my home

Germany
(or 'Deutschland' derived from 'teutonic')

In 1989 a peaceful revolution questioned the status quo of the two existing German states. The 'iron curtain' fell in the following year and Germany became a reunited nation. On the 3rd of October 1990 the Federal Republic of Germany (or just 'Germany') was refounded. Today, after a long struggle to economically integrate the country, Germany has been transformed to a country on the move. The new capital Berlin has, after decades of forced devision, become a vibrant cultural metropolis once again. 
   The reunified Germany is a member state of the EU, UN, NATO, G8 and the G4. It has the largest population and largest economy of all European Union member states. Germany is both the world's third largest economy (GDP >$2.6 trillion) and its largest exporter of goods (>$1.1 trillion). The country is known around the globe for its engineering and scientific tradition, its cleanliness and efficiency. However, the dark parts of German history include two catastrophic world wars. This heritage has now turned into responsibility and the nation is committed to support a peaceful development in Europe and beyond. Thus, there are no German troops in Iraq and Germany avoids any involvement in direct battle in regions of engagement such as Afghanistan or Congo. Rebuilding and protection of local wealth remains the priority of German foreign policy.
   The ancient history of Germany dates back to 1200 BC when Germanic tribes settled around and north of the river Elbe during bronze age. Germany as a state has its roots in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nations ("Sacrum Romanum Imperium Nationis Germanicæ") founded in 843 via the Treaty of Verdun. The Federal Eagle is still the heraldic symbol of the country giving reference to the endemic 'Steinadler' (a.k.a. Golden Eagle or  Aquila chrysaetos). Today there live about 83 mio. people on the about 138,000 square miles of German soil - situated right at the heart of Europe...

Saxony
(or 'Sachsen')

My home is situated in a border area between two historically very different regions of Germany, that is Prussia and Saxony. The latter is the land of the Saxons, successors of the people who once co-founded early settlements such as Anglo-Saxony (England). Their traces can be found along a diagonal stripe through central Europe down to the Carpathians (Siebenbürgen).
   Today the free state of Saxony is Germany`s 'Pearl of the East'. It counts 4.3 mio inhabitants and has been home to a number of extraordinary ideas and people that changed the realities of their time. World-famous saxons include J.S. Bach and R. Wagner (composers), G.W. Leibnitz and A. Ries (scientists), M. Luther (reformer), L. Cranach (painter) and F. Nietzsche (philosopher) to name only a few from this 'land of fine art'. Well, the Saxons have also invented a number of 'very important' items including toothpaste (1907 by Ottmar Heinsius von Mayenburg), the gas lantern (1811 by Wilhelm August Lampadius in Freiberg), the daily newspaper (1650 "Einkommende Zeitungen" by Timotheus Ritzsch) and the coffee filter (1908 by Melitta Benz).

Brandenburg
 
Brandenburg is the heart of Prussia which is foremost associated with Germany`s military tradition. The name 'Prussia' derives from the Old Prussians, a Baltic people related to the Lithuanians and Latvians. Prussia was later conquered by the Teutonic Knights and thereafter slowly Germanised. The Earl of Brandenburg was the first to establish German colonies (German West-Africa) and during the following centuries Prussia grew, driven by economical and military advancement, into a main European power next to Britain, France, Russia and Austria.
   After the German reunification in 1990 a plan was developed to merge the states of Berlin and Brandenburg. Though some suggested calling the proposed new state "Prussia", no final name was proposed, with it likely that the combined state would be either "Brandenburg" or "Berlin-Brandenburg". However this proposed merger was rejected in 1996 by popular vote. Brandenburg also has been home to great thinkers such as W.v.Humboldt (scientist), C.F.Schinkel (architect), T.Fontane and H.v.Kleist (writers)...


(left) castle 'S anssouci' near Potsdam; (middle) Brandenburg landscape; (right) coal plant in the 'Lausitz';