Germany

Table of Contents

Introduction & Quick Facts
Land
- Relief
  - The Central German Uplands
    - Southern Germany
    - The barrier arc
    - The northern fringe of the Central German Uplands
  - The North German Plain
  - The coasts
  - The Alps and the Alpine Foreland
- Drainage
- Soils
- Climate
- Plant and animal life
  - Plants
  - Animals
People
- Ethnic groups
- Languages
- Religion
- Settlement patterns
  - Rural settlement
  - Urban settlement
- Demographic trends
  - Migration
  - Population structure
  - Population distribution
Economy
- Modern economic history: from partition to reunification
  - The West German system
  - The East German system
  - Economic unification and beyond
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing
  - Agriculture
  - Forestry
  - Fishing
- Resources and power
- Manufacturing
- Finance
  - The central banking system
  - The private banking sector
  - Public and cooperative institutions
- Trade
- Services
- Labor and taxation
- Transportation and telecommunications
  - Waterways
  - Seaports
  - Railways
  - Highways
  - Air transport
  - Telecommunications
Government and society
- Constitutional framework
- Regional and local government
- Justice
- Political process
  - The electorate
  - Political parties
    - The Christian Democratic parties
    - The Social Democrats
    - The Free Democrats
    - The Greens
    - The Left Party
    - Fringe parties
- Security
- Health and welfare
  - Insurance and services
  - Additional benefits
  - War reparations
  - Standards of living
- Housing
- Education
  - Preschool, elementary, and secondary
  - Higher education
  - Problems of transition
Cultural life
- Cultural milieu
- Daily life and social customs
- The arts
  - Government and audience support
  - Literature and theatre
  - Music and dance
  - The visual arts
  - Architecture
  - Film
  - Arts festivals
- Cultural institutions
  - Museums and galleries
  - Libraries
- Sports and recreation
  - Sporting culture
  - Leisure activities
- Media and publishing
  - Broadcasting
  - The press
  - Publishing
History
- Ancient history
  - Coexistence with Rome to ad 350
  - The migration period
- Merovingians and Carolingians
  - Merovingian Germany
  - The rise of the Carolingians and Boniface
  - Charlemagne
  - The emergence of Germany
    - The kingdom of Louis the German
    - Rise of the duchies
- Germany from 911 to 1250
  - The 10th and 11th centuries
    - Conrad I
    - The accession of the Saxons
    - The eastern policy of the Saxons
    - Dukes, counts, and advocates
    - The promotion of the German church
    - The Ottonian conquest of Italy and the imperial crown
    - The Salians, the papacy, and the princes, 1024–1125
      Papal reform and the German church
      The discontent of the lay princes
      The civil war against Henry IV
      Henry V
  - Germany and the Hohenstaufen, 1125–1250
    - Dynastic competition, 1125–52
    - Colonization of the east
    - Hohenstaufen policy in Italy
    - The fall of Henry the Lion
    - Hohenstaufen cooperation and conflict with the papacy, 1152–1215
    - Frederick II and the princes
    - The empire after the Hohenstaufen catastrophe
- Germany from 1250 to 1493
  - 1250 to 1378
    - The extinction of the Hohenstaufen dynasty
    - The Great Interregnum
    - The rise of the Habsburgs and Luxembourgs
      Rudolf of Habsburg
      Adolf of Nassau
      Albert I of Habsburg
      Henry VII of Luxembourg
    - The growth of territorialism under the princes
    - Constitutional conflicts in the 14th century
      Charles IV and the Golden Bull
      Decline of the German monarchy
    - The continued ascendancy of the princes
      Southern Germany
      Central Germany
      Northern Germany
      Eastern Germany
      Continued dispersement of territory
  - 1378 to 1493
    - Internal strife among cities and princes
      Wenceslas
      Rupert
      Sigismund
    - The Hussite controversy
      Jan Hus
      The Hussite wars
    - The Habsburgs and the imperial office
      Albert II
      Frederick III
    - Developments in the individual states to about 1500
      The princes and the Landstände
      The growth of central governments
    - German society, economy, and culture in the 14th and 15th centuries
      Transformation of rural life
      The nobility
      Urban life
      The decline of the church
      Trade and industry
      Cultural life
- Germany from 1493 to c. 1760
  - Reform and Reformation, 1493–1555
    - The empire in 1493
    - Imperial reform
    - The Reformation
    - Imperial election of 1519 and the Diet of Worms
    - The revolution of 1525
    - Lutheran church organization and confessionalization
    - Religious war and the Peace of Augsburg
  - The confessional age, 1555–1648
    - German society in the later 1500s
    - Religion and politics, 1555–1618
    - The Thirty Years’ War and the Peace of Westphalia
  - Territorial states in the age of absolutism
    - The empire after Westphalia
    - The consolidation of Brandenburg-Prussia and Austria
    - The age of Louis XIV
    - The contest between Prussia and Austria
- Germany from c. 1760 to 1815
  - Further rise of Prussia and the Hohenzollerns
  - The cultural scene
  - Enlightened reform and benevolent despotism
  - The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic era
    - End of the Holy Roman Empire
    - Period of French hegemony in Germany
    - The Wars of Liberation
  - Results of the Congress of Vienna
- The age of Metternich and the era of unification, 1815–71
  - Reform and reaction
  - Evolution of parties and ideologies
  - Economic changes and the Zollverein
  - The revolutions of 1848–49
  - The 1850s: years of political reaction and economic growth
  - The 1860s: the triumphs of Bismarck
    - The defeat of Austria
    - Bismarck’s national policies: the restriction of liberalism
    - Franco-German conflict and the new German Reich
- Germany from 1871 to 1918
  - The German Empire, 1871–1914
    - Domestic concerns
    - The economy, 1870–90
    - Foreign policy, 1870–90
    - Politics, 1890–1914
    - The economy, 1890–1914
    - Foreign policy, 1890–1914
  - World War I
- Germany from 1918 to 1945
  - The rise and fall of the Weimar Republic, 1918–33
    - Defeat of revolutionaries, 1918–19
    - The Treaty of Versailles
    - The Weimar constitution
    - Years of crisis, 1920–23
    - The Weimar Renaissance
    - Years of economic and political stabilization
    - The end of the republic
  - The Third Reich, 1933–45
    - The Nazi revolution
    - The totalitarian state
    - Foreign policy
    - World War II
- The era of partition
  - Allied occupation and the formation of the two Germanys, 1945–49
    - Formation of the Federal Republic of Germany
    - Formation of the German Democratic Republic
  - Political consolidation and economic growth, 1949–69
  - Ostpolitik and reconciliation, 1969–89
- The reunification of Germany
  - Helmut Kohl and the struggles of reunification
  - Chancellorship of Gerhard Schröder
  - The Merkel administration
  - The chancellorship of Olaf Scholz (2021–25) and election of Friedrich Merz (2025– )
Leaders of Germany

References & Edit History Facts & Stats

Images, Videos & Interactives

Modern Berlin: Blending history with modernity

How did Berlin become the capital of reunified Germany?

Katz Castle; Sankt Goarshausen; Rhine River

Exploring Lake Müritz: Germany's second largest lake

Why you probably know more German than you think

Germany: Resident foreign population by region/country of birth

Germany: Breakdown of renewable energy by source

costumes with wooden masks worn during pre-Lenten celebrations

Food history: How to make German Black Forest cake

Range of confessions in Germany as a result of the Thirty Years' War, 1650

Growth of the German Zollverein, 1834–88

Economic boom and disparity during Germany's founders' era

Changes in Germany's territory and internal status, 1914–90

What were the consequences of the Treaty of Versailles?

Economic and political crises faced by Germany's Weimar Republic

Robert Wiene: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

How did Joseph Goebbels's use of propaganda and terror aid Adolf Hitler's campaign for chancellor?

What led to the fall of Germany's Weimar Republic?

The Role of women in Hitler's Third Reich

How Hitler systematically discriminated against Jews

Night of Broken Glass: Nazi persecution of Jews

Allied bombings of Germany during World War II

July Plot: A failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler

Consequences of World War II: Mass migration

Adolf Hitler's death and its impact on Nazi Germany

What was Jewish life in Germany like after World War II?

Deciding Germany's future: The Potsdam Conference

Understanding the Berlin blockade and airlift

Berlin airlift: How “candy bombers” saved West Berlin

Federal Republic of Germany: Founding and significance

Walter Ulbricht and the establishment of East Germany

Konrad Adenauer and West Germany's Western alliance

How did the economies of East and West Germany differ?

Post-World War II Germany: Integration of refugees and displaced people

East and West German armies during the Cold War

East and West German cultural changes: 1950s Music, fashion, and more

The popular uprising against the GDR regime explained

Rediscovering the West German president Heinrich Lübke

West German youth protests in 1968: Causes and effects

Willy Brandt's visit to East Germany: A step toward unity

Willy Brandt's historic request for forgiveness in Warsaw

How families escaped the East German regime in the 1970s

Transfer of power from Walter Ulbricht to Erich Honecker in East Germany

The legacy of West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt

The unexpected fall of the Berlin Wall explained

Reunification of Germany: How it happened

Introduction of the deutsche mark in East Germany

The political journey of German Chancellor Helmut Kohl

Inside the pervasive surveillance by East Germany's Stasi

Mittelland Canal, west of Braunschweig, Germany

How is white asparagus grown and harvested?

Learn why the construction of dykes is crucial in protecting the north German coastlines

Experience a family holiday on a houseboat in Germany

Mating rituals of endangered great bustards

Inside Germany's booming city: Hamburg's urban development

Canoe camping in Germany's Mecklenburg Lake District

Sinking of MV Wilhelm Gustloff: World War II's deadliest ship disaster

Speyer Cathedral: A monument to imperial power

View the city and flying clouds over the sky of Berlin

For Students

Germany summary

Leaders of Germany

in Germany

Also known as: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Deutschland, Federal Republic of Germany

Written by John Michael Wallace-Hadrill, Gerald Strauss•All

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Jun 18, 2025 • Article History

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The table provides a chronological list of the leaders of Germany from 1871.

Leaders of Germany
Kaisers of the German Empire
*Upon Hindenburg's death in 1934, the powers of the presidency were merged with those of the chancellor.
*Chancellor from 1933 and Führer* ("Leader") from 1934.
***East Germany was governed by interim administrations from December 1989 until the two Germanys were reunited in October 1990.
William I (of Prussia)	1871–88
Frederick III	1888
William II	1888–1918
Presidents of the Weimar Republic
Friedrich Ebert	1919–25
Paul von Hindenburg	1925–33
Leaders of the Third Reich (National Socialist regime)
Paul von Hindenburg*	1934
Adolf Hitler**	1933–45
Chancellors of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany)
Konrad Adenauer	1949–63
Ludwig Erhard	1963–66
Kurt Georg Kiesinger	1966–69
Willy Brandt	1969–74
Helmut Schmidt	1974–82
Helmut Kohl	1982–90
First (or General) Secretaries of the Socialist Unity Party of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany)
Walter Ulbricht	1950–71
Erich Honecker	1971–89
Egon Krenz***	1989
Chancellors of the Federal Republic of Germany (reunited Germany)
Helmut Kohl	1990–98
Gerhard Schröder	1998–2005
Angela Merkel	2005–21
Olaf Scholz	2021–25
Friedrich Merz	2025–