Germany Destination News

Th e roster of famous Germans is long in most fi elds of endeavor. 

Th e name of Johann Gutenberg (1400?–1468?), who is generally 

regarded in the Western world as the inventor of movable 

precision-cast metal type, and therefore as the father of modern 

book printing, might well head the list of notable Germans. 

Martin Luther (1483–1546), founder of the Reformation, still exerts 

profound infl uence on German religion, society, music, and 

language. 

Th e earliest major names in German literature were the poets 

Wolfram von Eschenbach (1170?–1220?), Gottfried von Strassburg 

(d.1210?), and Sebastian Brant (1457?–1521). Hans Sachs 

(1494–1576) wrote thousands of plays, poems, stories, and songs. 

Hans Jakob Christoff el von Grimmelshausen (1620?–76) created 

a famous picaresque novel, Simplicissimus. Th e fl owering of 

German literature began with such renowned 18th-century poets 

and dramatists as Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724–1803), 

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–81), Christoph Martin Wieland 

(1733–1813), and Johann Gottfried von Herder (1744–1803), 

and culminated with the greatest German poet, Johann Wolfgang 

von Goethe (1749–1832), and the greatest German dramatist, Johann 

Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (1759–1805). Leaders of 

the Romantic movement included Jean Paul (Jean Paul Friedrich 

Richter, 1763–1825), August Wilhelm von Schlegel (1767–1845), 

Novalis (Friedrich von Hardenberg, 1772–1801), Ludwig Tieck 

(1773–1853), E. T. A. (Ernst Th eodor Wilhelm—the A stood for 

Amadeus, the middle name of Mozart) Hoff mann (1776–1822), 

and Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist (1777–1811). Th e brothers Jakob 

Grimm (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm (1786–1859) are 

world-famous for their collections of folk tales and myths. Heinrich 

Heine (1797–1856), many of whose poems have become 

folksongs, is generally regarded as the greatest German poet after 

Goethe. Other signifi cant poets are Friedrich Hölderlin (1770– 

1843), Friedrich Rückert (1788–1866), Eduard Mörike (1804–75), 

Stefan Georg (1868–1933), and Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926). 

Playwrights of distinction include Friedrich Hebbel (1813–63), 

Georg Büchner (1813–37), Georg Kaiser (1878–1945), Ernst 

Toller (1893–1939), and Bertolt Brecht (1898–1957). Two leading 

novelists of the 19th century were Gustav Freytag (1816–95) 

and Th eodor Storm (1817–88). Germany’s 20th-century novelists 

include Ernst Wiechert (1887–1950), Anna Seghers (Netty Reiling, 

1900–1983), and Nobel Prize winners Gerhart Johann Robert 

Hauptmann (1862–1946), Thomas Mann (1875–1955), Nelly 

Sachs (1891–1970), and Heinrich Böll (1917–86). Other major 

writers of the 20th and 21st centuries include German-born Erich 

Maria Remarque (1898–1970), Günter Grass (b.1927), Christa 

Wolf (b.1929), and Peter Handke (b.1942). 

Leading fi lmmakers include G. W. (Georg Wilhelm) Pabst 

(b.Czechoslovakia, 1885–1967), F. W. (Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe) 

Murnau (1888–1931), Fritz Lang (b.Austria, 1890–1976), German born 

Ernst Lubitsch (1892–1947), Max Ophüls (Oppenheimer, 

1902–57), Leni (Helene Bertha Amalie) Riefenstahl (1902–2003), 

Volker Schlöndorff (b.1939), Werner Herzog (b.1942), Rainer 

Werner Fassbinder (1946–82), Wim Wenders (b.1945), and Doris 

Dörrie (b.1955). Outstanding performers include Emil Jannings 

(Theodor Friedrich Emil Janenz, b.Switzerland, 1886–1950), Marlene 

Dietrich (1901–1992), and Klaus Kinski (Claus Günther 

Nakszynski, 1926–91). 

Th e two giants of German church music were Heinrich Schütz 

(1585–1672) and, preeminently, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685– 

1750). Signifi cant composers of the 18th century were Germanborn 

Georg Friedrich Handel (1685–1759), Carl Philipp Emanuel 

Bach (1714–88), and Christoph Willibald von Gluck (1714–87). 

Th e classical period and music in general were dominated by the 

titanic fi gure of Ludwig von Beethoven (1770–1827). Romanticism 

in music was ushered in by Carl Maria von Weber (1786– 

1826), among others. Outstanding composers of the 19th century 

were Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809–47), Robert Schumann 

(1810–56), Richard Wagner (1813–83), and Johannes Brahms 

(1833–97). Major fi gures of the 20th and 21st centuries are Richard 

Strauss (1864–1949), Paul Hindemith (1895–1963), Carl Orff 

(1895–1982), German-born Kurt Weill (1900–50), Hans Werner 

Henze (b.1926), and Karlheinz Stockhausen (b.1928). Important 

symphonic conductors included Otto Klemperer (1885–1973), 

Wilhelm Furtwängler (1886–1954), Karl Böhm (1894–1981), and 

Eugen Jochum (1902–87). Among Germany’s outstanding musical 

performers are singers Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (b.1915) and 

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (b.1925), and pianists Walter Gieseking 

(1895–1956) and Wilhelm Kempff (1895–91). 

Veit Stoss (1440?–1533) was one of the greatest German sculptors 

and woodcarvers of the 15th century; another was Tilman 

Riemenschneider (1460?–1531). Outstanding painters, engravers, 

and makers of woodcuts were Martin Schongauer (1445?–91), Matthias 

Grünewald (1460?–1528?), Hans Holbein the Elder (1465?– 

1524), Lucas Cranach (1472–1553), Hans Holbein the Younger 

(1497?–1543), and above all, Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528). More 

recent artists of renown are the painters Emil Nolde (1867–1956), 

Franz Marc (1880–1916), Max Beckmann (1884–1950), the USborn 

Lyonel Feininger (1871–1956), Otto Dix (1891–1969), Max 

Ernst (1891–1976), and Horst Antes (b.1936); the painter and cartoonist 

George Grosz (1893–1959); the sculptors Ernst Barlach 

(1870–1938) and Wilhelm Lehmbruck (1881–1919); the painteretcher- 

sculptor Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945); the Dadaist Hannah 

Höch (1889–1978); the painter-sculptor-installation artist Joseph 

Beuys (1921–1986); the painter and sculptor Anselm Kiefer 

(b.1945); and the architects Walter Gropius (1883–1969), leader of 

the Bauhaus School of Design, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886– 

1969), Erich Mendelsohn (1887–1953), Gottfried Böhm (b.1920), 

and Helmut Jahn (b.1940).

Germany is famous for its beautiful scenery, particularly the Alps 

in the south and the river valleys of the Rhine, Main, and Danube; 

the landscape is dotted with castles and medieval villages. Th eater, 

opera, and orchestral music abound in the major cities. Th e area 

that was formerly the German Democratic Republic off ers a number 

of Baltic beach resorts and scenic Rügen Island. Residents of 

the United States and Canada need only a valid passport to enter 

Germany for a period of no more than three months; citizens of 

other countries need a visa. All border formalities for residents of 

other European Community countries were abandoned with the 

lift ing of trade barriers in 1993. 

Facilities for camping, cycling, skiing, and mountaineering are 

abundant. Football (soccer) is the favorite sport; Germany hosted 

and won the World Cup competition in 1974, and was scheduled 

to host in 2006. Tennis has become more popular since Boris 

Becker won the Wimbledon Championship in 1985; German Steffi 

Graf was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 

2004. Th e Olympic Games were held in Berlin in 1936, during the 

Hitler years, and in Munich in 1972. 

Approximately 16,357,037 tourists visited Germany in 2003, 

almost 34% of whom came from Western Europe. Th ere were 

892,302 hotel rooms with about 1.6 million beds and an occupancy 

rate of 33%. Th e average length of stay was two nights. Tourism 

receipts totaled $31.6 billion that year. 

In 2005, the US Department of State estimated the daily expenses 

in Munich at $350; in Cologne, $323; and in Berlin, $353. 

Th e Federation of German Industries, the Confederation of German 

Employers’ Associations, the Federation of German Wholesale 

and Foreign Traders, and the Association of German Chambers 

of Commerce represent business in the FRG. Th ere are about 

14 regional associations of chambers of business and industry located 

in the largest cities; many maintain branch offi ces in smaller 

cities. Th e chambers are organized into provincial associations 

and are headed by the Permanent Conference of German Industry 

and Trade. Th e cooperative movement is well developed. Consumer 

cooperatives are represented in the International Cooperative 

Alliance by the Central Association of German Cooperatives, 

founded in 1949; it also represents credit cooperatives. Th e central 

association of agricultural cooperatives, the German Raiff eisen 

Society, is located in Wiesbaden. Th e Association of German 

Peasants is the largest society of farmers. Th ere is also a Central 

Association of German Artisan Industries. Th e private Association 

of Consumers operates more than 150 local advisory centers. 

Professional societies and associations are numerous and represent 

a wide variety of occupations and fi elds of study. 

Civil action groups (Bürgerinitiativen) have proliferated in recent 

years. August 13 Working Committee serves in part as a human 

rights awareness organization. Deutscher Frauenring serves 

as an umbrella organization for national women’s groups. Th e Red 

Cross is active. Th ere are national chapters of Habitat for Humanity, 

CARE and Caritas. 

Th e German Academy of Arts in Berlin and the Academy of 

Fine Arts in Dresden are well-known arts organizations. Th ere is a 

network of seven academies of science in Germany. Th e UNESCO 

Institute for Education has an offi ce in Hamburg. A few cultural 

and learned associations particular to Germany include the International 

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Society, the International 

Heinrich Schutz Society, and the International Hegel Gesellschaft 

Society. Th ere are numerous organizations dedicated to research 

and education in scientifi c fi elds, particularly those relating to 

medicine. 

Th ere are about 80 youth associations, most of which belong to 

the Federal Youth Ring. Th e scouting movement is highly active 

and political parties sponsor groups associated in the Ring of Political 

Youth. In total there are about 90 national youth organizations 

and youth associations. Many of them are part of the umbrella 

organization known as the German Federal Youth Association. 

Th ere are thousands of groups and associations sponsoring various 

arts and cultural activities and special organizations for various 

hobbies and sports. Th e German Sports Confederation serves 

as an umbrella organization for over 88,000 sports clubs nationwide. 

Th ere are also many patriotic and religious organizations in 

the country.

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.