electoral districts and state lists almost corresponds to the ratio of the shares of votes received by individual parties. If any party receives more direct mandates in electoral districts than it is entitled to according to its share of votes, it retains these "super mandates". In such cases, the Bundestag has more than 656 members, as provided by law.

The purpose of the land list elections is to represent all parties in parliament according to their share of the vote. On the other hand, direct elections in a constituency provide citizens with the opportunity to cast their vote for a particular political figure.

As a rule, the population meets elections with great interest. in the 1990 Bundestag elections. 77.8% of voters took part. In elections to Landtags and municipalities, the number of voters fluctuates, but for the most part it is about 70%.

parties

In a modern democracy, competing parties have constitutional significance. Elected for a fixed term, they perform the tasks of political leadership and control functions. Parties play a significant role in shaping policy. This is taken into account in the Basic Law, which dedicates a separate article to parties (Article 21). It establishes: "The parties participate in the formation of the political will of the people. They are founded freely, their internal structure must comply with democratic principles. They report to the public about the sources of their funds."

Parties in the Bundestag

After the first all-German elections in 1990, six parties entered the German Bundestag: the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP), the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and the grouping "Union 90 / Greens", united by one list.

The CDU does not have a state union in Bavaria, while the CSU operates only in Bavaria, but in the Bundestag the CDU and the CSU are merged into one faction. The creation of the SPD, CDU, CSU and FDP in the western lands of Germany falls on 1945-1947.

The foundation of the SPD is the re-foundation of the party of the same name, previously elected mainly by the workers, which was banned by the Nazi regime in 1933. The rest of the parties are new. The Christian parties CDU and CSU - in contrast to the old Catholic party of the center of the Weimar Republic - tried to win over voters of both Christian denominations. With its programmatics, the FDP continued the traditions of German liberalism.

These four parties have undergone significant changes over the four decades since their founding. At the federation level, all of them during this time entered into a coalition with each other or were in opposition. Today they consider themselves people's parties representing all segments of the population. They have distinct right and left wings, reflecting the diverse positions of the People's Party.

From 1983 to 1990 The Green Party was also part of the Bundestag. At the federal level, this party was founded in 1979. Since then, it has managed to win seats in several state parliaments. The party, which unites anti-nuclear and pacifist groups, owes its origins to the radical environmental movement. In the elections to the Bundestag in 1990, the "Greens" did not get five percent of the passing ones. But the representatives of the Union 90, united with them on the same list, got into the Bundestag. This grouping came out of the human rights movement, which in 1989-1990. contributed to a peaceful coup in the former GDR. On May 14, 1993, the Union 90 and the Greens merged into one party under the name Union 90/The Greens.

The PDS is the legal successor of the former government party of the GDR, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). In united Germany, it failed to form into a major political force. The PDS - like the joint Alliance 90/The Greens list - entered the Bundestag only due to a special provision for parties in the new federal states: the five percent clause applies separately in the new and old states.

4) Population features

More than 80 million people live in Germany (including 6.5 million foreigners), and in terms of population density - 224 people per square kilometer - Germany is one of the most populated countries in Europe. Higher population density is only in Belgium and Holland. The population settled in Germany is very uneven. In Berlin, an area of ​​great concentration, the population has been growing rapidly since reunification - now there are 3.4 million inhabitants in Berlin - and by the end of the millennium it will reach an estimated eight million people. In the industrial areas on the Rhine and Ruhr, where one city merges imperceptibly into another, over four million people live - about 5,500 people per square kilometer. Other areas of the industrial-urban agglomeration are the Rhine-Main region with the cities of Frankfurt, Wiesbaden and Mainz, the industrial region of the Rhine-Neckar with the cities of Mannheim and Ludwigshafen, the economic region around Stuttgart, as well as the economic regions of Bremen, Dresden, Hamburg, Cologne, Leipzig, Munich and Nuremberg/Fürth. These densely populated regions are opposed by very sparsely populated areas, areas of heaths and peat bogs in the North German Plain, in the region of the Eifel, the Bavarian Forest, the Upper Palatinate, the state of Brandenburg and the vast expanses of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The population density in the west of Germany is significantly higher than in the five new federal states in the east. Almost 30% of the area is inhabited by only a fifth (16 million) of the country's population. In the eastern part of Germany there are four out of 20 cities with a population of over 300,000 people. Almost every third inhabitant of the republic lives in one of the 85 large cities (over 100,000 inhabitants). This is about 26 million people. The vast majority, on the other hand, lives in villages and small towns: over seven million live in towns with a population of up to 2,000 people, 46 million live in communities with a population of 2,000-100,000 people (see diagram No. 2).

The population in the old and new lands has been decreasing since the beginning of the seventies due to a decrease in the birth rate. But since 1990, its insignificant increase has been observed again in the old lands (see diagram No. 3). Nevertheless, according to the birth rate - eleven per 1,000 inhabitants per year (old lands) - Germany belongs to the countries with the lowest birth rate. Population growth after World War II was driven mainly by emigrants. About 13 million Germans arrived on the territory of today's Germany, expelled and refugees from the former East German provinces and Eastern Europe. big flow refugees from East Germany to West Germany was observed until the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and the complete isolation of the former GDR. From the beginning of the sixties, foreign workers came in large numbers to the old lands of the republic, which were experiencing economic expansion and where there was an acute shortage of labor.

Regional differences

During the last thousand years, the Germanic people was formed mainly from various Germanic tribes: Franks, Saxons, Swabians and Bavarians. Now these ancient tribes in their original form are long gone, but their traditions and dialects can still be found in historically developed regional groups. In any case, the ancient tribes can hardly be identified with the population of individual federal lands. The lands in the form in which they are presented today were created for the most part after the Second World War with the participation of the occupying authorities, and traditions were not very taken into account when laying the borders. In addition, refugee flows and major migrations post-war period, as well as the mobility of modern industrial society more or less blurred the boundaries between different population groups. Remain distinctive features, which are given individual groups population. So the Mecklenburgers are considered closed, the Swabians are stingy, the inhabitants of the Rhine lands are cheerful, and the Saxons are hardworking and resourceful. This listing could be continued. Therefore, in the final analysis, only general signs of behavior inherent in a particular group are characteristic.

German

The German language belongs to large group Indo-Germanic languages, and within its framework to the Germanic languages, and is related to Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, to Dutch and Flemish, as well as to English language. Formation of a common literary language falls on the period of translation of the Bible by Martin Luther. Germany is rich in dialects. Most Germans can be identified by dialect and pronunciation, from which area they are. If, for example, a Frisian, a Mecklenburger and a Bavarian were talking to each other, each in his own dialect, they would only hardly understand each other. In addition, during the period of the split of Germany in both German states, a different stock of political concepts, new words also appeared that needed clarification in each of the states, respectively. But the basic vocabulary and grammar remained the same in the West and East. The commonality of language was one of the ties that connected the divided nation. Outside Germany German native and along its borders: in Austria, in Liechtenstein, in most of Switzerland, in South Tyrol (Northern Italy) and in small regions in Belgium, France (Alsace) and Luxembourg. Yes, and German minorities in Poland, Romania and in the countries of the former Soviet Union partly preserved the German language.

German - native language for more than 100 million people. Almost every tenth book published in the world is written in German. Among the languages ​​from which translations are made, German takes the 3rd place after English and French, and German is the language into which most are translated.

Foreign fellow citizens

Germany is a welcoming country towards foreigners. This assessment of Chancellor G. Kohl, which he rightfully adhered to and adheres to this day, is confirmed by statistics. Of the more than eighty million inhabitants of the republic, six and a half million are foreigners. All of them willingly came to Germany and stayed here. For decades, living together did not present problems, although the circle of the first guest workers, who were Italians, was replenished first by Spaniards and Portuguese, and then by Yugoslavs and Turks. The exacerbations that sometimes occurred in everyday life were much compensated for by collegiality, good neighborliness and friendship. Merging of the EU and the West, the collapse of the Eastern bloc, as well as migration from Asian and African countries led to a significant increase in the number of foreigners of various skin colors in Germany, of course, more in the west than in the east, where the GDR pursued a restrictive policy in this regard. The Turks have long been the most large group among foreigners, numbering 1.855 million people. It is followed by people from the states of the collapsed Yugoslavia, whose number is only estimated because of the many willingly accepted war refugees: about a million. The following communities form 558,000 Italians, 346,000 Greeks, 286,000 Poles, 185,000 Austrians, 167,000 Romanians and 134,000 Spaniards. There are between 100,000 and 115,000 Iranians, Portuguese, British, Americans and Dutch. The 61,000 people from the former Soviet Union are perceived as foreigners more in the eastern lands than in the west. Almost 60 percent of foreigners have been living in Germany for ten years or more. More than two thirds of foreign children were born here.

The Federal Republic of Germany has proved its openness not only by accepting labor force, their relatives, asylum seekers and war refugees, it has always been a champion of the right of free movement and residence everywhere, freedom of choice of profession and residence in the European Community. For persons persecuted for political reasons, Germany is open like no other country in the world. New edition Article 16a of the Basic Law, to the same extent as the former Article 16, guarantees protection from political persecution in the form of a personal fundamental right. Thus, in 1992, Germany alone received almost 80 per cent of all asylum seekers in the entire European Community. For example, back in 1989, 121,318 foreigners applied for asylum in Germany, in 1991 - 256,112 people, and in 1992 their number increased to 438,191 people. At the same time, the quota of those who were actually persecuted for political reasons fell below five percent. A change in the constitution ("asylum compromise"), passed by two-thirds of Parliament and effective from 1 July 1993, has now returned to the right of asylum - as is customary in other countries - its proper function, namely the protection of those who are currently being persecuted. for political reasons and really needs protection. Therefore, foreigners arriving from a safe third country can no longer invoke this fundamental right in Germany.

Regardless of the Vienna Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, Germany also reserves the right to designate states in which, according to official admissions, there is no political persecution, and therefore, as a rule, there are no grounds for applying for asylum. But every asylum seeker has a legal path open in Germany - up to applying to the Federal Constitutional Court.

In Germany, there are only two national minorities that have been living in their settlement areas for centuries. This includes approximately 100,000 Lusatian Sorbs. They are descendants of the Slavic ethnic group and live in Lausitz (Brandenburg and Saxony). There is a Danish minority in the northern part of Schleswig-Golytein. It has about 50 thousand people. These populations are free to develop their own language and culture. The "German Danes" also have their own political representation, the South Schleswig Electoral Association, which is represented in the communal parliaments and has always had a deputy seat in the state parliament of Schleswig-Holstein until now.

III . CHRONICLE OF UNION (1989 - 1991)

Germany has always been divided into lands, but for centuries geographic map often changed. The most important changes of recent times were the result of the Napoleonic Wars at the beginning of the 19th century, the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, the First and Second World Wars. As a result of the latter, Germany was occupied and divided, Prussia, the most large land Germany, liquidated. Federal lands in their current form were mostly created after 1945, and their creation was carried out taking into account the belonging to each other of the compatriots and the historical formation of borders.

Before unification, Germany included eleven states that were created in the former western occupation zones and in the period 1946-1957. introduced democratic constitutions.

In the Soviet occupation zone, in the territory later called the GDR, five lands were created, partly taking into account the old state traditions, but already in 1952 the government of the GDR abolished this structure and introduced a centralist administrative administration. And until 1991, there were two Germanys (Germany and East Germany) on the political map of the world, but taking into account modern trends, the collapse social system, the collapse of the Northern Union, there was a historical reunification of Germany.

August 1989:

The flow of citizens of the GDR who seek asylum at the embassies of the Federal Republic of Germany in Budapest, Prague and Warsaw is constantly growing. It is believed that the number of people wishing to leave the GDR is one million people.

Hungary opens border with Austria. Citizens of the GDR who are in Hungary may leave the country in the direction of the Federal Republic of Germany. In three days, 15,000 citizens of the GDR arrive in the western part of Germany. The flow of refugees arriving through Hungary continues to grow steadily.

With jubilation, the citizens of the GDR. those who have taken refuge in the embassies of the Federal Republic of Germany in Prague and Warsaw receive the news that they can freely travel to the Federal Republic of Germany.

September/October 1989:

Demonstrations against the ruling regime are increasingly taking place in the GDR. The so-called "Monday demonstrations", which meet once a week in Leipzig, are becoming more and more numerous.

Nearly one million East Berliners demonstrate for free elections and respect for human rights.

For residents of the GDR, the checkpoints of the Berlin Wall are opened, which divided the city for many years, namely from August 13, 1961.

Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl arrives in Dresden.

The Brandenburg Gate opens - a symbol of unity. Soon the border between the two German states opens.

In the first free and secret elections of the national representation of the GDR, the Alliance for Germany wins, in which the Christian Democratic Union is the determining political force.

Lothar de Maizieres (CDU) is elected Prime Minister of a coalition government consisting of representatives of the Alliance Germany, the newly organized SPD in the GDR and the Liberal Democratic Party.

An economic, monetary and social union between the two German states comes into force.

During a visit to the Soviet Union by Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Federal Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev made a statement that Germany could unite

and to obtain full sovereignty as early as 1990.

The People's Chamber of the GDR decides on the accession of the GDR to the Federal Republic of Germany by October 3, 1990.

The foreign ministers of the four victorious powers, as well as the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany, conclude negotiations called "two plus four" and sign a treaty on full sovereignty

and the borders of a united Germany, as well as limiting the size of the Bundeswehr to 370,000 soldiers.

October 3, 1990 the accession of the GDR to the Federal Republic of Germany and thereby the states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia took place. East Berlin was merged with West Berlin.

The first free and secret elections to the Landtags (Parliaments) of the five new Länder.

In the first all-German elections to the German Bundestag after 1945, a government coalition of the CDU/CSU and the FDP wins with a clear advantage in the number of votes cast.

Helmut Kohl becomes the first freely elected federal chancellor of a united Germany.

IV . Contemporary German politics

Germany and Europe

"...To serve the cause of peace throughout the world as an equal member of the unification of Europe, .." - this is the place in the text of the Basic Law (constitution), written long before European unity acquired specific features, determines the foreign policy of the Federal Republic Germany since its early days Germany has been a member of the European Community (EU) which has existed since 1958 and which, in addition to it, today includes Belgium, Great Britain, Greece, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and France With the reunification of Germany, the former GDR also became part of the EU.

On January 1, 1993, the European internal market began to operate on the territory of the EU member states. From now on there will be no more customs and economic borders. Even before that, citizens of EU member states had the right to travel freely in all these countries and freely choose in which country they work. Now enterprises acquire the right to settle where they see fit. Since 1993, throughout

territory of the European Community with a population of 340 million people, there will be a free circulation of goods, persons, capital and services. From this moment on, the European Community has the greatest economic power on earth after the United States. In its competence, the participating countries have long transferred a number of sovereign rights and tasks. It, for example, implements common policies in areas such as agricultural policy (96% of agricultural products), trade policy towards third countries, assistance to lagging regions, transport policy, science, technology and ecology, as well as cooperation in the field of foreign policy.

political union. A common internal market is an important step towards political community. The European Community is still in this decade will have a single currency. The governments of the EU member states put ultimate goal the creation of a Political Union, which will be endowed with even greater political tasks and rights. This goal, however, is achievable only at the cost of further restrictions on the national sovereignty of EU member states and is therefore pursued with varying degrees of enthusiasm. The Federal Government is in favor of a strong Political Union and, in particular, would like to give the European Parliament (in 1994 it will be elected for the fourth time by all citizens of the Community on the basis of free elections by secret ballot) much more rights than hitherto. The European Parliament will then have to take over the tasks and functions that have so far only been carried out by parliaments at the national level. The political union is called upon not only to strengthen parliamentarism and democracy. Along with common legislation and democratic control of the executive bodies exercised by the European Parliament, in the Political Union all its members will also jointly develop and implement the foreign and security policy of Europe.

The door is open to the entire continent. The European Community does not seek to become an isolated club of Western Europeans; they are open to other states as well. Thanks to the process of democratization in the countries of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe and the turn towards a market economy and parliamentary democracy, these countries are moving closer to the Community. The EU has already started assimilation talks with the reforming countries as a first step. Germany has assumed the function of a bridge that leads these states to the Community.

2) Constitution

The Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany, deprives the soil of despotism, tyranny and arbitrariness. The Basic Law clearly defines Germany as standing on the principles of legal and welfare state parliamentary democracy, moreover, in the form of a federal, i.e. union state.

Separation of powers and legal control mechanisms prevent the abuse of power. The individual is protected by an extensive set of fundamental rights and freedoms and, in case of violation of these rights, can resort to the assistance of the courts in the widest possible way.

A society with a constitution guaranteeing freedom and democracy is fundamentally different from totalitarian state, because, unlike the latter, power in it does not belong to one person, oligarchy, party or class. The main thing in democracy is the freedom of the individual, the freedom to express the personality, the equality of all before the law and the freedom to choose parties that are in free competition with each other.

Democracy.“All state power comes from the people and is exercised by them through elections and votes,” the Basic Law unconditionally prescribes. Representatives of a wide variety of parties put forward their candidacies for elections. Citizens of the country elect deputies to municipal, city and district councils (communal level), to the parliaments of the states - Landtags (land level) and to the German Bundestag (federal level). the largest number party votes, usually alone or in coalition with others, forms the government. This principle applies to all three levels. Parties that receive less than five percent of the vote in elections usually do not enter parliament. This rule does not allow fragmentation that would prevent normal operation government, and allows the formation of a governing majority.

Separation of powers. The concentration of power and the lack of control over power encourage abuse and corruption, impose guardianship on people from above. The Germans experienced this during the National Socialist dictatorship. In the former GDR, people also lived under the constant claim of the ruling regime to total power. As the experience of history shows, power must necessarily be distributed over many shoulders. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany, which guarantees the rule of law, divides state power into legislative, executive and judicial (see diagram No. 4). The separation of powers fundamentally operates at all three levels of the state - the level of the federation, states and communes.

Parliament of Germany. The supreme elected legislative body in Germany, as in all free democratic constitutional states, are parliaments at the level of the federation and the states. At the federal level, in the German Bundestag, the ruling parties, which have the majority of votes, and the parties in opposition sit. In adopting laws, the German Bundestag interacts with the Bundesrat. Representatives of the governments of 16 states sit in the Bundesrat, since Germany is a federal state. The Bundestrat may demand amendments to bills of the Bundestag, especially if they require the consent of the Bundesrat and if a different voting ratio than the Bundestag allows this. Thanks to this, the government and the opposition are constantly forced to look for compromise solutions. Laws, and sometimes only amendments to already existing laws, each time must be consistent with the Basic Law and especially with the fundamental rights of citizens guaranteed therein. Bills are usually introduced by the federal government, the Bundesrat or the Bundestag. The German Bundestag at the beginning of the next period of its activity elects the Federal Chancellor. Parliament is responsible for controlling the government.

Commissions. The main legislative activity of the Bundestag is carried out not at parliamentary meetings, but in its commissions. Individual parties send their representatives to the commissions in a number corresponding to the percentage of votes received. In many commissions, representatives of the opposition parties hold an important position of chairman. The Bundestag has 21 standing committees working on bills. An important task of people's representatives is to keep track of how much money (in the form of taxes and fees) the state extracts from the pockets of its citizens. The fact that the chairman of the important budget committee preparing material for the parliamentary debate on the state budget is always a member of the largest opposition party, not the ruling party, is one of the well-thought-out rules of German democracy. An important parliamentary commission is also the complaints commission. It is obliged to consider every complaint and request coming from people, or to transfer them for mandatory consideration to the competent institutions, departments, courts. There is also an important oversight commission over the department for the protection of the constitution, over the federal intelligence service and over the military counterintelligence service. These government agencies are thus equally controlled by the government and the opposition (see diagram #5).

Federal President. The deputies of the German Bundestag, together with an equal number of representatives of the parliaments of the states, form the Federal Assembly. It elects the federal president. The presidential term is five years, a second term is possible. The President proposes to the Bundestag the candidature of the Federal Chancellor and, after the elections, appoints the Chancellor to the position. The president stands above the parties and is the highest representative of the state. He represents Germany in matters of international law and concludes treaties with foreign states on her behalf. The Federal President since 1984 has been Richard von Weizsäcker.

Policy towards Germany before unification. The Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany of 1949 required politicians from the very beginning to complete the process leading to the unity and freedom of Germany. Therefore, all the governments of the Federal Republic of Germany put the desire for the unity of the nation at the forefront of their policy towards Germany. In the 1970s, at the end of the "hot period" of the Cold War, the Federal Republic of Germany pursued an active oriental policy of the "turn by rapprochement". In the agreement on the foundations of relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR of 1972, the parties agreed to develop, on the basis of equality and in accordance with the UN Charter, normal good neighborly relations.

Ensuring peace and defusing tensions. The decisive impulses for peaceful cohabitation between East and West were given by the policy of detente in the early 1970s. During this period, the federal government concluded treaties with the Soviet Union (in 1970), Poland (in 1970) and Czechoslovakia (in 1973). In 1971, a quadripartite agreement on Berlin was also signed. All of these treaties cleared the way for the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). The Helsinki Final Act signed there (in 1975) laid the foundations for the current readiness of the participating countries to defuse tensions in Europe.

"Two plus four" deal. At the beginning of 1990, the four powers came to the conclusion that the unity of Germany was also necessary in the interests of security in Europe. During the "two plus four" negotiations, the governments of the four victorious powers and the governments of the Federal Republic of Germany and the then still existing GDR agreed, among other things, on the final fixation of the current German borders, and in particular the border along the Oder-Neisse, as the eastern border of Germany. the signing of a six-state treaty on 12 September 1990 ended the last powers of the four powers in Germany: after unification, the country could freely choose which union to belong to and, in accordance with the West German demand, remain a member of NATO.The Federal Republic of Germany and the USSR concluded additional bilateral agreements in this regard In addition to the renunciation of the use of force, they contain articles on broad cooperation (Treaty on Good Neighborliness, Partnership and Cooperation, initialed on September 13, 1990 in Moscow), on the stay and withdrawal of the Soviet Western Group of Forces from the territory of the former GDR (Treaty on the Conditions of Temporary Stay and planned withdrawal of Soviet troops), as well as an agreement on certain transitional measures.

4) Security Policy

Germany's security policy is aimed at maintaining peace in freedom. The Atlantic Alliance (NATO), which celebrated its 40th anniversary on April 4, 1989, has been the foundation of German security policy for more than 30 years. A partnership based on common values ​​and security interests between Western Europe and North America all these years it was a counterbalance to the military power of the Warsaw Pact. These included the presence of American and Canadian troops in Europe and nuclear protection from the United States.

Not acting alone. Even after political and military unification, Germany remains part of this trans-state union system. German unification is directly connected with European unification, German security policy - with European and North Atlantic security policy. Perhaps the fears sometimes raised by the growth of Germany that the Germans might take a special path are unfounded in connection with its integration into the European Community, NATO, the Western European Union and, last but not least, the CSCE. Moreover, it was Germany that in the recent past actively participated in strengthening and further development alliances and, above all, in the creation of pan-European security structures with the involvement of Russia.

CSCE and the New Europe. The creation of common institutions within the framework of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) serves as a guarantee to the new Eastern partners that they are part of the European whole. Extremely important date for the CSCE was the signing of the Charter of Paris (November 21, 1991), which takes into account the countries of Eastern Europe to an even greater extent than before. This meeting was devoted not only to the topics of respect for human rights, democracy in the participating countries and the market economy. Great importance is attached to the establishment of a center for conflict prevention in Vienna. The Center is called upon to monitor the observance and implementation of arms control agreements. The policy of disarmament and international efforts to consolidate peace occupy a special place in the CSCE.

Disarmament. Since March 1989, there have been talks between the member states of NATO and the then still existing Warsaw Pact on conventional forces in Europe. Their successful completion by the signing on November 19, 1990 in Paris of the "Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe" is not least the merit of the policy of the federal government: even during a visit to the Soviet Union in July 1990, Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl promised to do in the negotiations, then still going full swing, a statement of commitment to reduce the armed forces in a united Germany to 370 thousand people. With this commitment, and with the earlier reaffirmation of the renunciation of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, the federal government has made a significant contribution to the cause of disarmament and security. The agreement in the "Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe" on upper limits for the Federal Republic of Germany means that after the unification of Germany and the acceptance of the material part of the National people's army the number of armored personnel carriers will be reduced by almost two thirds, the number of tanks and artillery pieces by 42 per cent, and the number of combat helicopters and aircraft by seven tenths.

V . A country's economy.

1) Social market economy: a reliable model.

Later less than a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall, on July 1, 1990, the day of economic, monetary and social union, the then-existing GDR adopted the social market economy system - an economic and social arrangement that has led the western part of Germany to material success and social welfare in the last 40 years. With the help of the social market economy, new lands should be brought to the same level of prosperity as in the west of the country.

The Federal Republic of Germany belongs to the leading industrial countries in the world. It ranks third in the world in terms of its total economic volume. In world trade, it even ranks second. Since 1975, Germany has been participating in the work of a group of seven large Western industrial countries (the Big Seven), which annually coordinate their economic and financial policies at "top meetings".

In 1992, the gross social product - the value of all goods and services produced - reached a record figure in the old states: 2.775 billion marks. Thus, according to statistics, there are 42,900 marks per inhabitant. Cleared of price changes, that is, the real value of the gross social product has doubled over the past 25 years, and five times over forty years. If we take the prices of 1985 as a basis for comparison, then the gross social product increased from DM 415.5 billion in 1950 to DM 2,246.3 billion in 1992.

The fact that from the ruins of the Second World War the Federal Republic of Germany managed to stand again on a par with the leading industrial nations, it owes neither to minerals nor capital reserves, but above all to the energy of people. Important factors The economic power of the country is the qualification and hard work, the skill and creativity of skilled workers, as well as the greater freedom of action that the social market economy provides.

After World War II, the "economic miracle" was often mentioned. Ludwig Erhard, the first Minister of Economics of the Federal Republic of Germany, did not attach much importance to this image. He said that there could be no question of any miracle, because "it was only the result of the honest efforts of the whole people, who, on the basis of free principles, were able to re-apply human initiative, human freedom and human energy."

General economic development

Undesirable trends are also emerging in a market economy. The state should strive to counteract them by pursuing budgetary, tax, social and competitive policies. With the 1967 law on the stability of the economy, it has a tool to counter such opportunistic blunders. The goal is to ensure stable prices, high employment and external balance with constant and commensurate economic growth (the "magic quadrangle"). Here are the goals for today, which, unfortunately, were not always achieved in Lately. Economic development in this spirit is also the responsibility of the German Federal Bank and the tariff partners responsible for monetary policy. The following bodies participate in the coordination and implementation of economic and financial policy: Market Council of State Bodies. It consists of the federal ministers of economics and finance, one member from each state government, and representatives of communities and community associations. The Federal Bank may participate in meetings that are held at least twice a year. The Market Council seeks to achieve the possible unified approach of all participants in the conduct of market policy.

Advice financial planning. It is similar in composition to the Market Council. Its task is to coordinate the financial planning of the federation, lands and communities. The federation and the states are obliged to develop multi-year financial plans to ensure that government spending and revenues are linked to the capabilities and requirements of the national economy.

Expert Council to determine general economic development through expertise. It was established in 1963. In the autumn of each year, this body, consisting of five independent experts (popularly: "five wise men"), develops an examination of the state and the proposed development of the economy. Its purpose is to facilitate the assessment for all authorities responsible for economic policy and for the public.

In January of each year, the government submits an annual economic report to the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. It sets out the goals of the government for the current year in the field of economy and finance, the planned economic and financial policy and an assessment of the annual examination is given.

National economy and world economy

The central task of economic policy remains to reduce unemployment. The key to increasing employment is investment growth. To achieve an appropriate return on investment. Germany seeks to strengthen market forces, mainly by stimulating individual productivity. The influence of the state on the economy is limited, anti-market regulation is eliminated. This ensures free competition and facilitates adaptation to new conditions. Important impulses in this direction were given by a major reform of the tax system, the last stage of which was implemented in 1990.

Germany for freedom world trade and against any manifestation of protectionism. Since it exports about one third of the gross social product, it cannot do without open markets. It is vital for the German economy to expand the European internal market, as well as to maintain the old and develop new markets outside the European Community. The course of a market economy at home is matched in foreign policy by the vigorous advocacy of open markets and free world trade.

Currency

The unit of currency in the Federal Republic of Germany is the German mark. It replaced the "Reichsmark" in the western part of the country in 1949, and the "GDR mark" in the new lands in 1990. Coins are in circulation in denominations of one, two, five, ten and fifty pfennigs. They are followed by coins in denominations of one, two and five German marks. Coins with a denomination of more than five marks - special issues. There are banknotes in denominations of five, ten, 20, 50, 100, 200 (new), 500 and 1000 DM. Currently, banknotes of old designs are being replaced New episode. The German mark is fully convertible, can be exchanged for any currency and imported and exported without restrictions.

German Federal Bank. The German Federal Bank monitors the stability of the German currency. It is located in Frankfurt am Main. Both in the sphere of general policy and in monetary policy, a kind of division of power justified itself. This means that the issuing bank does not depend on the instructions of the state administration. In many states where there is no relevant statutory regulation, the government may direct central bank print as needed more money, for example, to equalize the government deficit, which in most cases means inflation. This is not possible in Germany. The German Federal Bank Act of 1957 applies here. It states that the German Federal Bank is independent of the instructions of the federal government. On the other hand, the bank is obliged to support the economic policy of the federal government. The tasks of the German Federal Bank are also included in the banking law. must “regulate monetary circulation and credit provision of the economy through the monetary and political competences given by law.” As a currency bank, he must guarantee its strength. Being an issuing bank, it was granted the exclusive right to issue banknotes. As a bank of the state, it maintains the cash desks of the federation and the lands, conducts their payments. Being also the "bank of banks", the federal bank is the financing authority for commercial credit institutions, since they can borrow money from the German federal bank, which they lend to their customers.

2) Agriculture

Germany is not only a highly industrialized country, but also a powerful producer of agricultural products. More than two-thirds of the food needs of the German population are met by local producers. Peasant family farming is typical. Land ownership is in private hands. Most farmers farm their own land. The average farm size is 19 hectares. The most important agricultural products: cereals, potatoes, sugar beets, vegetables, fruits, grapes, dairy products, beef and pork meat, poultry. After the war, German agriculture underwent significant changes. Whereas 40 years ago out of 100 able-bodied 20 worked in the agricultural sector, today it is only 5 people. Number farms with more than one ha of land decreased from 1.6 million to 630 thousand. During the same period, thanks to the use of fertilizers and plant protection products, the breeding of high-yielding varieties, breeding animals and the increasing mechanization of labor, the level of productivity of German agriculture increased enormously (see diagram No. 6). For example, the yield of wheat per hectare has increased from 2 to 5.4 tons, and the annual milk yield per cow has increased by almost 20 percent over 20 years, amounting to 4,607 liters. As a member of the EU, and thus of the common agricultural market, the Federal Republic. Germany has transferred important agricultural policy rights to European institutions. This is especially true for prices, market structure and structural policy, where decisions are made not in Bonn, but in Brussels. The aims of a common European agricultural policy are, among other things, to increase productivity and increase peasant earnings. In this regard, European farmers are guaranteed the purchase of certain quantities of products at fixed prices. At the same time, cheaper non-EU products are subject to protective customs duties to limit competition. Such support for agriculture has led to overproduction in many industries, for example, oil, meat, wine. the main task agricultural policy - to find a solution that benefits both farmers and consumers.

About 50% of the territory is used in Germany's agriculture. However, the industry's contribution to country's GDP is only about 1% (by value of production). More than 60% of all production comes from animal husbandry, where cattle breeding and pig breeding stand out.

The cultivated area in Germany is 35% of the territory. The area under fodder crops is much larger than under food crops. A large amount of feed is still imported.

Grain crops occupy more than 3/5 of arable land in the western lands, and 1/2 in the eastern lands. The main food crop is wheat, but Germany stands out in Europe for the production of rye, oats, and barley. Some varieties of barley are grown specifically for the production of beer. Germany is fully self-sufficient in food grains.

Bavaria has the largest hop growing areas. Potato and sugar beet cultivation are of great importance. In the valleys of the Rhine and its tributaries (in the west of the country), viticulture and horticulture are widespread.

As in many other countries, agriculture, for social reasons, cannot be completely left to the mercy of market competition. The goal of the German government is to gradually transfer into private ownership investments in state-owned enterprises or entire enterprises, such as the federal railway (Deutsche Bundesbahn), the state railway (Deutsche Reichsbahn) of the former GDR or the German Federal Post, in order to achieve also in these areas more competition, relieve public budgets from the financial burden and improve the efficiency of public services.

3) INDUSTRY

Energy

The power industry of Germany provides more than 1 / 2 of its needs through imports (oil, gas, coal). The main role in the fuel base is played by oil and gas, and the share of coal is about 30%. The structure of electricity generation: 64% - at TPPs, 4% - at HPPs, 32% - at NPPs. TPPs on coal operate in the Ruhr and Saar basins, in port cities, on natural gas - in the north of Germany, on fuel oil - in oil refining centers, other TPPs - on mixed fuel. Nuclear power plants are built outside the coal basins. HPPs operate mainly in the south of the country (on mountain rivers).

Germany has only one reserve in sufficient quantities - coal. In the east of the country, in Lausitz and around Leipzig, there are huge deposits of brown coal, of which the former GDR covered 70 percent of its primary energy needs. Since the development was carried out in open pits, large areas were devastated: villages were demolished, excavators left behind a "lunar" landscape, reclamation was carried out rarely and superficially. , bring the situation with reclamation to the level of old lands (see diagram No. 7).

Ferrous metallurgy- one of the most important branches of specialization in Germany, but is currently in crisis. The main factories are concentrated in the Ruhr and the Lower Rhine; there are also in the Saar and in the eastern lands of Germany. Converting and rolling enterprises - throughout the country. The Rhine-Westphalian region is the industrial heart of the country, its largest agglomeration. The land is located in the northwest of Germany along the Rhine and its tributaries. One of them is r. Ruhr - gave the name to the core of this area - the Ruhr basin.

The area is distinguished by the highest concentration of cities and industry, extreme building density and huge environmental pollution. Here, on 13% of the territory of the country of Germany, almost 1/3 of the industrial potential is concentrated. The average population density is 500 people. For 1 sq. km, and 95% of them live in cities. There is little agricultural land. The brown-coal sections of the Cologne Basin, after coal mining, resemble a lunar landscape. And all this, despite the already taken serious measures to protect the environment. Although the most modern system reuse of river water (a whole chain of reservoirs in the Ruhr), but already half of the water consumed is extracted from underground. Strict measures have been taken against air pollution, land is being reclaimed and planted after coal mining, but environmental pollution continues to reach a high degree. The technogenic landscape prevails.

The outstanding economic role of the region is explained by the richness of its subsoil and its position “on the water”. The coal of the Ruhr basin became the basis of the entire industrial complex (coal - metallurgy - heavy industry), which developed here at the end of the last century. And the main waterway - the Rhine with a system of canals - became its "bloody" system. More than 4/5 of all cargoes, delivered here by water transport, come directly by water to blast furnaces, factories, workshops, which reduces the cost of transportation. In contrast to the North, the Rhineso-Westphalian region is relatively young and industrial. It was the largest military-industrial base of the Kaiser and Nazi Germany. His monopoly dominated the country, suppressing the development of other areas. They profited from the arms race, created gigantic concerns covering dozens of industries, from coal mining to the production of chemical machines.

The cities of the Ruhr chain are rather monotonous. A continuous chain of domains, coke-oven batteries, factories stretches along the banks of the Rhine near Duisburg. Like the “metallurgical landscape”, there is nowhere else in Germany. Around the city, 1/3 of West German pig iron and 1/5 of steel are smelted. Here are the largest blast furnaces, electric furnaces, broadband rolling mills, the most modernized plants. Duisburg is the “gate of the Ruhr” in the west, and its main gate. Duisburg is the largest river port of Germany and all of Europe abroad, like Hamburg inland waterways with a complex labyrinth of moorings, warehouses and access roads; its cargo turnover is 38 million tons. It is a large, typical Ruhr city with about half a million inhabitants. Typically Ruhr because the chain of its metallurgical plants stretches for 15 km, and clouds of smoke constantly hang over the city. It is also typical because it is dominated by the "Ruhr complex": coal - metallurgy - heavy engineering. This is where the Thyssen concern arose - the largest metal producer.

In the Ruhr region (North Rhine-Westphalia), according to estimates, there is still a reserve of "black gold" of 20 billion tons. However, coal has ceased to play its former role: oil, natural gas and nuclear energy have pushed it into the background in recent decades. Although the coal mines still employ 140,000 people (800,000 with dependent businesses and family members), and many other industries have sprouted up on the Ruhr. becomes more difficult, i.e. more expensive.In order to avoid a further sharp decline in the number of jobs in the coal industry - the Ruhr is still a heavy blow to employment - and to maintain the importance of hard coal as a national energy carrier, for many years large subsidies have been paid to coal miners for Ruhr and Saare.

Non-ferrous metallurgy - works mainly on imported and secondary raw materials. In terms of aluminum smelting, Germany in foreign Europe is second only to Norway. The main factories are in North Rhine-Westphalia, in Hamburg and Bavaria.

Mechanical engineering and metalworking is the branch of specialization of Germany in the MGRT, it accounts for up to 1 / 2 of industrial production and exports. The largest centers: Munich, Nuremberg, Mannheim, Berlin, Leipzig, Hamburg. Bavaria is the leader in the electrical industry. The automotive industry, marine shipbuilding, optical-mechanical, and aerospace industries are highly developed.

The main region of the German chemical industry is North Rhine-Westphalia (2/5 of all products). The largest centers are Leverkusen (Bayer concern), Cologne, Dormagen, Frankfurt am Main (Hoechst concern), Ludwigshafen (BASF concern). In the eastern lands (after the reunification of Germany), the chemical industry was in a state of deep crisis.

Oil and gas. The most important energy carrier is oil. Only a small proportion of it is mined in the country, mainly in Lower Saxony. The strong energy dependence on foreign supplies, which became apparent during the two great international oil crises, still exists. The main oil suppliers are Russia, Great Britain, Libya and Norway. Recently, the importance (almost equal to coal) of natural gas, which comes mainly from Russia, has increased. Gas is valued as a reliable and environmentally friendly energy source, often used for heating apartments.

Controversial energy source. The catastrophe of the nuclear reactor at Chernobyl pointed even more clearly to the dangers of nuclear energy. Despite the high level of technical safety in Germany, no more nuclear power plants will be built in the coming years, and the existing ones will operate under even tighter control. And yet it is impossible to abandon atomic energy. Nuclear power plants in the east of the country that did not meet safety requirements have been shut down, many reactors in the west of the country are not in operation, and one of them (Niedereichach / Bavaria) is being dismantled.

Energy of the future. Increasing attention is paid to renewable energy sources - solar, wind, water. Hydroelectric power plants have long been in operation in the Alps and the Mid-Altitude Mountains, but energy-producing "windmills" in northern Germany were installed only a few years ago. Solar collectors are increasingly being used in housing construction. There is a significant need for research and development aimed at improving this technique and possibilities of use in regions with a small amount of solar radiation.

4) TRANSPORT

In terms of the density of transport routes, Germany occupies one of the first places in the world. Due to the high intensity of economic relations with EU partners and the central position in Europe, the share of cross-border traffic is high in the total freight turnover of all modes of transport (43%, 1993). The basis of the transport network is railways (about 44 thousand km), 2/5 of which are electrified.

In the total freight turnover, the main role belongs to road transport (about 60%), then rail (20%), inland water (15%) and pipeline (see diagram No. 9). Share in passenger turnover road transport even higher (about 90%). The total length of high-class roads has exceeded 11,000 km.

The length of inland waterways is about 7 thousand km. The main waterway is the international river Rhine, on which many large ports are located, including Duisburg, the world's largest river port with a cargo turnover of 50 million tons per year.

In terms of tonnage of container ships, the country ranks 4th in the world after the United States, Panama and Taiwan. The seaports of Germany are inferior to the largest ports of European countries in terms of cargo turnover. The largest of them are Hamburg, the oil port of Wilhelmshaven, as well as Bremen, Emden, Rostock.

Air transport, like maritime transport, plays important role in the country's foreign relations. All major fair centers have airports. Total in Germany 16 international airports, and Frankfurt Airport ranks first in Europe in terms of cargo turnover, and third in terms of passenger traffic.

Automobile

Who would have thought in 1885, when German engineers Karl Friedrich Benz and Gottlieb Daimler put the first car with an internal combustion engine on the road, that their invention would acquire such great significance for mankind? The machine means for a person everything that is not voluntarily given up - freedom, flexibility, mobility. According to forecasts, the number of registered cars in the united Germany by 2010 will increase from the current 35 million (ie statistically one car for every 2.3 people) to 45.5 million. This will amount to one tenth of the entire machine park of the world (see diagram No. 8). It is clear that German roads can no longer withstand such a load from personal transport. Leading automakers in Europe are already working on a program that will allow them to control the situation on the roads and electronically manage traffic. In addition, they intend to present solutions by 1998 on how to make the car more environmentally friendly and further reduce carbon dioxide pollution.

Local communication

The overcrowding of the carriageway of the streets, which is common for the center of large cities, and the nerve-wracking search for a free parking space, do not prevent the car from unshakably remaining a favorite mode of transport. Communes are trying to solve the problem of traffic congestion by expanding the tram network, allocating large areas for parking outside the city center, arranging a special line for buses. The center in many cities was gradually closed to the car. In Munich, for example, only residents of that area can enter the Old Town by car. Parking is limited here. However, they are not building new ones, hoping to encourage people to transfer to the bus and metro, and if they are building, then not in the center, but outside it - next to stops of urban transport going to the center. Munich intends to establish a society specifically for the construction of such parking lots.

Railway

Between everyone big cities In Germany, modern comfortable electric trains 1C ("intercity") run at hourly intervals. But they did not stop there. "Twice as fast as a car and only half as slow as an airplane!" - with this advertising motto, the German Federal Railway ("Bundesbahn") opened new page its history. Between Hamburg and Munich in 1991, the first high-speed trains ICE ("intercity express") began to run, developing top speed up to 250 km/h. The duration of the trip on these express trains is reduced by about a quarter compared to 1C trains. Before 2000, it is planned to put into operation a high-speed railway network with a length of about 2000 km. Freight trains will also be able to walk on it. This plan, among others, should make the Bundesban more attractive. After all, it is the most unprofitable enterprise in Germany. There are a number of reasons for this, and one of the main ones is that the bendesbahn, as the only transport company, must independently maintain transport routes, i.e. railroad tracks, and people like to drive and even transport goods by trucks rather than trains, which is not good for the environment. Now trying to make the most of it freight traffic again by rail. At the automotive concern "Volkswagen" is already testing new system. About half of the entire trade turnover between individual Volkswagen plants has been transferred to the rails. Less environmentally friendly Bundesbahn plan to make it more economical Passenger Transportation in the sparsely populated rural areas. Rail traffic will be discontinued here and replaced with a modern, computer-controlled bus system. Although this provides residents of these areas with a link to the public transport network, it also increases the load on highways.

Air communication

“You can't take off in Munich, you can't land in Frankfurt,” is how Röf-Dieter Grass, head of the information department of the German Lufthansa, describes the situation at many German airfields. Of course, this is an exaggeration, but delays and delays are not uncommon. Germany's 12 international airports are teeming with traffic as no other mode of transport can boast such an increase as air: 60 million people reached their goal by air in 1990 from German airports, more than 10 percent more than in previous year. For airlines and their customers, this boom often manifests itself in the form of flight delays, since the capacity of runways, airspace and ticket offices is not unlimited. Additional difficulties arise in connection with the absence of a pan-European service for ensuring flight safety that goes beyond the boundaries of one state.

Shipping

Navigation on inland waters should be used more intensively for the transport of goods. So decided the Federal Ministry of Transport. This ecological mode of transport has so far accounted for 18 percent in West Germany and only 4.5 percent in East Germany. Mostly bulk cargo was transported - coal, ore, stone, sand, oil. But the capacity of navigation on inland waters is far from being exhausted. In order to arouse more interest in it, it was decided to connect the most important North Sea ports (Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Cuxhaven, Wilhelmshaven, Emden) and the economic centers of the west of the republic with the regions of Magdeburg and Berlin by waterways. This will require the rehabilitation and expansion of the Middle German and Elbe-Havel canals. In the west, near Magdeburg, construction work has already begun, and they are planned in other areas. The construction of the Main-Danube Canal was completed in autumn 1992. It connects the Northern with the Black Sea. Due to the constant increase in volume transportation conditioned by the further liberalization of trade between Eastern and Western Europe, maritime and coastal shipping may well acquire an important role. If the transport network in the territories adjacent to the coast is improved, then most of the trade between East and West along the coast of the Baltic Sea could be carried out by sea.

In new lands

Potholes in the road surface, bridges in disrepair, poorly marked roadways... The road network in the former GDR is in a deplorable state compared to the West German standard. It can hardly withstand the sharply increased traffic loads. Extension road network is one of the most urgent tasks, it is an important prerequisite for economic recovery. Numerous gaps in the east-west direction should be filled in the autobahn network. So, for example, there is no connection between Hamburg and the industrial regions of Saxony or a branch that would connect the Baltic port cities between Lübeck and Polish Szczecin. On a stretch of about 1,000 km of autobahns, a third lane must be laid in both directions, otherwise there is a risk of congestion. To unload the roads inside the cities, one cannot do without bypass routes. To avoid transport delays on numerous railway crossings construction of bridges and tunnels will be required. Net railways should go along five corridors: from Berlin to Hannover with a continuation to the Ruhr area and Cologne, from Berlin to the German North Sea ports from Berlin to Stuttgart and Munich, from Saxony and Thuringia to the Rhine-Ruhr, as well as the Rhine-Main region. All this consumed huge sums of money. A conservative estimate is based on DM 140 billion over the next ten years.

5) Foreign trade

Germany is a classic exporting state (see diagram No. 10). With few natural resources, its economic power is concentrated in processing and services. Germany is one of the world's leading export countries finished products, industrial installations, technology and know-how. In the list of the most "popular" goods, the first places are occupied by motor vehicles, machine tools, chemical products and electrical engineering. Germany's most important trading partners are located in the West. Economic ties are especially close with France, which imported German goods in 1990 in the amount of 150.4 billion German marks. It is followed by Italy (DM 112.5 billion) and the Netherlands (DM 111.4 billion).

Reduction of trade with the East. Commodity deliveries to the states of Central, South-Eastern and Eastern Europe, which had almost a vital importance primarily for enterprises in the new lands, fell sharply after the collapse of the CMEA. But be that as it may, the Soviet Union in 1990 was still among the dozens of important importers of German goods, purchasing them in the amount of DM 46.3 billion. First of all, high-quality industrial plants were supplied to the USSR. To ensure continuity in German-Soviet trade relations, the federal government provided the USSR with billions in loans, conditions and guarantees to cover export orders.

The active balance is coming to naught. On the other hand, the economic recovery of the new lands led to a sharp increase in German imports. The solid surplus in the balance of goods and services produced, which peaked in 1989 at DM 107.6 billion, declined significantly in 1990.

Russia is the most important supplier of oil. Soviet oil supplies will remain important for Germany in the future, as the resource-poor country needs energy first and foremost. Natural gas and oil deliveries account for more than two-thirds of German exports from Russia. In the first half of 1991, Russia became Germany's most important oil supplier, while in 1990 it was only in sixth place.

6) Environment

Great importance in Germany, especially in the old states, is attached to the decision environmental problem. Advanced technologies for recycling and destruction of production waste have been developed. For example, a state-of-the-art municipal waste incinerator has been operating near Hamburg for several years. Exhaust gases here are cleaned and absorbed in such a way that only warm air enters the atmosphere. The ecological situation in the new lands is more complicated, mainly due to the widespread use of brown coal, which not only pollutes the atmosphere, but also causes great damage to the soil. Therefore, in the near future, tens of billions of marks will have to be spent on land reclamation alone, especially in the Leipzig region, where the bulk of brown coal is mined. All political parties are now more attention to environmental issues, the public also gives these issues a high political priority. The readiness of people to change their life and consumer habits is also increasing, even to make sacrifices in the name of preserving the environment.

Industry reaction. People who leave shopping on store shelves

goods with excessive packaging or containing components harmful to the environment, giving

preference for environmentally sound products, has an impact on manufacturers who

which cannot but take into account the desires of consumers. So far, ecological products and goods

ry is somewhat more expensive than usual. However, developments in last years shows that

before- This is how the market for environmentally friendly clean products. Race manufacturers

claim that their products are "biodegradable", "natural in composition" or "environmentally valuable". Although sometimes these "baits" are not entirely accurate or exaggerated, they show that the conscious environmental attitude of consumers does not remain

without attention.

Ecotech is coming. Not only the market for eco-products is growing, but also the relatively young eco-technology industry. Metal and plastic processing companies in the chemical and computer industries have expanded their activities in the environmental sector. German eco-technology is exported to all countries of the world; over the past ten years, 430 thousand new jobs have appeared in the old lands of the republic. A similar circumstance also means a chance for industry in the new lands, where, with the help of modern technology to eliminate the damage caused to the environment, to protect it from harmful loads in the future. Experts believe that regions that are still under stress have a great future in this regard.

Laws protecting the environment. In recent years, numerous laws have been developed by politicians aimed at protecting climatic conditions, as well as reducing the amount of waste and its environmental elimination. Ozone-depleting fluorine compounds are being phased out, and waste recycling will take precedence over incineration. From mid-1995, industry will be responsible for product packaging waste. A comprehensive recycling system is currently being established by the respective manufacturers. Collectors for packaging will be installed near residential buildings, the used material of which will be recycled and reused. The Packaging Waste Ordinance initiated the creation of new disposal structures throughout Germany. In the future, it is planned to return used products to their manufacturers: cars, household and electrical appliances. The goal is no longer the final elimination, but the creation of a closed circulation of materials in industrial production.

VI . Bundeswehr - the armed forces of Germany

The Bundeswehr (the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany) has existed since 1956 and is part of a democratic society - the structure and concept of the armed forces fundamentally exclude the emergence of a state within a state. A soldier has the same rights as any other citizen of the state, and his military duty should not be at odds with his civil rights. The fundamental rights of military personnel are inviolable. And only in some cases and special circumstances restrictions are possible.

For defense only. The creation of the Bundeswehr was based on the argument that even the freest democracy cannot do without armed protection. However, the Basic Law (constitution), to which every recruit swears, categorically prohibits preparations for an offensive war. Article 26 states: “Actions which may disturb the peaceful existence of peoples and are undertaken with that intent, and especially preparations for waging an offensive war, are contrary to the constitution. They are punishable by law." The Bundeswehr can only be brought into battle for the purpose of defense. So, the Basic Law determines the tasks and structure of the Bundeswehr, which is completed by calls to active service. Not the military, but politicians are consciously appointed to its highest control and command authorities. At the head armed forces is the Minister of Defense, who reports to the Federal Chancellor.The Federal Chancellor, for his part, like the rest of the federal government as a whole, is subject to laws. Peaceful time is the federal minister of defense and, in the event of an enemy attack, the federal chancellor. The fact of an enemy attack must be ascertained by the legislative bodies (Bundestag and Bundesrat), i.e. it is subject to the democratic control of representatives elected by the people.

Personal education. A distinctive feature of the Bundeswehr is the concept of personality education and the idea of ​​a "citizen in military uniform". The point is that a soldier who is called upon to defend freedom should experience as much freedom as possible in a soldier's everyday life. on the one hand, and order and obedience, on the other? Both commanders and subordinates are subject to special requirements. In the Bundeswehr, not blind, but critical obedience is expected. Here they want to deal with a self-responsible, enlightened citizen, with a person who understands the meaning of his service and knows his rights and duties. Commanders must ensure this. Every third soldier in the Bundeswehr is a commander. But you cannot command without learning this. Especially important topic in the training of officers - the education of the individual. The future commander asks questions: how do I treat subordinates? How do I encourage them to serve? How do I win their trust without rubbing into their trust? Since the foundations of personality education are set forth in a whole series of laws, decrees and official instructions, it requires the highest degree of awareness from everyone. Here the most important thing is a person, care, fair treatment, political education without "processing", observance of military law and regulations.

Conscription and alternative service

Men, upon reaching the age of 18, may be called up for service in the armed forces, in the federal border guard, or in one of the services civil defense. Each conscript has the right to refuse service with a weapon in his hands for moral reasons. Then, as a rule, he must serve in alternative service, for example, caring for the sick or the elderly under social institution. Alternative service replaces military service. Military service currently lasts 12 and alternative 15 months. In 1990 on military service 200 thousand young people were called up, 70 thousand went to alternative service. Conscript. Currently, 470 thousand soldiers serve in the Bundeswehr. Of these, 60 percent are long-term servicemen, 40 percent are active military servicemen. Under the conscription law, men between the ages of 18 and 28, and in some cases specified by law, up to 32 years of age, may be called up for military service. When conscripting, the Bundeswehr takes maximum account of the conscript's work or study situation. Graduates of gymnasiums and technical schools, if they want to enter the university, are trying to call upon immediately after graduation, so that they can immediately begin their studies at the university in a year. Most conscripts want to serve as close to hometown. Such wishes are tried to satisfy as much as possible.

VII . Economy and culture of the federal states

Nowhere is the federal structure of the country more clearly visible than in cultural life. A metropolis like Paris in France or London in England has never been in Germany. original cultural life lands led to the emergence of small and large cultural centers of various profiles. Cultural and scientific life flows even in small towns and communities. Berlin, as the capital and seat of the government of a united Germany, is already playing a prominent role in the field of culture. But other German cities retain their position as centers of culture. The federal state ensures the further flourishing of cultural diversity and intensive exchange between East and West, which never happened before unification. This diversity can be judged from the regional distribution in Germany of various cultural institutions and events. State Library, the direct institution of the federation of public law, is located in Frankfurt am Main, Leipzig and Berlin. The State Archives, headquartered in Koblenz, has branches in Berlin, Potsdam, Freiburg/Breisgau and Bayreuth, among others. Hamburg has a large concentration of media, while Cologne and Düsseldorf are centers contemporary art. Berlin has the most theatres. Academies of Sciences are located in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Darmstadt, Göttingen, Halle, Heidelberg, Leipzig, Mainz and Munich. Most famous museums in Berlin, Munich, Nuremberg, Cologne and Stuttgart. Both important literary archives are located in Marbach and Weimar.

Therefore, there are many cultural centers in Germany. There is no distant cultural "province". No need to travel hundreds of kilometers to set up good theater or a concert of good music. And some towns have valuable libraries or wonderful art collections. This is explained by the fact that once Germany consisted of many principalities, and their vain sovereigns turned their residences into centers of culture, and sometimes conscious citizens generously financed the development of art and science in their cities.

Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg is located in the center of Europe. In the west it borders on France, in the south - on Switzerland, across Lake Constance - on Austria. Thanks to this location, two thirds of land exports go to European countries and regions.

Land in numbers: Population (million) 10.25

Area (sq.km) 35.751

Gross output (billion marks) 484

Share of industrial exports (percent) 31

Economy of Baden-Württemberg

Many people in Germany and abroad identify with the state of Baden-Württemberg the economic success of Germany. It is known that Baden-Württemberg is the center of developed industry, advanced technologies and scientific research.

Southwest Germany still in early times industrialization needed people who thought in terms of the future. Scarce land and a lack of raw materials forced inventors and scientists out of need to do good: Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz built a car, Wilhelm Maybach invented the internal combustion engine, Robert Bosch provided big influence on the development of electrical engineering, Count Zeppelin built his airship on the shores of Lake Constance.

The foundation of the industrial landscape of Baden-Württemberg is the ancient traditions of craftsmanship and modern entrepreneurship. The middle class creates today half of the gross national product and thus represents the economic backbone of the country. The deepest traditions are in precision mechanics based in the Black Forest, which began with the production of watches, and in the automotive industry.

In Stuttgart and around it are located such world famous companies as Daimler-Benz, Bosch, Porsche and others. Many medium and small firms are usually highly specialized sub-suppliers of these industrial giants.

Adjacent to the economic area of ​​the Middle Neckar are the industrial areas of Karlsruhe with oil refining, Mannheim and Heidelberg with a specialized production of buses and printing equipment, as well as Freiburg and Ulm, centers with a rich offer of services.

The industrial products of Baden-Württemberg enjoy in great demand worldwide. Quality and reliability, compliance with market requirements, boldness of technological solutions - all this determines the high density of industrial enterprises. The volume of exports per capita corresponds to that of Japan. Enterprises in the land are located not only in densely populated centers, but also in rural areas.

If earlier mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and automotive industry occupied a central place in industry, today all greater value acquires the service sector.

Baden-Württemberg is also a major center for the publishing industry and funds mass media. It publishes 30 per cent. German magazines and 40 per cent. books, there are two public radio stations, three private regional and 15 local radio stations. Many foreign firms such as ABB, Alcatel, John Deere, Hewlett Packard, Hyundai, IBM, Kodak, Michelin, Minolta, Sony are represented in the state by their branches.

Nature and culture of Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg belongs to the regions of the country with the most picturesque landscapes. The Black Forest - a wooded area of ​​medium-altitude mountains, Lake Constance - the "Swabian Sea", the green valleys of the Rhine and Danube, the Neckar and Tauber, the harsh Swabian Alb and the eye-caressing terrain in Marktgräflerland are the most favorite places for organizing walks and recreation, sports.

Baden-Württemberg is one of the leading centers of art and culture in Germany, home to many famous people in the world. The resourcefulness and enterprise of the inhabitants of this region have become a proverb, their spiritual and artistic achievements fill more than one chapter. German history, spiritual and cultural development Germany. Here are just some of the names of poets born here - Friedrich Schiller (1759 - 1805) and Friedrich Hölderlin (1770 - 1843) or philosophers - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770 - 1831) and Martin Heidegger (1889 - 1976).

The region of the middle Neckar, with Stuttgart as its capital, is the economic and cultural center of the land. The Mannheim Exhibition Hall and the Reis Museum and the traditional theaters delight art lovers. Cathedrals in Ulm and Freiburg are testimonies of architectural excellence in southern Germany. The palace and the old town in Heidelberg attract tourists from all over the world. The traditional cuckoo clock from the Black Forest is not only an object of admiration in the clock museum in Furtwangen, but also a favorite souvenir of foreign guests.

In the land are held rich in traditions folk festivals and wine holidays. It is famous for its cuisine, hospitable hosts. Baden-Württemberg has an extremely favorable transport position, which further raises the interest of tourism and industrial companies in it.

Republic of Bavaria

Population 11.8 million

Area 70.554 sq. km

Capital Munich

The largest federal state in terms of area has the oldest state traditions: back in the 6th century, there was a duchy of the Bavarian tribe. IN big story and rich cultural and historical heritage, to a large extent lie the reasons for the attractiveness of Bavaria as a German tourist paradise, as well as the charm of the Bavarian landscapes. Attractive in this country's favorite travel destination is the mountain world of the Alps, where the highest mountain range in Germany, the Zug-Spitze (2963 m), picturesque lakes in the hilly pre-Alpine plateau, the Bavarian Forest with the first German national park, the Danube and Main valleys with their tributaries , landscapes and cities through which the "Romantic Road" leads.

Previously Munich was cultural center largest German agricultural land and was considered the rural capital. After the Second World War, it is called the "secret capital of Germany" and becomes the center of an economic region with a focus on the future (automotive, aircraft, electrical and electronic industries, insurance and publishing). The capital of Bavaria (1.23 million inhabitants) is an important center of science and research: it has its own university and other higher educational establishments, Institute. Max Planck and nuclear research reactor. Since 1992, Munich has a new airport on the Erdinger Bog, which bears the name of Franz Josef Strauss, who was the Prime Minister of Bavaria for many years. This airport is a base in international air traffic.

Industry and agriculture

Nuremberg (493,000 inhabitants) is located at the heart of the future European motorway network on the way from Naples to Stockholm, from Lisbon via Prague to Warsaw. Together with Fürth and Erlangen it forms an industrial region with major industries such as mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and toy manufacturing (JSC Siemens, Quelle, Grundig). The international toy fair, held annually in Nuremberg, is the most important of its kind. In Augsburg (255,000 inhabitants) machine building and the textile industry are concentrated. In Regensburg (121,000 inhabitants) there is a young electronics industry and a very "young" automobile industry (BMB), and cars (Audi) are also produced in Ingolstadt. Glassworks (Zwiesel) and porcelain manufactories (Rosenthal, Hutchenreiter) in East Bavaria on high level continue the tradition of handicraft and industry. In large areas of Bavaria, in particular, in the Alps and the pre-Alpine plateau, agriculture and forestry are developed. Franconian wine is highly valued by connoisseurs. Hundreds of breweries produce the famous Bavarian beer, which is served in large mugs, for example, during the Munich October Festival.

Culture of all eras

Regensburg has largely retained its medieval appearance, Nuremberg, the city of Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), keeps priceless masterpieces of the late Middle Ages in its churches and museums. The Renaissance is best represented in Augsburg. The pearls of Baroque and Rococo are the monastery churches in Banz and Ettal, the basilica in Vierzenheiligen and the Wieskirche church near Steingaden, included in the UNESCO list of world cultural monuments, as well as the residence of the archbishop in Würzburg.

Munich is not only home to the largest German university, but also the Deutsches Museum with the world's largest collection of the history of natural sciences and technology, in addition, numerous historical Buildings, famous art collections and theaters.

The castles of the Bavarian "fairy king" Ludwig II, Herrenheim See, Linderhof and Neuschwanstein, built in the historicized style of the 19th century, attract visitors like a magnet, as do the cities of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Nördlingen and Dinkelsbühl with their medieval half-timbered houses.

And music lovers have where to have fun in Bavaria. For example, every year during music festival operas by Richard Wagner, who lived here in 1872-1883, are staged in Bayreuth.

Berlin

Population 3.4 million

Area 899 sq. km

Capital Berlin

A world-class city with a rich past.

After World War II, Berlin was for decades a symbol of the German division and the center of the Cold War between the victorious Western powers and the Soviet Union. In 1948, West Berlin withstood an eleven-month blockade thanks to the "air bridge". Aviation air force The United States, with support from British and French allies, provided the population of West Berlin with vital goods by air. The three western sectors and East Berlin became more and more divided in their development. The split seemed final when the GDR began building the wall on August 13, 1961. It fell only on November 9, 1989 as a result of a peaceful revolution in the GDR. Among the ruling burgomasters are personalities known for their participation in post-war history far beyond the city limits: Ernst Reuter, Billy Brandt and Richard von Weizsäcker.

The German capital is the center of European culture

Before its spiritual and cultural decline during the Nazi dictatorship and before the destruction during the Second World War, Berlin was not only the economic center of Germany, but also one of the cultural capitals of Europe in the "golden twenties". Berlin has three opera houses (the German Opera and Ballet Theatre, the German State Opera House on Unter den Linden, the Komische Oper Theatre), several large orchestras, dozens of other theaters and, as before, it is one of the largest museum cities in the world .

Intense competition in the newspaper market: influential newspapers such as the Berliner Morgenpost, the Berliner Zeitung and the Tagesspiegel. The inter-regional newspaper Die Welt moved its editorial office from Bonn to Berlin. The university, located in the eastern part of Berlin, bears the name of the scientist and politician Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767-1835) and the name of his brother, the great traveler and naturalist Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859). In the western part there are the Free University and the Technical University founded in 1948. Science and research are also represented in Berlin by numerous other institutions, for example, the Institute. Khan and Meitner, who, in particular, conducts research in the field of nuclear and reactor physics, the Institute of Communications Technology. Heinrich Hertz and Foundation" Cultural heritage Prussia".

Currently, the future government residence is growing out of its former borders. Calculations show that about eight million inhabitants will live in the large area of ​​Berlin in the year 2000. Undertaken great effort to harmonize the transport network (street transport, metro and train, ferries, air transport) with modern requirements, without destroying the "green" Berlin, the city of parks, forests and lakes.

Until now, Berlin is the largest industrial center in Europe with industries such as engineering, food and taste, textile industry and, above all, the electrical industry. In the 19th century, two global companies were established here - Siemens AG and AEG. They have successfully made the leap into the information age.

The city's leading trading houses are KadeBe (Kaufhaus des Westens), Wertheim and Hertie.

The newly united city has big tasks. Now people come together, the formation of which took place over decades in different political systems. The economic disproportion is smoothed out. Hundreds of thousands of flats are being renovated, mainly in the eastern part. Although the unification caused a huge economic boom in the city, but measures to restore ties between previously separated parts, to expand and modernize the future seat of government, to receive a sharp jump in the number of residents require creativity, funds and resourcefulness. Meanwhile, domestic and foreign investors have acquired spacious plots of land on Potsdamer Platz, where the wasteland was left after the Second World War. The layout of the future government quarter in the bend of the Spree is almost ready. 835 architects from 44 countries entered the architectural competition to design the area.

Brandenburg

Population 2.5 million

Area 29.053 sq. km

Capital Potsdam

The German capital is located in the center of Brandenburg.

The capital of Brandenburg, Potsdam (140,000 inhabitants) is located at the gates of Berlin.

The Potsdam Conference was held here, at which in the summer of 1945 the political leaders of the United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Union made far-reaching decisions about a defeated Germany. The venue was deliberately chosen, as Potsdam was intimately connected to Prussian-German history after King Frederick II (1712-1786) made Potsdam his residence. Friedrich's Potsdam buildings, particularly in the beautiful Sanssouci Park, outlived Prussia as a state. Here the enlightened monarch held philosophical conversations with friends such as Voltaire (1694-1778) and hosted such famous guests as Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). On August 17, 1991, the coffin of Frederick II was returned to Sanssouci, which had been hidden during the Second World War, and in 1952 was transferred to the Hohenzollern family estate in Hechingen (Baden-Württemberg).

Rye and steel

Brandenburg is the largest state of the new federal states in terms of area. Agriculture and forestry are among the most important branches of the economy of Brandenburg. 35 percent of the territory is forests (mostly pine). Rye and wheat, oilseeds, potatoes and sugar beets are cultivated, and around Berlin, as well as in the Oderbruch near Frankfurt, vegetables and fruits are cultivated. The industrial regions are Eisenhüttenstadt (steel production) and Cottbus, where lignite mining forms the basis of the chemical industry and energy. 23.6 percent of jobs are in engineering and automotive. South of Berlin, in Ludwigsfelde, Mercedes-Benz builds trucks in an assembly plant. The planned investment here is one billion marks. In Frankfurt an der Oder - the electrical industry and instrument making.

Brandenburg pins great hopes on Berlin's economic recovery. In the future, it is planned to unite Berlin and Brandenburg into one state with the capital in Potsdam. The preparation of the association is entrusted to the Joint Intergovernmental Commission of both Lands.

Free Hanseatic City of Bremen

Population 684.000

Area 404 sq. km

Capital Bremen

Two cities - one land

Bremen and Bremerhaven are located at a distance of 65 km from each other, and yet together they form the federal state of Bremen, the smallest in terms of area and population.

In Bremerhaven, goods are mostly handled in containers (approx. 60 percent; since 1983, Bremerhaven has had the world's largest container handling plant). In terms of imports of tea and coffee, tobacco and cotton, Bremen can be considered a monopoly in the country.

Bremen's industry is not limited to shipping and shipbuilding. In the city, high-performance aircraft manufacturing and the space industry were first developed. There is also the automotive industry, the electrical industry, as well as the food and flavor industries.

Bremerhaven is the center of German polar research. Both old ships and vessels of the German Shipping Museum go there.

Living room Bremen

The market square is home to the Gothic St. Petri Cathedral and the sumptuous Renaissance Town Hall with its welcoming wine cellar. In front of her is the Roland pillar of 1404 - a symbol of the freedom of the city, and next to it is another symbol - a monument Bremen Town Musicians, figures of animals based on the fairy tale of the Brothers Grimm.

The market square was built in 1924-31. merchant Ludwig Roselius Bötcherstrasse, full of shops and museums, is a brick monument of the Bremen burghers.

Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg

Population 1.7 million

Area 755 sq. km

Capital Hamburg

Germany's gateway to the world

Hamburg is the most important port in the country and at the same time the largest foreign trade and transit center. Just one example: in Hamburg there are about 130 Japanese and over 20 Chinese trading companies. The industrial region of the port includes shipyards, oil refineries and foreign raw materials processing enterprises.

In addition to these industries typical of the port, aviation and aerospace, electronics, precision mechanics, optics and the chemical industry are becoming increasingly important.

Green industrial city

Hamburg is the second largest industrial city in Germany and the center of an economic zone with 2.8 million people. Nevertheless, it is one of the "greenest" cities in the country due to its widely laid out parks (for example, the Plants and Flowers Park), alleys, arable land and gardens, forests, wetlands and wastelands. The unification of Germany returned to the port its rear, which it had previously enjoyed thanks to its branched links to the network of waterways. Thus, the city-state can again continue its traditions, once again be a link between East and West.

In addition, Hamburg is a banking and service center in northern Germany. Being the most important consular city after New York highlights its international importance. "Congress Center", the venue for international specialized exhibitions, belongs to the most modern places convening conferences in Europe. The role of Hamburg as a media center is undeniable; it is the residence of the largest publishing houses of German magazines, the German Press Agency (dpa), numerous radio and television studios.

Citizenship and love of art

Hamburg has long been an influential city of culture. In 1678, the first permanent opera and ballet theater in Germany was founded in the Hanseatic city: here Georg Friedrich Handel (1685-1759) staged his first opera Almira. The famous son of the city is the composer Johann Brahms (1833-1897). In 1767, the German national theater who won leading position mainly through their performances of Shakespeare's works. Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724-1803) and Matthias Claudius (1740-1815) were then known as "literary authorities" in Hamburg.

In our century, new, avant-garde, internationally significant impulses in the development of opera were given by intendant Rolf Liebermann, and in the development of drama theater by intendant Gustav Grundgens. Unforgettable is the actor Hans Albers (1891-1960), born in Hamburg, in the film role of Baron Munchausen. Today, the city is characterized by performances of musicals. Built specifically for Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom of the Opera" new theater"New Flora".

The generosity of the citizens, the open love for the arts and the far-sighted purchasing policy make it possible to have significant collections, in particular, the Hamburg Exhibition Hall, the Museum of Arts and Crafts and the Ethnographic Museum.

Hesse

Population 5.9 million

Area 21.114 sq. km

Capital Wiesbaden

Transport hub Rhine-Main

Frankfurt (660,000 inhabitants) has become an important financial center in Germany, and its exhibitions and fairs have become attractive thanks to Hesse's central location. Numerous transport routes intersect here. Among European airports, the Rhine-Main airport, which covers 17 square kilometers, has the largest cargo turnover and the second largest passenger traffic.

Industry and fine arts

The Rhine-Main region is the largest economic center of Germany, equal to Berlin and inferior to the Ruhr area. Companies such as Höchst, Opel and Degussa are located here, among others.

Frankfurt am Main is the seat of most major German banks and many branches of foreign banks. Here, the Deutsche Bundesbank oversees the sustainability of the German mark.

In the north of the earth, around Kassel, another industrial center has developed with mechanical engineering, car building, locomotive building and automotive manufacturing. Art connoisseurs know this city for its rich collections. Dutch painting and the world's largest exhibition of contemporary art "document".

In the south of the earth, in Offenbach, is the center of the leather industry. In Darmstadt there is a solid Higher Technical School, Mathildenhöhe, an area that since 1899 has grown into the Darmshadt Colony of Artists (Museum of Art Nouveau). Frankfurt, birthplace of Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832), is also a city of art, theater and publishing. The Museum Embankment is constantly expanding. In addition, in the city center appeared in 1986 a new showroom"Shirn", and in 1991 the Museum of Modern Art. The International Book Fair, which annually awards the German Book Trade World Prize, is the largest book show in the world.

The surroundings of the university towns of Mapburg and Giessen, as well as Wetzlar, famous for its optical industry, are picturesque.

In the east of Hesse - the city of Fulda, the city of bishops with baroque architecture and rich history. The state capital of Wiesbaden (257,000 inhabitants) is not only an administrative center, but also an elegant resort with a well-visited gaming house.

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

Population 1.89 million

Area 23.598 sq. km

Capital Schwerin

Land of a Thousand Lakes

None of the federal states today has such an agrarian character, none of them is so sparsely populated and none of them has such a diverse sea coast as the new federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Its greatest wealth is not destroyed nature, water and its "thousand lakes".

The conspicuous Gothic brick architecture clearly points to the Hanseatic origin of such trading cities as Stralsund and Wismar, as well as the university cities of Greifswald (founded in 1456) and Rostock. Centuries-old trade links these cities on the Baltic coast with the Scandinavian countries. The Hanseatic city of Rostock is today the largest city in the world (250,000 inhabitants). After reunification, the city of Schwerin (130,000 inhabitants) became the capital.

Nature and art

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is a hilly area with alternating fields, meadows and forests. The largest Mecklenburg lake is Müritz (117 sq. km), along the eastern shore of which a wide territory of the reserve extends. There are about 260 natural and landscape reserves in this land. Countless testimonies of the great history of the architecture of the earth have been preserved and are being restored today, such as the Schwerin Palace with 300 towers and turrets. Noteworthy are the limestone cliffs on Rügen, the largest island in Germany (926 sq. km). Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840) captured these rocks: the artist from Greifswald depicted this seascape in an emphatically romantic way. Fritz Reiter (1810-1874) described the region and its people realistically and with the features of the Low German dialect inherent in this area. In Güstrow, the sculptor and poet Ernst Barlach (1870-1938) devoted himself to his life's work. And Uwe Johnson (1934-1984) erected with his novels literary monument to their homeland and its people.

Tourism is the industry of the future

The most important sectors of the economy are agriculture, farming and animal husbandry. Permanent sources of income are sea and river fisheries, the modernization and harmonization of which with the changed demands of consumers is currently being persistently implemented. East German shipyards are located on the coast with the corresponding sub-suppliers. But tourism has the most favorable development opportunities. In 1992, about 10 million tourists visited Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Walking, including cycling, is very popular. The Land is making great efforts to expand the tourism infrastructure. Responsible planners, however, make sure that ever-increasing tourism does not lead to pollution of the landscape, nature and the environment.

Lower Saxony

Population 7.5 million

Area 47.364 sq. km

Capital Hannover

Diversity of nature

The second largest land in Germany (47.364 sq. km) is divided into three large areas: the Harz, the Weser highlands and the North German Plain with the Lüneburg Heath in the center. The peat bogs of the Ems area, the marsh meadows behind the dams of the North Sea and the East Frisian Islands in its shallow waters represent a special world.

In Lower Saxony, major highways and railways intersect from north to south and from west to east. Here the Middle German Canal connects the Rhine, Elbe and Oder and thus the inland waterways of Western and Eastern Europe. School of Mining, workshop of the company "Volkswagen". Nearly two-thirds of the land area is under agricultural land. Widely represented in Lower Saxony food industry: famous ham from Oldenburg and honey from the Lüneburg Heath. Deep traditions in mining: great importance had the development of ore deposits in the Harz, in the Middle Ages the imperial city of Goslar became rich thanks to the mining of silver, and in 1775 a school for miners and steelworkers was founded in Clausthal, which later became the world-famous Mining Academy. Lune6ypr has long been known for salt. The Lower Saxon potash industry is an important branch of the economy. The third largest iron ore deposit in Europe is being developed in Salzgitter. Local production of oil and natural gas covers about five percent of the country's needs. Braunschweig is home to the Federal Office for Physics and Technology, the highest federal body for testing, calibration and approvals, which, by the way, regulates the exact Central European time by radio signal. Emden is the third largest German port on the North Sea. Large firms produce ships and cars here. One of the cities has become a symbol of the automotive industry: Wolfsburg. From here, the Volkswagen car began its victorious march. The Volkswagen firm is the largest enterprise in the world, and the Volkswagen Foundation is the largest non-state German fund for the development of science.

City of fairs Gainower, university city of Göttingen. Of the 7.3 million inhabitants of the state, half a million live in the capital of the state - Hannover. Hannover is a world-famous fair city: the CEBIT Industrial Fair and Exhibition, a major showcase for communications technology, showcases the latest developments every year. major project of the future - the organization and holding of the world exhibition in 2000.

The university city of Göttingen played a significant role in political history and history of the natural sciences. In 1537 a group of Göttingen professors, the "Göttingen Seven", protested in a liberal spirit against the abolition of the state constitution by the sovereign. Most of them, dismissed after that, met in 1848 as deputies of the Frankfurt National Assembly. The mathematician and astronomer Carl Friedrich Gauss (1771-1859) was also working in Göttingen at that time. In the 20th century, decisive impulses were generated in the development of atomic physics in Göttingen. Suffice it to mention Nobel laureates Max Born (1882-1970) and Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976).

North Rhine-Westphalia

Population 17.7 million

Area 34.071 sq. km

Capital Düsseldorf

Energy hub in the center of Europe

As a political unit, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia has been known since the reign of the British occupation authorities, when in 1946 most of the former Rhineland province of Prussia and the province of Westphalia were united with the state of Lippe-Detmold. North Rhine-Westphalia is the size of Belgium and Luxembourg put together. The largest land in terms of population has over 17 million inhabitants and is the largest industrial center in Europe: more than half of the population lives in large cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants.

The Ruhr area is a chain of cities with about 7.5 million inhabitants and the largest industrial region in Europe. This energy center countries, uniting 31 power plants.

Tradition and innovation

It has taken decades for North Rhine-Westphalia to change its traditionally coal- and steel-based economy to meet the demands of the world market through great efforts and collaboration between entrepreneurs, the state and the government. Hundreds of thousands of jobs have been created by the emergence of innovative industries: today, promising industries and global firms operate here, such as Klöckner-Humbold-Deutz, the world's largest engine manufacturer. The economic dynamics of the land is also evidenced by the fact that, in addition to large-scale production, there are 450,000 small and medium-sized firms equipped with modern technology such as textile production in Krefeld and cutting in Solingen. An expanding industry in the service sector is the insurance industry.

Dortmund is home to the largest German breweries. The north of the earth is the center of agriculture and animal husbandry. The Münster area is famous for horse breeding and equestrian sports. Stormy economic life pulsates in a densely meshed network of highways, railroads and waterways. It converges the traffic flows of Europe, linking numerous major cities: Cologne, Essen, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Duisburg, Bochum, Wuppertal, Bielefeld, Gelsenkirchen, Solingen, Leverkusen and Aachen.

Duisburg is the world's largest harbor for inland navigation vessels.

The mining region is changing its face. Where factory chimneys used to smoke or conveyors moved, today parks are being laid out. Reclamation in progress in the Rhine lignite mining basin open development. The Sauerland and Bergisches Land are the favorite recreation areas of the people of the Rhine and the Ruhr. North Rhine-Westphalia has 44 balneological and climatic resorts. Cologne, today the largest city in the world (over one million inhabitants) and important since Roman times, is famous for its Romanesque churches and gothic cathedral, as well as museums (Walraf-Richartz Museum / Ludwig Museum, Roman-German Museum, etc.). The capital Düsseldorf (576.000), one of the most important financial centers, is popular as a city of art thanks to its significant art collections, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein (Düsseldorf/Duisburg) and the famous drama theater. The university in Münster in Westphalia is famous, where the city center is especially beautiful. Universities of Munster and other cities of the earth form the densest network of universities in Europe. To the south of Cologne is Bonn, until 1949 a medium-sized university city, since 1949 - the temporary capital of the Federal Republic of Germany. After this honor is awarded to Berlin and the seat of government is transferred to the Spree, Bonn will retain an important role as the administrative and scientific center of the country.

Rhineland-Palatinate

Population 3.8 million

Area 19.846 sq. km

Capital Mainz

Not only Rhenish romance

Rhineland-Palatinate was created in 1946 from Bavarian, Hessian and Prussian territories that had never been under the same roof before. But over time, Rhineland-Palatinate formed into a single whole and acquired its own look. If, after its creation, the land was considered the poorest, today it has the highest share of exports, here is the giant of chemistry in Europe - the BASF company in Ludwigshafen, as well as the largest European broadcasting station - the Second German Television Program in Mainz (ZDF). Every year, seven million people come to rest and treatment in Rhineland-Palatinate to the spas in Neuenahr, Bad Ems and Bad Bertrich. In the Middle Mountains, with its volcanic rocks, there are many mineral springs. Vineyards on the Palatinate, Rhine, Moselle and Aare account for two-thirds of Germany's grape harvest. Spacious forests are a significant source of income for forestry.

Modernity of history

Celts, Romans, Burgundians and Franconians settled on the Rhine. Here, in Speyer, Worms and Mainz, there are large imperial cathedrals from the medieval period. The Elector of Mainz was Archchancellor of the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation". Worms had the oldest synagogue in Germany (founded in 1034 in the Romanesque style). In 1521, the reformer Martin Luther in the Reichstag of Worms refused to refute his theses, in Koblenz, 300 years later, the liberal newspaper "Rhenish Merkur" fought against Napoleonic domination and censorship in the press, in 1832 the first mass republican-democratic meeting took place in the Hambach Palace. The World Museum of Printing Arts - The Gutenberg Museum in Mainz displays its treasures in the city where the inventor of movable type printing, Johannes Gutenberg (1400-1468), whose epoch-making invention actually helped Luther to carry out the Reformation, was born. Another reformer of the world was born in Trier - the philosopher and critic of the national economy Karl Marx (1818-1883).

Artery Rhine

For a length of 290 km, the Rhine is the main economic artery of the earth. There are three large cities on the Rhine: the center of the chemical industry Ludwigshafen (158,000 inhabitants), the capital of the state Mainz (175,000) and at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle - the center of the service sector Koblenz (107,000). Less than a hundred thousand inhabitants number the two thousand year old Roman city of Trier on the Moselle and Kaiserslautern, where in 1152 Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa built his "pfalz", court ("city of Barbarossa"). The most beautiful places in Germany include the Rhine valley between Bingen and Bonn, covered with legends, decorated with fortresses, glorified by countless poets, painters and musicians. Enchanting beauty and valleys of the tributaries of the Moselle, Nahe, Lahn and Ara. At the foot of the Palatinate Forest passes the German wine route. The painter Max Slevogt (1868-1932) captured the incomparable reflection of this charming hilly landscape. Many of his works are exhibited, in particular, in the palace "Villa Ludwigshöhe" near Edenkoben. Like the paintings of the Palatinate-born painter Hans Poormann (1880-1966), they adorn the chancellor's office in Bonn today.

Republic of Saxony

Population 4.7 million

Area 18.338 sq. km

Capital Dresden

"Little Paris" and "Florence on the Elbe"

Among the new lands, Saxony has the highest population density and the highest degree of industrialization. Over one-fifth of Saxony's 4.9 million inhabitants live in Leipzig (530,000) and Dresden (501,000).

Leipzig, traditional city of fairs and "little Paris" (Goethe), was one of the hotbeds of non-violent resistance to the SED regime. On October 9, 1989, large demonstrations on Mondays resulted in a single appeal: "We are the people!" And Dresden, the "pearl of the Baroque", almost completely burned down in the fire of aerial bombardments in 1945, became the capital of the newly restored Republic of Saxony.

The tradition of porcelain making, started in 1710 at the porcelain manufactory in Meissen, continues. The year before, Johann Friedrich Bötger (1682-1719) invented a recipe for making "white gold" instead of a recipe for making gold.

Handicrafts from the Ore Mountains are known all over the world: woodcarving and bobbin lace weaving. Chemnitz, with its Higher Technical School and research institutes, is betting on mechanical engineering, and for some time now also on microelectronics. Zwickau is a city of automotive manufacturing, but instead of the unforgettable small car "Trabant" ("Trabi"), the Polo, a small car from Volkswagen, is now being produced here. Leipzig, once Germany's largest shopping and publishing center, thanks to the famous Leipzig Fair, the gateway to Eastern Europe, intends to continue its tradition of city fairs.

Dresden, popularly referred to as "Florence on the Elbe", hopes to regain its former glory cultural center. And to this day it is a major music center with a restored original opera house, built by Gottfried Semper in 1870-1878. in the style of the Italian Renaissance, the Dresden State Orchestra, the boys' choir "Kreuzhor". He is an eldorado visual arts with its very rich collections of jewels under the "Green Vaults" ("Grunes Gewolbe") and masterpieces of masters European painting V " art gallery old masters".

The Elbe sandstone mountains of Saxon Switzerland are an attractive holiday destination not only because of ideal conditions for mountaineering. Great efforts are being made in the field of tourism, such as the "Silver Route of the Ore Mountains" project, on which, following the former precious metal transport route, about 150 sights of Saxony can be found.

Creative activity and entrepreneurship

Saxony has filled more than one chapter in German cultural history.

The works of Johann Sebastian Bach (he was born in 1685 in Eisenach), who from 1723 until his death worked in Leipzig (1750), continue to be an integral part of the repertoire of the church boys' choir ("Thomanerchor"), which continues musical traditions.

The encyclopedic scientist Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) discovered binary system numbers and - regardless of Newton - infinitesimal calculus.

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781) sang of humanity and tolerance in his drama Nathan the Wise.

Composers Robert Schumann (1810-1856) and Richard Wagner (1813-1883) are also born Saxons.

Saxony-Anhalt

Population 2.82 million

Area 20.443 sq. km

Capital Magdeburg

Classical Middle Germany

Saxony-Anhalt- classic middle Germany on the Elbe and Saale: the area between the Harz with the high peak The 1,142 m high Brocken (Goethe calls it Blocksberg in Faust) and the Fleming, a rear area in the east, between floodplain meadows in the north and vineyard slopes along the rivers Saale and Unstrut.

The Romanesque cathedral in Halberstadt and the thousand-year-old speech monument of the "Merseburg Spells" confirm the historical continuity from the time of Charlemagne. Many places breathe the past.

Halle, Bitterfeld, Leuna, Wolfen and Merseburg, the former centers of the chemical industry and lignite mining, are undergoing a complex process of restructuring as a result of the wrong industrial policy of the former GDR. As in other new states, large investments will be needed here for many years to improve the environment and develop new infrastructure. The center of traditional chemistry must be preserved. Opening in 1992 in the new lands of the first institute. Max Planck in Halle was a further step in the development of the economic zone.

Evidence of a great past

The moment Magdeburg, home to the center of heavy engineering, the Technical University and the Medical Academy, became the state capital in 1990, at least in this respect its traditional rivalry with Halle ended.

Both cities have worthy evidence of the medieval period: the cathedral of the imperial and episcopal city of Magdeburg is the largest sacral building in Germany; the cathedral, the market church and the Red Tower dominate the historical center of the old salt town of Halle, the birthplace of the composer Georg Friedrich Handel (1685-1759). The German-American artist Lionel Feininger (1871-1956) captured the old motifs of Halle in a modern way - his works are exhibited along with paintings of his contemporaries in State Gallery Moritzburg.

But one of the outstanding places in the geography of art of the 20th century was the city of Dessau, thanks to its Bauhaus school, which became an era in architecture.

Tangermünde, with its brick architecture, is considered the "Rothenburg of the North". The half-timbered diamond of Wernigerode is known as the "variegated city by the Harz". Medieval figures on the Naumburg Cathedral are ancient examples of a realistic, as in life, image. Martin Luther (1483-1546) was born and died in Eisleben, he is buried in the palace church in Wittenberg, on the doors of which, in 1517, he is said to have nailed his 95 theses. In the 16th century, she worked here and famous family painters Cranach. At princely court Johann Sebastian Bach wrote his six Brandenburg Concertos in Köthen. The physicist Otto von Goericke was the burgomaster of Magdeburg, in 1663 he proved the existence of atmospheric pressure in the "Magdeburg hemispheres".

Schleswig-Holstein

Population 2.6 million

Area 15.731 sq. km

Capital Kiel

Indivisible forever

Schleswig-Holstein - the only land in a country located on two seas: the North and the Baltic. About both parts of the earth in an ancient document it is said that "to be eternally indivisible". Therefore, unlike other German "lands with a hyphen" formed by the occupation authorities after 1945, they have long been referred to together.

Schleswig-Holstein is a sparsely populated land with 2.6 million inhabitants. The state capital of Kiel (246,000 inhabitants) and the Hanseatic city of Lübeck (215,000) owe their importance to ports on the Baltic Sea. Lübeck-Travemünde is the most important German ferry port.

With shipping, the shipbuilding industry received significant development. When shipbuilding was in crisis at the end of the sixties, some of the firms successfully switched to the production of special ships.

Monument of world culture and world literature

Lübeck, on whose 500-year-old city gate (Holstentor) with Latin letters the motto "Consent in the house, peace outside" is inscribed, it is included in the list of monuments of world culture by UNESCO.

IN world literature included the novels of the writer Thomas Mann (1875-1955), a native of Lübeck, who was awarded in 1929 Nobel Prize in the field of literature. In May 1993, the Buddenbrook House was opened in the home of Thomas and Heinrich Mann's (1871-1950) grandparents as a monument and research site.

Republic of Thuringia

Population 2.57 million

Area 16.251 sq. km

Capital Erfurt

Green Heart of Germany

Because of its position and forested area, Thuringia is called " green heart Germany".

The capital of the state of Erfurt (209,000 inhabitants), referred to as the "garden city", was founded in the 8th century. Unusual in the old town a large number of patrician houses, churches and monasteries - museum of architecture on outdoors. Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach in 1685 (died in 1750 in Leipzig), the offspring of a widely branched family of musicians.

He hid in the nearby Wartburg in 1521-1522. Martin Luther. Here he translated the New Testament into German, an important step in the development of the modern German literary language. In 1817, in Wartburg, representatives of student corporations swore allegiance to a united Germany.

Particularism, culture and barbarism

Once upon a time in Thuringia, the fragmentation of Germany, which was boring to the point of soreness, was especially sharply reflected. This cultural particularism has brought positive results, since the sovereigns of small states willingly and often at the expense of their subjects, who had to pay high taxes, took on the role of patrons.

The most prominent patron of the land was Duke Karl-August von Sachsen-Weimar (1757-1828). He invited the translator of Shakespeare and romance Christoph Martin Wieland (1733-1813), the poet and linguist Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803), and most importantly, Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832) to his city of residence Weimar. . Since 1800, the city has become a source of spiritual energy, and not only German. In Weimar, Goethe created his most famous works, as, for example, the final edition of his essay on Faust. From 1787 to 1789 and from 1799 to 1805. Friedrich Schiller also lived in Weimar and, in particular, wrote his "William Tell" here. In the second half of the last century, in a city where art is valued, Franz Liszt (1811-1886) gave concerts and wrote music. In 1919, the "Bauhaus" was established here, an educational institution in which the division of art, crafts and technology was to be overcome. In 1925, the Bauhaus moved to Dessau, later to Berlin, where it fell victim to the barbarism that began with Hitler's rise to power in 1933. This year also marked the end of the first German Republic, "Weimar", the constitution of which was developed in Weimar in 1919.

Industry and crafts

During the Middle Ages, many Thuringian cities, notably Erfurt, became wealthy through the trade in woad, a dye plant that colors Blue colour. Later, other important industries also developed, such as the production of tool machines and precision optical instruments, which brought world fame the city of Jena and the mechanic Carl Zeiss. For a long time, cars have been produced in Eisenach: in the days of the GDR - "Wart6urg", after the unification of Germany, the firms "Opel" and "Bosch" work there.

Population 1.1 million

Area 2.570 sq. km

Capital Saarbrücken

City, land, river

The Saar, a tributary of the Moselle, gave its name to the land (the Saar Canal between Dillingen and the End/Moselle makes the Saar navigable). The Saar makes its way through the Midlands ridge into the wooded Hunsrück with picturesque meander landscapes. In its lower reaches, grapes are cultivated. The capital of Saarbrücken (192,000 inhabitants) is a city of fairs and congresses. It successfully combines the French way of life with the German. The Saarans know how to enjoy what the kitchen prepares and stores in the cellar. The city's son, director Max Ophuls (1902-1957), made film history with charming comedies like Flirt. Higher and secondary specialized educational institutions of the land are concentrated in Saarbrücken, including the university, the Higher Art and Higher music school, where many students from neighboring France also study. The name of the city of Saar-Louis recalls that a good 300 years ago, the French king Ludwig XIV founded a fortress here to protect his conquests in western Germany. Today it is an industrial city (automotive, steel construction, food processing and electrical industry).

Central European landscape

Economics, like science, removed all border barriers a long time ago. The Saarland, Lorraine and Luxembourg are increasingly growing together, Saar-Lahr-Lux is one of the central regions of Europe. Traditional industries of interregional importance are the glass and ceramic industries. The products of such a large company as "Villeroy & Boch" are distinguished high quality and a wealth of shapes and colors. Although the Saarland has suffered somewhat due to the global crisis in the coal and steel industries, the financing of structural changes and innovations already today creates the conditions for hosting an important industry of the future. Currently, the majority of Saarans work in the capital goods industry and the service sector.

VIII . Churches and religious communities

"Freedom of religion, conscience and freedom of religious and ideological adherence are inviolable. The unhindered performance of religious rites is guaranteed." Every citizen of the Federal Republic of Germany regards this provision of the Basic Law (Article 4) as a normal fundamental right.

Over 56 million people in Germany consider themselves adherents of some Christian denomination. Of these, almost 29.5 million are evangelicals, over 28 million are Catholics, and a minority of the population belongs to other Christian communities.

According to the Weimar Constitution of 1919, the church was separated from the state, although historical connections preserved. Created at the time legal status basically exists to this day, because the relevant provisions of the Weimar constitution were transferred to the Basic Law. In Germany there is no state church, that is, there is no connection between the state and church administration, and therefore the church is not under the control of the state. Churches have the status of independent public corporations. Relations with the state are often called partnerships. They are based, in addition to the constitution, various concordats and treaties. The state guarantees property rights to churches. It subsidizes the salaries of priests and bears all or part of the costs of maintaining certain ecclesiastical institutions, such as kindergartens, hospitals, and schools. Churches have the right to impose taxes on their members, which are usually collected by the state. Future theologians are trained mostly in public universities. Churches have a documented right to participate in a joint decision in the appointment of teachers to theological departments. Social and charity- important component public life. It is indispensable in hospitals, nursing and care homes, consultations and services, schools and other educational institutions.

evangelical church

The Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) is a community of 24 largely independent Lutheran, Unitarian and Reformed churches. Since 1991, the EKD has again become an all-German association. The borders of the state churches intersect with the borders of the federal states. The highest church bodies are the synod and the church conference, the highest governing body is the EKD Council. The consistory in Hannover is the central governing body of the EKD. Evangelical churches are members of the World Council of Churches. They work closely with the Roman Catholic Church.

Catholic Church

The Catholic Church is represented by 23 bishoprics, of which five are archbishoprics. After the unification, plans appeared for a new organization of those territories that previously belonged to the Conference of Bishops established in 1676. It is envisaged to elevate to the rank of bishoprics two departments for episcopal affairs and one apostolic administration and to form a new bishopric in Hamburg. Archbishops, bishops and vicars - over 70 in all - hold plenums of the German Bishops' Conference each spring and autumn. The secretariat is located in Bonn.

The impulses received from the 2nd Vatican Council regarding the participation of the Catholic laity in the work of the church are put into practice by the elected representations of the laity. They represent over 100 Catholic unions and are united in the Central Committee of German Catholics.

Other religious communities

Other communities include, in particular, free churches. The two largest evangelical free churches, the Methodists and the Evangelical Congregation, merged in 1968 to form the Evangelical Methodist Church. Besides them there are Baptists. After the 1st Vatican Council, the Old Catholic Church broke away from the Roman Catholic Church in 1870. Mennonites, Quakers and the Salvation Army are known for their social activities.

About 530,0001 Jews lived in the German Empire in 1933. Today, after the National Socialist genocide, about 40,000 Jews live in Germany, united in Jewish communities. The largest Jewish community is in Berlin with almost 10,000 members, the communities in Frankfurt am Main and Munich with about 5,000 members. After the unification, traditional communities in East Germany, for example, in Dresden and Leipzig, are actively developing again. The head organization of the Jewish communities is the Central Council of Jews in Germany. Founded in Heidelberg graduate School Jewish Studies, which enjoys worldwide recognition.

Due to the presence of a large number of foreign employees and their families, religious communities, which previously were almost non-existent in Germany, have acquired great importance. It concerns the Greek Orthodox Church and especially Islam.

IX. Conclusion.

For more than four decades there has been intense economic competition between the two German states. History has shown that the Stalinist model of socialism in the GDR, as in the USSR, by the end of the 1980s was on the verge of complete bankruptcy. The logical result of "real socialism" on German soil was the decision of the People's Chamber of the GDR of August 23, 1990 on the entry of the GDR into the FGR, which happened on October 3, 1990. From that moment on, the laws of the FRG extended to the territory of the GDR.

Germany is one of the industrial giants modern world. Only in the old lands the volume of industrial production reaches 1 trillion. stamps. The most important industries are the automotive industry, general engineering, electrical engineering, and metallurgy.

In socio-economic and political development Germany played an important role especially its economic and political-geographical position. Great benefits are provided by the location in the center of Europe among the economically highly developed states at the intersection of the trans-European highways of the latitudinal and meridional directions. One of the important advantages is the coastal position of Germany and proximity to major port cities of neighboring countries (Rotterdam, Antwerp, etc.)

The German policy is aimed at strengthening economic independence: the introduction of a single European currency, the reduction of customs duties on certain types goods, etc. Germany has a very active social policy of the state, which ensures social stability. Germany by degree social security persons of wage labor is not inferior to Sweden.

Due to its economic and favorable geographic location in the center of Europe, Germany is one of the most dynamically developing European states, which allows it to play a major role in the European Community.

Based on the above, it can be assumed that at the turn of the year 2000 a state was formed on the European continent, which in the next century will play one of the leading roles in politics, economics and culture not only in the European and Asian states, but also in the international arena.

X . Bibliography.

1. “Countries and peoples” in 20 volumes - vol. Foreign Europe. Redcall. V.P. Maksakovsky (responsible editor) and others - M .: Thought, 1979.

2. "Countries and peoples" in 20 volumes - vol. Western Europe. Redcall. V.P. Maksakovsky (responsible editor) and others - M .: Thought, 1979.

3. "Germany. The country is being introduced.” Friedrich Reinecke Verlag

Editors-translators: Larisa Bendix, Andreas Dorfmann 1995

4. “ Deutschland” Societets Verlag publishing house in cooperation with the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government (Bonn), 1996

5. Magazine "KulturChronik" publishing house Inter Nationes Se.V.(IN), 1998 G .

In 1949, four years after the end of the Second World War, two German states were formed: in the east the German Democratic Republic, GDR, and the FRG, the Federal Republic of Germany in the west. Although each had its own government, they were not completely independent. In the GDR, policy was dictated by the Soviet Union, while the FRG was influenced by Great Britain, France, and the United States.

In March 1952, the USSR proposed to the United States, Great Britain and France to peacefully resolve the German issue: the GDR and the FRG should again be united into one independent state and made politically neutral. But the members of the Western Union were against such a plan. They wanted the FRG to belong to the West. They believed that a neutral Germany would fall under the influence of the Soviet Union. The then liberal-conservative government was also strongly in favor of an alliance with the West.

After 1952, the differences between the two Germanys intensified. In 1956, countries acquired their own armies. The GDR became a member of the Warsaw Union, and the FRG joined NATO.

While in the GDR economic problems grew like a snowball, business in Germany developed and flourished. The standard of living in the two countries differed strikingly. This was the first reason why thousands of East Germans fled to West Germany. In the end, the GDR closed its borders and introduced armed control over them. In 1961, the last stone was laid on the wall that divided the two Germanys.

In the years cold war, from 1952 to 1969, the two German states were in contact only through trade. In June 1953 East Berlin and other cities East Germany rebelled against the communist dictatorship and economy, but soviet tanks calmed the popular unrest. In Germany, the majority of citizens were satisfied with the government's policy. However, here too, in the 1960s, a wave of protests and student demonstrations against capitalism and too close ties with the United States swept through.

The first political negotiations between the two countries began in 1969. This was the so-called "Ostpolitik" of the then Chancellor Willy Brandt and his government of Social Democrats and Liberals. In 1972, the GDR and the FRG signed an agreement on the foundations of relations. The agreement improved political and economic contacts between the two countries. More and more West Germans were able to visit their relatives in the GDR, but few East Germans were allowed to travel west.

In the autumn of 1989, Hungary opened its Austrian borders, thus giving the citizens of the GDR the opportunity to flee to western Germany. Many have left their country this way. Others fled to the German embassy in Warsaw and Prague and remained there until they received permission to enter the Western Republic.

Soon mass demonstrations broke out in Leipzig, Dresden and other eastern cities. At first, it was only about free travel to Western countries and especially Western Germany, free elections and free economy. But soon calls for the unification of the two Germanys sounded louder and louder. Opposition factions sprang up, and a few weeks later the SED (Socialist Unity Party of Germany) resigned.

The process of unification of Germany, which lasts in 1989-90 in the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany, is called by the Germans die Wende (Wende). It includes four main periods:

1. Peaceful Revolution, a time of mass protests and demonstrations (on Mondays) against the political system of the GDR and for human rights. This period lasted throughout the fall of 1989.
2. The fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989 and the press conference of the Politburo, where Günter Schabowski announced the opening of checkpoints (border crossings)
3. The transition of the GDR to democracy, which in March 1990 led to the first and only democratic elections to the People's Chamber.
4. The process of German reunification with the signing of the Unification Treaty in August 1990, the Treaty of the Final Settlement with regard to Germany in September and finally the annexation of five German states to the FRG.