FrankfurtFrankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (ˈfʁaŋkfʊʁt ʔam ˈmaɪn; Hessian: Frangford am Maa, ˈfʁɑŋfɔɐ̯t am ˈmãː; "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany, and it is the only city in the country rated as an "alpha world city" according to GaWC. Located in the foreland of the Taunus on its namesake Main River, it forms a continuous conurbation with the neighboring city of Offenbach am Main and its urban area has a population of over 2.
BerlinBerlin (bɜːrˈlɪn , bɛʁˈliːn) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constituent states, Berlin is surrounded by the State of Brandenburg and contiguous with Potsdam, Brandenburg's capital. Berlin's urban area, which has a population of around 4.5 million, is the most populous urban area in Germany.
BavariaBavaria (bəˈvɛəriə ; Bayern ˈbaɪɐn), officially the Free State of Bavaria (Freistaat Bayern ˈfʁaɪʃtaːt ˈbaɪɐn; Freistoot Bayern), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total land area of Germany. With over 13 million inhabitants, it is the second largest German state in terms of population only to North Rhine-Westphalia, but due to its large size its population density is below the German average.
BrandenburgBrandenburg (ˈbʁandn̩bʊʁk; Brannenborg; Bramborska ˈbrambɔrska), officially the State of Brandenburg (German: Land Brandenburg; Low German: Land Brannenborg; Kraj Bramborska), is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 square kilometres (11,382 square miles) and a population of 2.5 million residents, it is the fifth-largest German state by area and the tenth-most populous.
FranceFrance (fʁɑ̃s), officially the French Republic (République française ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz), is a country located primarily in Western Europe. It also includes overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, giving it one of the largest discontiguous exclusive economic zones in the world. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea; overseas territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean.
CologneCologne (kəˈloʊn ; Köln kœln; Kölle ˈkœlə) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and over 3.1 million people in the urban region. Centered on the left (west) bank of the Rhine, Cologne is about southeast of NRW's state capital Düsseldorf and northwest of Bonn, the former capital of West Germany. The city's medieval Catholic Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) is the third-tallest church and tallest cathedral in the world.
DeutschlandliedThe "Deutschlandlied" (ˈdɔʏtʃlantˌliːt; "Song of Germany"), officially titled "Das Lied der Deutschen" (das ˌliːt dɛːʁ ˈdɔʏtʃn̩; "The Song of the Germans"), has been the national anthem of Germany either wholly or in part since 1922, except for a seven-year gap following World War II in West Germany. In East Germany, the national anthem was "Auferstanden aus Ruinen" ("Risen from Ruins") between 1949 and 1990. Since World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany, only the third stanza has been used as the national anthem.
World War IWorld War I or the First World War, often abbreviated as WWI or WW1, known contemporaneously as the Great War, was a major global conflict lasting from 1914 to 1918. It was fought between two coalitions, the Allies and the Central Powers. Fighting took place throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific, and parts of Asia. The first decade of the 20th century saw increasing diplomatic tension between the European great powers.
United StatesThe United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America and consisting of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territories, nine Minor Outlying Islands, and 326 Indian reservations. It is the world's third-largest country by both land and total area. It shares land borders with Canada to its north and with Mexico to its south and has maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, Russia, and other nations.
European UnionThe European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of over 448 million. The EU has often been described as a sui generis political entity (without precedent or comparison) combining the characteristics of both a federation and a confederation. Containing 5.
European ParliamentThe European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts European legislation, following a proposal by the European Commission. The Parliament is composed of 705 members (MEPs). It represents the second-largest democratic electorate in the world (after the Parliament of India), with an electorate of 375 million eligible voters in 2009.
German languageGerman (Standard High German: Deutsch, dɔʏtʃ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Western Europe and Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also an official language of Luxembourg and Belgium, as well as a recognized national language in Namibia. Outside Germany, it is also spoken by German communities in France (Alsace), Czech Republic (North Bohemia), Poland (Upper Silesia), Slovakia (Košice Region, Spiš, and Hauerland), and Hungary (Sopron).
PolandPoland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of 38 million and is the fifth-most populous member state of the European Union. Warsaw is the nation's capital and largest metropolis. Other major cities include Kraków, Gdańsk, Wrocław, Katowice, Łódź, Poznań, Szczecin and Lublin.
German EmpireThe German Empire (Deutsches Kaiserreich), also referred to as Imperial Germany, the Second Reich, or simply Germany, was the period of the German Reich from the unification of Germany in 1871 until the November Revolution in 1918, when the German Reich changed its form of government from a monarchy to a republic. The empire was founded on 18 January 1871, when the south German states, except for Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein, joined the North German Confederation and the new constitution came into force on April 16, changing the name of the federal state to the German Empire and introducing the title of German Emperor for Wilhelm I, King of Prussia from the House of Hohenzollern.
AustriaAustria (Österreich), formally the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich), is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine provinces, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous city and province. Austria is bordered by Germany to the northwest, Czechia to the north, Slovakia to the northeast, Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The country occupies an area of and has a population of 9 million.
BelgiumBelgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of and has a population of more than 11.5 million, making it the 22nd most densely populated country in the world and the 6th most densely populated country in Europe, with a density of .
NetherlandsThe Netherlands (Nederland ˈneːdərlɑnt), informally Holland, is a country located in northwestern Europe with overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands consists of twelve provinces; it borders Germany to the east, and Belgium to the south, with a North Sea coastline to the north and west. It shares maritime borders with the United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium in the North Sea.
BauhausThe Staatliches Bauhaus (ˈʃtaːtlɪçəs ˈbaʊˌhaʊs), commonly known as the Bauhaus, was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts. The school became famous for its approach to design, which attempted to unify individual artistic vision with the principles of mass production and emphasis on function. The Bauhaus was founded by architect Walter Gropius in Weimar. It was grounded in the idea of creating a Gesamtkunstwerk ("comprehensive artwork") in which all the arts would eventually be brought together.
HamburgHamburg (ˈhambʊʁk, ˈhambʊɪ̯ç; Hamborg ˈhambɔːç), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg), is the second-largest city in Germany after Berlin, as well as the overall 8th-largest city and largest non-capital city within the European Union with a population of over 1.9 million. Hamburg's urban area has a population of around 2.5 million and is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, which has a population of over 5.1 million people in total.
PrussiaPrussia (ˈprʌʃə; Preußen, ˈpʁɔʏsn̩, Old Prussian: Prūsa or Prūsija) was a German state located on most of the North European Plain, also occupying southern and eastern regions. It formed the German Empire when it united the German states in 1871. It was de facto dissolved by an emergency decree transferring powers of the Prussian government to German Chancellor Franz von Papen in 1932 and de jure by an Allied decree in 1947. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, expanding its size with the Prussian Army.