In architecture and the fine arts, as a country starting with letter G according to Countryaah, Germany has been participating in European developments since the Carolingian era (Aachen Cathedral, Corvey Abbey) – often with a delay. The Romanesque (Ottonian art, Staufer art) was particularly evident in impressive monasteries (Reichenau, Lorsch, Maulbronn), church buildings (Speyer, Hildesheim, Magdeburg), imperial palaces (Goslar) and countless castles, but also in sculpture (Naumburg Masters, Bamberg Rider) as well as panel and book painting (Book art). Gothic cathedrals (Gothic) such as the Cologne Cathedral or the Ulm Minster shaped the face of entire cities, in northern Germany in the brick Gothic style. Their secular counterparts were, especially in the Hanseatic cities, council, guild and residential buildings of a self-confident bourgeoisie. Rich citizens donated church altars and moved into their rooms, repeatedly reproduced, works by Albrecht Dürer. The workshops of the Cranachs created formative images of Protestantism. In the historicism of the 19th century, the medieval style epochs in particular were to experience a resurrection.

The diversity of forms of the Renaissance is still visible today in the Weser Renaissance. Churches and castles were often rebuilt and expanded in the Baroque and Rococo styles in the 17th and 18th centuries. The outstanding evidence includes the Würzburg residence of Balthasar Neumann , the churches of the Bavarian artist family Asam, the Wieskirche of Dominikus Zimmermann , the Brühler Schlösser, Sanssouci Palace by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff and in Dresden the Zwinger of Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann and the Frauenkirche by George Bähr . Leo von Klenze in Munich and Friedrich Schinkel in Berlin built in the classicism style.

With Art Nouveau, modernism made its way into architecture. The Bauhaus under Walter Gropius (1919–33) combined architecture, art and applied arts (industrial design) and paved the way for industrial building and international style(including Ludwig Mies van der Rohe). Housing construction, which was also based on social criteria, with model settlements, among others in Berlin, Dessau, Frankfurt / Main and Stuttgart, was characterized by strict functionalism.

In the Weimar Republic, especially in the Roaring Twenties, besides radical art experiments like the came Dadaism the mass culture into play: the consumption (department store), music (jazz) as well as in competitive sport, leisure and entertainment. In literary terms, these years were characterized by a wide range, as exemplified by the Mann family (Heinrich Mann, Thomas Mann, Erika Mann, Klaus Mann ). Bert Brecht made epic theater, Erwin Piscator proletarian theater (workers’ theater). Erich Kästner wrote classics of youth literature (Emil and the Detectives), Carl Zuckmayer wrote sensual to socially critical dramas (The Merry Vineyard, The Captain of Köpenick). Alfred Döblin wrote the first big city novel with Berlin Alexanderplatz, Erich Maria Remarque prepared the war experiences of a generation with the bestseller In the West Nothing New. From 1933 the National Socialist culture burned the works of unpopular authors (book burning). Art that did not fit the prevailing “worldview” was considered degenerate marginalized.

In the post-war period, the Federal Republic of Germany sought contact with the West again. The Anglo-Saxon influence increased, which is mainly represented by youth culture and pop music. German rock music emulated the models from England and the USA, but also developed its own modes of expression. In addition, German hits remained popular, especially in the guise of “folk music”. The group 47 in literature, the Junge Wilde in painting and the new German film stood for a spiritual rethinking. Joseph Beuys revolutionized the understanding of art with provocative normality. The documenta in Kassel, like contemporary art from all over the world, from 1955 onwards it offered a forum. In the GDR, the socialist state set binding guidelines (socialist realism), but also left limited freedom for individual classes, such as B. Heiner Müller (drama), Sarah Kirsch (poetry) and Werner Tübke (painting).

With 750 theaters in 120 cities, around 5,000 museums and world-class art collections, including “hotspots” such as the Museum Island in Berlin, the Museumsufer in Frankfurt / Main or the Museum Mile in Bonn, as well as major music festivals, the cultural landscape is decentralized. The book (book fair, book art) and the parlor game are valued – family games from Germany are international references as “German Games”. In many regions, customs (including Christmas markets) and festive customs such as rifle festivals, fairgrounds, carnivals have developed with local focusand history games or handicrafts, such as the art of carving in the Ore Mountains.

The national drink beer, brewed in accordance with the German or Bavarian purity law, is celebrated with pleasure both on a small scale in in-house breweries and on a large scale at the Munich Oktoberfest; Franconia has the highest density of breweries. In sport, the “king” of football comes first. In winter, biathlon, ski jumping and bobsledding attract numerous spectators. One of the largest international sailing regattas is the Kiel Week. Allotment gardens (“Datsche” in East Germany) offer opportunities to retreat from everyday life – allotment garden colonies are widespread in the Ruhr area, among other places. In addition, the Germans are particularly fond of traveling, which has earned them the nickname »travel world champions«. In 2019, around three quarters of her vacation trips (more than five days) were abroad.

World Heritage Sites in Germany

World Heritage Sites (K) and World Natural Heritage (N)

• Aachen Cathedral (K; 1978)
• Speyer Cathedral (K; 1981)
• Würzburg Residence (K; 1981)
• Pilgrimage church » Die Wies « (K; 1983)
• Palaces of Augustusburg and Falkenlust in Brühl (K; 1984)
• Cathedral and Church of St. Michael in Hildesheim (K; 1985)
• Roman monuments, cathedral and Church of Our Lady in Trier (K; 1986)
• Old town of Lübeck (K; 1987)
• Palaces and parks of Potsdam and Berlin (Glienicke and Pfaueninsel) (K; 1990)
• Former Benedictine abbey Lorsch with the archaeological remains of the nearby former monastery Altenmünster (K; 1991)
• Rammelsberg mine and old town of Goslar (K; 1992)
• Old town of Bamberg (K; 1993)
• Maulbronn Monastery (K; 1993)
• Collegiate Church, Castle and Old Town of Quedlinburg (K; 1994)
• Völklinger Hütte (K; 1994)
• Messel Pit Fossil Deposit (N; 1995)
• The Bauhaus and its sites in Weimar, Dessau and Bernau (K; 1996, expanded in 2017)
• Cologne Cathedral (K; 1996)
• Luther memorials in Eisleben and Wittenberg (K; 1996)
• Classic Weimar (K; 1998)
• Wartburg (K; 1999)
• Berlin Museum Island (K; 1999)
• Dessau-Wörlitz garden, meadow and park landscape (K; 2000)
• Reichenau Island (K; 2000)
• Industrial complex Zeche Zollverein, shaft XII in Essen (K; 2001)
• Old towns of Stralsund and Wismar (K; 2002)
• Upper Middle Rhine Valley (K; 2002)
• Elbe valley in Dresden (K; withdrawn)
• Town hall and Roland column in Bremen (K; 2004)
• Muskauer Park (Park Muzakowski) (K; 2004)
• Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes (K; 2005)
• Old town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof (K; 2006)
• Old beech forests (N; 2007, 2011 expanded)
• Settlements of Berlin Modernism (K; 2008)
• Wadden Sea (N; 2009)
• Fagus factory in Alfeld (K; 2011)
• Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps (K; 2011)
• Margravial Opera House Bayreuth (K; 2012)
• Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe in Kassel (K; 2013)
• Corvey Monastery (K; 2014)
• Speicherstadt and Kontorhausviertel with Chilehaus in Hamburg (K; 2015)
• Buildings by Le Corbusier in the Weißenhofsiedlung in Stuttgart (K; 2016)
• Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Alb (K; 2017)
• Haithabu and Danewerk (K; 2018)
• Naumburg Cathedral (K; 2018)
• Augsburg Water Management (K; 2019)