In a narrow valley between Bingen and Bonn, the river Rhine, the main north-south axis, slices through the Rhenish Schist Massif, whose highland areas are less densely populated than the sheltered wine-growing ares on both sides of the Rhine valley which are very popular with tourists.
The Alpine foothills embrace the Swabian-Bavarian highlands with their hills and large lakes in the south, broad gravel plains, the hilly landscape of Lower Bavaria, and the Danube valley. Characteristic features of this region are the moors, dome-shaped hill ranges and lakes ( Chiemsee, Starnberger See)as well as small villages.
The German part of the Alps between Lake Constance and Berchtesgaden is limited to the Allgau, the Bavarian Alps and the Berchtesgaden Alps, In this Alpine world lie picturesque lakes such as the Konigssee near Berchtesgaden and popular tourist resorts such as Garmisch-Partenkirchen or Mittenwald.
Climate. Germany is situated in the moderately cool west wind zone between the Atlantic Ocean and the continental climate in the East. Sharp changes in temperature are rare. There is precipitation all the year round. In the winter, the average temperature is between 1.5C in the lowland areas and –6C in the mountains. In the warmest month of the year, July, temperatures are between 18C in low-lying regions and 20 C in the sheltered valleys of the south. Exceptions are the Upper Rhine Trough with its extremely mild climate, Upper Bavaria with its intermittently occurring warm Alpine wind(Fohn) from the south, and the Harz Mountains, a climatic zone of its own with cold winds, cool summers and heavy snow in winter.
Transport
The central location of Germany in the heart of Europe has always had an important impact on the development of its transportation systems. While the decline of trade during the Dark Ages curtailed the use of roads, the revival of medieval mercantile activities prompted a renewal of the older and/ or the construction of new trade routes. They became the trading backbones of the medieval urban system which evolved between the 11 and the 13 century. In the following centuries, the European road system developed very much within the political boundaries of the different nations. Whereas Paris became the all-important hub in the road system of highly centralized France, Germany was missing such a single focal point because of its highly fragmented political structure. As a consequence, Germany had a road system which connected many political states and was very important to trade movements across the continent.
As a result of the automobile, Germany’s road system has improved considerably during the 20 century. This holds particularly true for its network of four lane expressways, the famous Autobahns. Especially in the West German Laender, the Autobahn system has continuously been improved and lengthened since the 1950s, whereas East Germany even neglected its network from earlier years. The total length of the Autobahn network today is some 11,000 kilometers. Expansion is continuing today even though environmentalists have many concerns and would like to stop it.
Germany’s railroad system is an important mover of goods and people. Since its beginnings in the mid-19th century, it was owned and operated by the state. Only recently it was privatized as a share holder organization, the Deutsche Bahn AG. The total length of the rail network is some 42,800 kilometers. In the eastern half of the country, the former DDR, the system is in poor condition and needs major maintenance and improvements. Despite the increasing importance of the automobile, German railroads still carry many passengers, even though many secondary railroad lines have been abandoned for economic reasons. Particularly efficient is the inter city express( ICE) system which connects most of Germany’s major cities. One of the most prestigious new rail projects is the so-called Transrapid, a high speed train that works on the principle of an electromagnetic levitation system. This train is to interconnect Hamburg and Berlin at a speed of 400 kilometers/hour by the year 2005. The travel time between the two cities will be one hour, equivalent to the time an aircraft needs to cover the same route.
The road and railroad system of Germany is further under guided by a good water transport system. Hamburg and Bremen/Bremerhaven are the major harbour cities on the North Sea coast, through which, already in the Middle Ages, a flourishing trade in cloth, wine and wool was organized. Much later these two harbours became the gateways to the New World, where millions of Germans boarded ships for a better life abroad. They also became important industrial locations for the ship building sector. The harbour cities around the Baltic Sea, such as Kiel, Lubeck, Rostock and some others, had specialized very early in the trade of furs and amber, after the Hanseatic League( or Hansa) had formed an economic union of many towns of northern Europe. This league in a sense formed the first international free trade zone in the world.
Natural and artificial inland waterways have for a long time played a major role in Germany’s inland water transportation system. Many of the boats and barges that use it now are loaded with intermodal containers that can be transshipped by other means of transportation as well. But it is also possible to move commodities by river and canal from the Atlantic to Russia of the Ukraine. Amongst Germany’s rivers, especially the Rhine, after is was canalized early in the 19 century became Europe’s most important waterway. Even today there is a continuous going and coming of barques and ships. Of great importance is the Mittelland Canal, which runs along the southern edge of the North German Lowlands, connecting almost all of the north flowing German rivers. The Kiel Canal also is a product of the 19 century, connecting the North and the Baltic seas. Completion of the Main-Danube-Kanal in 1992 was the latest construction even though its economical and environmental impacts have been very disputed. Yet it was a major achievement and may become quite important in the new open European realm. With the new Main-Danube-Kanal in place, it is now possible to go by waterway from the North Sea to the mouth of the Danube on the Black Sea, a stretch of 3,500kilometres, connecting several eastern European states to western Europe.
The most recent addition to Germany’s transportation system is aire transportation. Recently, Frankfurt has ranked first of European’s airports for freight and second to London Heathrow for passenger transport. It also has been Lufthansa Airline’s home since its founding in 1926. More than 52,000 people work in this single enterprise. Almost 3,500 planes take off each week, heading for more than a hundred destinations all over the world. 30 million passengers per year have used the airport over the last years, a number which is expected to increase considerably in the near future. The second most important international airport is Munich, with a growing number of international destinations since its opening of a new airport some years ago. Charter flights very often also leave from Dusseldorf Airport. Berlin’s importance as an international airport center has rapidly increased with the fall of the wall, and will certainly continue to do so in the near future. All other major cities of Germany have regular flights to several European destinations. It must be mentioned, however, that flying in Germany is expensive. High fares are partly the result of the protection by the respective governments of their former state owned airlines. Only recently has Lufthansa been privatized, exposing the company to a harsher local and international competition as it used to face in the past.
Education
First of all there are two different kinds of educational systems: on the one hand the system of general education and on the other the system of vocational education, called dual system.
Vocational education dual system: At the end of compulsory schooling about 60% of young people leave and take up a vocational training contract. Young people, who want to acquire a professional education in enterprises can do so by signing a training contract. This contract guarantees a legal apprenticeship. The structure of the vocational training is divided into the vocational training in the firm on the one hand and also the attendance at a vocational school one day a week to learn more general knowledge. Vocational schools , specialized vocational schools, vocational extension schools and specialized schools also belong to the vocational education system.
General education: within the sector of general education you find more or less a system being divided into 3 sections:
-lower secondary school
-intermediate( secondary) school
-and upper secondary school
There are only very few comprehensive schools, especially in an integrated form in the North of Germany.
Within the academic sector, there is a system with wide variety of different parts: universities, technical universities, colleges of education and specialized colleges of higher education.
The full-time compulsory education starts at the age of 6 and lasts 9 years. A 4 year compulsory attendance at primary school is followed by a 2 year period of observation or additional tuition. If a pupil does not attend to an integrated comprehensive school after having finished the 6th school-year, education is splitted up in lower, intermediate or upper secondary school. Lower secondary schools are finished after the 9th school year, the intermediate school after the 10th and the upper after the 13th school-year. The upper secondary school or “ gymnasium” leads to a higher education. There are different kinds of “ gymnasium” modern language type, mathematics and science type, economic science type and social science type and others. The certificate that can be obtained after having finished the upper secondary education at the gymnasium is called “a-level”. This certificate offers access to all universities, but there are admission restrictions e.g. for medicine, psychology and pharmacy. The admission is organized by a central institution in Dortmund called Z V S. Pupils obtaining a leaving certificate awarded by an intermediate school can start apprenticeship, enter employment or continue secondary education.
The admission for studying at a specialized college of higher education is not only possible with “A-level” but also with a certificate obtains after a 2 years attendance at a higher technical school. It is also possible in the case of “ second-chance”, as there are evening gymnasium and colleges, to obtain the Abitur. Such institutions include both: evening classes and day morning classes. A prerequisite for access is not only an apprenticeship but also professional experience of several years.
For mentally or emotionally disadvantaged young people and other groups special schools with a broad variety of subjects are in existence.
Besides general universities, technical, theological, art, music and pedagogical and specialized universities are institutions of higher education. Studies last from 6 years to at least 8 years. Leaving certificates depend on the subject and level of study, e.g. graduation, diploma, persons who want to acquire a further qualification have to write a final examination in order to get a PhD.
Another important part of the educational system is the area of Adult education, which is run governmental and non-govermental institutions as there are e.g.adult education centers and institutions of associations, parties, churches.
The whole education system in Germany is controlled by the state. Normally schools and universities are public institutions, funded by the communities, departments and “ Lander”.
