The Federal Republic of Germany is one of the few federal parliamentary republics in the world, and specifically Europe. This simply implies that it is made up of a number of states. In this case, Germany is made up of 16 states of which each has its own state constitution. The 16 states are normally referred to collectively as ‘Lander’. The sixteen states include Baden-Wurttemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, and Hesse.

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and last but not least Thüringen. Being the largest city in the country, Berlin was made the capital. It is estimated the Germany has about 81.8 million inhabitants all of which cover an area of about 357,021 square kilometers. This makes it the most populous member state in the European Union.

In addition to this, Germany has also been ranked as the largest economy among all European Union member states. There are three factors that make Germany an economic heavyweight. These are a large capital stock, low corruption levels and very skilled plus qualified labor forces. The social market economy is characterized by a whole lot of innovation. This explains the several large scale companies that operate from Germany. Some of the large companies based in Germany include Siemens AG, Volkswagen AG, Metro Ag, Deutsch Post AG, Deutsche Telekom AG and the renowned BMW AG. As a matter of fact, its nominal GDP is said to be the fourth largest in the whole world. The industry sector in Germany contributes about 29% of this GDP. Agriculture is not much of an earner as it contributes only 0.9% of the GDP. The service sector contributes the most with about 70% of the GDP coming from this sector.

In terms of climate, the region mainly experiences a temperate seasonal climate. It is mainly dominated by humid westerly winds. The North Atlantic Drift, which is the extension of the Gulf Stream, is responsible for the moderation of the climate. However, the North and North East region experience more of an oceanic climate. This is due to the presence of the North Sea to the north which has warmer waters that affect the general climate of the surrounding areas. Germany is blessed with a lot of rainfall as it comes about all year round. All in all, the summer experiences most of the rain. The summers are normally relatively cool unlike in most of the other states. The winters are however rather mild. The eastern region has a whole different climate. It experiences more of a continental climate. The summers are normally extra warm whereas the winters tend to be extremely cold. Another common characteristic are the long dry periods that are experienced in-between the different seasons.

Biodiversity is another major aspect of Germany. Research shows that most of Germany is covered by forests and arable land. This is about 34% of the land area. 30% is covered by various forms of woodland, 14 % is covered by permanent pasture whereas the remaining 12% is covered by human settlement. All this has been divided into two main ecoregions. There is the Northeast-Atlantic shelf marine and the European-Mediterranean montane mixed forests. There are several types of animals and plants that inhabit the forests. This has made Germany some sort of tourism heavyweight with numerous of tourists streaming into the region yearly. There are over 400 registered zoos in the area as well as animal parks in the country. Examples of some of the best national parks in Germany include the likes of Muritz National Park, Wadden Dea National Parks, the Vorpommern Lagoon Area National park and the Jasmund National Park, to name just but a few.

The tourism sector however does its level best during the national holidays. This is when the number of tourists in the region is normally highest. However, in Germany, there are different holidays. There are some celebrated nationally while some are celebrated by specific states. On the other hand, the religious holidays are not many. There are some Catholic holidays that are mainly observed in Munich and Augsburg which are mainly inhabited by Catholics. The main German 2012 holidays include:

Feldberg - Germany

Feldberg – Germany

January 2012

  • Sunday the 1st-New Year’s Day (National)

This is the celebration of the beginning of a brand new year according to the normal Gregorian calendar. It is characterized by the usual midnight countdown and a lot of festivities.

  • Friday the 6th-Epiphany (BY,BW,ST)

It is also referred to as Theophany. It is one of the few Christian feast days. It is meant to celebrate the existence of Jesus Christ as God’s revelation to human beings.

Freudenstadt - Germany

Freudenstadt – Germany

April 2012

  • Friday the 6th-Good Friday (National)

This is another Christian holiday and is meant to commemorate the crucification of Jesus Christ.

  • Monday the 9th-Easter Monday (National)

It is yet another Christian holiday and is used to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

May 2012

  • Teusday the 1st-Labour Day (National)

This is more or less similar to Labor Day in other states. It is basically meant to celebrate the hard working people in the society.

  • Thursday the 17th-Ascension Day (National)

This is religious holiday. It is meant to remember the bodily ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven. It is classified as an ecumenical feast.

  • Monday the 28th-Whit Monday (National)

This is also referred to as the Pentecost Monday. It is one of the few movable holidays in Germany. Its date is determined by the Easter dates.

June 2012

  • Thursday the 7th-Corpus Christi (BY, BW, HE, RP, NW, SL)

It is more of a Latin Rite that is celebrated by the Lutheran, old Catholics and the Anglican Churches. It is meant to celebrate the Blood and Body of Christ that is used in the Eucharist.

August 2012

  • Wednesday the 15th-Assumption Day (SL and BY)

This is another religious holiday. It is meant to commemorate the ascending of Virgin Mary to heaven still in her body form.

October 2012

  • Wednesday the 3rd-Day of German Unity (National)

This is the German national day. It is meant to celebrate the reunification of Germany way back in 1990.

  • Wednesday the 31st-Reformation Day (MV, BB, SN, TH, ST)

This is yet another religious holiday. It is meant to celebrate the Reformation of Churches and specifically by the Lutheran.

November 2012

  • Thursday the 1st-All Saints’ Day (BY, BW, NW, SL, RP)

This is one of the few Roman Catholic holidays celebrated in Germany.

  • Wednesday the 21st-Penance Day (SN)

December 2012

  • Teusday the 25th-Christmas Day (National)

Christmas in Germany is more or less the same; a lot of festivities and lighting decorations.

  • Wednesday the 26th-St. Stephen’s Day (National)

This is the Christian Saints Day. Just as the name suggests, it is meant to commemorate St. Stephen who according to Christians was the first every martyr.

BW-Baden Wuerttemberg

BY-Bavaria

BE-Berlin

BB-Brandenburg

HB-Bremen

HH-Hamburg

HE-Hesse

MV-Mecklenburg

NI-Lower Saxony

NW-Northrhine Westphalia

RP-Rhineland Palatinate

SL-Saarland

SN-Saxony

ST-Saxony Anhalt

SH-Schleswig Holstein

TH-Thüringen


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