Germany Destination News

Wholesalers, retailers, mail-order houses, door-to-door salespersons, 

department stores, consumer cooperatives, and factory 

stores all engage in distribution. Th ere are about 630,000 commercial 

enterprises in Germany, with over than 760,000 local units. 

Nearly 5 million people are employed in domestic trade, which 

has a yearly turnover of over €1 trillion. 

Chain stores are common, with the top 10 German retail organizations 

accounting for almost 80% of total German retail 

turnover. Convenience shops are a fast growing market outlet in 

Germany. 

Th e economy is generally described as a “social market economy.” 

Th e state continues to own some major sections of the economy 

and provides subsidies for the growth and development of 

some sectors. However, free enterprise and competition are encouraged. 

Privatization of public utilities has resulted in greater 

competition and lower prices. Th e economy as a whole is primarily 

export oriented, with nearly one-third of national product 

exported. 

Usual business hours for retail stores are from 9 am to 6 or 6:30 

pm on weekdays and from 9 am to 4 pm on Saturday. Retail stores 

are not open on Sundays or holidays unless they have a special 

limited permit allowing them to be open. Twenty-four-hour shopping 

is available only at certain gas stations and at other sites related 

to travel. Wholesale houses and industrial plants usually have a 

half day (noon closing) on Saturday. Banks are open Monday–Friday 

from 8:30 am to 1 pm and from 2:30 pm to 4 pm (5:30 pm on 

Thursday).

Th e reunifi cation of East and West Germany has created great 

opportunities for the entire population but has also placed great 

strains on the nation. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than 

in science, engineering and technical education, and vocational 

training. Germany maintains an excellent science and technology 

educational system and vocational training in many fi elds. About 

140,000 science and engineering students graduated per year in 

the last years of the 20th century. Still, the challenge of incorporating 

the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) into a complete 

and modern German nation is daunting. Public and university 

research facilities in the former East Germany are old and 

poorly maintained, and science and engineering students have 

been found to be poorly trained and equipped to work in more 

modern West German institutions and companies. It is believed 

that the German government will need to completely rebuild the 

science and technology infrastructure in the former GDR before it 

can compare with more modern German facilities. 

Th e German national science and technology budget is applied 

to many areas of science and technology, and leading fi elds include 

traditional areas of German strength, like chemical, automotive 

and telecommunications research and development. Current 

policy emphasizes the application of science and technology 

to enhance Germany’s economic and competitive standing, while 

protecting the nation’s health and the environment. Support for 

science and technology also occurs at other levels. Th ere are independent 

laboratories, comprised of both the national laboratories 

and private research institutes like the Max Planck and Fraunhofer 

Societies. In addition, German industry supports many important 

types of research and development, and the German states, 

or Länder, provide still more resources for scientifi c research. Th e 

Ministry for Science and Technology (BMFT), an organization 

without parallel in the United States, both coordinates and sets 

priorities for the entire national science and technology program. 

Finally, Germany’s participation in the European Union also has 

a signifi cant science and technology component—Germany provides 

funding, scientists, and laboratories for broad European research 

and development. In 2003 total research and development 

(R&D) expenditures in Germany amounted to $56,592.7 billion, 

or 2.64% of GDP. Of that total, 65.5% came from the business sector, 

followed by the government at 31.6%, the foreign sector at 

2.3%, and by higher education at 0.4%. 

In 2002, there were 3,222 scientists and engineers and 1,435 

technicians per million people that were actively engaged in R&D. 

High-tech exports that same year were valued at $86.861 billion, 

accounting for 17% of manufactured exports. 

Germany has numerous universities and colleges off ering 

courses in basic and applied sciences. In 1987–97, science and engineering 

students accounted for 47% of university enrollment. In 

2002, of all bachelor’s degrees awarded, 30.2% were in the sciences 

(natural, mathematics and computers, and engineering). 

Th e Natural History Museum in Berlin (founded in 1889) has 

geological, paleontological, mineralogical, zoological, and botanical 

components. Th e country has numerous specialized learned 

societies concerned with agriculture and veterinary science, medicine, 

the natural sciences, and technology.

Germany is the world’s third-largest industrial power, behind the 

United States and Japan. Th e major industrial concentrations of 

western Germany are the Ruhr-Westphalia complex; the Upper 

Rhine Valley, Bremen and Hamburg, notable for shipbuilding; the 

southern region, with such cities as Munich and Augsburg; and 

the central region, with such industrial cities as Salzgitter, Kassel, 

Hanover, and Braunschweig. In the east, most of the leading industries 

are located in the Berlin region or in such cities as Dresden, 

Leipzig, Dessau, Halle, Cottbus, and Chemnitz. 

Th e main industrial sectors in the former GDR were electrical 

engineering and electronics, chemicals, glass, and ceramics. Th e 

optical and precision industries were important producers of export 

items. Following unifi cation, wages in the east were allowed 

to reach levels far exceeding productivity. As a result, many factories 

closed and industrial production plunged by two-thirds before 

stabilizing. 

German industry has been struggling with high labor costs, stiff 

international competition, and high business taxes. Large industrial 

concerns like Daimler-Benz have spun off unprofi table companies, 

cut staff , and are looking for ways to boost productivity. 

Policies such as these have led to a loss of some two million industrial 

jobs since 1991. Other companies, like the electronics giant 

Siemens, have moved plants abroad in search for lower labor 

costs and to secure positions in developing economies like China 

and Th ailand. 

Despite the costs of restructuring the former GDR, Germany 

had some of the largest and most successful companies in the 

world as of late 2005, from automobiles to advanced electronics, 

steel, chemicals, machinery, shipbuilding, and textiles. German 

industrial products are known for their high quality and 

reliability. Nevertheless, the global recession that began in 2001 

negatively aff ected German industry, with 45,000 insolvencies in 

2002, including Holzmann, the large construction company. Th e 

construction industry, which experienced a post-reunifi cation 

boom in the early 1990s, experienced an 8% drop in orders at the 

beginning of 2002. Although German industry (excluding construction) 

as a percentage of GDP declined from 26.9% in 1992 

to 22.6% in 2002, manufacturing in 2005 remained at the heart of 

the German economy.

Germany is the greatest consumer of electric power in Europe. 

In 2003, total installed capacity was estimated at 119.8 GW. Total 

production of electric power in that year amounted to an estimated 

558.1 billion kWh, of which 63% was produced in conventional 

thermal plants (mainly fueled by hard coal), 28% in nuclear installations, 

and 6% from other renewable sources. As of November 

2005, there were 17 nuclear plants, and as of 2003, Germany 

ranked fourth internationally in nuclear power generation. In 

2001, the German government and its utility companies signed an 

agreement to gradually phase out nuclear power over the coming 

decades due to environmental concerns. 

Proven natural gas reserves were estimated at 9.9 trillion cu ft , 

as of 1 January 2005. Domestic production in 2003 accounted for 

slightly more than 24% of the natural gas consumed in 2003. In 

that year, domestic demand for natural gas was put at an estimated 

3.3 trillion cu ft , while domestic production that year was estimated 

at 0.8 trillion cu ft . Major natural gas suppliers to Germany are 

Russia, the Netherlands, and Norway. In 2000 production began 

at Germany’s fi rst off shore gas fi eld in the North Sea. It is expected 

to produce 3.3 billion cu m (116 billion cu ft ) of gas per day for 16 

years. Production of oil was estimated at 169,300 barrels per day 

in 2005, of which 38% was crude oil. Local production is not suffi 

cient to cover consumption, which totaled an estimated 2.6 million 

barrels per day in 2005. 

Germany has extensive coal reserves. In 2003, recoverable reserves 

of coal totaled an estimated 7,428.5 million short tons, with 

consumption and production estimated at 273 million short tons 

and 229.1 million short tons, respectively, for that same year. Germany’s 

hard coal (anthracite and bituminous) deposits lie deep 

underground and are diffi cult to mine economically. As a result, 

hard coal extraction is subsidized by the government, which for 

2005, plans to spend $3.5 billion for subsidies. However, by 2012, 

coal subsidies are slated to fall to $2.3 billion, the result of a pact 

with the coal industry reached in 1997. Brown coal, or lignite, 

however, is easier to obtain and does not require subsidies from 

the government. It also accounts for the vast bulk of German coal 

output. In 2003, of the 273.0 million short tons of coal produced, 

brown coal accounted for 86% of production, with 13% for bituminous 

and 1% for anthracite. Th e lignite industry, which is centered 

in the eastern part of the country, was drastically changed as 

a result of unifi cation and the introduction of the strict environmental 

and safety laws of the pre-1991 FRG. 

Germany is also looking at renewable energy sources. Under 

the Renewable Energy Sources Act, Germany is looking to have 

12.5% of its energy supplied by renewable sources by 2010, and 

20% by 2020. During the 1990s, more than 5,000 electricity-generating 

windmills were installed in Germany, mostly along the 

North Sea coast, and wind power is expected to supply 3.5% of 

electricity by 2010. As of November 2005, Germany had 14,600 

MW of installed wind power capacity and 390 MW of installed 

solar voltaic capacity.

Germany’s export-oriented economy was the largest in Europe. 

Approximately one-third of Germany’s gross domestic product 

(GDP) depended upon exports. Germany was also a major processing 

nation, relying on imports of raw materials for the metals 

processing industry and the manufacture of industrial mineral 

products. Th e country was a leader in the mining equipment manufacturing 

sector, and was among the largest and most technologically 

advanced producers of iron, coal, and cement. Although the 

underground mining sector has steadily declined, certain minerals 

remained important domestically and worldwide. In 2003, 

Germany was the world’s largest lignite producer, the world’s 

third-largest producer of potash, a leading producer of kaolin in 

Western Europe, a major European producer of crude gypsum, 

and self-suffi cient in feldspar and salt. Th e only metal mineral still 

mined in Germany was uranium. 

Except for the very large lignite and potash operations, most of 

the producing and processing facilities in operation were small. 

Th e restructuring and privatization of facilities in the former German 

Democratic Republic (GDR) continued in 2003, including of 

the mineral-resource industries. Production fi gures for 2003 were, 

in million tons: potash, 3.563; kaolin, 3.5; marketable gypsum and 

anhydrite, 1.748, down from 1.761 in 2001; feldspar, 0.5; industrial 

dolomite and limestone, 106, up from 76 in 2001; and marketable 

salt (evaporated, rock, and other), 16.3, up from 15.6 in 2001. In 

2003, Germany also produced barite; bromine; chalk; clays (bentonite, 

ceramic, fi re, fuller’s earth, brick); diatomite; fl uorspar; 

graphite; lime; quicklime; dead-burned dolomite; nitrogen; phosphate 

materials, including Th omas slag; mineral and natural pigments; 

pumice; dimension stone; quartz; quartzite; slate; building 

sand; gravel; terrazzo splits; foundry sand; industrial glass sand; 

talc; and steatite. In terms of overseas developments, Süd-Chemie 

AG was the largest bentonite producer in Europe. Between 140 

and 160 small- to medium-sized clay mines were in operation; 

about one-half of the high-quality refractory and ceramic clays 

produced were from the Rhineland-Palatinate area. No iron ore 

was mined in 1999 and 2000; demand was met by imports of 47 

million tons.