Germany and Related Topics

Berlin

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Berlin Cathedral (left) and Berlin Palace (right), 1900

Berlin became the capital of the German Empire in 1871 and expanded rapidly in the following years.

Berlin in ruins after World War II (Potsdamer Platz, 1945)

The Berlin Wall (painted on the western side) was a barrier that divided the city from 1961 to 1989.

The fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989. On 3 October 1990, the German reunification process was formally finished.

The coat of arms proposed in the state contract

The outskirts of Berlin are covered with woodlands and numerous lakes.

Aerial photo over central Berlin showing City West, Potsdamer Platz, Alexanderplatz and the Tiergarten

Panorama of the Gendarmenmarkt, showing the Konzerthaus Berlin, flanked by the German Church (left) and French Church (right)

Breitscheidplatz with Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is the center of City West.

Rotes Rathaus (Red City Hall), seat of the Senate and Mayor of Berlin

Berlin's 12 boroughs and their 96 neighborhoods

Berlin is a UNESCO "City of Design" and recognized for its creative industries and startup ecosystem.

Deutsche Bahn, the world's second-largest transport company, is headquartered in Berlin.

The new building of Axel Springer SE which is heardquarted in Berlin

Berlin Hauptbahnhof is the largest grade-separated railway station in Europe.

The Berlin U-Bahn (Metro) at Heidelberger Platz station

Flights departing from Berlin serve 163 destinations around the globe.

Airports in Berlin, including those that are no longer used (as of November 2020)

Café customers in Berlin Mitte using Wi-Fi devices

The Humboldt University of Berlin is affiliated with 57 Nobel Prize winners.

The Free University is one of Germany's eleven "Universities of Excellence".

The WISTA Science and Technology Park in Adlershof is home to several innovative businesses and research institutes.

The Alte Nationalgalerie is part of the Museum Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The alternative Holzmarkt, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg

The Jewish Museum presents two millennia of German–Jewish history.

The reconstructed Ishtar Gate of Babylon at the Pergamon Museum

The Berlinale is the largest international spectator film festival.

The French Cathedral during the annual Festival of Lights

Hanukkah festival at the Brandenburg Gate

Sir Simon Rattle conducting the renowned Berlin Philharmonic

The Olympiastadion hosted the 1936 Summer Olympics and the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final.

The Berlin Marathon is the world record course.

The Federal Chancellery building, seat of the Chancellor of Germany

Schloss Bellevue, seat of the President of Germany

Prussian House of Lords, the seat of the Bundesrat of Germany

Headquarters of the Federal Intelligence Service

Berlin is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population.

Poland

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Country in Central Europe.

A reconstruction of a Bronze Age, Lusatian culture settlement in Biskupin, 8th century BC

Poland under the rule of Mieszko I, whose acceptance of Christianity under the auspices of the Latin Church and the Baptism of Poland marked the beginning of statehood in 966.

Casimir III the Great is the only Polish king to receive the title of Great. He built extensively during his reign, and reformed the Polish army along with the country's legal code, 1333–70.

The Battle of Grunwald was fought against the German Order of Teutonic Knights, and resulted in a decisive victory for the Kingdom of Poland, 15 July 1410.

Wawel Castle in Kraków, seat of Polish kings from 1038 until the capital was moved to Warsaw in 1596.

King John III Sobieski defeated the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Vienna on 12 September 1683.

Stanisław II Augustus, the last King of Poland, reigned from 1764 until his abdication on 25 November 1795.

The partitions of Poland, carried out by the Kingdom of Prussia (blue), the Russian Empire (brown), and the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy (green) in 1772, 1793 and 1795.

Chief of State Marshal Józef Piłsudski was a hero of the Polish independence campaign and the nation's premiere statesman from 1918 until his death on 12 May 1935.

Polish Army 7TP tanks on military manoeuvres shortly before the invasion of Poland in 1939

Pilots of the 303 Polish Fighter Squadron during the Battle of Britain, October 1940

Map of the Holocaust in German-occupied Poland with deportation routes and massacre sites. Major ghettos are marked with yellow stars. Nazi extermination camps are marked with white skulls in black squares. The border in 1941 between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union is marked in red.

At High Noon, 4 June 1989 — political poster featuring Gary Cooper to encourage votes for the Solidarity party in the 1989 elections

Flowers in front of the Presidential Palace following the death of Poland's top government officials in a plane crash on 10 April 2010

Morskie Oko alpine lake in the Tatra Mountains. Poland has one of the highest densities of lakes in the world.

The wisent, one of Poland's national animals, is commonly found at the ancient and UNESCO-protected Białowieża Forest.

The Sejm is the lower house of the parliament of Poland.

The Constitution of 3 May adopted in 1791 was the first modern constitution in Europe.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, located in Warsaw

Polish Air Force F-16s, a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft

A Mercedes-Benz Sprinter patrol van belonging to the Polish State Police Service (Policja)

The Old City of Zamość is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

PKP Intercity Pendolino at the Wrocław railway station

Physicist and chemist Maria Skłodowska-Curie was the first person to win two Nobel Prizes.

Nicolaus Copernicus, the 16th century Polish astronomer who formulated the heliocentric model of the solar system.

Population of Poland from 1900 to 2010 in millions of inhabitants

Dolina Jadwigi — a bilingual Polish-Kashubian road sign with the village name

John Paul II, born Karol Wojtyła, held the papacy between 1978-2005 and was the first Pole to become a Roman Catholic Pope.

The Polish White Eagle is Poland's enduring national and cultural symbol

All Saints' Day on 1 November is one of the most important public holidays in Poland.

Lady with an Ermine (1490) by Leonardo da Vinci. It symbolises Poland's cultural heritage and identity.

Selection of hearty traditional comfort food from Poland, including bigos, gołąbki, żurek, pierogi, placki ziemniaczane, and rye bread.

Traditional polonaise dresses, 1780–1785.

Andrzej Wajda, the recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Golden Bear Awards.

Headquarters of the publicly funded national television network TVP in Warsaw

The Stadion Narodowy in Warsaw, home of the national football team, and one of the host stadiums of Euro 2012.

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at its greatest extent in 1619

The country is bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukraine to the east, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to the south, and Germany to the west.

France

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Transcontinental country primarily located in Western Europe and spanning overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.

One of the Lascaux paintings: a horse – approximately 17,000 BC. Lascaux is famous for its "exceptionally detailed depictions of humans and animals".

Vercingetorix surrenders to Caesar during the Battle of Alesia. The Gallic defeat in the Gallic Wars secured the Roman conquest of the country.

The Maison Carrée was a temple of the Gallo-Roman city of Nemausus (present-day Nîmes) and is one of the best-preserved vestiges of the Roman Empire.

With Clovis's conversion to Catholicism in 498, the Frankish monarchy, elective and secular until then, became hereditary and of divine right.

Joan of Arc led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453), which paved the way for the final victory.

Metropolitan France territorial evolution from 985 to 1947

The Château de Chenonceau, nowadays part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was built in the early 16th century.

Louis XIV, the "Sun King", was the absolute monarch of France and made France the leading European power.

Ouverture des États généraux à Versailles, 5 mai 1789 by Auguste Couder

The Storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789 was the most emblematic event of the French Revolution.

Le Serment du Jeu de paume by Jacques-Louis David, 1791

Napoleon, Emperor of the French, built a vast empire across Europe. His conquests spread the ideals of the French Revolution across much of the continent, such as popular sovereignty, equality before the law, republicanism and administrative reorganisation while his legal reforms had a major impact worldwide. Nationalism, especially in Germany, emerged in reaction against him.

Animated map of the growth and decline of the French colonial empire

French Poilus posing with their war-torn flag in 1917, during World War I

Charles de Gaulle took an active part in many major events of the 20th century: a hero of World War I, leader of the Free French during World War II, he then became President, where he facilitated decolonisation, maintained France as a major power and overcame the revolt of May 1968.

The May 68 protests, a massive social movement, would ultimately led to many social changes, such as the right to abortion, women empowerment as well as the decriminalisation of homosexuality.

Republican marches were organised across France after the January 2015 attacks perpetrated by Islamist terrorists; they became the largest public rallies in French history.

A relief map of Metropolitan France, showing cities with over 100,000 inhabitants

Mont Blanc, the highest summit in Western Europe, marks the border with Italy.

Geological formations near Roussillon, Vaucluse

Reed bed on the Gironde estuary, the largest estuary in Western Europe

Köppen climate classification map of Metropolitan France

Marine (blue), regional (green) and national (red) parks in France (2019)

The lands making up the French Republic, shown at the same geographic scale

The National Assembly is the lower house of the French Parliament.

The basic principles that the French Republic must respect are found in the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

88 states and governments are part of La Francophonie, which promotes values of democracy, multilingualism and cultural diversity. France has been a key member of this global organisation since its inception in 1970.

The European Parliament in Strasbourg, near the border with (Germany). France is a founding member of all EU institutions.

Examples of France's military. Clockwise from top left: nuclear aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle; a Dassault Rafale fighter aircraft; French Chasseurs Alpins patrolling the valleys of Kapisa province in Afghanistan; a Leclerc tank

La Défense (as seen from the Eiffel Tower) was in 2017 ranked by Ernst & Young as the leading Central business district in continental Europe, and the fourth in the world.

Composition of the French economy (GDP) in 2016 by expenditure type

Champagne is from the Champagne region in Northeast France.

The Eiffel Tower is the world's most-visited paid monument, an icon of both Paris and France.

The Château de Marqueyssac, featuring a French formal garden, is one of the Remarkable Gardens of France.

Belleville Nuclear Power Plant. France derives most of its electricity from nuclear power, the highest percentage in the world.

A TGV Duplex crossing the Cize–Bolozon viaduct. The train can reach a maximum speed of 360 km/h.

Air France is one of the biggest airlines in the world.

France is in 2020 the biggest national financial contributor to the European Space Agency, which conceived the Ariane rocket family, launched from French Guiana (Ariane 5 pictured).

The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble

Population density in France by arrondissement. The main urban areas are visible, notably the Paris (centre-north), Lille (north), Marseille (southeast) and Lyon (centre-southeast) urban areas.

Notre-Dame de Reims is the Roman Catholic cathedral where the Kings of France were crowned until 1825.

The Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, a teaching hospital in Paris, is one of Europe's largest hospitals.

The École normale supérieure (ENS) in Paris, established in the end of the 18th century, produces more Nobel Prize laureates per capita than any other institution in the world.

Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People (1830) portrays the July Revolution using the stylistic views of Romanticism. Since Liberty is part of the motto "Liberté, égalité, fraternité", as the French put it, this painting has become the primary symbol of the French Republic.

The Louvre Museum, widely recognised as one of the finest art museums in the world, was in 2019 both the largest and the most-visited museum in the world.

Claude Monet, founder of the Impressionist movement

Le Penseur by Auguste Rodin (1902), Musée Rodin, Paris

Saint Louis's Sainte-Chapelle represents the French impact on religious architecture.

Place de la Bourse in Bordeaux, an example of French baroque architecture

The Capitole de Toulouse hosts Toulouse City Hall.

French literary figures. Clockwise from top left: Molière is the most played author in the Comédie-Française; Victor Hugo is one of the most important French novelist and poet; 19th-century poet, writer and translator Charles Baudelaire; 20th-century philosopher and novelist Jean-Paul Sartre

René Descartes, founder of modern Western philosophy

Serge Gainsbourg, one of the world's most influential popular musicians

Daft Punk, pioneers of the French house movement

A Palme d'Or from the Cannes Film Festival, one of the "Big Three" film festivals alongside the Venice Film Festival and Berlin International Film Festival

Louis de Funès, often called "France's favourite actor", has played over 130 roles in film and over 100 on stage.

Chanel's headquarters on Place Vendôme, Paris

The Parisian headquarters of Agence France-Presse, one of the world's oldest and leading news agencies

Le Figaro was founded in 1826; many of France's most prominent authors have written in its columns over the decades, and it is still considered a newspaper of record.

Admittance of Germaine Tillion, Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz, Pierre Brossolette and Jean Zay at the Pantheon, a mausoleum for distinguished French people, in 2015

Sculpture of Marianne, a common national personification of the French Republic

French wines are usually made to accompany French cuisine.

Starting in 1903, the Tour de France is the oldest and most prestigious of Grands Tours, and the world's most famous cycling race.

Pierre de Coubertin, father of the modern Olympic Games

Zidane was named the best European footballer of the past 50 years in a 2004 UEFA poll.

Map of the Francophone world:
Native language
Administrative language
Secondary or non-official language
Francophone minorities

France borders Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Andorra, and Spain in continental Europe, as well as the Netherlands, Suriname, and Brazil in the Americas via its overseas territories in French Guiana and Saint Martin.

The Kingdom of Prussia (light gray) within the German Empire (1871–1918)

States of Germany

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The states of the Weimar Republic in 1925, with the Free State of Prussia as the largest

West Germany (blue) and East Germany (red) and West Berlin (yellow)

Composition of German states' governing coalitions

Map of German districts. Yellow districts are urban, white are sub-urban or rural.

The Federal Republic of Germany, as a federal state, consists of sixteen partly sovereign federated states (Land (state), plural Länder (states); commonly informally Bundesland / federated state, plural Bundesländer / federated states).

Netherlands

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Country located in Northwestern Europe with overseas territories in the Caribbean.

The name of the historic County of Holland is currently used as a pars pro toto for the Netherlands.

Oak figurine found in Willemstad (4500 BC)

Franks, Frisians and Saxons (710s AD) with Traiecturm and Dorestad in the middle

Rorik of Dorestad, Viking ruler of Friesland (romantic 1912 depiction)

A Medieval Tombe of the Brabantian knight Arnold van der Sluijs

Map of the Habsburg dominions. From 1556 the dynasty's lands in the Low Countries were retained by the Spanish Habsburgs.

Dutch East India Company factory in Hugli-Chuchura, Mughal Bengal by Hendrik van Schuylenburgh, 1665

Winter landscape with skaters near the city of Kampen by Hendrick Avercamp (1620s)

Map of the Dutch colonial empire. Light green: territories administered by or originating from territories administered by the Dutch East India Company; dark green: the Dutch West India Company. In yellow are the territories occupied later, during the 19th century.

The submission of Diponegoro to General De Kock at the end of the Java War in 1830. Painting by Nicolaas Pieneman

Rotterdam after German air raids in 1940

Former Prime Ministers Wim Kok, Dries van Agt, Piet de Jong, Ruud Lubbers and Jan Peter Balkenende with Prime Minister Mark Rutte, in 2011

The Christmas flood of 1717 was the result of a northwesterly storm that resulted in the death of thousands.

Map illustrating areas of the Netherlands below sea level

The Delta Works are located in the provinces of South Holland and Zeeland.

Common seals on Terschelling, a Wadden Sea island

The Binnenhof, where the lower and upper houses of the States General meet

De Wallen, Amsterdam's red-light district, offers activities such as legal prostitution and a number of coffeeshops that sell marijuana, symbolising the Dutch political culture and tradition of tolerance.

The Netherlands has a culture of respectful and friendly debate. From left to right, members of the House of Representatives Sander de Rouwe (CDA), Ineke van Gent (GL), Han ten Broeke (VVD), Kees Verhoeven (D66) and Farshad Bashir (SP), 2010

Provinces and territories of the Netherlands

The Peace Palace (Vredespaleis), in The Hague

General Onno Eichelsheim is the current Chief of Defence.

Zr. Ms. Holland, a Royal Netherlands Navy offshore patrol vessel

Historical GDP per capita development (Our World in Data)

A proportional representation of Netherlands exports, 2019

The Netherlands is part of a monetary union, the Eurozone (dark blue), and the EU single market.

Natural gas concessions in the Netherlands. Today the Netherlands accounts for more than 25% of all natural gas reserves in the EU.

The Groningen gas field whose discovery in 1959 transformed the Dutch economy, generating €159 billion in revenue since the mid-1970s.

Population of the Netherlands from 1900 to 2000

Population pyramid of the Netherlands in 2017

In Rotterdam almost half the population has an immigrant background.

Population density in the Netherlands by municipality. The largest urban area, the Randstad is clearly visible along the west coast.

Knowledge of foreign languages in the Netherlands, in per cent of the population over the age of 15, in 2006

An international primary school in The Hague

View on the Utrecht Science Park of Utrecht University. The building in the centre is the library.

Portrait of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723), known as "the father of microbiology"

A regional train operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS)

Bike passage at Rotterdam Centraal station

Dutch people in orange celebrating King's Day in Amsterdam, 2017

Johan Cruyff Arena, the largest Dutch concert venue

Dutch star football players Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie during a game with the Netherlands against Denmark at Euro 2012

New Amsterdam as it appeared in 1664. Under British rule it became known as New York.

Eustachius De Lannoy of the Dutch East India Company surrenders to Maharaja Marthanda Varma of the Indian Kingdom of Travancore after the Battle of Colachel. (Depiction at Padmanabhapuram Palace)

A Dutch doctor vaccinating Indonesian patients

The Netherlands consists of twelve provinces; it borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, with a North Sea coastline to the north and west.

Prehistoric Heunischenburg, in the vicinity of Kronach

Bavaria

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The Bavarian duchies after the partition of 1392

Bavarian herald Joerg Rugenn wearing a tabard of the arms around 1510

A memorial to soldiers who died in the two World Wars in Dietelskirchen (Kröning), Bavaria

Expression of Bavarian (linguistic) identity in a shop window in the town of Regensburg, Upper Palatinate

View of the Bavarian Alps (foreground); in the background Austria (specifically Tyrol): Inn valley (center) with (left) Kaisergebirge and (right) Pendling mountain. In the extreme background (center-left) the snow-capped High Tauern

Administrative regions (Regierungsbezirke and Bezirke) of Bavaria

Munich city center with Frauenkirche (left) and Rathaus (town hall)

Regensburg with the Danube (foreground) and Regensburg Cathedral

The Bavarian State Chancellery in Munich

Markus Söder, the current prime minister ("Ministerpräsident") of Bavaria

Neuschwanstein Castle is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Bavaria. (The Alps are to the left of the picture frame)

Bavaria is one of Germany's least densely populated states.

A Catholic church near Füssen with the Alps in the background

Upper German and the southern counterpart to Central German both form the High German languages, while the Austro-Bavarian dialects are in blue

The Allianz Arena, one of the world's most famous football stadiums

Campeon - Infineon and Intel R&D centers

Programmable logic controller Siemens Simatic S7-1500

Bavaria (Bayern, ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (Freistaat Bayern, ; Freistoot Bayern), is a state in the south-east of Germany.

Austria

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Landlocked country in the southern part of Central Europe, situated at Eastern Alps.

Venus of Willendorf, 28,000 to 25,000 BC, at the Museum of Natural History Vienna

The Battle of Vienna in 1683 broke the advance of the Ottoman Empire into Europe.

The Congress of Vienna met in 1814–15. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire.

Map of the German Confederation (1815–1836) with its 39 member states

An ethno-linguistic map of Austria-Hungary, 1910

Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination sparked World War I, one of the most disastrous conflicts in human history

German-speaking provinces claimed by German-Austria in 1918: The border of the subsequent Second Republic of Austria is outlined in red.

Adolf Hitler speaking at Heldenplatz, Vienna, 1938

Austria in 1941 when it was known as the "Ostmark"

The liberation of Mauthausen concentration camp, 1945

The United Nations Office in Vienna is one of the four major UN office sites worldwide.

Austria joined the European Union in 1995 and signed the Lisbon Treaty in 2007.

The Austrian Parliament Building in Vienna

The Leopoldine Wing of Hofburg Imperial Palace in Vienna, home to the offices of the Austrian president

The Federal Chancellery on Ballhausplatz

The European Parliament: Austria is one of the 27 EU members.

A topographic map of Austria showing cities with over 100,000 inhabitants

Köppen-Geiger climate classification map for Austria

A proportional representation of Austria exports, 2019

Austria is part of a monetary union, the eurozone (dark blue), and of the EU single market.

Children in Austria, near Au, Vorarlberg

Bilingual sign of Oberwart (in Hungarian Felsőőr) in Burgenland

The birthplaces of foreign-born naturalised residents of Austria

The Basilica of Mariazell is Austria's most popular pilgrimage site.

Stiftsgymnasium Melk is the oldest Austrian school.

The campus of the Vienna University of Economics and Business

Arnold Schwarzenegger is a well-known Austrian and American actor.

Wiener Schnitzel, a traditional Austrian dish

Innsbruck hosted the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics, as well as the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics, the first in history.

Ski racer Franz Klammer won a gold medal at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.

The country is bordered by Germany to the northwest, the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia to the northeast, Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west.

Holy Roman Empire

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Political entity in Western, Central and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.

The change of territory of the Holy Roman Empire superimposed on present-day state borders

The double-headed eagle with coats of arms of individual states, the symbol of the Holy Roman Empire (painting from 1510)

A map of the Carolingian Empire (a.k.a. Francia, the Frankish Empire) within Europe circa 814 CE.

The Holy Roman Empire during the Ottonian Dynasty

The Holy Roman Empire between 972 and 1032

The Hohenstaufen-ruled Holy Roman Empire and Kingdom of Sicily. Imperial and directly held Hohenstaufen lands in the Empire are shown in bright yellow.

The Reichssturmfahne, a military banner during the 13th and early 14th centuries

Lands of the Bohemian Crown since the reign of Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV

An illustration from Schedelsche Weltchronik depicting the structure of the Reich: The Holy Roman Emperor is sitting; on his right are three ecclesiastics; on his left are four secular electors.

The Holy Roman Empire when the Golden Bull of 1356 was signed

Innsbruck, most important political centre under Maximilian, seat of the Hofkammer (Court Treasury) and the Court Chancery, which functioned as "the most influential body in Maximilian's government". Painting of Albrecht Dürer (1496)

Maximilian I paying attention to an execution instead of watching the betrothal of his son Philip the Handsome and Joanna of Castile. The top right corner shows Cain and Abel. Satire against Maximilian's legal reform, associated with imperial tyranny. Created on behalf of the councilors of Augsburg. Plate 89 of Von der Arztney bayder Glück by the Petrarcameister.

Personification of the Reich as Germania by Jörg Kölderer, 1512. The "German woman", wearing her hair loose and a crown, sitting on the Imperial throne, corresponds both to the self-image of Maximilian I as King of Germany and the formula Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (omitting other nations). While usually depicted during the Middle Age as subordinate to both imperial power and Italia or Gallia, she now takes central stage in Maximilian's Triumphal Procession, being carried in front of Roma.

The Holy Roman Empire during the 16th century

Carta itineraria europae by Waldseemüller, 1520 (dedicated to Emperor Charles V)

The Holy Roman Empire around 1600, superimposed over current state borders

Religion in the Holy Roman Empire on the eve of the Thirty Years' War

The Empire after the Peace of Westphalia, 1648

The Empire on the eve of the French Revolution, 1789

The crown of the Holy Roman Empire (2nd half of the 10th century), now held in the Schatzkammer (Vienna)

The Seven Prince-electors (Codex Balduini Trevirorum, c. 1340)

A map of the Empire showing division into Circles in 1512

Vienna, circa 1580 by Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg

Front page of the Peace of Augsburg, which laid the legal groundwork for two co-existing religious confessions (Roman Catholicism and Lutheranism) in the German-speaking states of the Holy Roman Empire

This state developed into modern Germany.

Weimar Republic

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Naval jack of the Kaiserliche Marine (1903–1919)

Naval jack of the Reichsmarine (1918–1935)

Sailors during the mutiny in Kiel, November 1918

Philipp Scheidemann addresses a crowd from a window of the Reich Chancellery, 9 November 1918

Official postcard of the National Assembly

Chart of the definite constitution, the so-called Weimar Constition of 11 August 1919. It replaces the law concerning the provisional Reich power of 10 February 1919.

One-million mark notes used as notepaper, October 1923

A 50 million mark banknote issued in 1923, worth approximately one U.S. dollar when issued, would have been worth approximately 12 million U.S. dollars nine years earlier, but within a few weeks inflation made the banknote practically worthless.

A begging disabled WWI veteran (Berlin, 1923)

Wilhelm Marx's Christmas broadcast, December 1923

The "Golden Twenties" in Berlin: a jazz band plays for a tea dance at the hotel Esplanade, 1926

The Elephant Celebes by Max Ernst (1921)

Troops of the German Army feeding the poor in Berlin, 1931

Gross national product (inflation adjusted) and price index in Germany, 1926–1936 while the period between 1930 and 1932 is marked by a severe deflation and recession

Unemployment rate in Germany between 1928 and 1935 as during Brüning's policy of deflation (marked in purple), the unemployment rate soared from 15.7% in 1930 to 30.8% in 1932.

Communist Party (KPD) leader Ernst Thälmann (person in foreground with raised clenched fist) and members of the Roter Frontkämpferbund (RFB) marching through Berlin-Wedding, 1927

Federal election results 1919–1933: the Communist Party (KPD) (red) and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) (brown) were radical enemies of the Weimar Republic and the surge in unemployment during the Great Depression led to a radicalisation of many voters as the Nazi Party rose from 3% of the total votes in 1928 to 44% in 1933 while the DNVP (orange) lost its conservative wing and subsequently joined the radical opposition in 1929.

Nazi Party (NSDAP) leader Adolf Hitler saluting members of the Sturmabteilung in Brunswick, Lower Saxony, 1932

The SA had nearly two million members at the end of 1932.

Poster for the nationalist "Black–White–Red" coalition of Alfred Hugenberg (DNVP leader), Franz von Papen, and Franz Seldte

The Weimar Republic (Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich (Deutsches Reich), was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclaimed itself, as the German Republic (Deutsche Republik).