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Germany Travel Guide

Sophisticated and vibrant cities, amazing architecture, alluring castles and thrilling amusement parks. Efficient, impressive and modern, but also old-fashioned in the form of distinctive traditional hats and outfits, cuckoo clocks, Hansel and Gretel and lively beer fests, Germany is a land of possibilities.

There’s something for everyone in Germany, whether you want to hit the fabulous shops and museums in Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich or explore the beautiful Black Forest Mountains. Culture lovers can take pleasure in high-quality musical concerts and theatre performances while sports fanatics enjoy major international sporting occasions. Cycling through the countryside in summer or visiting the atmospheric Christmas markets in winter, Germany is the perfect destination for families.

Full Name

Federal Republic of Germany

Former Name

German Empire, German Republic, German Reich

Capital City

Berlin

Government Type

Federal Republic

Area Size

357,027 sq km 137,849 sq miles

Time Zone

GMT + 1 (GMT + 2 from last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).

Climate

Temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm mountain (foehn) wind

Geography

Strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea

Languages

German

History

As Europe's largest economy and second most populous nation, Germany remains a key member of the continent's economic, political, and defense organizations. European power struggles immersed Germany in two devastating World Wars in the first half of the 20th century and left the country occupied by the victorious Allied powers of the US, UK, France, and the Soviet Union in 1945. With the advent of the Cold War, two German states were formed in 1949: the western Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the eastern German Democratic Republic (GDR). The democratic FRG embedded itself in key Western economic and security organizations, the EC, which became the EU, and NATO, while the Communist GDR was on the front line of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. The decline of the USSR and the end of the Cold War allowed for German unification in 1990. Since then, Germany has expended considerable funds to bring Eastern productivity and wages up to Western standards. In January 1999, Germany and 10 other EU countries introduced a common European exchange currency, the euro.

Currency

Euro (EUR)

Electricity

230 volts AC, 50Hz.

Emergency Numbers

Ambulance: 112, Fire: 112, Police: 110

Berlin

Weather: Fair (1°C/33°F)
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