CONTENTS FOCUS 1: GEOGRAPHY AND DEMOGRAPHICS
16
1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7
18 24 32 38 44 52 60
Geography of Germany Germany in the European Union Friedenssicherung—German Military and International Peacekeeping An Immigrant Nation—The Demographic Profile of Germany Germany and Immigration—Why Germany? Germany and Immigration—Challenges Faced by Refugees Germany and Immigration—The Risky Routes to Europe
FOCUS 2: HISTORY 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8
Cold War Turning Points Four American Presidents and the Berlin Wall “We Are the People”—Peaceful Revolution in 1989 Two Germanys Become One The Stasi Files Ostalgie—Romanticizing East Germany A Symbol of Germany: The Brandenburg Gate Zeitgeist—People in Germany Who Have Contributed to World Civilization
66 68 74 80 86 92 98 104 110
FOCUS 3: CONTEMPORARY GERMAN SOCIETY
114
3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8
116 122 130 136 142 148 154 160
Young People in Germany Gender in Contemporary Germany Religion in a Pluralistic Society Germany’s Education System Teaching the Holocaust in Germany Collective Memory: Memorials and Monuments Exit Right—Confronting Discrimination Traces of Germany in Your Culture
FOCUS 4: CIVICS AND GOVERNMENT 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6
166
Comparing Rights Guaranteed Under Germany’s Basic Law 168 ‘The More, the Merrier’—Germany’s Multiparty Political System 174 The German Electoral System 182 Germany’s Federal Government 188 Tag der Deutschen Einheit—The Day of German Unity 194 National Pride and National Identity in Germany 200