The history of Germany spans over 2000 years — from Germanic tribes, the Holy Roman Empire, through the Reformation, unification under Bismarck, two world wars, to reunification in 1990.
Germanic Tribes and Romans (BC – 5th c.)
The first Germanic peoples inhabited Central Europe around 1000 BC. In 9 AD, Arminius (Hermann the Cherusci) defeated three Roman legions at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest — Rome never conquered Germania east of the Rhine. The natural border remained the Rhine and Danube (Limes Germanicus, UNESCO).
Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire (800–1806)
In 800 AD, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor — the beginning of the "First Reich". In 962 Otto I founded the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. Voltaire later quipped: "neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire" — for it was a confederation of hundreds of principalities, bishop cities, and free cities (Hanseatic League: Hamburg, Lübeck, Bremen).
Reformation (1517) and Thirty Years' War (1618–1648)
Martin Luther published his 95 Theses in Wittenberg in 1517 — start of the Reformation. Germany split into Protestant North and Catholic South. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) devastated Germany — 30% of the population died. The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 marked the beginning of the modern European state system.
Prussia and Unification (1871)
Under Frederick the Great (1740–1786), Prussia became a great power. Otto von Bismarck unified the German states in 1871 after three wars (against Denmark, Austria, France) into the German Empire — Wilhelm I was proclaimed Kaiser in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles.
Two World Wars (1914–1945)
World War I (1914–1918) ended with Germany's defeat and the Treaty of Versailles. The Weimar Republic (1919–1933) failed due to hyperinflation and the Great Depression. In 1933 Adolf Hitler seized power — Third Reich, the Holocaust (6 million Jews murdered), World War II (1939–1945) with 60 million dead worldwide.
Division and Reunification (1945–1990)
After 1945, Germany was divided into four occupation zones — in 1949 the FRG (West) and GDR (East) were established. Berlin was divided — in 1961 the GDR built the Berlin Wall. On November 9, 1989 the Wall fell — on October 3, 1990 Germany was reunified.
Modern Germany
Today Germany is the world's 4th largest economy, engine of the EU (co-founder 1957), home to 84 million inhabitants in 16 federal states. Capital Berlin — symbol of reunification, once divided, today a cosmopolitan metropolis.