Germany is one of the largest countries in Europe and one of the key players in world history, both positive and negative. A random few highlights: from ancient germanic mythologic culture, we inherited the Christmas tree. Johannes Gutenberg invented printing. Martin Luther denounced abuse in the Catholic church, and started the Reformation. Nikolaus Otto invented the internal combution engine - the engine that powers motorcycles, cars, and ships. Everybody in the world knows Mercedes Benz ("Mercedes number one"), but everybody also heard of Adolf Hitler. Everybody has at least once listened to Ludwig von Beethoven (ta-da-da-daa), but also heard of the Shoah, the genocide committed to Jews. But, nowhere else in the world is there a greater recognition and self-citicism as in Germany itself.
A totally destroyed country with an almost insurmountable loss of people and a fully blown reputation managed to regain strength, economic power, prosperity and a very high level of humanity in the period from 1945 to 1975. After this period, Germany has consistently extended its reputation in Europe and the world, leading to my statement that nowadays (2017), Germans are the number one model-citizen in Europe, and possibly, in the world. My personal admiration for Germany and Germans is mixed, but, most of the time, surprisingly pleasant. Alles stimmt immer.
Cities included at this website are Berlin, Cologne, Essen, Dresden, Heidelberg and Potsdam.
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further reading:
Lothar Gall et al, Fragen an die Deutsche Geschichte, Ideen, Krafte, Entscheidunge Von 1800 bis zur gegenwart, Historische Ausstellung im Riechstaggebaude in Berlin, Katalog, 8. Auflage, 1981 Herausgeber Deutscher Bundestag etc. . No ISBN number, but in 2013 still available at Zeughaus, German Historic Museum in Berlin. Possibly available online as second hand copy. Very well readable and informative book with interesting pictures on the most turbulent years in German history.
Neil MacGregor, Duitsland, Biografie van een natie, published by Hollands Diep, ISBN 97848827657 . Informative, in-depth explanation of factors that unravel German history. No chronological history. (translated into Dutch from English, original title: Germany, memories of a nation, published by Alan Lane).
Christopher Clarck, Preussen, Aufstief und Niedergang 1600 - 1947. Pantheon Verlag 2008, ISBN 9783570550601. The gruesomely effective militarism of Germany largely originated from Prussia and was of key-importance for the German way of politics. To fully understand this, Christopher Clarcks book is an absolute must-read. (Translated into German; Original title: Iron Kingdom, the rise and fall of Prussia 1600 - 1947. Published by Alan Lane / Penguin group).
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutschland . The German page of WikiPedia is the most comprehensive, but other languages are abundant.
http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/index.cfm . A wealthy source of information on the history of Germany from 1500 - 2008. Both in German and English language.
https://www.dhm.de/ . Website of the German Historic Museum in Berlin. The open-minded way of considering their own history in optima forma.
https://sinsheim.technik-museum.de/en/ . The German fascination with technique.
http://www.eisenbahnmuseum-bochum.de/ . For all of you fans of steam trains: this is the place to experience not only well maintained rolling stock, but also the German way of hospitality and organizational talent