Germany is an intoxicating brew (a bit like its wonderful beer) of fast cars and fairytale castles. The German people enjoy a reputation for accuracy, precision and efficiency – although an equally enduring image is of lederhosen-clad Bavarians hoisting beer steins at Munich's famous Oktoberfest. Neither of these stereotypes reflects the diversity of Germany's towns and cities, from romantic Heidelberg, the medieval Nuremberg, to the cosmopolitan decadence of Berlin. The country boasts 30 UNESCO World Heritage Sites throughout 16 Federal States, each awash with a torrent of enchanting sites to explore, plus thrilling activities to pursue. Every area has its distinct regional foods and offers a huge choice of local wines and beers.
Such diversity might be explained by Germany's history, which is suitably rich and complex. Germany fragmented into five large duchies (Saxony, Bavaria, Franconia, Lorraine and Swabia) in the 10th century, whose dukes managed to establish a de facto hereditary tenure over each of their respective fiefdoms. Various Houses and Dynasties then grew in power and influence. By the late 13th century, the country was seething with civil war and the House of Habsburg was later to emerge, who ruled the empire, with only a brief interruption, until 1806. By this time Germany had dissolved into a patchwork of over 300 states.
After 1815, the German Confederation was established with 39 states. German unification continued apace throughout the century until a revolt in Serbia precipitated a chain of events which led to World War I and Germany adopting the democratic constitution; and this coupled with serious domestic political instability compounded by the Great Depression of the 1920s and 30s, paved the way for the rise of Adolf Hitler's Nationalist Socialists. Hitler sought to reverse the perceived humiliation imposed by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles and set about creating the Third Reich. When Hitler threatened Poland, the UK and France drew the line: from there, it was a short route to World War II. After six years of global warfare, at an estimated cost of 60 million lives, the German army was defeated in 1945 by the allied armies of the USA, the USSR, the UK and others.
This produced the post-war division of Europe into Western and Soviet spheres of influence: the eastern, Soviet-controlled portion became the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the western part emerged to become the Federal Republic of Germany. Then, a dramatic process of events culminated in the fall of the Berlin Wall at the end of 1989, and the collapse of the East German state. Unified Germany, with nearly 80 million people and twice the GNP of the EU's next largest member, dominated the Union economically.
Germany is still the largest economy in Europe and maintains great global influence. The shadow of modern-day warfare is lifting and people can finally see that the great beauty of the country remains undiminished.
