Germany Destination News

Since reunifi cation, postal services have been under the jurisdiction 

of the Deutsche Bundespost Postdienst and telecommunications 

under Deutsche Bundespost Telekom. Intensive capital 

investments since reunifi cation have rapidly modernized and 

integrated most of the obsolete telephone network of the former 

GDR. In 2003, there were an estimated 657 mainline telephones 

for every 1,000 people. Th e same year, there were approximately 

785 mobile phones in use for every 1,000 people. 

Th ere are 11 regional broadcasting corporations, including 

Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, which operates Channel Two nationally. 

In 1999 there were 77 AM, 1,621 FM, and 373 television 

stations. In 2003, there were an estimated 570 radios and 675 television 

sets for every 1,000 people. About 250.8 of every 1,000 people 

were cable subscribers. Also in 2003, there were 484.7 personal 

computers for every 1,000 people and 473 of every 1,000 people 

had access to the Internet. Th ere were 13,847 secure Internet servers 

in the country in 2004. 

Th ere are about 305 national, regional, and local newspapers 

in Germany, as well as a large number of other periodicals. Of 

the newspapers sold on the street, the Bild has the largest circulation 

at about 3.8 million in 2005. Th e Berliner Zeitung, founded in 

1945 but completely redesigned in 1997, is a nationally prominent 

daily with a circulation on 2005 of about 180,000. Other infl uential 

daily national newspapers (with 2005 circulation rates unless 

noted) are: the Express (Cologne, 468,800 in 2004), Rheinische 

Post (Duesseldorf, 443,100 in 2004), the Sachsische Zeitung (Dresden, 

416,800 in 2004), the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Frankfurt, 

377,000), Die Welt (244,000 in 2004), Frankfurter Rundschau 

(167,000), Suddeutsche Zeitung (Munich, 437,000), Der Tagesspiegel 

(135,000), and Die Tageszeitung (59,000). 

Over 20,000 periodicals are published in Germany. Th e bestknown 

internationally is the news magazine Der Spiegel which is 

modeled aft er the American Time magazine. Th e German Press 

Agency, owned by German newspaper publishers and publishers’ 

organizations, furnishes domestic and international news. Th ere 

are hundreds of small press agencies and services. 

Th e Basic Law provides for free press rights, and the government 

mostly supports these rights in practice, though propaganda 

of Nazi and certain other proscribed groups is illegal, as are statements 

endorsing Nazism.

Germany had no national library until 1913, when the German 

Library (7.2 million volumes in 2002) in Leipzig brought together 

an extensive collection literature of the German language under 

one roof. Th e library also contains 3.9 million volumes of works 

written in exile by German authors during the Nazi era. In 1990 a 

further consolidation of German libraries was completed with the 

establishment of the German Library in Frankfurt, which had 18 

million volumes in 2002. Other prominent libraries are the Bavarian 

State Library in Munich (7.6 million books) and the Prussian 

Cultural Property State Library (10 million books) in Berlin. Th e 

Herzog-August Library in Wolfenbüttel (848,000 volumes) has archives 

of 12,000 handwritten medieval books. One of the most 

important collections of German literature is at the Central Library 

of German Classics in Weimar. Th e Berlin Central and Regional 

Library, the public library network for the area, contains 

over 3.1 million print and electronic sources. Th e German Library 

for the Blind in Leipzig was founded in 1894. It serves as a pub 

lishing house and production center for Braille texts and audio 

books, as well as a public lending library containing 40,000 book 

titles and 5,000 titles of sheet music in Braille. 

Germany has more than 4,500 state, municipal, association, private, 

residential, castle, palace, and church and cathedral treasures 

museums, which annually attract over 100 million visitors. Berlin 

has the Egyptian and Pergaman Museums, the Painting Gallery of 

Old Masters, and the National Gallery of Modern Art. Th e Jewish 

Museum opened in Berlin in 2001 off ering exhibits on the history 

and culture of the Jewish people in the region. Th e Germanic 

National Museum in Nüremberg has the largest collection on 

the history of German art and culture from antiquity to the 20th 

century. Th e German Museum in Munich is one of the most well 

known natural sciences and technology museums in Europe. Th e 

Pinakothek Moderne, opened in 2003, houses a huge modern art 

collection in Munich. In addition, there are hundreds of smaller 

museums, ethnological and archaeological institutions, scientifi c 

collections, and art galleries. 

Th e Bach Archive in Leipzig contains a museum, research institute, 

and library dedicated to the life and work of the composer 

J.S. Bach, who once served as the city’s music director. Beethoven 

Haus in Bonn and the Richard Wagner Museum Haus in Bayreuth 

honor two more famous German composers. Museums on the 

life and work of Goethe are located in Frankfurt (birthplace) and 

Weimer. Lutherhaus in Wittenberg serves as a historical museum 

for both the life and work of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation 

that he ignited.

Most schools and kindergartens are the responsibility of the states, 

not of the federal government. Th erefore, though the overall structure 

is basically the same, it is diffi cult for a pupil to transfer from 

one school to another. German teachers are civil servants. Th ey 

are required to have a teaching degree and are paid according to 

a uniform salary scale. Attendance at all public schools and universities 

is free. 

Children start school aft er their sixth birthday and are required 

to attend on a full-time basis for nine or ten years, depending on 

the state of residence. Aft er four years of primary or elementary 

school (Grundschule), students choose from three types of secondary 

school. Th e best pupils go to a gymnasium, which prepares 

them for the university matriculation examination, or abitur. A 

second option is the realschule, leading to technical job training 

and middle-management employment. Th e third type is the 

hauptschule, or general school. 

However, a network of correspondence courses has developed, 

geared for those who wish to continue their studies while working. 

In Germany, vocational training is the rule. On-the-job training in 

an authorized company is combined with instruction in a vocational 

school. Vocational training is concluded by taking a theoretical 

and practical examination before a Board of the Chamber, 

and those who pass are given a certifi cate. Th is system of vocational 

training has clearly reduced youth unemployment. 

In 2001, nearly all children between the ages of three and fi ve 

were enrolled in some type of preschool program. Primary school 

enrollment has been estimated at about 84% of age-eligible students. 

In 2003, secondary school enrollment was about 88% of 

age-eligible students. Nearly all students complete their primary 

education. Th e student-to-teacher ratio for primary school was at 

about 14:1 in 2003; the ratio for secondary school was also about 

14:1. 

Higher education is represented by three types of institutions: 

universities (technische universitäten), colleges of art and music, 

and universities of applied sciences (fachhochscchulen). Th ere are 

also several fachschulen, which off er continuing vocational training 

for adults. In 2003, about 51% of the tertiary age population 

were enrolled in some type of higher education program. Th e 

adult literacy rate has been estimated at about 99%. 

As of 2003, public expenditure on education was estimated at 

4.8% of GDP, or 9.5% of total government expenditures.

Nearly 2.8 million of the country’s 12 million dwellings were destroyed 

or made uninhabitable as a result of World War II. In the 

early 1950s, there were 10 million dwellings available for 17 million 

households. From 1949 to 1978, over 18 million housing units 

were built, a construction rate of over 500,000 a year; since then, 

new construction has slowed, averaging 357,000 new units annually 

during the period 1980–85. Over 4.2 million housing units 

were built in 1991 or later (excluding residential homes). 

Over half of the population live in residential buildings of three 

or more dwelling units. Nearly 98% of all dwelling units are in such 

multi-unit residential buildings; of these, about 42.6% are owner 

occupied. About 69% of the dwelling units in residential buildings 

have central heating systems. Gas and oil are the most common 

energy sources. In 2002, there was a total of about 38,957,100 

dwelling units nationwide; only 254,900 were residential homes. 

Th e average number of persons per household is 2.2.

Health insurance in Germany is available to everyone. Benefi ts are 

broad and nationally uniform, with only minor variations among 

plans. Th ey include free choice of doctors; unlimited physician 

visits; preventive checkups; total freedom from out-of-pocket payments 

for physician services; unlimited acute hospital care (with 

a nominal co-payment); prescription drug coverage (with a minimal 

co-payment); comprehensive dental benefi ts (with a 25–30% 

co-payment); vision and hearing exams, glasses, aids, prostheses, 

etc.; inpatient and psychiatric care (and outpatient psychiatric visits); 

monthly home care allowances; maternity benefi ts; disability 

payments; and rehabilitation and/or occupational therapy. Health 

care expenditure was estimated at 10.5% of GDP. Expenditures on 

health are among the highest in the world. 

In 2004, there were approximately 362 physicians, 951 nurses, 

78 dentists, and 58 pharmacists per 100,000 people. Th ere were 

about 2,260 hospitals in Germany, with about 572,000 beds. A 

gradual deinstitutionalization of people with chronic mental illness 

has taken place, with the number of hospital beds declining 

from 150,000 in the former West Germany in 1976 to a total of 

69,000 in Germany as a whole as of 1995. Germany immunized 

85% of children up to one year old against diphtheria, pertussis, 

and tetanus. 

Average life expectancy was 78.65 years in 2005. Infant mortality 

was 4.16 per 1,000 live births in the same year, one of the lowest 

in the world. As of 2002, the birth rate was estimated at 8.9 per 

1,000 live births and the overall death rate at 10.4 per 1,000 people. 

Contraceptive use is high. Nearly 75% of married women 15–49 

used some form of birth control. Th e total fertility rate in 2000 

was 1.4 children per woman throughout her childbearing years. 

Th e maternal mortality rate was low at 8 deaths per 100,000 live 

births. 

Th e HIV/AIDS prevalence was 0.10 per 100 adults in 2003. As 

of 2004, there were approximately 43,000 people living with HIV/ 

AIDS in the country. Th ere were an estimated 1,000 deaths from 

AIDS in 2003. 

Tobacco consumption has decreased signifi cantly from 2.4 kg 

(5.3 lbs) in 1984 to 2.1 kg (4.6 lbs) a year per adult in 1995. Th e 

heart disease average in Germany was higher than the European 

average.