Germany - Government
Based on the etymolgy of Germany, it was the Gauls (Celts) of Western Europe may have referred to the newly arriving Germanic tribes who settled in neighboring areas east of the Rhine during the first centuries B.C. as "Germani," a term the Romans adopted as "Germania"; the native designation "Deutsch" comes from the Old High German "diutisc" meaning "of the people". The Government system in this country is the federal parliamentary republic type and the different Administrative divisions includes: 16 states (Laender, singular - Land); Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bayern (Bavaria), Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen (Hesse), Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony), Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia), Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate), Saarland, Sachsen (Saxony), Sachsen-Anhalt (Saxony-Anhalt), Schleswig-Holstein, Thueringen (Thuringia); note - Bayern, Sachsen, and Thueringen refer to themselves as free states (Freistaaten, singular - Freistaat), while Bremen calls itself a Free Hanseatic City (Freie Hansestadt) and Hamburg considers itself a Free and Hanseatic City (Freie und Hansestadt)
National symbols
Eagle; national colors: black, red, yellow.
The flag
The National flag of Germany has three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and gold; these colors have played an important role in German history and can be traced back to the medieval banner of the Holy Roman Emperor - a black eagle with red claws and beak on a gold field.
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The National Anthem
| Title | "Das Lied der Deutschen" (Song of the Germans) |
|---|---|
| Lyric/music | August Heinrich HOFFMANN VON FALLERSLEBEN/Franz Joseph HAYDN |
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note: adopted 1922; the anthem, also known as "Deutschlandlied" (Song of Germany), was originally adopted for its connection to the March 1848 liberal revolution; following appropriation by the Nazis of the first verse, specifically the phrase, "Deutschland, Deutschland ueber alles" (Germany, Germany above all) to promote nationalism, it was banned after 1945; in 1952, its third verse was adopted by West Germany as its national anthem; in 1990, it became the national anthem for the reunited Germany
More about the government of Germany
| Date of Independence | 18 January 1871 (establishment of the German Empire); divided into four zones of occupation (UK, US, USSR, and France) in 1945 following World War II; Federal Republic of Germany (FRG or West Germany) proclaimed on 23 May 1949 and included the former UK, US, and French zones; German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) proclaimed on 7 October 1949 and included the former USSR zone; West Germany and East Germany unified on 3 October 1990; all four powers formally relinquished rights on 15 March 1991; notable earlier dates: 10 August 843 (Eastern Francia established from the division of the Carolingian Empire); 2 February 962 (crowning of OTTO I, recognized as the first Holy Roman Emperor) |
|---|---|
| National holiday | German Unity Day, 3 October (1990) |
| Legal system | civil law system |
| International law organization participation | accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction |
| Constitution | |
| History | Previous 1919 (Weimar Constitution); latest drafted 10-23 August 1948, approved 12 May 1949, promulgated 23 May 1949, entered into force 24 May 1949 |
| Amendments | Proposed by Parliament; passage and enactment into law require two-thirds majority vote by both the Bundesrat (upper house) and the Bundestag (lower house) of Parliament; articles including those on basic human rights and freedoms cannot be amended; amended many times, last in 2020; note - in early 2021, the German federal government introduced a bill to incorporate children’s rights into the constitution |
| Citizenship | |
| Citizenship by birth | no |
| Citizenship by descent only | at least one parent must be a German citizen or a resident alien who has lived in Germany at least 8 years |
| Dual citizenship recognized | yes, but requires prior permission from government |
| Residency requirement for naturalization | 8 years |
| Executive Branch | |
| Chief of state | President Frank-Walter STEINMEIER (since 19 March 2017) |
| Head of government | Chancellor Olaf SCHOLZ (since 8 December 2021) |
| Cabinet | Cabinet or Bundesminister (Federal Ministers) recommended by the chancellor, appointed by the president |
| Elections/appointments | president indirectly elected by a Federal Convention consisting of all members of the Federal Parliament (Bundestag) and an equivalent number of delegates indirectly elected by the state parliaments; president serves a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 13 February 2022 (next to be held in February 2027); following the most recent Federal Parliament election, the party or coalition with the most representatives usually elects the chancellor who is appointed by the president to serve a renewable 4-year term; Federal Parliament vote for chancellor last held on 8 December 2021 (next to be held after the Bundestag election in 2025) |
| Election results | 2022: Frank-Walter STEINMEIER reelected president; Federal Convention vote count - Frank-Walter STEINMEIER (SPD) 1,045, Max OTTE (CDU) 140, Gerhard TRABERT (The Left) 96, Stefanie GEBAUER (Free Voters) 58, abstentions 86 2021: Olaf SCHOLZ (SPD) elected chancellor; Federal Parliament vote - 395 to 303 2017: Frank-Walter STEINMEIER elected president; Federal Convention vote count - Frank-Walter STEINMEIER (SPD) 931, Christopher Butterwegge (independent) 128, abstentions 103 |
| Legislative branch | |
| Description | Bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of: Federal Council or Bundesrat (69 seats statutory, 71 current; members appointed by each of the 16 state governments) Federal Diet or Bundestag (736 seats statutory, 736 for the 2021-25 term; approximately one-half of members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote and approximately one-half directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote; members' terms depend upon the states they represent) |
| Elections | Bundesrat - none; determined by the composition of the state-level governments; the composition of the Bundesrat has the potential to change any time one of the 16 states holds an election Bundestag - last held on 26 September 2021 (next to be held by September 2025); almost all postwar German governments have been coalitions |
| Election results | Bundesrat - composition - men 43, women 26, percentage women 37.7% Bundestag - percent of vote by party - SPD 28%, CDU/CSU 26.8%, Alliance '90/Greens 16%, FDP 12.5%, AfD 11%, The Left 5.3%, other .04%; seats by party - SPD 206, CDU/CSU 197, Alliance '90/Greens 118, FDP 92, AfD 81, The Left 39, other 3; composition - men 476, women 260, percentage women 34.9%; note - total Parliament percentage women 35.5% |
| Judicial branch | |
| Highest court(s) | Federal Court of Justice (court consists of 127 judges, including the court president, vice presidents, presiding judges, other judges and organized into 25 Senates subdivided into 12 civil panels, 5 criminal panels, and 8 special panels); Federal Constitutional Court or Bundesverfassungsgericht (consists of 2 Senates each subdivided into 3 chambers, each with a chairman and 8 members) |
| Judge selection and term of office | Federal Court of Justice judges selected by the Judges Election Committee, which consists of the Secretaries of Justice from each of the 16 federated states and 16 members appointed by the Federal Parliament; judges appointed by the president; judges serve until mandatory retirement at age 65; Federal Constitutional Court judges - one-half elected by the House of Representatives and one-half by the Senate; judges appointed for 12-year terms with mandatory retirement at age 68 |
| Subordinate courts | Federal Administrative Court; Federal Finance Court; Federal Labor Court; Federal Social Court; each of the 16 federated states or Land has its own constitutional court and a hierarchy of ordinary (civil, criminal, family) and specialized (administrative, finance, labor, social) courts; two English-speaking commercial courts opened in late 2020 in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg - English-speaking Stuttgart Commercial Court and English-speaking Mannheim Commercial Court |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | |
| Chief of mission | Ambassador Andreas MICHAELIS (since 15 September 2023) |
| Chancery | 4645 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, DC 20007 |
| Telephone | [1] (202) 298-4000 |
| FAX | [1] (202) 298-4261 |
| Email address and website | [email protected] https://www.germany.info/us-en |
| Consulate(s) general | Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | |
| Chief of mission | Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d’Affaires Alan MELTZER (since July 2024) |
| Embassy | Pariser Platz 2, 10117 Berlin Clayallee 170, 14191 Berlin (administrative services) |
| Mailing address | 5090 Berlin Place, Washington DC 20521-5090 |
| Telephone | [49] (30) 8305-0 |
| FAX | [49] (30) 8305-1215 |
| Email address and website | [email protected] https://de.usembassy.gov/ |
| Consulate(s) general | Dusseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich |
| National heritage | |
| Total World Heritage Sites | 52 (49 cultural, 3 natural) |
| Selected World Heritage Site locales | Museumsinsel (Museum Island), Berlin (c); Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin (c); Speyer Cathedral (c); Upper Middle Rhine Valley (c); Aachen Cathedral (c); Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar, Dessau, and Bernau (c); Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura (c); Mines of Rammelsberg, Historic Town of Goslar, and Upper Harz Water Management System (c); Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St. Peter, and Church of Our Lady in Trier (c); Hanseatic City of Lübeck (c); Old Town of Regensburg (c); Messel Pit Fossil Site (n) |
Key Political parties and their leaders in Germany
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International organization participation
All Important Facts about Germany
Want to know more about Germany? Check all different factbooks for Germany below.
