German

The evolution of the authoritarian German Empire is somewhat in line with parallel developments in Italy and Japan. Similarly to Bismarck, Count Camillo Benso di Cavour in Italy used diplomacy and war to achieve his objectives: he allied with France before attacking Austria, securing the unification of Italy except for Venice and the Papal States by 1861. In the interests of Piedmont-Sardinia, Cavour, hostile to the more revolutionary nationalism of liberal republicans such as Giuseppe Garibaldi and Giuseppe Mazzini, sought the unification of Italy along conservative lines. Similarly, Japan would follow a course of conservative modernization from the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the Meiji Restoration to 1918 along with Cavour's Italy. In fact, Japan issued a commission in 1882 to study various governmental structures throughout the world and were particularly impressed by Bismarck's Germany, issuing a constitution in 1889 that formed a premiership with powers analogous to Bismarck's position as chancellor with a cabinet responsible to the emperor alone.

The unification of Germany meant also absorption the whole Kingdom of Prussia into it. The 3 new provinces: East Prussia, West Prussia and Provinz Posen, that before was outside German Confederation were incorporated into would-be national Germany. Another province Silesia, was the part of Holy Roman Empire together with Bohemia. However, those provinces had largePolish populations. Annexation of those 4 provinces put Germany into conflict with the Poles. Since population growth of Poles were faster and Ostflucht made Germans from the East to emigrate to Western Germany, Eastern provinces gradually become more and more Polish in character.

One factor, but only one, in the social anatomy of these governments had been the retention of a very substantial share in political power by the landed elite, due to the absence of a revolutionary breakthrough by the peasants in combination with urban areas.

Within Germany, the opposition Social Democratic Party (SPD) rose to become for a time the strongest socialist party in the world, winning a third of the votes in the January 1912 elections to the Reichstag (imperial parliament). Government nevertheless remained in the hands of a succession of conservative coalitions supported by right-wing liberals or Catholic clericals and heavily dependent on the Kaiser's favour.

The shaky European balance of power broke down when Austria-Hungary, Germany's ally since 1879, declared war on Serbia (July 1914) after the assassination in Sarajevo of the heir to the Austrian throne. Germany supported their one loyal ally's objectives in Serbia and gave them a "blank cheque" to pursue whatever means they found necessary there. Serbia was supported by Russia, which in turn was allied with France. Following Russia's decision for general mobilisation (i.e. against both Austria-Hungary and Germany) Germany declared war on both Russia and France in what it called a preventive strike.

This was the beginning of World War I. Despite early successes, Germany and its allies suffered military defeat in the face of an enemy strengthened after 1917 by the intervention of the United States. The Kaiser Wilhelm II was driven into exile (November 1918) by a revolution led by elements of the opposition SPD and communist groups, who later organised their own abortive bid for power (January 1919).

In June 1919, the Treaty of Versailles formally ended the war. It was signed in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, the same place where the Second Reich had been proclaimed nearly half a century before. Germany lost territories to France, Belgium, and the reinstated nation of Poland, and elsewhere, and was required to pay reparations for its alleged responsibility for the war.

External links

Language Codes

• SIL code: GER
• ISO 639-1: de
• ISO 639-2(B): ger
• ISO 639-2(T): deu

See also

• German grammar
• Common phrases in different languages
• List of German expressions in English
• Umlaut, Ess-tsett
• German spelling reform
• Germish

Reference

• George O. Curme, A Grammar of the German Language (1904, 1922) - the most complete and authoritative work in English

External links

Jacks and Ensigns

Kaiserliche Marine

Kriegsmarine

Deutsche Marine

Geography

Demographics

Linguists, working backwards from historically-known Germanic languages, suggest that this group spoke proto-Germanic, a distinct branch of the Indo-European language family.

Many details of early movement and change within this group remain obscure, but by the late 2nd century, B.C.E., Roman authors recount, Gaul, Italy and Spain were invaded by migrating Germanic tribes, culminating in military conflict with the armies of republican Rome. Julius Caesar, six decades later, invoked the threat of such attacks as one justification for his annexation of Gaul to Rome. By the 1st century of the Common Era, the writings of Caesar, Tacitus and other Roman and Mediterranean writers indicate a division of Germanic-speaking peoples into tribal groupings centred on:

• the lower Rhine river,
• the river Elbe,
• the river Vistula (Poland),
• Jutland, Scania and the Danish islands.

As Rome advanced her borders to the Rhine and Danube, incorporating many Celtic societies into the Empire, the tribal homelands to the north and east emerged collectively in the records as Germania, whose peoples were sometimes at war with the Empire but who also engaged in complex and long-term trade relations, military alliances and cultural exchanges with their neighbours to the south.

• Alamanni
• Ambrones
• Ampsivarii
• Angles
• Angrivarii
• Batavii
• Bavarii
• Boii
• Bructeri
• Burgundians
• Canninefates
• Chamavi
• Chasuarii
• Chauci
• Cherusci
• Chatti
• Cimbri
• Dulgubnii
• Fosi
• Franks
• Frisians
• Gepidae
• Goths
• Harii
• Helisii
• Helvetii
• Heruli
• Hermunduri
• Jutes
• Langobardes
• Lemovii
• Lombards
• Lugii
• Manimi
• Marcomanni
• Marobudui
• Mattiaci
• Naharvali
• Nemetes
• Nervii
• Quadi
• Saxons
• Semoni
• Sitones
• Suebi
• Suiones
• Sugambri
• Tencteri
• Teutons
• Trevi
• Triboci
• Tudri
• Ubii
• Usipetes
• Vandals
• Vangiones

Role of the Germanics in the Fall of Rome

The presence of successor states controlled by a nobility from one of the Germanic tribes is evident in the 6th century - even in Italy, the former hearth of the Empire, where Odoacer was followed by Theodoric the Great, leader of the Ostrogoths, who was regarded by Roman citizens and Gothic settlers alike as a legitimate successor to the rule of Rome and Italy.

The Franks were converted directly from paganism to Catholicism without an intervening time as Arians. Several centuries later, Frankish missionaries and warriors led by Charlemagne undertook the conversion of their northern Saxon neighbours by armed force, in a series of campaigns directly parallel with the incorporation of Saxon lands into the Frankish empire.

The German language and the feeling of "Germanhood" go back more than a thousand years, but the state now known as Germany was unified as a modern nation-state only in 1871, when the German Empire, dominated by Prussia, was forged excluding Austria that was to remain a multi-ethnic empire for another 50 years. This was the second German Reich, usually translated as "empire", but also meaning "realm".

The first Reich – known for much of its existence as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation – stemmed from the division of the Carolingian Empire in 843, and existed in varying forms until dissolved in 1806 as one of the consequences of the Napoleonic Wars.

The Third Reich was that of the Nazis, which lasted only 12 years, from 1933 to 1945.

After being subdued by France in the Napoleonic Wars, France was to be perceived as Germany's arch-enemy in the successful Franco-Prussian War of 1871 and in World War I. Germany subsequently invaded France. After initial advances, the war amounted to a slow war in the trenches, killing many on both sides. The war ended in 1918, Germany's authoritarian emperor was forced to abdicate, and after a quenched revolution the Second Reich was succedded by the democratic Weimar Republic.

In the following Peace Treaty of Versailles, Germany was held responsible for the war. Economic hardship due to both the peace conditions and to the world wide Great Depression is mostly pointed to as explanation why anti-democratic parties, both right-wing and left-wing, were increasingly supported by German opinion leaders and voters. In extraordinary elections of July and November 1932, the Nazis got 37,2% and 33,0% respectively. On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Head of Government, and by the Enabling Act on March 23, 1933, a wide majority of the parliament disbanded the constitution of the Weimer Republic.

The following year, Hitler achieved absolute control. He also succeeded the Head of State. Hitler's policy of annexing neighbouring lands eventually led to the outbreak of World War II in Europe on September 1, 1939. Initially, Nazi Germany had many military successes, and gained control over most of Europe's mainland, including a large part of the Soviet Union. After Hitler had waged war against both the Soviet Union and the United States the momentum in the war switched. On 8 May 1945, Nazi Germany surrendered after Hitler committed suicide. The war resulted in large losses of territory, 10 millions of Germans expulsed, and 45 years of division and supervision by the World War's four chief victors.

In 1935 anti-semitism became official Nazi German policy with the Nuremberg Laws. In 1941, the Holocaust was commenced as a highly organized mass murder of millions of Jews, Jehovah's Witnesses, Roma and Sinti, gays and lesbians and others.

After the fall of Communism in Europe, Germany was in 1990 again united as a fully sovereign country; together with France the new Germany is playing a leading role in the European Union.

Germany is a constitutional federal democracy, whose political system is laid out in the 1949 'constitution' called Grundgesetz (Basic Law).

It has a parliamentary system in which the head of government, the Bundeskanzler (Chancellor), is elected by the parliament.

The parliament, called Bundestag (Federal Assembly), is elected every four years by popular vote in a complex system combining direct and proportional representation. The 16 Bundesländer are represented at the federal level in the Bundesrat (Federal Council), which—depending on the subject matter—may have a say in the legislative procedure. Lately, there has been much concern about the Bundestag and the Bundesrat blocking each other, making effective government very difficult.

The function of head of state is performed by the Bundespräsident (Federal President), whose powers are mostly limited to ceremonial and representative duties.

The judiciary branch includes a Constitutional Court called Bundesverfassungsgericht, which may ultimately overturn all acts by the legislature or administration if they are deemed unconstitutional.

Germany is divided into sixteen Bundesländer (singular Bundesland), or Federal States.

• Baden-Württemberg
• Bavaria (Bayern)
• Berlin (city-state)
• Brandenburg
• Bremen (city-state)
• Hamburg (city-state)
• Hesse (Hessen)
• Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
• Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen)
• North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen)
• Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz)
• Saarland
• Saxony (Sachsen)
• Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt)
• Schleswig-Holstein
• Thuringia (Thüringen)

Germany stretches from the high mountains of the Alps (highest point: the Zugspitze at 2,962 m) in the south to the shores of the North and Baltic Seas in the north. In between are found the forested uplands of central Germany and the low-lying lands of northern Germany (lowest point: Freepsum Lake at -2 m), traversed by some of Europe's major rivers such as the Rhine, Danube and Elbe.

Germany possesses the world's third most technologically powerful economy after the US and Japan, but its basic capitalistic economy has started to struggle under the burden of generous social benefits. Structural rigidities—like a high rate of social contributions on wages—have made unemployment a long-term, not just cyclical, problem, while Germany's aging population has pushed social security outlays to exceed contributions from workers. The integration and upgrading of the eastern German economy remains a costly long-term problem, with annual transfers from the west amounting to roughly $100 billion. The recent adoption of a common European currency and the general political and economic integration of Europe are thought to bring major changes to the German economy in the early 21st century.

Germany has at least 7 million foreign residents, including those granted political asylum, guest workers (Gastarbeiter), and their dependants. Germany is a primary destination for political and economic refugees from many developing countries.

An ethnic Danish minority lives in the north, a small Slavic minority known as the Sorbs lives chiefly in Saxony. The Frisian language, considered the language closest to English language, is mother tongue for about 12,000 speakers in Germany. In rural areas of Northern Germany Low Saxon widely is spoken.

Immigration has also created a sizeable Turkish minority, and other smaller minorities including Croats, Italians, Russians and Poles.

Christianity is the major religion, with Protestants (particularly in the north) comprising 38% of the population and Catholics (particularly in the south) 34%. There is also a noticeable Islamic minority of 1.7%, while the rest (26.3%) is either unaffiliated or belongs to smaller religious minorities.

Germany has one of the world's highest levels of education, technological development, and economic productivity. Since the end of World War II, the number of youths entering universities has more than tripled, and the trade and technical schools of Germany are among the world's best. With a per capita income level of about $25,000, Germany is a broadly middle class society. A generous social welfare system provides for universal medical care, unemployment compensation, and other social needs. Germans also are mobile; millions travel abroad each year.

Germany's contributions to the world's cultural heritage are numerous. Germany was the birthplace of composers such as Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, and Wagner; poets such as Goethe and Schiller; philosophers of the likes of Kant, Hegel, Marx or Nietzsche; origin of the Bauhaus; as well as scientists of the caliber of an Einstein. For a long time, German was also "lingua franca" of Central Europe. Many important people, though not German in todays narrow meaning of that word, were immerse in the German culture (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Kafka, Copernicus).

Today Germany turns out to be a hip country with its casual capital Berlin and a self-confident music and art culture. Current movie and literature movements work up the re-unification.

• Music of Germany
• List of Germans
• Public Holidays: German Unity Day
• Bundesliga

Religion

Before World War II, about two-thirds of the German population was Protestant and one-third was Roman Catholic. In the north and northeast of Germany especially, Protestants dominated.

The Grundgesetz, Germany's constitution, guarantees freedom of faith and religion. It also states that no one may be discriminated against due to their faith or religious opinions.

Today Germany, especially its capital Berlin, has the fastest growing Jewish community worldwide. Some ten thousands of Jews from the former Eastern Bloc settled in Germany since the fall of the Berlin wall. The experiences during the Nazi era, a cosmopolitan and anti-nationalistic post-war education and especially the political 68ies movement created just the right tolerant atmosphere in Germany, which still is missing in some post-communist states.

Currently about two thirds of the German population, more than 55 million people, officially belong to a Christian Church, although most of them take no part in church life. Nearly half of them are Protestants and nearly half of them Roman Catholics. Most German Protestants are members of the Evangelical Church in Germany. Approximately three million Muslims and 160,000 Jews live in Germany.

Miscellaneous topics

• Communications in Germany
• Foreign relations of Germany
• Military of Germany
• Transportation in Germany
• List of German towns
• List of German districts
• Tourism in Germany

External links

• It was never a nation state. Despite the German ethnicity of most of its rulers and subjects, from the very beginning many ethnicities comprised the Holy Roman Empire. Many of its most important noble families and appointed officials came from outside the German-speaking communities. At the height of the empire it contained most of the territory of today's Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, as well as eastern France, northern Italy and western Poland. Its languages thus comprised not only German and its many dialects and derivatives, but many Slavic languages, and the languages which became modern French and Italian as well.

• However, during most of its time, it was more than a mere confederation. The concept of the Reich not only included the government of a specific territory, but had strong religious connotations (hence the holy prefix). Until 1508, the German Kings were not considered Emperors of the Reich until the Pope in Rome had formally crowned them as such.

Voltaire later described it as "neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire".

In Faust I, in a scene written in 1775, the German writer Goethe has one of the drinkers in Auerbach's Cellar in Leipzig ask "Our Holy Roman Empire, lads, What holds it still together?" Goethe also has a longer, not very favorable essay about his personal experiences as a trainee at the Reichskammergericht in his autobiographical work Dichtung und Wahrheit.

Formally, the Reich comprised the king, to be crowned emperor by the pope (until 1508), on the one side, and the Reichsstände (imperial estates) on the other side.

German King. The pope's crowning of Charlemagne as emperor in 800 formed the example that later kings would follow: it was the result of Charlemagne having defended the pope against the rebellious inhabitants of Rome, which initiated the notion of the Reich being the protector of the church.

Becoming emperor required becoming king of the Germans first. German kings had been elected since time immemorial; in the 9th century by the leaders of the five most important tribes (the Franks, Saxons, Bavarians, Swabians and Thuringians), later by the main lay and clerical dukes of the kingdom, finally only by the so-called Kurfürsten (electing dukes). This collegiate was formally established by a 1356 decree known as the Golden Bull. Initially, there were seven electors; this number varied slightly over the following centuries (see Holy Roman Empire elector for details).

Until 1508, the newly elected king then traveled to Rome to be crowned emperor by the pope. In many cases, this took several years when the king was held up by other tasks: frequently he first had to resolve conflicts in rebellious northern Italy or was in quarrel with the pope himself.

At no time could the emperor simply decree rulings and govern autonomously over the Empire. His power was severely restricted by the various local leaders; after the late 15th century, the Reichstag established itself as the legislative body of the Empire, a complicated assembly that convened irregularly at the request of the emperor at varying locations. Only after 1663 would the Reichstag become a permanent assembly; see Reichstag (institution) for details.

Imperial Estates. An entity was considered Reichsstand (imperial estate) if, according to feudal law, it had no authority above it besides the king himself. Only these later had seats at the Reichstag and included, with great variance over the centuries:

• worldly territories governed by a prince or duke, in some cases (such as
• despite the fact, that rulers of HRE were not allowed to become a king inside the HRE, some of them governed as a king, that had his kingdom outside HRE
  • Prussiann King was crowned in a Province of Prussia, that were out of HRE jurisdiction
  • Ruler of Saxony was crowned in Poland
  • Ruler of Hannover was crowned in England

• clerical territories led by a bishop or Prince-Bishop; in that case, the territory was frequently identical in acreage with a bishopric, giving the bishop both worldly and churchly powers (an example, among many others, would be Osnabrück)

• imperial knights

• Imperial Free Cities

Imperial Courts. The Reich also had two courts: the Reichshofrat at the court of the king/emperor (that is, later in Vienna), and the Reichskammergericht (Imperial Chamber Court), established with the Imperial Reform of 1495.

Although some date the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire from the coronation of Charlemagne as emperor of the Romans in 800, Charlemagne himself more typically used the title king of the Franks. This title also makes clearer that the Frankish Kingdom covered an area that included modern-day France and Germany and was thus the kernel of both countries.

Most historians therefore consider the establishment of the Empire to be a process that started with the split of the Frankish realm in the Treaty of Verdun in 843, continuing the Carolingian dynasty independently in all three sections. The eastern part fell to Louis the German, who was followed by several leaders until the death of Louis IV, called "the Child", the last Carolingian in the eastern part.

The leaders of Alamannia, Bavaria, Frankia and Saxonia elected Conrad I of the Franks, not a Carolingian, as their leader in 911. His successor, Henry I the Fowler (r. 919-936), a Saxon, achieved the acceptance of a separate Eastern Empire by the West Frankish (still ruled by the Carolingians) in 921, calling himself rex Francorum orientalum (king of the East Franks).

Heinrich designated his son Otto to be his successor, who was elected king in Aachen in 936. His later crowning as Emperor Otto I (later called "the Great") in 962 would mark an important step, since from then on the Empire -- and not the West-Frankish kingdom that was the other remainder of the Frankish kingdoms -- would have the blessing of the pope. Otto had gained much of his power earlier, when, in 955, the Magyars were defeated in the Battle of Lechfeld.

In contemporary and later writings, the crowning would be referred to as translatio imperii, the transfer of the Empire from the Romans to a new Empire. The German emperors thus thought of themselves as being in direct succession of those of the Roman empire; this is why they initially called themselves Augustus. Still, they did not call themselves "Roman" emperors at first, probably in order not to provoke conflict with the Roman emperor who still existed in Constantinople. The term imperator Romanorum only became common under Conrad II later.

At this time, the eastern kingdom was not so much "German" as rather a "confederation" of the old Germanic tribes of the Bavarians, Alamanns, Franks and Saxons. The Empire as a political union probably only survived because of the strong personal influence of King Henry the Saxon and his son, Otto. Although formally elected by the leaders of the Germanic tribes, they were actually able to designate their successors.

This changed after Henry II died in 1024 without any children. Conrad II, first of the Salian Dynasty, was then elected king in 1024 only after some debate. How exactly the king was chosen thus seems to be a complicated conglomeration of personal influence, tribal quarrels, inheritance, and acclamation by those leaders that would eventually become the collegiate of Electors.

Already at this time the dualism between the "territories", then those of the old tribes rooted in the Frankish lands, and the king/emperor, became apparent. Each king preferred to spend most time in his own homelands; the Saxons, for example, spent much time in palatinates around the Harz mountains, among them Goslar. This practice had only changed under Otto III (king 983, emperor 996-1002), who began to utilize bishopries all over the Empire as temporary seats of government. Also, his successors, Henry II, Conrad II, and Henry III, apparently managed to appoint the dukes of the territories. It is thus no coincidence that at this time, the terminology changes and the first occurrences of a regnum Teutonicum are found.

The glory of the Empire almost collapsed in the Investiture Controversy, in which Pope Gregory VII declared a ban on King Henry IV (king 1056, emperor 1084-1106). Although this was taken back after the 1077 Walk to Canossa, the ban had wide-reaching consequences. Meanwhile, the German dukes had elected a second king, Rudolf of Swabia, whom Henry IV could only defeat after a three-year war in 1080. The mythical roots of the Empire were permanently damaged; the German king was humiliated. Most importantly though, the church became an independent player in the political system of the Empire.

Also, under Barbarossa, the idea of the "Romanness" of the Empire culminated again, which seemed to be a attempt to justify the emperor's power independently of the (now strenghened) pope. An imperial assembly at the fields of Roncaglia in 1158 explicitly reclaimed imperial rights at the advice of quattuor doctores of the emerging judicial facility of the University of Bologna, citing phrases such as princeps legibus solutus ("the leader is not bound by law") from the Digestae of the Corpus Juris Civilis. That the Roman laws were created for an entirely different system and didn't fit the structure of the Empire was obviously secondary; the point here was that the court of the Emperor made an attempt to establish a legal constitution.

Imperial rights had been referred to as regalia since the Investiture Controversy, but were enumerated for the first time at Roncaglia as well. This comprehensive list included public roads, tariffs, coining, collecting punitive fees, and the investiture, the seating and unseating of office holders. These rights were now explicitly rooted in Roman Law, a far-reaching constitutional act; north of the Alps, the system was also now connected to feudal law, a change most visible in the withdrawal of the feuds of Henry the Lion in 1180 which lead to his public banning. Barbarossa thus managed for a time to more closely bind the stubborn Germanic dukes to the Empire as a whole.

Another important constitutional move at Roncaglia was the establishment of a new peace (Landfrieden) for all of the Empire, an attempt to (on the one hand) abolish private vendettas not only between the many local dukes, but on the other hand a means to tie the Emperor's subordinates to a legal system of jurisdiction and public persecution of criminal acts -- a predecessor concept of "rule of law", in modern terms, that was, at this time, not yet universally accepted.

In order to solve the problem that the emperor was (after the Investiture Controversy) no longer as able to use the church as a mechanism to maintain power, the Stauffers increasingly lended land to ministerialia, formerly unfree service men, which Frederick hoped would be more reliable than local dukes. Initially used mainly for war services, this new class of people would form the basis for the later knights, another basis of imperial power.

Another new concept of the time was the systematic foundation of new cities, both by the emperor and the local dukes. These were partly due to the explosion in population, but also to concentrate economic power at strategic locations, while formerly cities only existed in the shape of either old Roman foundations or older bishoprics. Cities that were founded in the 12th century include Freiburg, possibly the economic model for many later cities, and Munich.

The later reign of the last Staufer, Frederick II, was in many ways different from that of earlier Emperors. Still a child, he first reigned in Sicily, while in Germany, Barbarossa's son Philip of Swabia and Otto IV competed with him for the title of King of the Germans. After finally having been crowned emperor in 1220, he risked conflict with the pope when he claimed power over Rome; astonishingly to many, he managed to claim Jerusalem in a Crusade in 1228 while still under the pope's ban.

While Frederick brought the mythical idea of the Empire to a last highpoint, he was also the one to initiate the major steps that lead to its disintegration. On the one hand, he concentrated on establishing a -- for the times -- extraordinarily modern state in Sicily, with public services, finances, and jurisdiction. On the other hand, Frederick was the emperor who granted major powers to the German dukes in two far-reaching privileges that would never be reclaimed by the central power. In the 1220 Confoederatio cum princibus ecclesiasticis, Frederick basically gave up a number of regalia in favor of the bishops, among them tariffs, coining, and fortification. The 1232 Statutem in favorem principum mostly extended these privileges to the other (non-clerical) territories. Although many of these privileges had existed earlier, they were now granted globally, and once and for all, to allow the German dukes to maintain order north of the Alps while Frederick wanted to concentrate on his homelands in Italy. The 1232 document marked the first time that the German dukes were called domini terrae, owners of their lands, a remarkable change in terminology as well.

The difficulties in electing the king eventually led to the emergence of a fixed collegiate of electors, the Kurfürsten, whose composition and procedures were fixed in the Golden Bull of 1356. This development maybe symbolizes best the emerging duality between Kaiser und Reich, emperor and realm, who were no longer considered identical. This is also revealed in the way the post-Stauffen kings attempted to sustain their power. While earlier, the Empire's strength (and finances) greatly relied on the Empire's own lands, the so-called Reichsgut, which always belonged to the respective king (and included many Imperial Cities), its relevance faded after the 13th century (even though some fractions of it did remain until the Empire's end in 1806). Instead, the Reichsgut was increasingly pawned to local dukes, sometimes to raise money for the Empire, but more frequently as a reward for faithful duty or in an attempt to civilize stubborn dukes. It seems that the direct governance of the Reichsgut no longer matched the needs of either the king or the dukes.

Instead, the kings, beginning with Rudolph I of Habsburg, increasingly relied on the lands of their respective dynasties to support their power. As opposed to the Reichsgut, which was mostly scattered and difficult to administrate, the territories were comparably compact and thus easier to control. In 1282, Rudolph I thus lended his own Austria and the Steiermark to his own sons; Louis IV of Wittelsbach (king 1314, emperor 1328-1347) relied on his lands in Bavaria; Charles IV of Luxembourg drew strength from his own lands in Bohemia. Interestingly, it was thus increasingly in the king's own interest to strenghen the power of the territories, since the king profited from such a benefit in his own lands as well.

The 13th century also saw a general structural change in how land was administered. Instead of personal duties, money increasingly became the common means to represent economic value in agriculture. Peasants were increasingly committed to pay tributes for their lands; the concept of "property" more and more replaced more ancient forms of jurisdiction, although the two were still very much tied. In the territories (not at the level of the Empire), power became increasingly bundled: who owned the land had jurisdiction, from which other powers were derived. (It is important to note however that jurisdiction, at this time, was not assumed to include legislation, which practically did not exist until well into the 15th century. Court practice heavily relied on traditional customs or rules described as such.)

It is during this time also that the territories began to transform themselves into predecessors of modern states. The process varied greatly among the various lands and was most advanced in those territories that were most identical to the lands of the old Germanic tribes, such as in Bavaria; it was slower in those scattered parts that were founded through imperial privileges.

At the same time, the church was in crisis too. The conflict between several competing popes was only resolved at the Council of Constance (1414-1418); after 1419, much energy was spent on fighting the heresy of the Hussites.

With these drastic changes, much discussion emerged in the 15th century about the Empire itself. Rules from the past no longer adequately described the structure of the time, and a reinforcement of earlier Landfrieden was urgently called for. During this time, the concept of "reform" emerges, in the original sense of the latin verb re-formare, to regain an earlier shape that had been lost.

When Frederick III needed the dukes to finance war against Hungaria in 1486 and at the same time had his son, later Maximilian I elected king, he was presented with the dukes' united demand to participate in an Imperial Court. For the first time, the assembly of the electors and other dukes was now called Reichstag (to be joined by the Imperial Cities later). While Frederick refused, his more conciliant son finally convoked the Reichstag at Worms in 1495, after his father's death in 1493. Here, the king and the dukes agreed on four bills, commonly referred to as the Reichsreform (Imperial Reform): a set of legal acts to give the disintegrating Empire back some structure. Among others, this act produced the Imperial Circle Estates and the Reichskammergericht, (Imperial Chamber Court); structures that would -- to a degree -- persist until the end of the Empire in 1806.

However, it should take a few more decades until the new regulation was universally accepted and the new court began to actually function; only in 1512 would the Imperial Circles be finalized. The king also made sure that his own court, the Reichshofrat, continued to function in parallel to the Reichskammergericht. It is interesting to note that in this year, the Empire also receives its new title, the ''Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation'\' ("Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation").

• (French Revolution, Napoleon overrunning Europe, Rheinbund)
• (Secularization, 1803 Reichsdeputationshauptschluss)

• The Reich had been a very federal body from the beginning: again, as opposed to France, which had mostly been part of the Roman Empire, in the eastern parts of the Frankish kingdom, the Germanic tribes were much more independent and reluctant to cede power to a central authority. All attempts to make the kingdom hereditary failed; instead, the king was always elected. Later, every candidate for the king had to make promises to his electorate, the so-called Wahlkapitulationen (election capitulations), thus granting the territories more and more power over the centuries.

• Due to its religious connotations, the Reich as an institution was severely damaged by the contest between the pope and the German kings over their respective coronations as Emperor. It was never entirely clear under which conditions the pope would crown the emperor and especially not whether the worldly power of the emperor was dependent on the clerical of the pope. Much debate occurred over this, especially during the 11th century, eventually leading to the Investiture Controversy and the Concordat of Worms in 1122.

• Whether the feudal system of the Reich, where the King formally was the top of the so-called "feudal pyramid", was a cause for or a symptom of the Empire's weakness, is unclear. In any case, military obedience, which -- according to Germanic tradition -- was closely tied to the giving of land to tributaries, was always a problem: when the Reich had to go to war, decisions were slow and brittle. (todo this needs more explanations)

German Third Reich

• History of Germany
• Holy Roman Emperor
• Reichstag (institution)
• List of German Kings and Emperors
• List of states in the Holy Roman Empire
• Brandenburg
• Prussia
• Austria
• Bavaria
• Saxony
• Hanover
• Palatinate

References

External link

Erich Fried

Robert Musil

Peter Rosegger

Arthur Schnitzler

Georg Trakl

Stefan Zweig

Czech authors

Franz Kafka

Rainer Maria Rilke

Franz Werfel

German authors

Alfred Andersch

Achim von Arnim

Bettina von Arnim

Gottfried Benn

Heinrich Böll

Nicolas Born

Bertolt Brecht

Rolf Dieter Brinkmann

Clemens von Brentano

Georg Büchner

Wilhelm Busch

Annette von Droste-Hülshoff

Günter Eich

Michael Ende

Wolfram von Eschenbach

Stefan George

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Christian Dietrich Grabbe

Karl Gutzkow

Hans Magnus Enzensberger

Günter Grass

Gerhart Hauptmann

Johann Peter Hebel

Heinrich Heine

Georg Herwegh

Hermann Hesse

Rolf Hochhuth

Friedrich Hölderlin

Ernst Jünger

Erich Kästner

Gottfried Kinkel

Sarah Kirsch

Karin Kiwus

Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock

Heinrich Mann

Klaus Mann

Thomas Mann

Karl May

Christian Morgenstern

Heiner Müller

Inge Müller

Helga M. Novak

Novalis (Friedrich von Hardenberg)

Erich Maria Remarque

Friedrich Rückert

Nelly Sachs

Friedrich Schiller

Arno Schmidt

Anna Seghers

Theodor Storm

Botho Strauss

Patrick Süskind

Ludwig Tieck

Kurt Tucholsky

Walther von der Vogelweide

Martin Walser

Christa Wolf

Wolfram von Eschenbach

Hans Wollschläger

Swiss authors

Friedrich Dürrenmatt

Max Frisch

Jeremias Gotthelf

Friedrich Glauser

Gottfried Keller

Robert Walser

Romanian authors

Paul Celan

Rose Ausländer

Links

Internal Links

• Marlene Dietrich, (1901-1992), actress
• Gert Fröbe, (1913-1988), actor
• Klaus Kinski, (1926-1991), actor and father of Nastassia Kinski
• Hildegard Knef, (1925-2002), actress, singer, writer

Artists

• Hans von Aachen, (1552-1615), mannerist painter
• Albrecht Altdorfer, (1480-1538), painter
• Joseph Beuys, (1921-1986), artist
• Arnold Böcklin, (1827-1901), painter
• Lucas Cranach the Elder, (1472-1553), painter
• Lucas Cranach the Younger, (1515-1586), painter
• Albrecht Dürer, (1471-1528), painter
• Max Ernst, (1891-1976), surrealist painter
• Caspar David Friedrich, (1774-1840), painter
• Walter Gropius, (1883-1969), architect
• George Grosz, (1893-1959), artist
• Hannah Höch - artist
• Hans Holbein the Elder, (c.1465-1524), painter
• Hans Holbein the Younger, (c.1497-1543), illustrator, painter
• Janosch, (1931), artist known for his books for children
• Franz Marc, (1880-1916), painter
• Carl Spitzweg, (1808-1885), painter

Composers

• Karl Friedrich Abel, (1725-1787), composer
• Martin Agricola, (1466-1506), composer
• Siegfried Alkan, (1858 - 1941), composer
• Johann Sebastian Bach, (1685-1750), composer
• Ludwig van Beethoven, (1770-1827), composer
• Johannes Brahms, (1833-1897), composer
• Georg Friedrich Händel, (1685-1759), composer, opera composer
• Paul Hindemith, (1895-1963), composer
• Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
• Carl Orff, (1895-1982), composer
• Johann Pachelbel, (1653-1706), composer
• Clara Schumann, (1819-1896), composer
• Robert Schumann, (1810-1856), composer, songwriter
• Karlheinz Stockhausen, (1928-), modern electronic composer
• Richard Strauss, (1864-1949), composer, opera composer
• Georg Philipp Telemann, (1681-1767), composer
• Richard Wagner, (1813-1883), composer
• Carl Maria von Weber, (1786-1826), composer
• Kurt Weill, (1900-1950), composer: Threepenny Opera, "September Song"

Filmmakers

• Werner Herzog, (born 1942), film director
• Fritz Lang, (1890-1976), film director
• Ernst Lubitsch, (1892-1947), film director
• F.W. Murnau, (1888-1931), film director
• Wolfgang Petersen, (born 1941), film director
• Leni Riefenstahl, (1902-2003), female film director
• Wim Wenders, (1945-), German-born film director

Royalty

• Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, (1819-1861), Queen Victoria's husband & consort
• Albert (1828-1902), King of Saxony (1873-1902)
• Anton (1755-1836), King of Saxony (1827-1836)
• Carol I of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1839-1914), Prince (1867-1881) and King (1881-1914) of Romania
• Charles (1823-1891), King of Württemberg (1823-1891)
• Ferdinand of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1865-1927), King of Romania (1924-1927)
• Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1861-1948), Prince of Bulgaria (1887-1908), King (or Tsar) of the Bulgarians (1908-1918)
• Frederick I (1657-1713), Elector of Brandenburg (1688-1713), King in Prussia (1701-1713)
• Frederick I (1754-1816), Duke (1797-1803), Elector (1803-1806), and King (1806-1816) of Württemberg
• Frederick II the Great (1712-1786), King of Prussia (1740-1786)
• Friedrich III (1831-1888), German Emperor and King of Prussia (1888)
• Frederick Augustus I (1750-1827), Elector (1763-1806) and King (1806-1827) of Saxony
• Frederick Augustus II (1797-1854), King of Saxony (1836-1854)
• Frederick Augustus III (1865-1932), King of Saxony (1904-1918)
• Frederick William I (1688-1740), King of Prussia (1713-1740)
• Frederick William II (1744-1797), King of Prussia (1786-1797)
• Frederick William III (1770-1840), King of Prussia (1797-1840)
• Frederick William IV (1795-1861), King of Prussia (1840-1861)
• George (1832-1904), King of Saxony (1902-1904)
• George V (1819-1878), King of Hanover (1851-1866)
• John (1801-1873), King of Saxony (1854-1873)
• Ludwig I (1786-1868), King of Bavaria (1825-1848)
• Ludwig II (1845-1886), King of Bavaria (1864-1886)
• Ludwig III (1845-1921), King of Bavaria (1913-1918)
• Maximilian I (1756-1825), Elector (1799-1805) and King (1805-1825) of Bavaria
• Maximilian II (1811-1864), King of Bavaria (1848-1864)
• Otto (1848-1916), King of Bavaria (1886-1913)
• Otto of Bavaria (1815-1867), King of the Hellenes (1833-1862)
• Wilhelm I (1797-1888), German Emperor (1871-1888) and King of Prussia (1861-1888)
• Wilhelm II (1859-1941), German Emperor and King of Prussia (1888-1918)
• William I (1781-1864), King of Württemberg (1816-1864)
• William II (1848-1921), King of Württemberg (1891-1918)

Musicians and singers

• Klaus Nomi, (1944-1983)
• Michael Schenker, (born 1955), guitar player of UFO and solo career

Philosophers

• Hannah Arendt, (1906-1975), political theorist
• Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, (1770-1831), philosopher
• Johann Gottlieb Fichte, (1762-1814), philosopher
• Gottlob Frege, (1848-1925), mathematician, logician and philosopher
• Martin Heidegger, (1889-1976), philosopher
• Immanuel Kant, (1724-1804), philosopher
• Gottfried Leibniz, (1646-1716), physicist, philosopher
• Karl Marx, (1818-1883), philosopher and sociologist. Founder of Marxist political and economic philosophy
• Friedrich Nietzsche, (1844-1900), existentialist philosopher and fierce critic of what he called the 'slave
• Arthur Schopenhauer, (1788-1860), philosopher

Politicians

• Konrad Adenauer, (1876-1967), federal chancellor (CDU)
• Otto von Bismarck, (1815-1898), 19th century statesman
• Martin Bormann, (1900-probably 1945), nazi leader
• Willy Brandt, (1913-1992), West German Chancellor (SPD)
• Heinrich Brüning (1885-1970), Chancellor of the Weimar Republic (Centre Party)
• Friedrich Ebert, (1871-1925), First President of the Weimar Republic (SPD)
• Ludwig Erhard, (1897-1977), federal chancellor (CDU)
• Joschka Fischer, (born 1948), Foreign Minister and German Green Party leader
• Hans-Dietrich Genscher, (born 1927), former minister for foreign affairs (FDP)
• Jakob Grimm, (1785-1863), parlamentarian
• Wilhelm Grimm, (1786-1859), parlamentarian
• Gregor Gysi, (1948-), former leader of the PDS
• Paul von Hindenburg, (1847-1934), general, president
• Petra Kelly, (1947-1992), founder of the German Green Party
• Kurt Georg Kiesinger, (1904-1988), federal chancellor (CDU)
• Helmut Kohl, (1930-), federal chancellor (CDU)
• Angela Merkel, (1991-1994 and ; 1994-1998 , and), (CDU)
• Hans Modrow (1928-), former leader of GDR, honorary chairman of PDS
• Franz von Papen (1879-1969), chancellor and politician of the Weimar Republic
• Walther Rathenau (1867-1922), foreign minister (DDP)
• Johannes Rau, (born 1931), federal president (SPD)
• Philipp Scheidemann, (1865-1939), chancellor in the Weimar period (SPD)
• Kurt von Schleicher - general and chancellor in the Weimar period
• Helmut Schmidt, (1969-1972 ; 1972-1974 ; 1974-1982), federal chancellor (SPD)
• Gerhard Schröder, (born 1944), federal chancellor (SPD)
• Kurt Schumacher, (1895-1952), leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany in the early years of the FDR
• Franz Josef Strauß, (1915-1988), Bavarian Politician (CSU)
• Gustav Stresemann, (1878-1929), chancellor and statesman of the Weimar Republic (DVP)
• Ernst Thälmann, (1886-1944), leader of the Communist Party of Germany during the Weimar period
• Guido Westerwelle - party leader of the liberal party (FDP)

Politicians in East Germany

• Egon Krenz, (born 1937) - leader of the GDR after Honecker
• Erich Honecker, (1912-1994) - leader of the GDR until 1989
• Erich Mielke, (1907-2000) - head of the Stasi
• Wilhelm Pieck, (1876-1960) - first president of the GDR
• Günter Schabowski, (born 1929) - member of politburo
• Walter Ulbricht, (1893-1973) - leader of the GDR
• Otto Grotewohl, (1894-1964) - minister president of the GDR

Personalities of the Nazi Party and Regime

• Klaus Barbie, (1913-1991), the "Butcher of Lyon"
• Martin Bormann (1900-1945?), Hitler's private secretary
• Eva Braun, (1912-1945), Hitler's mistress
• Karl Brandt, (1904-1948)
• Karl Dönitz, (1891-1980), chief of the german marine, briefly Hitler's successor
• Anton Drexler, (1884-1942), founder of German Workers Party, which became the NSDAP
• Adolf Eichmann, (1906-1962), German SS officer
• Hans Frank, (1900-1946), Governor-General of Poland
• Roland Freisler, (1893-1945), politician
• Wilhelm Frick, (1877-1946), Minister of the Interior
• Walter Funk, (1890-1960), Minister of Economics
• Joseph Goebbels, (1897-1945), Chancellor of Germany, propaganda chief for the Nazis
• Hermann Göring, (1893-1946), Nazi and chief of Luftwaffe
• Rudolf Hess, (1894-1987), Hitler's private secretary
• Reinhard Heydrich, (1904-1942), Nazi officer, head of the SD and Gestapo
• Heinrich Himmler, (1900-1945), Nazi head of the SS
• Adolf Hitler, (1889 in Braunau, Austria-1945), dictator
• Alfred Jodl, (1890-1946), general, operations chief of the OKW
• Ernst Kaltenbrunner, (1903-1946), Heydrich's successor at the SD
• Wilhelm Keitel, (1882-1946), field marshal, head of the OKW
• Robert Ley, (1890-1945), head of the German Labour Front
• Erhard Milch, (1892-1972), Göring's second-in-command, Air Inspector General
• Konstantin von Neurath, (1873-1956), Foreign Minister in the early years of the regime
• Franz von Papen (1879-1969), Deputy Chancellor in Hitler's first cabinet.
• Erich Raeder, (1876-1960), Head of the German Navy
• Joachim von Ribbentrop, (1893-1946), Nazi foreign minister
• Ernst Röhm, (1887-1934), head of the SA
• Erwin Rommel, (1891-1944), Feldmarschall
• Alfred Rosenberg, (1893-1946), nazi ideologist
• Hjalmar Schacht, Minister of economics
• Baldur von Schirach, (1907-1974), Hitler Youth leader
• Arthur Seyss-Inquart (1892-1946), Austrian Nazi leader
• Albert Speer, (1905-1981), "Hitler's architect", Minister of Armaments
• Gregor Strasser, early Nazi leader
• Julius Streicher, (1885-1946), Nazi Party leader in Nuremberg

Scientists and Engineers

• Otto Wilhelm Hermann von Abich, (1806-1886), mineralogist, geologist
• Wernher von Braun, (1912-1977), space engineer
• Joseph von Fraunhofer, (1787-1826), physicist
• Justus von Liebig, (1803-1873), chemist
• Fritz Haber, (1868-1934), chemist
• Johann Bayer, (1572-1625), astronomer
• Friedrich Bessel, (1784-1846), mathematician
• Carl Ferdinand Braun - physicist
• Robert Wilhelm Bunsen, (1811-1899), chemist
• Georg Cantor, (1845-1918), mathematician
• Hans Gerhard Creutzfeldt - neuropathologist
• Anton de Bary, (1831-1888), surgeon, botanist, microbiologist
• Rudolf Diesel, (1858-1913), inventor of the Diesel engine
• Albert Einstein, (1879-1955), physicist
• Erich Fromm, (1900-1980), psychologist
• Carl Friedrich Gauss, (1777-1855), mathematician
• Ernst Haeckel, (1834-1919), physician
• Otto Hahn, (1879-1968), chemist
• Robert Havemann, (1910-1982), chemist (and dissident)
• Ernst Heinkel, (1888-1958), Aircraft engineer
• Werner Karl Heisenberg, (1901-1976), physicist
• Johann Homann, (1664-1724), geographer
• Erich Hueckel, (1896-1980), physicist
• Alfons Maria Jakob, (1884-1931), neurologist
• Hugo Junkers, (1859-1935), Aircraft engineer
• Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz, (1829-1896), chemist
• Johannes Kepler, (1571-1630), astronomer
• Wolfgang Franz von Kobell (1803-1882) - mineralogists
• Robert Koch, (1843-1910), physician
• Walter Karl Koch - surgeon
• Adolph Wilhelm Hermann Kolbe, (1818-1884), chemist
• Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, (1646-1716), mathematician
• Alexander Lippisch, (1894-1976), aerodynamicist
• Konrad Zacharias Lorenz, (1903-1989), behavioural physiologist
• Albertus Magnus, (died 1280), alchemist
• Lise Meitner, (1878-1968), physicist
• Wilhelm Messerschmitt, (1898-1978), Aircraft engineer
• Lothar Meyer, (1830-1895), chemist
• Franz Mertens, (1840-1927), mathematician
• August Ferdinand Möbius
• Walther Nernst, (1864-1941), physicist
• Georg Ohm, (1789-1854), physicist
• Adam Riese, (1492-1559), mathematician
• Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, (1845-1923), physicist
• Carl Wilhelm Scheele, (1742-1786), chemist
• Matthias Jakob Schleiden, (1804-1881), botanist
• Heinrich Schliemann, (1822-1890), archaeologist
• Christian Friedrich Schonbein, (1799–1868), chemist
• Theodor Schwann, (1810-1882), physiologist
• Rolf Singer, (1906-1994), mycologist
• Georg Steller, (1709-1746), naturalist
• Alfred Stock, (1876-1946), chemist
• Otto Wallach, physicist
• Hellmuth Walter, (1900-1980), propulsion
• August Weismann, (1834-1914), biologist
• Wilhelm Wundt, (1832-1920), physiologist, psychologist
• Konrad Zuse, (1910-1995), computers

Sportspersons

• Max Baer, (died 1959), World Heavyweight Boxing Champion
• Michael Ballack (born 1976) - footballer
• Franz Beckenbauer (born 1945) - footballer
• Boris Becker (born 1967) - tennis player
• Rudolf Caracciola, (1901-1959), race car driver
• Steffi Graf (born 1969) - tennis player
• Georg Hackl, (born 1966), luger
• Armin Hary, (born 1937), athlete
• Oliver Kahn (born 1969) - footballer
• Jürgen Klinsmann (born 1964) - footballer
• Olaf Kolzig (born 1970) - hockey
• Bernhard Langer (born 1957) - golfer
• Sepp Maier - footballer
• Lothar Matthäus (born 1961) - footballer
• Rosi Mittermaier, alpine ski champion
• Gerd Müller, (born 1945), footballer
• Dirk Nowitzki (born 1978) - NBA star
• Birgit Prinz (born 1977) - footballer
• Annegret Richter, (born 1950), athlete
• Karl-Heinz Rummenigge - footballer
• Max Schmeling - boxer
• Detlef Schrempf (born 1963) - former NBA star
• Michael Schumacher (born 1969) - racing driver
• Ralf Schumacher (born 1975) - racing driver, brother of Michael
• Toni Schumacher - footballer
• Uwe Seeler - footballer
• Werner Seelenbinder, (1904-1944), wrestler
• Katja Seizinger, alpine ski champion
• Renate Stecher, (born 1950), athlete
• Berti Vogts - footballer
• Rudi Völler - footballer
• Fritz Walter, (1920-2002), footballer
• Manfred Winkelhock, (1951-1985), racing driver
• Katarina Witt (born 1965) - ice skater

Theologians

• Heinrich Abeken, (1809-1872), theologian
• Johannes Agricola, (1494-1566), Protestant reformer
• Eusebius Amort, (1692-1775)
• Karl Barth, (1886-1968)
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer, (1906-1945), Theologian
• Rudolf Bultmann
• Alfred Delp
• Martin Luther, (1483-1546), of the Protestant Reformation
• Philipp Melanchthon, (1497-1560), Protestant Reformation
• Elisabeth Moltmann-Wendel
• Jürgen Moltmann, (born 1926), theologian
• Joseph Ratzinger, (born 1927), Cardinal
• Friedrich Schleiermacher, (1768-1834), theologian
• Dorothee Sölle, (1929-2003)
• Helmut Thielicke
• Paul Tillich, philosopher
• Adolf Harnack, (1851-1930)

Writers

• Ernst Moritz Arndt - poet
• Achim von Arnim, (1781-1831), poet
• Bettina von Arnim, (1785-1859), poet
• Ingeborg Bachmann, (1926-1973), poet
• Heinrich Böll, (1917-1985), author
• Bertolt Brecht, (1898-1956), playwright, poet
• Clemens Brentano, (1778-1842), poet
• Georg Büchner, poet
• Wilhelm Busch, (1832-1908), poet
• Matthias Claudius - poet
• Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, (1797-1848), poet
• Michael Ende, (1929-1995), poet
• Joseph von Eichendorff, (1788-1857), poet
• Hans Magnus Enzensberger, (born 1929), poet
• Wolfram von Eschenbach, (died 1220), poet
• Theodor Fontane, (1819-1898), poet
• Paul Gerhardt, (c. 1606-1676), poet
• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, (1749-1832), author, poet
• Günter Grass, (born 1927), author
• Heinrich Heine, (1797-1856), poet
• Johann Gottfried von Herder, (1744-1803), poet
• Hermann Hesse, (1877-1962), author
• Rolf Hochhuth, (born 1931), playwright
• Ernst Jünger, (1895-1998), poet
• Erich Kästner, (1899-1974), poet, novelist
• Siegfried Lenz, (born 1926), novelist
• Gotthold Lessing - playwright, poet
• Thomas Mann, (1875-1955), author
• Karl May, (1842-1912), poet
• Christian Morgenstern, (1871-1914), poet
• Novalis, (1772-1801), poet
• Erich Maria Remarque, (1898-1970), novelist
• Rainer Maria Rilke, (1875-1926), poet
• Friedrich Schiller, (1759-1805), poet, playwright
• Theodor Storm, (1817-1888), poet
• Patrick Süskind, (born 1949), author of Perfume
• Kurt Tucholsky, (1890-1935), poet
• Walter von der Vogelweide - poet
• Christa Wolf, poet

Others

• Rodolphus Agricola, (1443-1485)
• Johann Eck, (1486-1543)
• Gudrun Ensslin - terrorist
• Anne Frank, (1929-1945), diarist and victim of the Holocaust
• Klaus Fuchs, (1911-1988)
• Reinhard Furrer, (1940-1995), astronaut
• Herschel Grynszpan
• Johann Gutenberg, (circa 1390s-1468), printer
• Hildegard von Bingen, (1098-1179), abbess, mystic
• August Horch, (1868-1951), car designer/manufacturer (AUDI)
• Karen Horney - psychoanalyst
• Heribert Illig, (born 1947), historian
• Sigmund Jähn, (b. 1937), the first German in space
• Ulrike Meinhof, (1934-1976), terrorist
• Ulf Merbold, (b. 1941), astronaut
• Gerardus Mercator, (1512-1594), cartographer
• Carl von Ossietzky, (1889-1938), journalist and pacifist
• Ludwig Quidde, (1858-1941), historian and pacifist
• Albert Schweitzer, (1875-1965), physician , humanitarian
• Edith Stein, (1891-1942), nun, victim of Holocaust
• Johann Tetzel, (1465-1519)
• Manfred von Richthofen, (1892-1918), pilot
• Ulrich Walter, (b. 1954), astronaut
• Diedrich Hermann Westermann, (1875-1956), linguist

World War II

Start of the War

Military

• Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) -- Armed Forces High Command
• Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH) -- Army High Command
• Oberkommando der Marine (OKM) -- Navy High Command
• Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (OKL) -- Airforce High Command
• Wehrmacht -- Armed Forces
• Heer -- Army
• Luftwaffe -- Airforce
• Kriegsmarine -- Navy
• Oberbefehlshaber West
• Abwehr -- Military Intelligence

Paramilitary organisations

• SA -- Sturmabteilung
• SS -- Schutzstaffel
  • Waffen-SS
• Deutscher Volkssturm

State police

Reich Central Security Office (RSHA - Reichssicherheitshauptamt)

• Regular Police (Ordnungspolizei (ORPO))
  • Schutzpolizei (Safety Police)
  • Gendarmerie (Rural Police)
  • Gemeindepolizei (Local Police)
• Security Police (Sicherheitspolizei (SIPO))
  • Geheime Staatspolizei (Gestapo)
  • Reich Kriminalpolizei (Kripo)
  • Sicherheitsdienst (SD)

Political organizations

• Nazi Party -- National Socialist German Workers Party (abbreviated NSDAP)
• Youth organisations
  • Hitler-Jugend -- Hitler-youth (for boys and young men)
  • Bund Deutscher Mädel (for girls and young women)
• Labour organisations
  • Deutsche Arbeitsfront
  • Kraft durch Freude

Prominent persons in Nazi Germany

• Adolf Hitler
• Martin Bormann
• Adolf Eichmann
• Joseph Goebbels
• Hermann Göring
• Rudolf Hess
• Reinhard Heydrich
• Heinrich Himmler
• Ernst Röhm
• Alfred Rosenberg
• Albert Speer
• Joachim von Ribbentrop

Military

• Karl Dönitz
• Erwin Rommel
• Wilhelm Keitel
• Claus von Stauffenberg
• Wilhelm Canaris
• Alfred Jodl
• Hanna Reitsch

Other

• Karl Brandt
• Eva Braun
• Werner von Braun
• Hanns Kerrl
• Leni Riefenstahl
• White Rose (Sophie and Hans Scholl and others)
• Oskar Schindler
• Richard Sorge
• Julius Streicher
• Konrad Zuse

Noted refugees

• Bertolt Brecht
• Marlene Dietrich
• Albert Einstein
• Sigmund Freud
• Friedrich Hayek
• Thomas Mann
• Ludwig von Mises

Terms closely related to Nazi Germany

Many of the following terms are German expressions that are now used as words in English -- a short english description is given here and the explanation can be found in the articles themselves. See also List of German expressions in English.

• Anschluss -- annexation (literally: "inclusion"), in particular the annexation of Austria in 1938;
• Arbeit macht frei -- "Work [will] make [you] free". Cynical motto of the concentration camps.
• Blitzkrieg -- lightning war - quick army invasions aided by tanks and airplanes;
• Concentration camps -- (German: Konzentrationslager, KZ) originally detention centres, later sometimes mass-murder factories;
• coventrieren -- bombing out cities completely (the term was coined by Joseph Goebbels after the bombing of Coventry);
• Death factory - concentration camps designed for the killing of their inmates;
• Degenerate art - Nazis called so abstract art and most of the avant garde art of the XX century.
• Ersatz - a substitute product. Germany did not have an easy access to some strategic materials. German scientist had to research how to produce artificial rubber (Buna), for example.
• Euthanasia - The T-4 Euthanasia Program to maintain the purity of the German Master race;
• Final Solution (German: Endlösung der Judenfrage) -- final solution (to the Jewish Question), euphemism to describe the total extinction of all Jews;
• Fraktur -- a fashion of black letter popularly associated to Nazi Germany, though it was forbidden by Hitler in 1941 on grounds of it being Jewish.
• Führer -- leader; as Adolf Hitler demanded to be called;
• Gauleiter -- governor of a region.
• Gestapo -- the Geheime Staatspolizei, Nazi Secret Police;
• Gleichschaltung -- literally "synchronisation", total control and obedience of all aspects of society, as well as seizure of power;
• Holocaust -- the genocide committed by the Nazis;
• Hakenkreuz -- swastika;
• IG Farben -- the company that was closest to the Nazi government, producing gas for the extinction of Jews in Auschwitz and other concentration camps and the most prominent example of corporativism in Nazi Germany;
• Kapo -- an inmate of a concentration camp chosen to control his peers.
• Kraft durch Freude (KdF) -- "strength through joy", state-sponsored programme intended to organize people's free time, offering cheap holidays, concerts, other leisure activities, and (unsuccessfully) a car (Kdf-Schiff, KdF-Wagen);
• Kristallnacht -- "crystal night", November 9, 1938, when the Nazi government organized a pogrom against Jewish businesses; the euphemism was used because the numerous broken windows made the streets look as if covered with crystal;
• Lebensraum -- space to live: a pretext for launching war on Eastern Europe;
• Master race (German: Herrenvolk) -- a politically charged term used by the Nazis to describe the so-called Aryan race;
• "Mit brennender Sorge" -- A letter by the Pope warning against the Nazis.
• Nacht und Nebel -- "Night and fog", code for some prisoners that should be disposed of leaving no traces.
• Nazi -- abbreviation for National Socialist, from German Nationalsozialismus; see also Nazi Party;
• Night of the Long Knives;
• Nuremberg trials -- the trials of Nazi officials after the war for war crimes and crimes against humanity;
• Reich -- empire;
• Stuka -- a dive bomber used in Blitzkrieg.
• Third Reich -- name used by Nazis to describe their regime;
• Thule Gesellschaft -- "Thule Society". The Nazis sought themes for their ideology in the Occult and the Germanic and Nordic traditions.
• V-1 and V-2 -- Missiles used to attack Britain.
• Volkswagen -- "people's car".
• Wannsee conference -- a conference at Wannsee near Berlin which led to the Final solution.
• Zeppelin -- The rigid airships were a symbol of the German air technology.

Related Articles