The culture of Germany is quite diverse as a result of the History of Germany.
Germany did not exist as a single nation state until 1871. Previously, many parts of Germany were
ruled as independent principalities or incorporated into larger confederations, such as the
Holy Roman Empire, Prussia or the Confederation of the Rhine. The German federal government has
limited responsibilites for culture, which is devolved to the states (Bundesländer).
Religion
Approximately 67 percent of the German population belong to a Christian denomination, of whom
roughly half are Roman Catholic and half are Protestant (the figures are known quite accurately
because Germany imposes a church tax on those who disclose a religious affiliation). Germany formed
a substantial part of the Roman Catholic Holy Roman Empire, but was also the source of Protestant
reformers such as Martin Luther.
Historically, Germany had a substantial Jewish population. Only a
few thousand people of Jewish origin remained in Germany after the Holocaust, but the German Jewish
community now has approximately 100,000 members, many from the former Soviet Union. Germany also has
a substantial Muslim minority, many from Turkey.
German Arts
Germany has made a signifcant contribution to art and music. Famous German fine artists include the
Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer, the surrealist Max Ernst,
the expressionist Franz Marc, the
conceptual artist Joseph Beuys or the neo expressionist Georg Baselitz.
Famous German composers include Ludwig v. Beethoven, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms,
Robert Schumann and Richard Wagner.
The German Bauhaus school has a large influence on modern architecture.
The German language was once the lingua franca of
central, eastern and northern Europe, and remains
one of the most popular foreign languages taught worldwide, in Europe the second most popular after
English. Many important historical figures, though not citizens of Germany in the modern sense,
were nevertheless seen as Germans in the sense that they were immersed in the German culture, for
example Mozart, Franz Kafka and Stefan Zweig.
Germany is known as das Land der Dichter und Denker (The Land of Poets and Thinkers). Famous German
poets include Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (see picture)
and Friedrich Schiller;
German prose authors include Hermann Hesse, Thomas Mann, Heinrich Böll and Günter Grass;
Scientists include Johannes Kepler, Ernst Haeckel, Albert Einstein, Max Born, Max Planck,
Werner Heisenberg and Justus Liebig;
Inventors and Engineers such as Gutenberg, Werner von Siemens,
Wernher von Braun, Gottlieb Daimler, Carl Benz and Rudolf Diesel;
German philosophers including Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Hegel,
Karl Marx, Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Nietzsche and
Martin Heidegger;
German theologians include Luther.
Popular Germany
Since about 1970, Germany has once again had a thriving popular culture, now increasingly being led
by its new old capital Berlin and the city of
Hamburg,
and a self-confident music and art culture.
Germany is also well known for its many opera houses.
German cuisine varies from region to region, but concentrates on meat (especially sausage) and
varieties of sweet dessert and cakes (such as Black Forest gateau "Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte")
and stollen (a fruit cake). German also produces a large quantity of beer, and (mostly white) wine,
particularly Riesling, but also Müller-Thurgau and other varietes.
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