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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: GEO-GNU |
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GERMANY (Ger. Deutschland) , or, more properly, THE GERMAN EMPIRE (Deutsches Reich), a country of central Europe. The territories occupied by peoples of distinctively Teutonic race and language are commonly designated as German, and in this sense may be taken to include, besides Germany proper (the subject of the present article), the German-speaking sections of Austria, Switzerland and Holland. But Germany, or the German empire, as it is now understood, was formed in 1871 by virtue of treaties between the North German Confederation and the South German states, and by the acquisition, in the peace of Frankfort (May 1o, 1871), of Alsace-Lorraine, and embraces all the countries of the former German Confederation, with the exception of Austria, Luxemburg, Limburg and Liechtenstein. The sole addition to the empire proper since that date is the island of Heligoland, ceded by Great Britain in 189o, but Germany has acquired extensive colonies in Africa and the Pacific (see below, Colonies). The German empire extends from 470 16' to 55 53' N., and from 5 52' to 22 52' E. The eastern provinces project so far that the extent of German territory is much greater from south-west to north-east than in any other direction. Tilsit is 815 m. from Metz, whereas Hadersleben, in Schleswig, is only 540 M. from the Lake of Constance. The actual difference in time between the eastern and western points is 1 hour and 8 minutes, but the empire observes but one timer hour E. of Greenwich. also has been considerably reduced by the sea. The tides rise The empire is bounded on the S.E. and S. by Austria and Switzer- land (for 1659 m.), on the S.W. by France (242 m.), on the W. by Luxemburg, Belgium and Holland (together 558 m.). The length of German coast on the North Sea or German Ocean is 293 m., and on the Baltic 927 m., the intervening land boundary on the north of Schleswig being only 47 M. The eastern boundary is with Russia 843 M. The total length of the frontiers is thus 4569 m. The area, including rivers and lakes but not the hall
Political Divisions.The empire is composed of the following twenty-six states and divisions: the kingdoms of Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony and Wurttemberg; the grand-duchies of Baden, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Oldenburg and Saxe-Weimar; the duchies of Anhalt, Brunswick, Saxe-Altenburg, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Saxe-Meiningen; the principalities of Lippe-Detmold, Reuss-Greiz, Reuss-Schleiz, Schaumburg-Lippe, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen and Waldeck-Pyrmont; the , free towns of Bremen, Hamburg and Lubeck, and the imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine. Besides these political divisions there are certain parts of Germany which, not conterminous with political boundaries, retain appellations derived either from former tribal settlements or from divisions of the old Holy Roman Empire. These are Franconia (Franken), which embraces the districts of Bamberg, Schweinfurt and Wurzburg on the upper Main; Swabia (Schwa-ben), in which is included Wurttemberg, parts of Bavaria and Baden and Hohenzollern; the Palatinate (Pfalz), embracing Bavaria west of the Rhine and the contiguous portion of Baden; Rhineland, applied to Rhenish Prussia, Nassau, Hesse-Darmstadt and parts of Bavaria and Baden; Vogtland,' the mountainous country lying in the south-west corner of the kingdom of Saxony; Lusatia (Lausitz), the eastern portion of the kingdom of Saxony and the adjacent portion of Prussia watered by the upper Spree; Thuringia (Thuringen), the country lying south of the Harz Mountains and including the Saxon duchies; East Friesland (Ost Friesland), the country lying between the lower course of the Weser and the Ems, and Westphalia (Westfalen), the fertile plain lying north and west of the Harz Mountains and extending to the North Sea and the Dutch frontier. Coast and Islands.The length of the coast-line is considerably less than the third part of the whole frontier. The coasts are shallow, and deficient in natural ports, except on the east of Schleswig-Holstein, where wide bays encroach upon the land, giving access to the largest vessels, so that the great naval harbour could be constructed at Kiel. With the exception of those on the east coast of Schleswig-Holstein, all the important trading ports of Germany are river ports, such as Emden,Bremen, Hamburg, Lubeck, Stettin, Danzig, Konigsberg, Memel. A great difference, however, is to be remarked between the coasts of the North Sea and those of the Baltic. On the former, where the sea has broken up the ranges of dunes formed in bygone times, and divided them into separate islands, the mainland has to be protected by massive dikes, while the Frisian Islands are being gradually washed away by the waters. On the coast of East Friesland there are now only seven of these islands, of which Norderney is best known, while of the North Frisian Islands, on the western coast of Schleswig, Sylt is the most considerable. Besides the ordinary waste of the shores, there have been extensive inundations by the sea within the historic period, the gulf of the Doliart having been so caused in the year 1276. Sands surround the whole coast of the North Sea to such an extent that the entrance to the ports is not practicable without the aid of pilots. Heligoland is a rocky island, but it ' i.e. the territory once under the jurisdiction of an imperial Vogt or advocatus (see ADVOCATE). to the height of 12 or 13 ft. in the Jade Bay and at Bremerhaven, and 6 or 7 ft. at Hamburg. The coast of the Baltic, on the other hand, possesses few islands, the chief being Alsen and Fehmarn off the coast of Schleswig-Holstein, and Rugen off Pomerania. It has no extensive sands, though on the whole very flat. The Baltic has no perceptible tides; and a great part of its coast-line is in winter covered with ice, which also so blocks up the harbours that navigation is interrupted for several months every year. Its haffs fronting the mouths of the large rivers must be regarded as lagoons or extensions of the river beds, not as bays. The Pommersche or Oder Haff is separated from the sea by two islands, so that the river flows out by three mouths, the middle one (Swine) being the most considerable. The Frische Haff is formed by the Nogat, a branch of the Vistula, and by the Pregel, and communicates with the sea by means of the Pillauer Tief. The Kurische Haff receives the Memel, called Niemen in Russia, and has its outlet in the extreme north at Memel. Long narrow alluvial strips called Nehrungen, lie between the last two haffs and the Baltic. The Baltic coast is further marked by large indentations, the Gulf of Lubeck, that of Pomerania, east of Rugen, and the semicircular Bay of Danzig between the promontories of Rixhoft and Briisterort. The German coasts are well provided with lighthouses. Surface.In respect of physical structure Germany is divided into two entirely distinct portions, which bear to one another a ratio of about 3 to 4. The northern and larger part may be described as a uniform plain. South and central Germany, on the other hand, is very much diversified in scenery. It possesses large plateaus, such as that of Bavaria, which stretches away from the foot of the Alps, fertile low plains like that intersected by the Rhine, mountain chains and isolated groups of mountains, comparatively low in height, and so situated as not seriously to interfere with communication either by road or by railway. Bavaria is the only division of the country that includes within it any part of the Alps, the Austro-Bavarian frontier running along the ridge
Munich), is 9738 ft. in height, being the highest summit plateaus. in the empire. The upper German plain sloping north- wards from the Bavarian Alps is watered by the Lech, the Isar and the Inn, tributaries of the Danube, all three rising beyond the limits of German territory. This plain is separated on the west from the Swiss plain by the Lake of Constance (Bodensee, 1306 ft. above sea-level), and on the east from the undulating grounds of Austria by the Inn. The average height of the plain pay be estimated at about 'Soo ft., the valley of the Danube on its north border being from 1540 ft. (at Ulm) to 920 ft. (at Passau). The plain is not very fertile. In the upper part of the plain, towards the Alps, there are several lakes, the largest being the Ammersee, the Wurmsee or Starnberger See and the Chiemsee. Many portions of the plain are covered by moors and swamps of large extent, called Moose. The left or northern bank of the Danube from Regensburg downwards presents a series of granitic rocks called the Bavarian Forest (Bayrischer Wald), which must be regarded as a branch of the Bohemian Forest (Bohmer Wald). The latter is a range of wooded heights on the frontier of Bavaria and Bohemia, occupying the least known and least frequented regions of Germany. The summits of the Bayrischer Wald rise to the height of about 4000 ft., and those of the Bohmer Wald to 4800 ft., Arber being 4872 ft. The valley of the Danube above Regensburg is flanked by plateaus sloping gently to the Danube, but precipitous towards the valley of the Neckar. The centre of this elevated tract is the Rauhe Alb, so named on account of the harshness of the climate. The plateau continuing to the north-east and then to the north, under the name of the Franconian Jura, is crossed by the valley of the winding Altmuhl, and extends to the Main. To the west extensive undulating grounds or low plateaus occupy the area between the Main and the Neckar. The south-western corner of the empire contains a series of better defined hill-ranges. Beginning with the Black Forest (Schwarzwald), we find its southern heights decline to the valley of the Rhine, above Basel, and to the Jura. The summits are rounded and covered with wood, the highest being the Feldberg (10 m. S.E. of Freiburg, 4898 ft.). Northwards the Black Forest passes into the plateau of the Neckarbergland (average height, loon ft.). The heights between the lower Neckar and the Main form the Odenwald (about 1700 ft.); and the Spessart, which is watered by the Main on three sides, is nothing but a continuation of the Odenwald. West of this range of hills lies the valley of the upper Rhine, extending about 18o m. from south to north, and with a width of only 20 to 25 m. In the upper parts the Rhine is rapid, and therefore navigable with difficulty; this explains why the towns there are not along the banks of the river, but some 5 to 10 m. off. But from Spires (Speyer) town succeeds town as far down as Dusseldorf. The western boundary of this valley is formed in the first instance by the Vosges, where granite summits rise from under the surrounding red Triassic rocks (Sulzer Belchen, 4669 ft.). To the south the range is not continuous with the Swiss Jura, the valley of the Rhine being connected here with the Rhone system by low ground known as the Gate of Miilhausen. The crest of the Vosges is pretty high and unbroken, the first convenient pass being near Zabern, which is followed by the railway from Strassburg to Paris. On the northern side the Vosges are connected with the Hardt sandstone plateau (Kalmit, 2241 ft.), which rises abruptly from the plain of the Rhine. The mountains south of Mainz, which are mostly covered by vineyards, are lower, the Donnersberg, however, raising its head to 2254 ft. These hills are bordered on the west by the high plain of Lorraine and the coal-fields of Saarbrucken, the former being traversed by the river Mosel. The larger part of Lorraine belongs to France, but the German part possesses great mineral wealth in its rich layers of ironstone (siderite) and in the coal-fields of the Saar. The tract of the Hunsriick, Taunus and Eifel is an extended plateau, divided into separate sections by the river valleys. Among these the Rhine valley from Bingen to Bonn, and that of the Mosel from Trier to Coblenz, are winding gorges excavated by the rivers. The Eifel presents a sterile, thinly-peopled plateau, covered by extensive moors in several places. It passes westwards imperceptibly into the Ardennes. The hills on the right bank of the Rhine also are in part of a like barren character, without wood; the Westerwald (about 2000 ft.), which separates the valleys of the Sieg and Lahn, is particularly so. The northern and southern limits of the Niederrheinische Gebirge present a striking contrast to the central region. In the south the declivities of the Taunus (2890 ft.) are marked by the occurrence of mineral springs, as at Ems on the Lahn, Nauheim; Homburg, Soden, Wiesbaden, &c., and by the vineyards which produce the best Rhine wines. To the north of this system, on the other hand, lies the great coal basin of Westphalia, the largest in Germany. In the south of the hilly duchy of Hesse rise the isolated mountain groups of the Vogelsberg (2530 ft.) and the Rhon (3117 ft.), separated by the valley of the Fulda, which uniting farther north with the Werra forms the Weser. To the east of Hesse lies Thuringia, a province consisting of the far-stretching wooded ridge
To the east the Thuringian Forest is connected by the plateau of the Frankenwald with the Fichtelgebirge. This group of mountains, occupying what may be regarded as ethnologically the centre of Germany, forms a hydrographical centre, whence the Naab flows southward to the Danube, the Main westward to the Rhine, the Eger eastward to the Elbe, and the Saale northward, also into the Elbe. In the north-east the Fichtelgebirge connects itself directly with the Erzgebirge, which forms the northern boundary of Bohemia, The southern sides of this range are comparatively steep; on the north it slopes gently down to the plains of Leipzig, but is intersected by the deep valleys of the Elster and Mulde. Although by no means fertile, the Erzgebirge is very thickly peopled, as various branches of industry have taken root there in numerous small places. Around Zwickau there are productive coal-fields, and mining for metals is carried on near Freiberg. In the east a tableland of sandstone, called Saxon Switzerland, from the picturesque outlines into which it has been eroded, adjoins the Erzgebirge; one of its most notable features is the deep ravine by which the Elbe escapes from it. Numerous quarries, which supply the North German cities with stone for buildings and monuments, have been opened along the valley. The standstone range of the Elbe unites in the east with the low Lusatian group, along the east of which runs the best road from northern Germany to Bohemia. Then comes a range of lesser hills clustering together to form the frontier between Silesia and Bohemia. The most western group is the Isergebirge, and the next the Riesengebirge, a narrow ridge of about 20 miles' length, with bare summits. Excluding the Alps, the Schneekoppe (5266 ft.) is the highest peak in Germany; and the southern declivities of this range contain the sources of the Elbe. The hills north and north-east of it are termed the Silesian Mountains. Here one of the minor coal-fields gives employment to a population grouped round a number of comparatively small centres. One of the main roads' into Bohemia (the pass of Landshut) runs along the eastern base of the Riesengebirge. Still farther to the east the mountains are grouped around the hollow of Glatz, whence the Neisse forces its way towards the north. This hollow is shut in on the east by the Sudetic group, in which the Altvater rises to almost 4900 ft. The eastern portion of the group, called the Gesenke, slopes gently away to the valley of the Oder, which affords an open route for the inter-national traffic, like that through the Miilhausen Gate in Alsace. Geographers style this the Moravian Gate. The North German plain presents little variety, yet is not absolutely uniform. A row of low hills runs generally parallel to the mountain ranges already noticed, at a distance of 20 to 30 M. to the north. To these belongs the upper Silesian coal-basin, which occupies a considerable area in south-eastern Silesia. North of the middle districts of the Elbe country the heights are called the Flaming hills. Westward lies as the last link of this series the Liineburger Heide or Heath, between the Weser and Elbe, north of Hanover. A second tract, of moderate elevation, sweeps round the Baltic, without, however, approaching its shores. This plateau contains a considerable number of lakes, and is divided into three portions by the Vistula and the Oder. The most eastward is the so-called Prussian Seenplatte. Spirdingsee (430 ft. above sea-level and 46 sq. m. in area) and Mauersee are the largest lakes; they are situated in the centre of the plateau, and 'ive rise to the Pregel. Some peaks near the Russian frontier attain to moo ft. The Pomeranian Seenplatte, between the Vistula and the Oder, extends from S.W. to N.E., its greatest elevation being in the neighbourhood of Danzig (Turmberg, 1086 ft.). The Seenplatte of Mecklenburg, on the other hand, stretches from S.E. to N.W., and most of its lakes, of which the Mfiritz is the largest, send their waters towards the Elbe. The finely wooded heights which surround the bays of the east coast of Holstein and Schleswig may be regarded as a continuation of these Baltic elevations. The lowest parts, therefore, of the North German plain, excluding the sea-coasts, are the central districts from about 52 to 53 N. lat., where the Vistula, Netze, Warthe, Oder, Spree and Havel form vast swampy lowlands (in German called Briiche), which have been considerably reduced by the construction of -canals and by cultivation, improvements due in large measure to Frederick the Great. The Spreewald, to the S.E. of Berlin, is one of the most remarkable districts of Germany. As the Spree divides itself there into innumerable branches, enclosing thickly wooded islands, boats form the only means of communication. West of Berlin the Havel widens into what are called the Pavel lakes, to which the environs of Potsdam owe their charms. In general the soil of the North German plain cannot be termed fertile, the cultivation nearly everywhere requiring severe and constant labour. Long stretches of ground are covered by moors, and there turf-cutting forms the principal occupation of the inhabitants. The greatest extent of moorland is found in the westernmost parts of the plain, in Oldenburg and East Frisia. The plain contains, however, a few districts of the utmost fertility, particularly the tracts on the central Elbe, and the marsh lands on the west coast of Holstein and the north coast of Hanover, Oldenburg and East Frisia, which, within the last two centuries, the inhabitants have reclaimed from the sea by means of immense dikes. Rivers.Nine independent river-systems may be distinguished: those of the Memel, Pregel, Vistula (Weichsel), Oder, EIbe, Weser, Ems, Rhine and Danube. Of these the Pregel, Weser and Ems belong entirely, and the Oder mostly, to the German empire. The Danube has its sources on German soil; but only a fifth part of its course is German. Its total length is 1750 m., and the Bavarian frontier at Passau, where the Inn joins it, is only 350 m. distant from its sources. It is navigable as far as Ulm, 220 M. above Passau ; and its tributaries the Lech, Isar, Inn and Altmuhl are also navigable. The Rhine is the most important river of Germany., although neither its sources nor its mouths are within the limits of the empire. From the Lake of Constance to Basel (122 m.) the Rhine forms the boundary between the German empire and Switzer-land; the canton of Schaffhausen, however, is situated on the northern bank of the river. From Basel to below Emmerich the Rhine belongs to the German empireabout 470 m. or four-sevenths of its whole course. It is navigable all this distance as are also the Neckar from Esslingen, the Main from Bamberg, the Lahn, the Lippe, the Ruhr, the Mosel from Metz, with its affluents the Saar and Sauer. Sea-going vessels sail up the Ems as far as Halte, and river craft as far as Greven, and the river is connected with a widely branching system of canals, as the Ems-Jade and Dortmund-Ems canals. The Fulda, navigable for 63 m., and the Werra, 38 m., above the point where they unite, form by their junction the Weser, which has a course of 271 m., and receives as navigable tributaries the Alter, the Leine from Hanover, and some smaller streams. Ocean-going steamers, however, cannot get as far as Bremen, and unload at Bremerhaven. The Elbe, after a course of 250 m., enters German territory near Bodenbach, 490 m. from its mouth. It is navigable above this point through its tributary, the Moldau, to Prague. Hamburg may be reached by vessels of 17 ft. draught.. The navigable tributaries of the Elbe are the Saale (below Naumburg), the Havel, Spree, Elde, Sude and some others. The Oder begins to be navigable almost on the frontier at Ratibor, 48o m. from its mouth, receiving as navigable tributaries the Glatz Neisse and the Warthe. Only the lower course of the Vistula belongs to the German empire, within which it is a broad, navigable stream of considerable volume. On the Pregel ships of 3000 tons reach Konigsberg, and river barges reach Insterburg; the Alle, its tributary, may also be navigated. The Memel is navigable in its course of 113 M. from the Russian frontier. Germany is thus a country abounding in natural water-ways, the total length of them being estimated at 7000 m. But it is only the Rhine, in its middle course, that has at all times sufficient volume of water to meet the requirements of a good navigable river. Lakes.The regions which abound in lakes have already been pointed out. The Lake of Constance or Bodensee (204; sq. m.) is on the frontier of the empire, portions of the northern banks belonging severally to Bavaria, Wurttemberg and Baden. In the south the largest lakes are the Chiemsee (33 sq. m.); the Ammersee and the Wurmsee. A good many smaller lakes are to be found in the Bavarian Alps. The North German plain is dotted with upwards of 500 lakes, covering an area of about 2500 sq. m. The largest of these are the three Haffsthe Oder Haff covering 370 sq. m., the Frische Haff, 332, and the Kurische Haff, 626. The lakes in the Prussian and Pomeranian provinces, in Mecklenburg and in Holstein, and those of the Havel, have already been mentioned. In the west the only lakes of importance are the Steinhuder Meer, 14 M. north-west of Hanover, and the Dummersee on the southern frontier of Oldenburg. (P. A. A.) Geology.Germany consists of a floor of folded Palaeozoic rocks upon which rest unconformably the comparatively little disturbed beds of the Mesozoic system, while in the North German plain a covering of modern deposits conceals the whole of the older strata from view, excepting some scattered and isolated outcrops of Cretaceous and Tertiary beds. The rocks which compose the ancient floor are thrown into folds which run approximately from W.S.W. to E.N.E. They are exposed on the one hand in the neighbourhood of the Rhine and on the other hand in the Bohemian massif. With the latter must be included the Frankenwald, the Thuringerwald, and even the Harz. The oldest rocks, belonging to the Archaean system, occur in the south, forming the Vosges and the Black Forest in the west, and the greater part of the Bohemian massif, including the Erzgebirge, in the east. They consist chiefly of gneiss and schist, with granite and other eruptive rocks. Farther. north, in the Hunsruck, the Taunus, the Eifel and Westerwald, the Harz and the Frankenwald, the ancient floor is composed mainly of Devonian beds. Other Palaeozoic systems are, however, included in the folds. The Cambrian, for example, is exposed at Leimitz near Hof in the Frankenwald, and the important coal-field of the Saar lies on the southern side of the Hunsruck, while Ordovician and Silurian beds have been found in several localities. Along the northern border of the folded belt lies the coal basin of the Ruhr in Westphalia, which is the continuation of the Belgian coal-field, and bears much the same relation to the Rhenish Devonian area that the coal basin of Liege bears to the Ardennes. Carboniferous and Devonian beds are also found south-east of the Bohemian massif, where lies the extensive coal-field of Silesia. The Permian, as in England, is not involved in the folds which have affected the older beds, and in general lies unconformably upon them. It occurs chiefly around the masses of ancient rock, and one of the largest areas is that of the Saar. Between the old rocks of the Rhine on the west and the ancient massif of Bohemia on the east a vast area of Triassic beds extends from Hanover to Basel and from Metz to Bayreuth. Over the greater part of this region the Triassic beds are free from folding and are nearly horizontal, but faulting is by no means absent, especially along the margins of the Bohemian and Rhenish hills. The Triassic beds must indeed have covered a large part of these old rock masses, but they have been preserved only where they were faulted down to a lower level. Along the southern margin of the Triassic area there is a long band of Jurassic beds dipping towards the Danube; and at its eastern extremity this band is continuous with a synclinal -of Jurassic beds, running parallel to the western border of the Bohemian massif, but separated from it by a narrow strip of Triassic beds. Towards the north, in Hanover and Westphalia, the Triassic beds are followed by Jurassic and Cretaceous deposits, the latter being here the more important. As in the south of England, the lower beds of the Cretaceous are of estuarine origin and the Upper Cretaceous overlaps the Lower, lying in the valley of the Ruhr directly upon the Palaeozoic rocks. In Saxony also the upper Cretaceous beds rest directly upon the Palaeozoic or Archaean rocks. Still more to the east, in the province of Silesia, both Jurassic and Cretaceous beds are again met with, but they are to a large extent concealed by the recent accumulations of the great plain. The Eocene system is unknown in Germany except in the foothills of the Alps; but the Oligocene and Miocene are widely spread, especially in the great plain and in the depression of the Danube. The Oligocene is generally marine. Marine Miocene occurs in N.W. Germany and the Miocene of the Danube valley is also in part marine, but in central Germany it is of fluviatile or lacustrine origin. The lignites of Hesse, Cassel, &c., are interstratified with basaltic lava-flows which form the greater part of the Vogelsberg and.other hills. The trachytes of the Sicbengebirge are probably of slightly earlier date. The precise age of the volcanoes of the Eifel, many of which are in a very perfect state of preservation, is not clear, but they are certainly Tertiary or Post-tertiary. Leucite and nepheline lavas are here abundant. In the Siebengebirge the little crater of Roderberg, with its lavas and scoriae of leucite-basalt, is posterior to some of the Pleistocene river deposits. A glance at a geological map of Germany will show that the greater part of Prussia and of German Poland is covered by Quaternary
Quaternary
Climate.The climate of Germany is to be regarded as intermediate between the oceanic and continental climates of western and eastern Europe respectively. It has nothing in common with the Mediterranean climate of southern Europe, Germany being separated from that region by the lofty barrier of the Alps. Although there are very considerable differences in the range of temperature and the amount of rainfall throughout Germany, these are not so great as they would be were it not that the elevated plateaus and mountain chains are in the south, while the north is occupied by low-lying plains. In the west no chain of hills intercepts the warmer and moister winds which blow from the Atlantic, and these accordingly influence at times even the eastern regions of Germany. The mean annual temperature of south-western Germany, or the Rhine and Danube basins, is about 52 to 54 F., that of central Germany 48 to 50, and that of the northern plain 46 to 48. In Pomerania and West Prussia it is only 44 to 45, and in East Prussia 42 to 44. The mean January temperature varies between 22 and 34 (in Masuren and Cologne respectively) ; the mean July :temperature, between 61 in north Schleswig and 68 at Cologne. The extremes of cold and heat are, as recorded in the ten years 1895-1905, 7 in Konigsberg and 93' in Heidelberg (the hottest place in Germany). The difference in the mean annual temperature between the south-west and north-west of Germany amounts to about 3. The contrasts of heat and cold are furnished by the valley of the Rhine above Mainz, which has the greatest mean heat, the mildest winter and the highest summer temperature, and the lake plateau of East Prussia, where Arys on the Spirdingsee has a like winter temperature to the Brocken at 3200 ft. The Baltic has the lowest spring temperature, and the autumn there is also not characterized by an appreciably higher degree of' warmth. In central Germany the high plateaus of the Erz and Fichtelgebirge are the coldest regions. In south Germany the upper Bavarian plain experiences an inclement winter and a cold summer. In Alsace-Lorraine the Vosges and the plateau of Lorraine are also remarkable for low temperatures. The warmest districts of the German empire are the northern parts of the Rhine plain, from Karlsruhe downwards, especially the Rheintal; these are scarcely 300 ft. above the sea-level, and are protected by mountainous tracts of land. The same holds true of the valleys of the Neckar, Main and Mosel. Hence the vine is everywhere cultivated in these districts. The mean summer temperature there is 66 and upwards, while the average temperature of January does not descend to the freezing point (32). The climate of north-western Germany (west of the Elbe) shows a predominating oceanic character, the summers not being too hot (mean summer temperature 60 to 62), and snow in winter remaining but a short time on the ground. West of the Weser the average temperature of January exceeds 32; to the east it sinks to 30, and therefore the Elbe is generally covered with ice for some months of the year, as are also its tributaries. The farther Quaternary Tertiary Cretaceous Jurassic Triassic Permian Carboniferous Deuonlan EmeryWalkc, Siluro-Cambrian Archaean & Metamorphic Plutonic Rocks al Volcanic Rocks Mt;i +++1 fss one proceeds to the east the greater are the contrasts of summer and winter. While the average summer warmth of Germany is 60 to 62, the January temperature falls as low as 26 to 28 in West Prussia, Posen and Silesia, and 22 to 26 in East Prussia and upper Silesia. The navigation of the rivers is regularly interrupted by frost. Similarly the upper basin of,the Danube, or the Bavarian plain, has a rather inclement climate in winter, the average for January being 25 to 26. As regards rainfall, Germany belongs to those regions where precipitation takes place at all seasons, but chiefly in the form of summer rains. In respect to the quantity of rain the empire takes a middle position between the humidity of north-western Europe and the aridity of the east. There are considerable differences between particular places. The rainfall is greatest in the Bavarian tableland and the hilly regions of western Germany. For the Eifel, Sauerland, Harz, Thuringian Forest, Rhdn, Vogelsberg, Spessart, the Black Forest, the Vosges, &c., the annual average may be stated at 34 in. or more, while in the lower terraces of south-western Germany, as in the Erzgebirge and the Sudetic range, it is estimated at 30 to 32 in. only. The same average obtains also on the humid north-west coast of Germany as far as Bremen and Hamburg. In the remaining parts of western Germany, on the shores of farther Pomerania, and in East Prussia, it amounts to upwards of 24 in. In western Germany there is a district famous for the scarcity of rain and for producing the best kind of wine: in the valley of the Rhine below Strassburg, in the Palatinate, and also in the valley of the Main, no more than from i6 to 20 in. fall. Mecklenburg, Brandenburg and Lusatia, Saxony and the plateau of Thuringia, West Prussia, Posen and lower Silesia are also to be classed among the more arid regions of Germany, the annual rainfall being i6 to 20 in. Thunderstorms are most frequent in July. and vary between fifteen and twenty-five in the central districts, descending in the eastern provinces of Prussia to ten annually. Flora.-The flora of Germany comprises 3413 species of phanerogamic and 4306 cryptogamic plants. The country forms a section of the central European zone, and its flora is largely under the influence of the Baltic and Alpine elements, which to a great degree here coalesce. All .plants peculiar to the temperate zone abound. Wheat, rye, barley and oats are cultivated everywhere, but spelt only in the south and buckwheat in the north and north-west. Maize only ripens in the south. Potatoes grow in every part of the country, those of the sandy plains in the north being of excellent quality. All the commoner sorts of fruit-apples, pears, cherries, c.-grow everywhere, but the more delicate kinds, such as figs, apricots and peaches, are confined to the warmer districts. The vine flourishes as far as the 51 N., but only yields good wine in the districts of the Rhine and Danube. Flax is grown in the north, and hemp more particularly in the central districts. Rape can be produced everywhere when the soil permits. Tobacco is cultivated on the upper Rhine and in the valley of the Oder. The northern plain, especially in the province of Saxony, produces beet (for sugar), and hops are largely grown in Bavaria, Wurttemberg, Alsace, Baden and the Prussian province of Posen. Speaking generally, northern Germany is not nearly so well Forests. wooded as central and southern Germany, where indeed most of the lower mountains are covered with timber, as is indicated by the frequent use of the termination weld affixed to the names of the mountain ranges (as Schwarzwald, Thuringerwald, &c.). The " Seenplatten " are less wooded than the hill country, but the eastern portion of the northern lowlands is well provided with timber. A narrow strip along the shores of the Baltic is covered with oaks and beeches; farther in-land, and especially east of the Elbe, coniferous trees are the most prevalent, praticularly the Scotch fir; birches are also abundant. The mountain forests consist chiefly of firs, pines and larches, but contain also silver firs, beeches and oaks. Chestnuts and walnuts appear on the terraces of the Rhine valley and in Swabia and Franconia. The whole north-west of Germany is desti- tute of wood, but to compensate for this the people have ample supplies of fuel in the extensive stretches of turf. Fauna.-The number of wild animals in Germany is not very great. Foxes, martens, weasels, badgers and otters are to be found every-where; bears are found in the Alps, wolves are rare, but they find their way sometimes from French territory to the western provinces, or from Poland to Prussia and Posen. Among the rodents the hamster and the field-mouse are a scourge to agriculture. Of game there are the roe, stag, boar and hare; the fallow deer and the wild rabbit are less common. The elk is to be found in the forests of East Prussia. The feathered tribes are everywhere abundant in the fields, woods and marshes. Wild geese and ducks, grouse, partridges, snipe, woodcock, quails, widgeons and teal are plentiful all over the country, and in recent years preserves have been largely stocked with pheasants. The length of time that birds of passage remain in Germany differs considerably with the different species. The stork is seen for about 170 days, the house-swallow 160, the snow-goose 260, the snipe 220. In northern Germany these birds arrive from twenty to thirty days later than in the south. The waters of Germany abound with fish; but the genera and species are few. The carp and salmon tribes are the most abundant ; after them rank the pike, the eel, the shad, the roach, the perch and the lamprey. The Oder and some of the tributaries of the Elbe abound in crayfish, and in the stagnant lakes of East Prussia leeches are bred. In addition to frogs, Germany has few varieties of Amphibia. Of serpents there are only two poisonous kinds, the common viper and the adder (Kreuzotler). Population.-Until comparatively recent times no estimate of the population of Germany was precise enough to be of any. value. At the beginning of the 19th century the country was divided into some hundred states, but there was no central agency for instituting an exact census on a uniform plan. The formation of the German Confederation in 1815 effected but little change in this respect, and it was left to the different states to arrange in what manner the census should be taken. On the foundation, however, of the German customs union, or Zollverein, between certain German states, the necessity for accurate statistics became apparent and care was taken to compile trustworthy tables. Researches show the population of the German empire, as at present constituted, to have been: (1816) 24,833,396; (1855) 36,113,644; and (1871) 41,058,792. The following table shows the population and area of each of the states included in the empire for the years 1871, 1875, 1900 and 1905:- Area and Population of the German States. States of the Empire. Area Population. Density English 1875. 1900. Sq. m. 1871. 1905. Sq. m. Kingdoms- 134,616 24,691,433 25,742,404 34,472,509 37,293,324 277'3 Prussia Bavaria 29,292 4,863,450 5,022,390 6,176,057 6,524,372 222.7 Saxony 5,789 2,556,244 2,760,586 4,202,216 4,508,601 778.8 Wurttemberg 7,534 1,818,539 1,881,505 , 2,169,480 2,302,179 305.5 Grand-Duchies- 5,823 1,461,562 1,507,179 1,867,944 2,010,728 345.3 Baden Hesse 2,966 852,894 884,218 1,119,893 1,209,175 407.6 Mecklenburg-Schwerin . 5,068 557,897 553,785 607,770 625,045 123'3 Saxe-Weimar 1,397 286,183 292,933 362,873 388,095 277'8 Mecklenburg-Strelitz 1,131 96,982 95,673 102,602 103,451 91.5 Oldenburg 2,482 314,459 319,314 399,180 438,856 176.8 Duchies- 1,418 311,764 327,493 464,333 485,958 342'5 Brunswick Saxe-Meiningen 953 187,957 194,494 250,731 268,916 282.2 Saxe-Altenburg 511 142,122 145,844 194,914 206,508 404'1 Saxe-Coburg-Gotha 764 174,339 182,599 229,550 242,432 317'3 Anhalt 888 203,437 213,565 316,085 328,029 369.4 Principalities- 333 75,523 76,676 80,898 85,152 255.7 Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. 363 67,191 67,480 93,059 96,835 266.7 Waldeck 433 56,224 54,743 57,918 59,127 136'5 Reuss-Greiz 122 45,094 46,985 68,396 70,603 578'7 Reuss-Schleiz 319 89,032 92,375 139,210 144,584 453'2 Schaumburg-Lippe 131 32,059 33,133 43,132 44,992 343'4 Lippe 469 111,135 112,452 138,952 145,577 310'4 Free Towns- 115 52,158 56,912 96,775 105,857 920'5 Lubeck Bremen 99 122,402 142,200 224,882 263,440 2661.0 Hamburg 16o 338,974 388,6T8 768,349 874,878 5467.9 Imperial Territory- 5,604 1,549,738 1,531,804 1,719,470 1,814,564 323'8 Alsace-Lorraine German Empire 208,780 41,058,792 42,727,360 56,367,178 60,641,278 290'4 POPULATION) The population of the empire has thus increased, since 187r, by 19,582,486 or 47.6%. The increase of population during 1895-'900 was greatest in Hamburg, Bremen, Lubeck, Saxony, Prussia and Baden, and least in Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Waldeck. Of the total population in 1900, 54.3 % was urban (i.e. living in towns of '2000 inhabitants and above), leaving 45'7 % to be classified as rural. On the 1st of December 1905, of the total population 29,884,681 were males and 30,756,597 females; and it is noticeable that the male population shows of late years a larger relative increase than the female, the male population having in five years increased by 2,147,434 and the female by only 2,126,666. The greater increase in the male population is attributable to diminished emigration and to the large increase in immigrants, who are mostly males. In 1905, 485,906 marriages were contracted in Germany, being at the rate of 8o per thousand inhabitants. In the same year the total number of births was 2,048,453. Of these, 61,300 were stillborn and 174,494 illegitimate, being at the rate, respectively, of 3% and 8.5 % of the total. Illegitimacy is highest in Bavaria (about 15%), Berlin (14%), and over 12 % in Saxony, Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Saxe-Meiningen. It is lowest in the Rhine Province and Westphalia (3.9 and 2.6 respectively). Divorce is steadily on the increase, being in 1904, 11.1 per 10,000 marriages, as against 8.1, 8.1, 9.3 and ror for the four preceding years. The average deaths for the years 1901-1905 amounted to 1,227,903; the rate was thus 20.2 per thousand inhabitants, but the death-rate has materially decreased, the total number of deaths in 1907 standing at 1,178,349; the births for the same year were 2,060,974. In connexion with suicides, it is interesting to observe that the highest rates prevail in some of the smaller and more prosperous states of the empire-for example, in Saxe-Weimar, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Saxe-Altenburg (on a three years' average of figures), while the Roman Catholic country Bavaria, and the impoverished Prussian province of Posen show the most favourable statistics. For Prussia the rate is 20, and for Saxony it is as high as 31 per 100,000 inhabitants. The large cities, notably Berlin, Hamburg, Breslau and Dresden, show, however, relatively the largest proportion. In 1900 the German-speaking population of the empire amounted to 51,883,131. Of, the inhabitants speaking other languages there were: Polish, 3,086,489; French (mostly in Lorraine), 211,679; Masurian, 142,049; Danish, 141,061; Lithuanian, 106,305; Cassubian, 100,213; Wendish, 93,032; Dutch, 80,361; Italian, 65,961; Moravian, 64,382; Czech, 43,016; Frisian, 20,677; English, 20,217; Walloon, 11,841. In 1905 there were resident within the empire 1,028,560 subjects of foreign states, as compared with 778,698 in 1900. Of these 17,293 were subjects of Great Britain and Ireland, 17,184 of the United States of America and 20,584 of France. The bulk of the other foreigners residing in the country belonged to countries lying contiguous, such as Austria, which claimed nearly the half, Russia and Italy. Languages.-The German-speaking nations in their various branches and dialects, if we include the Dutch and the Walloons, extend in a compact mass along the shores of the Baltic and of the North Sea, from Memel in the east to a point between Gravelines and Calais near the Straits of Dover. On this northern line the Germans come in contact with the Danes who inhabit the northern parts of Schleswig within the limits of the German empire. A line from Flensburg south-westward to Joldelund and thence north-westward to Hoyer will nearly give the boundary between the two idioms.' The German-French frontier traverses Belgium from west to east, touching the towns of St Omer, Courtrai and Maastricht. Near Eupen, south of Aix-la-Chapelle, it turns southward, and near Arlon south-east as far as the crest of the Vosges mountains, which it follows up.to Belfort, traversing there the watershed of the Rhine and the Doubs. In the Swiss territory the line of demarcation passes through Bienne, Fribourg, Saanen, Leuk and Monte Rosa. In the south the Germans come into contact with Rhaeto-Romans and Italians, the former inhabiting the valley of the Vorder-Rhein and the Engadine, while the latter have settled on the southern slopes of the Alps, and are continually advancing up the valley of the Adige. Carinthia and Styria are inhabited by German people, except the valley of the Drave towards Klagenfurt. Their eastern neighbours there are first the Magyars, then the northern Slays and the Poles. The whole eastern frontier is very much broken, and cannot be described in a few words. Besides detached German colonies in Hungary proper, there is a considerable and compact German (Saxon) population in Transylvania. The river March is the frontier north of the Danube from Pressburg as far as Briinn, to the north of which the German regions begin near Olmutz, the interior of Bohemia and Moravia being occupied by Czechs and Moravians. In these countries the Slav language has been steadily superseding the German. In the Prussian provinces of Silesia and Posen the eastern parts are mixed territories, the German language progressing very slowly among the Poles. In Bromberg and Thorn, in the valley of the Vistula, German is prevalent. In West Prussia some parts of the interior, and in East Prussia a small region along the Russian frontier, are occupied by Poles (Cassubians in West Prussia, Masurians in ' The question, much disputed between Germans and Danes, is exhaustively treated by P. Lauridsen in F. de Jessen's La Question de Sleswig (Copenhagen, 1906), pp. 114 et seq.809 East Prussia). The total number of German-speaking people, within the boundaries wherein they constitute the compact mass of the population, may be estimated, if the Dutch and Walloons be included, at 65 millions. The geographical limits of the German language thus do not quite coincide with the German frontiers. The empire contains about 31 millions of persons who do not make use of German in everyday life, not counting the resident foreigners. Apart from the foreigners above mentioned, German subjects speaking a tongue other than German are found only in Prussia, Saxony and Alsace-Lorraine. The following table shows roughly the distribution of German-speaking people in the world outside the German empire:- Austria-Hungary Netherlands (Dutch) Belgium (Walloon) . Luxemburg . . . Switzerland France . . According to the census of the 1st of December 1900 there were 51,634,757 persons speaking commonly one language and 248,374 speaking two languages. In the kingdom of Saxony, according to the census of 1900, there were 48,000 Wends, mostly in Lusatia. With respect to Alsace-Lorraine, detailed estimates (but no census) gave the number of French in the territory of Lorraine at about 170,000, and in that of Alsace at about 46,000. The Poles have increased very much, owing to a greater surplus of births than in the case of the German people in the eastern provinces of Prussia, to immigration from Russia, and to the Polonization of many Germans through clerical and other influences (see History). The Poles are in the majority in upper Silesia (Government district of Oppeln; 55%) and the province of Posen (6o A). They are numerous in West Prussia (34 %) and East Prussia (14 %). The Wends are decreasing in number, as are also the Lithuanians on the eastern border of East Prussia, Czechs are only found in Silesia on the confines of Bohemia. Russians flocked to Germany in thousands after the Russo-Japanese War and the insurrections in Russia, and the figures given for 1900 had been doubled in 1907. Males preponderate among the various nationalities, with the exception of the British, the larger proportion of whom are females either in domestic service or engaged in tuition. Chief Towns. According to the results of the census of the 1st of December 1905 there were within the empire 41 towns with populations exceeding Ioo,o00, viz.:- State. Population. Berlin Prussia 2,040,148 Hamburg Hamburg 802,793 Munich Bavaria 538,393 Dresden Saxony 516,996 Leipzig 502,570 Breslau Prussia 470,751 Cologne 428,503 Frankfort-on-Main 334,951 Nuremberg Bavaria 294,344 Dusseldorf Prussia 253,099 Hanover 250,032 Stuttgart Wu'r'ttemberg 249,443 Chemnitz Saxony 244,405 Magdeburg Prussia 240,661 Charlottenburg 239,512 Essen 231,396 Stettin 224,078 Konigsberg 219,862 Bremen Bremen 214,953 Duisburg Prussia 192,227 Dortmund 175,575 Halle 169,899 Altona 168,30, Strassburg Alsace-Lorraine 167,342 Kiel Prussia 163,710 Elberfeld 162,682 Mannheim Baden 162,607 Danzig Prussia 159,685 Barmen 156,148 Rixdorf 153,650 Gelsenkirchen 147,037 Aix-la-Chapelle 143,906 Schoneberg 140,992 Brunswick Brunswick " 136,423 Posen Prussia 137,067 Cassel 120,446 Bochum 118,455 Karlsruhe Baden 111,200 Crefeld Prussia I10,347 Plauen Saxony 105,182 Wiesbaden Prussia 100,953 I2,000,000 .5,200,000 4,000,000 200,000 2,300,000 500,000 Other European Countries . . . America . Asia .. Africa Australia. 2,300,000 13,000,000 I00,000 600,000 150,000 Density of Population.In respect of density of population, Germany with (1900) 269.9 and (1905) 290.4 inhabitants to the square mile is exceeded in Europe only by Belgium, Holland and England. Apart from the free cities, Hamburg, Bremen and Lubeck, the kingdom of Saxony is the most, and Mecklenburg-Strelitz the least, closely peopled state of the empire. The most thinly populated districts are found, not as might be expected in the mountain regions, but in some parts of the plains. Leaving out of account the small centres, Germany may be roughly divided into two thinly and two densely populated parts. In the former division has to be classed all the North German plain. There it is only in the valleys of the larger navigable rivers and on the southern border of the plain that the density exceeds 200 inhabitants per square mile. In some places, indeed, it is far greater, e.g. at the mouths of the Elbe and the Weser, in East Holstein, in the delta of the Memel and the environs of Hamburg. This region is bordered on the south by a densely peopled district, the northern boundary of which may be defined by a line from Coburg via Cassel to Munster, for in this part there are not only very fertile districts, such as the Goldene Aue in Thuringia, but also centres of industry. The population is thickest in upper Silesia around Beuthen (coal-fields), around Ratibor, Neisse and Waldenburg (coal-fields), around Zittau (kingdom of Saxony), in the Elbe valley around Dresden, in the districts of Zwickau and Leipzig as far as the Saale, on the northern slopes of the Harz and around Bielefeld in Westphalia. In all these the density exceeds 400 inhabitants to the square mile, and in the case of Saxony rises to 750. The third division of Germany comprises the basin of the Danube and Franconia, where around Nuremberg, Bamberg and Wiirzburg the population is thickly clustered. The fourth division embraces the valleys of the upper Rhine and Neckar and the district of Dusseldorf on the lower Rhine. In this last the proportion exceeds 1200 inhabitants to the square mile. Emigration.--There have been great oscillations in the actual emigration by sea. It first exceeded 100,000 soon after the Franco-German War (1872, 126,000), and this occurred again in the years 188o to 1892. Germany lost during these thirteen years more than 1,700,000 inhabitants by emigration. The total number of those who sailed for the United States from 182o to 1900 may be estimated at more than 4,500,000. The number of German emigrants to Brazil between 1870 and 1900 was about 52,000. The greater number of the more recent emigrants was from the agricultural provinces of northern GermanyWest Prussia, Posen, Pomerania, Mecklenburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Hanover, and sometimes the emigration reached 1% of the total population of these provinces. In subsequent years the emigration of native Germans greatly decreased and, in 1905, amounted only to 28,075. But to this number must be added 284,787 foreigners who in that year were shipped from German ports (notably Hamburg and Bremen) to distant parts. Of the above given numbers of purely German emigrants 26,007 sailed for the United States of America; 243 to Canada; 333 to Brazil; 674 to the Argentine Republic; 7 to other parts of America; 57 to Africa; and 84 to Australia. Agriculture.Despite the enormous development of industries and commerce, agriculture and cattle-rearing still represent in Germany a considerable portion of its economic wealth. Almost two-thirds of the soil is occupied by arable land, pastures and meadows, and of the whole area, in 1900, 91 % was classed as productive. Of the total area 47'67% was occupied by land under tillage, 0.89 % by gardens, 11.02% by meadow-land, 5or % by pastures, and o 25 % by vineyards. The largest estates are found in the Prussian provinces of Pomerania, Posen and Saxony, and in East and West Prussia, while in the Prussian Rhine province, in Baden and Wurttemberg small farms are the rule. The same kinds of cereal crops are cultivated in all parts of the empire, but in the south and west wheat is predominant, and in the north and east rye, oats and barley. To these in some districts are added spelt, buckwheat, millet, rice-wheat, lesser spelt and maize. In general the soil is remarkably well cultivated. The three years' rotation formerly in use, where autumn and spring-sown grain and fallow succeeded each other, has now been abandoned, except in some districts, where the system has been modified and improved. In south Germany the so-called Fruchtwechsel is practised, the fields being sown with grain crops every second year, and with pease or beans, grasses, potatoes, turnips, &c., in the intermediate years. In north Germany the mixed Koppelwirthschaft is the rule, by which system, after several years of grain crops, the ground is. for two or three seasons in pasture. Taking the average of the six years 1900-1905, the crop of wheat amounted to 3,550,033 tons (metric), rye to 9,296,616 tons, barley to 3,102,883 tons, and oats to 7,160,883 tons. But, in spite of this considerable yield in cereals, Germany cannot cover her home consumption, and imported on the average of the six years 1900-1905 about 42 million tons of cereals to supply the deficiency. The potato is largely cultivated, not merely for food, but for distillation into spirits. This manufacture is prosecuted especially in eastern Germany. The number of distilleries throughout the German empire was, in 1905-1906, 68,405. The common beet(Beta vulgaris) is largely grown in some districts for the production of sugar, which has greatly increased of recent years. There are two centres of the beet sugar production: Magdeburg for the districts Prussian Saxony, Hanover, Brunswick, Anhalt and Thuringia, and Frankfort-on-Oder at the centre of the group Silesia, Brandenburg and Pomerania. Flax and hemp are cultivated, though not so much as formerly, for manufacture into linen and canvas, and also rape seed for the production of oil. The home supply of the former no longer suffices for the native demand. The cultivation of hops is in a very thriving condition in the southern states of Germany. The soil occupied by hops was estimated in 1905 at 98,000 acresa larger area than in Great Britain, which had in the same year about 48,000 acres. The total production of hops was 29,000 tons in 1905, and of this over 25,000 were grown in Bavaria, Wurttemberg, Baden and Alsace-Lorraine. Almost the whole yield in hops is consumed in the country by the great breweries. Tobacco forms a most productive and profitable object of culture in many districts. The total extent under this crop in 1905 was about 35,000 acres, of which 45% was in Baden, 12%, in Bavaria, 30% in Prussia, and the rest in Alsace and Hesse-Darmstadt. In the north the plant is cultivated principally in Pomerania, Brandenburg and East and West Prussia. Of late years the production has some-what diminished, owing to the extensive tobacco manufacturing industries of Bremen and Hamburg, which import almost exclusively foreign leaves. Ulm, Nuremberg, Quedlinburg, Erfurt, Strassburg and Guben are famed for their vegetables and garden seeds. Berlin is noted for its flower nurseries, the Rhine valley, Wurttemberg and the Elbe valley below Dresden for fruit, and Frankfort-on-main for cider. The culture of the vine is almost confined to southern and western Germany, and especially to the Rhine district. The northern limits of its growth extend from Bonn in a north-easterly direction through Cassel to the southern foot of the vine. Harz, crossing 52 N. on the Elbe, running then east some miles to the north of that parallel, and finally turning sharply towards the south-west on the Warthe. In the valley of the Saale and Elbe (near Dresden), and in lower Silesia (between Guben and Grunberg), the number of vineyards is small, and the wines of inferior quality; but along the Rhine from Basel to Coblenz, in Alsace, Baden, the Palatinate and Hesse, and above all in the province of Nassau, the lower slopes of the hills are literally covered with vines. Here are produced the celebrated Riidesheimer, Hochheimer and Johannisberger. The vines of the lower Main, particularly those of Wurzburg, are the best kinds; those of the upper Main and the valley of the Neckar are rather inferior. The Moselle wines are lighter and more acid than those of the Rhine. The total amount produced in Germany is estimated at woo million gallons, of a value of 4,000,000 ; Alsace-Lorraine turning out 400 millions; Baden, 175; Bavaria, Wurttemberg and Hesse together, 300; while the remainder, which though small in quantity is in quality the best, is produced by Prussia. The cultivation of grazing lands in Germany has been greatly improved in recent times and is in a highly prosperous condition. The provinces of Schleswig-Holstein, Pomerania, Hanover Live stock. (especially the marsh-lands near the sea) and the grand- duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin are particularly remarkable in this respect. The best meadow-lands of Bavaria are in the province of Franconia and in the outer range of the Alps, and those of Saxony in the Erzgebirge. Wurttemberg, Hesse and Thuringia also yield cattle of excellent quality. These large cattle-rearing centres not only supply the home markets but export live stock in considerable quantities to England and France. Butter is also largely exported to England from the North Sea districts and from Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg. The breeding of horses has attained a great perfection. The main centre is in East and West Prussia, then follow the marsh districts on the Elbe and Weser, some parts of Westphalia, Oldenburg, Lippe, Saxony and upper Silesia, lower Bavaria and Alsace-Lorraine. Of the stud farms Trakehnen in East Prussia and Graditz in the Prussian province of Saxony enjoy a European reputation. The aggregate number of sheep has shown a considerable falling off, and the rearing of them is mostly carried on only. on large estates, the number showing only 9,692,501 in 1900, and 7,907,200 in 1904, as against 28,000,000 in 186o. As a rule, sheep-farming is resorted to where the soil is of inferior quality and unsuitable for tillage and the breeding of cattle. Far more attention is accordingly given to sheep-farming in northern and north-eastern Germany than in Schleswig-Holstein, Westphalia, the Rhineland and south Germany. The native demand for wool is not covered by the home production, and in this article the export from the United Kingdom to Germany is steadily rising, having amounted in 1905 to a value of 1,691,035, as against 742,632 in 1900. The largest stock of pigs is in central Germany and Saxony, in Westphalia, on the lower Rhine, in Lorraine and Hesse. Central Germany (especially Gotha and Brunswick) exports sausages and hams largely, as well as Westphalia, but here again considerable importation takes place from other countries. Goats are found everywhere, but especially in the hilly districts. Poultry farming is a considerable industry, the geese of Pomerania and the fowls of Thuringia and Lorraine being in especial favour. Bee-keeping is of considerable importance, particularly in north Germany and Silesia. On the whole, despite the prosperous condition of the German live-stock farming, the consumption of meat exceeds the amount rendered available by home production, and prices can only be kept down by a steady increase in the imports from abroad. Fisheries.The German fisheries, long of little importance, have been carefully fostered within recent years. The deep-sea fishing in the North Sea, thanks to the exertions of the German fishing league (Deutscher Fischereiverein) and to government support, is extremely active. Trawlers are extensively employed, and steamers bring the catches directly to the large fish markets at Geestemiinde and Altona, whence facilities are afforded by the railways for the rapid transport of fish to Berlin and other centres. The fish mostly caught are cod, haddock and herrings, while Heligoland yields lobsters, and the islands of Fohr, Amrum and Sylt oysters of good quality. The German North Sea fishing fleet numbered in 1905 618 boats, with an aggregate crew of 5441 hands. Equally well developed are the Baltic fisheries, the chief ports engaged in which are Danzig, EckernfSrde, Kolherg and Travemiinde. The principal catch is haddock and herringg. The catch of the North Sea and Baltic fisheries in 1906 was valued at over 1'700,000, exclusive of herrings for salting. The fisheries do not, however, supply the demand for fish, and fresh, salt and dried fish is imported largely in excess of the home yield. Mines and Minerals.Germany abounds in minerals, and the extraordinary industrial development of the country since 1870 is largely due to its mineral wealth. Having left France much behind in this respect, it now rivals Great Britain and the United States. Germany produces more silver than any other European state, and the quantity is annually increasing. It is extracted from the ores in the mines of Freiburg (Saxony), the Harz Mountains, upper Silesia, Merseburg, Aix-la-Chapelle, Wiesbaden and Arnsberg. Gold is found in the sand of the rivers Isar, Inn and Rhine, and also, to a limited extent, on the Harz. The quantity yielded in 1905 was, of silver, about 400 tons of a value of 1,600,000, and gold, about 4 tons, valued at about 548,000. Lead is produced in considerable quantities in upper Silesia, the Harz Mountains, in the Prussian province of Nassau, in the Saxon Erzgebirge and in the Sauerland. The yield in 1905 amounted to about 153,000 tons; of which 20,000 tons were exported. Copper is found principally in the Mansfeld district of the Prussian province of Saxony and near Arnsberg in the Sauerland, the ore yielding 31,713 tons in 1905, of which 5000 tons were exported. About 90% of the zinc produced in Europe is yielded by Belgium and Germany. It is mostly found in upper Silesia, around Beuthen, and in the districts of Wiesbaden and Aix-la-Chapelle. In 1905 no less than 198,000 tons of block
Of other minerals (with the exceptions of coal, iron and salt treated below) nickel and antimony are found in the upper Harz; cobalt in the hilly districts of Hesse and the Saxon Erzgebirge; arsenic in the Riesengebirge; quicksilver in the Sauerland and in the spurs of the Saarbriicken coal hills; graphite in Bavaria; porcelain clay in Saxony and Silesia; amber along the whole Baltic coast; and lime and gypsum in almost all parts. Coal-mining appears to have been first practised in the 14th century at Zwickau (Saxony) and on the Ruhr. There are six large coal-Coal. fields, occupying an area of about 3600 sq. m., of which the most important occupies the basin of the Ruhr, its extent being estimated at 2800 sq. m. Here there are more than 6o beds, of a total thickness of 150 to 200 ft. of coal ; and the amount in the pits has been estimated at 45,000 millions of tons. Smaller fields are found near Osnabruck, Ibbenbfiren and Minden, and a larger one near Aix-la-Chapelle. The Saar coal-field, within the area enclosed by the rivers Saar, Nahe and Blies (46o sq. m.), is of great importance. The thickness of 8o beds amounts to 250 ft., and the total mass of coal is estimated at 45,400 million tons. The greater part of the basin belongs to Prussia, the rest to Lorraine. A still larger field exists in the upper Silesian basin, on the border-land between Austria and Poland, containing about 50.000 million tons. Beuthen is the chief centre. The Silesian coal-fields have a second centre in Waldenburg, east of the Riesengebirge. The Saxon coal-fields stretch eastwards for some miles from Zwickau. Deposits of less consequence are found in upper Bavaria, upper Franconia, Baden, the Harz and elsewhere. The following table shows the rapidly increasing development of the coal production. That of lignite is added, the provinces of Saxony and Brandenburg being rich in this product: Production of Coal and Lignite. This production permits a considerable export of coal to the west and south of the empire, but the distance from the coal-fields to the German coast is such that the import of British coal cannot yet be dispensed with (1905, over 7,000,000 tons). Besides this, from 7,000,000 to 8,000,000 tons of lignite come annually from Bohemia. In north Germany peat is also of importance as a fuel; the area of the peat moors in Prussia is estimated at 8000 sq. m., of which 2000 are in the north of Hanover. The iron-fields of Germany fall into three main groups: those of the lower Rhine and Westphalia, of which Dortmund and Dusseldorf are the centres; those of Lorraine and the Saar; and those of upper Silesia. The output of the ore has enormously increased of recent years, and the production of pig iron, as given for 1905, amounted to 10,875,000 tons of a value of 28,900,000. Germany possesses abundant saltdeposits. The actual production not only covers the home consumption, but also allows a yearly increasing exportation, especially to Russia, Austria and Scandinavia. The provinces of Saxony and Hanover, with Thuringia and Anhalt, produce half the whole amount. A large salt-work is found at Strzalkowo (Posen), and smaller ones near Dortmund, Lippstadt
Hall
Manufactures.In no other country of the world has the manufacturing industry made such rapid strides within recent years as in Germany. This extraordinary development of industrial energy embraces practically all classes of manufactured articles. In a general way the chief manufactures may be geographically distributed as follows. Prussia, Alsace-Lorraine, Bavaria and Saxony are the chief seats of the iron manufacture. Steel is produced in Rhenish Prussia. Saxony is predominant in the production of textiles, though Silesia and Westphalia manufacture linen. Cotton goods are largely produced in Baden, Bavaria, Alsace-Lorraine and Wurttemberg, woollens and worsteds in Saxony and the Rhine province, silk in Rhenish Prussia (Elberfeld), Alsace and Baden. Glass and porcelain are largely produced in Bavaria; lace in Saxony; tobacco in Bremen and Hamburg; chemicals in the Prussian province of Saxony; watches in Saxony (Glashutte) and Nuremberg; toys in Bavaria; gold and silver filagree in Berlin and Aschaffenburg; and beer in Bavaria and Prussia. It is perhaps more in respect of its iron industry than of its other manufactures that Germany has attained a leading position in the markets of the world. Its chief centres are in Westphalia from and the Rhine province (auf roter Erde), in upper Silesia, industry. in Alsace-Lorraine and in Saxony. Of thetotal production of pig iron in 1905 amounting to over io,000,000 tons, more than the half was produced in the Rhineland and Westphalia. Huge blast furnaces are in constant activity, and the output of rolled iron and steel is constantly increasing. In the latter the greatest advance has been made. The greater part of it is produced at or around Essen, where are the famous Krupp works, and Bochum. Many states have been for a considerable time supplied by Krupp with steel guns and battleship plates. The export of steel (railway) rails and bridges from this part is steadily on the increase. Hardware also, the production of which is centred in Solingen, Heilbronn, Esslingen, &c., is largely exported. Germany stands second to Great Britain in the manufacture of machines and engines. There are in many large cities of north Germany extensive establishments for this purpose, but the industry is not limited to the large cities. In agricultural machinery Germany is a serious competitor with England. The locomotives and wagons for theGerman railways are almost exclusively built in Germany; and Russia, as well as Austria, receives large supplies of railway plant from German works. In shipbuilding, likewise, Germany is practically independent, yards having been established for the construction of the largest vessels. Before 1871 the production of cotton fabrics in France exceeded that in Germany, but as the cotton manufacture is pursued largely in Alsace, the balance is now against the former country. In 1905 there Cotton were about 9,000,000 spindles in Germany. The textiles. export of the goods manufactured amounted in this year to an estimated value of 19,600,000. Cotton spinning and weaving are not confined to one district, but are prosecuted in upper Alsace (Miilhausen, Gebweiler, Colmar), in Saxony (Zwickau, Chemnitz, Annaberg), in Silesia (Breslau, Liegnitz), in the Rhine province (Dusseldorf, Munster, Cologne), in Erfurt and Hanover, in Wurttemberg (Reutlingen, Cannstatt), in Baden, Bavaria (Augsburg, Bamberg, Bayreuth) and in the Palatinate. Coal. Lignite. Year. Quantities. Value. Hands. Quantities. Value. Hands. Mill. Tons. Mill. Mks. Mill. Tons. Mill. Mks. 1871 29.4 218.4 8.5 26.2 1881 48.7 252.3 186,000 12.8 38.1 25,600 1891 73.7 589.5 283,000 20.5 54'2 35,700 1899 Ioi.6 789.6 379,000 34'2 78.4 44.700 1900 109.3 966.i 414,000 40'5 98.5 50,900 1905 121.2 1049.9 490.000 52.5 122.2 52,800 Although Germany produces wool, flax and hemp, the home production of these materials is not sufficient to meet the demand of manufactures, and large quantities of them have to be imported. In 1895 almost a million persons (half of them women) were employed in this branch of industry, and in 1897 the value of the cloth, buckskin and flannel manufacture was estimated at 18,000,000. The chief seats of this manufacture are the Rhenish districts of Aix-la-Chapelle, Duren, Eupen and Lennep, Brandenburg, Saxony, Silesia and lower Lusatia, the chief centres in this group being Berlin, Cottbus, Spremberg, Sagan and Sommerfeld. The manufacture of woollen and half-woollen dress materials centres mainly in Saxony, Silesia, the Rhine province and in Alsace. Furniture covers, table covers and plush are made in Elberfeld and Chemnitz, in Westphalia and the Rhine province (notably in Elberfeld and Barmen); shawls in Berlin and the Bavarian Vogtland; carpets in Berlin, Barmen and Silesia. In the town of Schmiedeberg in the last district, as also in Cottbus (Lusatia), oriental patterns are successfully imitated. The chief seats of the stocking manufacture are Chemnitz and Zwickau in Saxony, and Apolda in Thuringia. The export of woollen goods from Germany in 1905 amounted to a value of 13,000,000. Although linen was formerly one of her most important articles of manufacture, Germany is now left far behind in this industry by Great Britain, France and Austria-Hungary. This branch of textile manufacture has its principal centres in Silesia, Westphalia, Saxony and Wurttemberg, while Hirschberg in Silesia, Bielefeld in Westphalia and Zittau in Saxony are noted for the excellence of their productions. The goods manufactured, now no longer, as formerly, coarse in texture, vie with the finer and more delicate fabrics of Belfast. In the textile industry for flax and hemp there were, in 1905, 276,000 fine spindles, 22,300 hand-looms and 17,600 power-looms in operation, and, in 1905, linen and jute materials were exported of an estimated value of over 2,000,000. The jute manufacture, the principal centres of which are Berlin, Bonn, Brunswick and Hamburg, has of late attained considerable dimensions. Raw silk can scarcely be reckoned among the products of the empire, and the annual demand has thus to be provided for by importation. The main centre of the silk industry is Crefeld and its neighbourhood; then come Elberfeld and Barmen, Aix-la-Chapelle, as well as Berlin, Bielefeld, Chemnitz, Stuttgart and the district around Miilhausen in Alsace. The manufacture of paper is prosecuted almost everywhere in the empire. There were 1020 mills in operation in 1895, and the exports Paper. in 1905 amounted to more than 3,700,000 sterling, as against imports of a value of over 700,000. The manufacture is carried on to the largest extent in the Rhine province, in Saxony and in Silesia. Wall
The chief seat of the leather industry is Hesse-Darmstadt, in which Mainz and Worms produce excellent material. In Prussia Leather. large factories are in operation in the Rhine province, in Westphalia and Silesia (Brieg). Boot and shoe manufactures are carried on everywhere; but the best goods are produced by Mainz and Pirmasens. Gloves for export are extensively made in Wurttemberg, and Offenbach and Aschaffenburg are renowned for fancy leather wares, such as purses, satchels and the like. Berlin and Mainz are celebrated for the manufacture of furniture; Bavaria for toys; the Black Forest for clocks; Nuremberg for pencils; Berlin and Frankfort-on-Main for various perfumes; and Cologne for the famous eau-de-Cologne. The beetroot sugar manufacture is very considerable. It centres mainly in the Prussian province of Saxony, where Magdeburg is the Sugar, chief market for the whole of Germany, in Anhalt, Bruns- wick and Silesia. The number of factories was, in 1905, 376, and the amount of raw sugar and molasses produced amounted to 2,643,531 metric tons, and of refined sugar 1,711,063 tons. Beer is produced throughout the whole of Germany. The production is relatively greatest in Bavaria. The Brausieuergebiet Beer. (beer excise district) embraces all the states forming the Zollverein, with the exception of Bavaria, Wurttemberg, Baden and Alsace-Lorraine, in which countries the excise duties are separately collected. The total number of breweries in the beer excise district was, in 1905-1906, 5995, which produced 1017 million gallons; in Bavaria nearly 6000 breweries with 392 million gallons; in Baden over 700 breweries with 68 million gallons; in Wurttemberg over 5000 breweries with 87 million gallons; and in Alsace-Lorraine 95 breweries with about 29 million gallons. The amount brewed per head of the population amounted, in 1905, roughly to 16o imperial pints in the excise district; to 450 in Bavaria; 28o in Wurttemberg; 26o in Baden; and 122 in Alsace-Lorraine. It may be remarked that the beer brewed in Bavaria is generally of darker colour than that produced in other states, and extra strong brews are exported largely into the beer excise district and abroad. Commerce.The rapid development of German trade dates from the Zollverein (customs union), under the special rules and regulations of which it is administered. The Zollverein Table A following shows the classification of goods adopted before the tariff revision of 1906. From 1907 a new classification has been adopted, and the change thus introduced is so great that it is impossible to make any comparisons between the statistics of years subsequent to and preceding the year 1906. Table B shows imports and exports for 1907 and 1908 according to the new classification adopted. emanates from a convention originally entered into, in 1828, between Prussia and Hesse, which, subsequently joined by the Bavarian customs-league, by the kingdom of Saxony and the Thuringian states, came into operation, as regards the countries concerned, on the 1st of January 1834. With progressive territorial extensions during the ensuing fifty years, and embracing the grand-duchy of Luxemburg, it had in 1871, when the German empire was founded, an area of about 209,281 sq. m., with a population of 40,678,000. The last important addition was in October 1888, when Hamburg and Bremen were incorporated. Included within it, besides the grand-duchy of Luxemburg, are the Austrian communes of Jungholz and Mittelberg; while, outside, lie the little free-port territories of Hamburg, Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven and Geestemtinde, Heligoland, and small portions of the districts of Constance and Waldshut, lying on the Baden Swiss frontier. Down to 1879 Germany was, in general, a free-trade country. In this year, however, a rigid protective system was introduced by the Zolltarifgesetz, since modified by the commercial treaties between Germany and Austria-Hungary, Italy, Switzerland and Belgium, of the 1st of February 1892, and by a customs tariff law of the 25th of December 1902. The foreign commercial relations of Germany were again altered by the general and conventional customs tariff, which came into farce on the 1st of March 1906. The Zolltarifgesetz of the 15th of July 1879, while restricting the former free import, imposed considerable duties. Exempt from duty were now only refuse, raw products, scientific instruments, ships and literary and artistic objects; forty-four articles notably beer, vinegar, sugar, herrings, cocoa, salt, fish oils, ether, alum and sodawere unaffected by the change, while duties were henceforth levied upon a large number of articles which had previously been admitted duty free, such as pig iron, machines and locomotives, grain, building timber, tallow; horses, cattle and sheep; and, again, the tariff law further increased the duties leviable upon numerous other articles. Export duties were abolished in 1865 and transit dues in 1861. The law under which Great Britain enjoyed the " most favoured nation treatment " expired on the 31st of December 1905, but its provisions were continued by the Bundesrat until further notice. The average value of each article is fixed annually in Germany under the direction of the Imperial Statistical Office, by a commission of experts, who receive information from chambers of commerce and other sources. There are separate valuations for imports and exports. The price fixed is that of the goods at the moment of crossing the frontier. For imports the price does not include customs duties, cost of transport, insurance, warehousing, &c., incurred after the frontier is passed. For exports, the price includes all charges within the territory, but drawbacks and bounties are not taken into account. The quantities are deter-mined according to obligatory declarations, and, for imports, the fiscal authorities may actually weigh the goods. For packages an official tax is deducted. The countries whence goods are imported and the ultimate destination of exports are registered. The import dues amounted in the year 1906, the first year of the revised tariff, to about 3I,639,000, or about 1os. 5d. per head of population. Statistics relating to the foreign trade of the Empire are necessarily confined to comparatively recent times. The quantities of such imported articles as are liable to duty have, indeed, been known for many years; and in 1872 official tables were compiled showing the value both of imports and of exports. But when the results of these tables proved the importation to be very much greater than the exportation, the conviction arose that the valuation of the exports was erroneous and below the reality. In 1872 the value of the imports was placed at 173,400,000 and that of the exports at 124,700,000. In 1905 the figures wereimports, 371,000,000, and exports, 292,000,000, including precious metals. Import. Export. Refuse 6,866,250 1,170,200 Cotton and cottons 23,488,750 22,949,600 Lead and by-products . . 996,300 979,41 Brush and sieve makers' goods 102,400 515,450 Drugs, chemists' and oilmen's 15,896,900 23,196,250 colours Iron and iron goods 3,156,500 33,126,400 Ores, precious metals, asbestos, &c. 28,834,050 9,899,450 Flax and other vegetable spinning 6,794,100 1,235,700 materials except cotton Grain and agricultural produce 59,136,200 7,496,500 Glass 538,050 2,743,900 Hair, feathers, bristles . 3,218,600 1,848,150 Skins 18,965,500 9,548,450 Wood and wooden wares 16,940,850 6,056,150 Hops . 913,150 2,135,600 Instruments, machines, &c. 4,351,500 17,898,250 Calendars 34,300 74,700 Caoutchouc, &c 7,379,600 4,616,400 Clothes, body linen, millinery . 739,900 7,321,050 Copper and copper goods 8,273,400 10,307,050 Hardware, &c 2,042,400 12,610,550 Leather and leather goods 3,567,950 9,665,300 Linens 1,750,100 1,904,950 Candles 11,15o 42,350 Literary and works of art 3,066,050 9,025,500 Groceries and confectionery . 41,446,400 17,585,000 Fats and oils . . . . 12,510,600 2,631,600 Paper goods 1,086,800 7,158,800 Furs 265,700 720,200 Petroleum 5,036,600 132,300 Silks and silk goods 9,523,300 8,889,000 Soap'and perfumes 151,600 768,200 Playing cards 400 18,95o Stone goods 2,822,000 2,110,550 Coal, lignite, coke and peat 10,136,800 15,096,450 Straw and hemp goods . . . 561,65o 262,100 Tar, pitch, resin . . . . 2,504,400 834,100 Animals, and animal products . 9,926,200 590,700 Earthenware goods 391,650 5,076,350 Cattle 11,366,200 725,100 Oilcloth 43,150 177,300 Wools and woollen textiles 25,290,200 21,562,900 Zinc and zinc goods . . 682,25o 2,413,600 Tin and japanned goods 1,770,550 744,100 Goods insufficiently declared . .. 806,300 Total 352,317,250 284,626,900 TaBLE B.-Classes of Imports and Exports, 1907 and r9o8. Imports. Exports. Groups of Articles. Value in I000. Value in 1000. 1907. 1908.1 1907. 1908.1 Agricultural and forest pro- 215,532 205,512 45,796 50,324 duce 2 Agricultural produce' 93,253 102,954 10,369 L5,168 Colonial produce and sub- 12,151 12,328 84 108 stitutes for the same . Southern fruit and fruit 3,214 3,262 20 23 peel . . . . Forest produce . . 28,166 26,299 4,066 3,967 Resins 8,216 8,209 2,500 2,325 Animals and animal pro- 63,283 61,794 9,607 9,676 ducts2 . . . Hides and skins . 16,920 17,699 5,383 5,453 Meat, oil, sugar, beverages 21,523 20,404 20,284 20,048 Mineral and fossil raw ma- 47,575 45,540 26,166 26,208 terials, mineral oils . Earths and stones 6,541 7,542 3,25o 3,006 Ores, slag, cinders 16,465 15,451 1,407 1,206 Mineral fuel . 16,895 14,910 19,445 20,020 Mineral oils and other 7,168 7,209 558 491 fossil raw materials . Coal-tar, coal-tar oils 506 428 1,506 1,485 1 Provisional figures only. 2 Excluding vegetable and animal textile materials. 2 Excluding vegetable textile materials. Imports. Exports. Groups of Articles. Value in 1000. Value in 1000. 1907. 1908.4 1907. 1908.4 Chemical and pharma- 14,784 14,850 28,116 26,845 ceutical products, colours Chemical primary mate- 9,226 9,550 9,661 9,832 rials, acids, salts . . . Colours and dyeing ma- 951 879 11,630 10,518 terials . . . . Varnish, lacquer . 189 158 206 221 Ether, alcohol not in- 1,979 1,918 1,118 1,004 cluded elsewhere, essen- tial oils, perfumery and cosmetics . . . Artificial manures 992 1,001 1,303 1,236 Explosives of all kinds . 86 74 1,612 1,269 Other chemical and phar- 1,361 1,270 2,586 2,765 maceutical products . Animal and vegetable tex- 98,540 92,105 78,086 70,343 tile materials and wares thereof . . . . Silk and silk goods . 13,533 13,704 13,324 11,364 Wool ... . 33,260 31,195 27,114 24,918 Unworked wool . . . 19,975 19,309 2,647 2,561 Worked wool 4,625 4,961 3,799 3,393 Wares of spun wool 8,66o 6,925 20,668 18,964 Cotton . . . 38,543 34,456 29,004 26,201 Unworked cotton . 27,705 26,167 3,264 2,987 Worked cotton . . 980 950 1912 891 Cotton wares 9,858 7,338 24,828 22,324 Other vegetable textile 10,783 10,411 3,777 3,471 materials . . . Unworked 7,923 7,819 1,I25 1,211 Worked . . . 166 168 122 137 Wares thereof . . 2,685 2,423 2,531 2,124 Leather and leather wares, 6,695 6,657 16,778 17,835 furriers' wares . . Leather 2,658 2,804 7,503 8,328 Leather wares . . 1,332 1,176 4,016 3,867 Furriers' wares . . 2,698 2,672 5,237 5,616 Caoutchouc wares . 694 754 2,328 2,325 Wares of soft caoutchouc 670 735 1,694 1,723 Hardened caoutchouc and 24 19 634 602 wares thereof . . Wares of animal or vegetable 2,448 2,068 4,260 4,131 material for carving or moulding . . . . Wooden wares 859 769 1,707 1,666 Paper, cardboard and wares thereof 1,349 1,205 9,342 9,II1 Books, pictures, paintings . 1,992 2,036 4,667 4,765 Earthenware . 467 377 5,224 4,612 Glass and glassware 747 728 5,671 5,149 Precious metals and wares 13,281 21,243 18,629 6,858 thereof Gold 11,616 19,295 15,898 6,151 Gold 11,184 18,873 I 1,071 2,897 Gold wares 432 422 4,827 3,254 Silver 1,665 1,948 2,731 2,707 Silver 1,434 1,716 1,206 1,418 Silver wares 231 232 1,525 1,289 Base metals and wares 26,035 26,398 57,146 58,895 thereof Iron and iron wares . 5,903 4,472 38,899 40,162 Pig iron (including non- 1,601 912 966 905 malleable alloys) . Iron wares. . . 4,302 3,560 37,933 39,257 Aluminium and alumi- 546 453 368 273 nium wares . . Raw aluminium . . 529 433 152 77 Aluminium wares 17 20 216 196 Lead and lead wares . 1,438 1,484 945 985 Raw lead (including 1,427 1,470 525 568 waste) Lead wares . . I I 14 420 417 Zinc and zinc wares 727 847 2,433 2,489 Raw zinc (including 706 825 1,631 1,784 waste) . . . Zinc wares . 21 22 802 705 Tin and tin wares 2,405 2,629 1,380 1,236 Raw tin (including 2,357 2,581 787 688 waste) Tin wares . 48 48 593 548 Nickel and nickel wares . 400 540 246 298 Raw nickel . . . 375 527 ,6o 233 4 Provisional figures only. Imports. Exports. Groups of Articles. Value in I000. Value in I000. 1907. 1968.1 1907. 1908.1 Nickel wares . . . 25 13 86 65 Copper and copper wares 13,803 15,088 7,998 8,470 Raw copper (including 12,995 14,192 2,204 2,014 copper coin, brass, tombac, &c.) . Copper wares . 808 896 5,794 6,456 Instruments of precision 813 885 4,877 4,982 Machinery, vehicles 7,093 5,489 33,117 34,653 Machinery . . . . 4,090 3,451 19,041 20,684 Imports. Exports. Groups of Articles. Value in I000. Value in I000. 1907. 1908.1 1907. 1908.1 Electro-tcchnical products 411 451 8,227 9,107 Vehicles and vessels . 2,562 1,587 5,849 4,862 Firearms, clocks, musical 1,732 1,424 8,704 7,505 instruments, toys . Clocks and watches . 1,382 1,134 1,296 1,210 Musical instruments 223 170 3,176 2,780 Toys 39 35 3,949 3,273 Total . . 442,663 429,636 349,114 336,347 1 Provisional figures only. The following table shows the commercial intercourse in imports and exports, exclusive of bullion and coin, between Germany and the chief countries of the world in 1905, 1906 and 1907. Imports. 1905. 1906. 1907. Percentage Percentage Percentage Country. Value of Value of Value of in Germany's in Germany's in Germany's I000. Total I000. Total I000. Total Imports. Imports. Imports. Belgium 13,439 3.8 14,315 3.6 14,586 3'4 Denmark 5,986 P7 6,302 1.6 6,050 1.4 France 19,772 5.6 21,306 5.4 22,302 5.2 United Kingdom 35,320 IOI 40,531 10.3 48,014 II.2 Italy 10,350 3 11,851 3 14,030 3'3 Netherlands . 12,077 3 11,864 3 11,187 2.6 Austria-Hungary 36,974 10.6 39,814 Jo.' 39,939 9'3 Rumania 4,568 1.3 5,774 I.5 7,365 1.7 Russia . 47,816 13.6 52,528 13'4 54,447 12.7 Sweden . 5,887 1.7 7,359 1.9 8,457 2 Switzerland . 8,980 2.6 10,659 2.9 10,366 2.4 Spain 5,742 1.6 7,410 1.9 6,878 1.6 British South Africa 1,769 0.5 1,766 0.4 2,258 0.5 Dominion of Canada 481 0.1 463 0.1 483 0.1 New Zealand 75 87 94 British West Africa 2,562 0.7 2,731 0.7 3,601 o8 British India 13,657 3'9 15,842 4 20,016 4.7 Dutch Indies . 5,848 1.7 7,002 1.8 9,199 2.1 Argentine Republic 18,150 5.2 18,302 4.7 21,756 5.1 Brazil 8,4544 2.4 9,246 2.4 9,636 2.2 53 1.9 7,131 1.8 7,074 1.6 United States 48,770 13.9 60,787 15.4 64,864 15.1 Commonwealth of Australia 7,690 2.2 8,619 2.2 11,209 2.6 Exports. 1905. 1906. 1907. Percentage Percentage Percentage Country. Value of Value of Value of in Germany's in Germany's in Germany's I000. Total I000. Total 1000. Total Exports. Exports. Exports. Belgium 15,364 5.5 17,509 5.6 16,861 5 Denmark 8,668 3.1 9,699 3.1 10,182 3 France 14,420 5.1 18,815 6 22,080 6.6 United Kingdom 51,253 18.2 52,473 16.8 52,135 15.5 Italy . . . 8,045 2.9 11,354 3.6 14,893 4.4 Netherlands 21,295 7.6 21,799 7 22,232 6.6 Norway 3,447 1.2 3,573 1.2 4,211 1.3 Austria-Hungary 28,526 16. 1 31,926 10.2 35,231 10.5 Rumania . . . 2,144 o.8 3,140 I 3,372 I Russia . 17,027 6 19,962 6.4 21,531 6.4 Sweden . 7,653 2.7 8,675 2.8 9,177 2.7 Switzerland . 17,649 6.3 18,367 5.9 21,948 6'5 Spain . 2,609 0.9 2,838 0.9 3,228 British South Africa 1,687 o6 1,607 0.5 1,422 0.4 Dominion of Canada 1,071 0.4 1,203 0.4 1,456 0.4 New Zealand . 227 ,0.1 244 0.1 263 0.1 Turkey . 3,484 1.3 3,357 1.1 4,011 1.2 British India . 4,226 1.5 5,01 I 1.6 4,868 1.4 China . 3,727 1.3 3,331 1.1 3,105 0.9 Japan . 4,158 1.5 4,328 1'4 5,036 1.5 Argentine Republic 6,463 2.3 8,367 2.7 8,810 2.6 Brazil . 3,525 1.3 4,364 1'4 5,118 I.5 Chile 2,632 0.9 3,561 1.2 4,167 1.2 United States 26,660 9.5 31,281 10 32,070 9.5 Commonwealth of Australia 2,264 o8 2,863 0.9 3,004 0'9 The commerce of Germany shows an upward tendency, which progresses Nei passe with its greatly increased production. The export of ships from the United Kingdom to the empire decreased during two years, 1903 (f3o5,682) and 1904 (f,365,062), almost to a vanishing point, German yards being able to cope with the demands made upon them for the supply of vessels of all classes, including mercantile vessels and ships of war. In 1905 and subsequent years, however, the degree of employment in German yards increased to such an extent, principally owing to the placing of the Admiralty contracts with private builders. that the more urgent orders for mercantile vessels were placed abroad. The following tables give the value of trade between the United Kingdom and Germany in 1900 and 1905:- Staple Imports into the United Kingdom 1900. 1905. from Germany. Sugar 9,164,573 10,488,085 Glass and manufactures 1,078,648 1,108,117 Eggs . . . 1,017,119 764,966 Cottons and yarn . 992,244 1,476,385 Woollens and yarn 1,312,671 1,984,475 Iron and steel and manufactures 1,012,376 379,479 Machinery 411,178 735,536 Paper . 523,544 528,946 Musical instruments 660,777 676,391 Toys. 644,690 714,628 Zinc and manufactures 461,023 673,602 Wood and manufactures 1,470,839 1,109,584 Chemicals 513,200 735,830 I Principal Articles exported by 1900. 1905. Great Britain to Germany. Cottons and yarn . 3,843,917 4,941,917 Woollens and yarn 3,743,842 3,795,591 Alpaca, &c., yarn . 1,022,259 1,325,519 Wool . 742,632 1,691,035 Ironwork 2,937,055 1,500,414 Herrings 1,651,441 2,042,483 Machinery 2,040,797 2,102,835 1 Coals, cinders 4,267,172 3,406,535 ~ tiew ships 1,592,865 1,377,081 Navigation.-The seamen of Frisia are among the best in the world, and the shipping of Bremen and Hamburg had won a respected name long before a German mercantile marine, properly so called, was heard of. Many Hamburg vessels sailed under charter of English and other houses in foreign, especially Chinese, waters. Since 1868 all German ships have carried a common flag-black, white, red; but formerly Oldenburg, Hanover, Bremen, Hamburg, Lubeck, Mecklenburg and Prussia had each its own flag, and Schleswig-Holstein vessels sailed under the Danish flag. The German mercantile fleet occupies, in respect of the number of vessels, the fourth place-after Great Britain, the United States of America and Norway; but in respect of tonnage it stands third-after Great Britain and the United States only. The following table shows its distribution on the 1st of January of the two years 1905 and 1908: In 1905, 2136 vessels of 283,171 tons, and in 1908, 2218 vessels of 284,081 tons, belonged to Prussian ports, and the number of sailors of the mercantile marine was 6o,616 in 1905 and 71,853 in 1908. The chief ports are Hamburg, Stettin, Bremen, Kiel, Lubeck, Flensburg, Bremerhaven, Danzig (Neufahrwasser), Geestemunde and Emden; and the number and tonnage of vessels of foreign nationality entering and clearing the ports of the empire, as compared with national shipping, were in 1906: Number Number Foreign Ships. entered Tonnage. cleared Tonnage. in Cargo. in Cargo. Danish . . . 5917 1,589,346 5059 1,219,388 British . . . 5327 5,129,017 3211 2,552,268 Swedish . . . 4891 1,164,431 3317 747,656 Dutch . . . 2181 458,401 1973 316,562 Norwegian . . 1565 817,483 720 347,811 Russian . . . 720 250,564 439 143,983 The ports of Hamburg and Bremen, which are the chief outlets for emigration to the United States of America, carry on a vast commercial trade with all the chief countries of the world, and are the main gates of maritime intercourse between the United Kingdom and Germany. The inland navigation is served by nearly 25,000 river, canal and coasting vessels, of a tonnage of about 4,000,000. Railways.-The period of railway construction was inaugurated in Germany by the opening of the line (4 M. in length) from Nuremberg to Furth in 1835, followed by the main line (71 m.) between Leipzig and Dresden, opened throughout in 1839. The development of the railway system was slow and was not conceived on any uniform plan. The want of a central government operated injuriously, for it often happened that intricate negotiations and solemn treaties between several sovereign states were required before a line could be constructed; and, moreover, the course it was to take was often determined less by the general exigencies of commerce than by many trifling interests or desires of neighbouring states. The state which was most self-seeking in its railway politics was Hanover, which separated the eastern and western parts of the kingdom of Prussia. The difficulties arising to Prussia from this source were experienced in a still greater degree by the seaports of Bremen and Hamburg, which were severely hampered by the particularism displayed by Hanover. The making of railways was from the outset regarded by some German states as exclusively a function of the government. The South German states, for example, have only possessed state railways. In Prussia numerous private companies, in the first instance, constructed their systems, and the state contented itself for the most part with laying lines in such districts only as were not likely to attract private capital. The development of the German railway system falls conveniently into four periods. The first, down in 1840, embraces the beginnings of railway enterprise. The next, down to 1848, shows the linking-up of various existing lines and the establishment of inter-connexion between the chief towns. The third, down to 1881, shows the gradual establishment of state control in Prussia, and the formation of direct trunk lines. The fourth begins from 1881 with the purchase of practically all the railways in Prussia by the government, and the introduction of a uniform system of interworking between the various state systems. The purchase of the railways by the Prussian government was on the whole equably carried out, but there were several hard cases in the expropriation of some of the smaller private lines. The majority of the German railways are now owned by the state governments. Out of 34,470 M. of railway completed and open for traffic in 1906, only 2579 M. were the property of private undertakings, and of these about 15o were worked by the state. The bulk of the railways are of the normal 4 ft. 82 in. gauge. Narrow-gauge (22 ft.) lines-or light railways -extended over 1218 m. in 1903, and of these 537 M. were worked by the state. The board responsible for the imperial control over the whole railway system in Germany is the Reichseisenbahnamt Baltic Ports. North Sea Ports. Total Shipping. Number. Tonnage. Number. Tonnage. Number. Tonnage. 1905- Sailing vessels . 386 19,067 2181 559,436 2567 578,503 Steamers 486 236,509 1171 1,537,563 1657 1,774,072 Totals 872 255,576 3352 2,096,999 4224 2,352,575 1908- Sailing vessels 394 17,472 2255 516,180 2649 533,652 Steamers . . 521 274,952' 1401 1,981,831 1922 2,256,783 Totals . 915 292,424 3656 2,498,011 4571 12,790,435 in Berlin, the administration of the various state systems residing, of accommodating vessels of 400 tons; and for the canalization in Prussia, in the ministry of public works; in Bavaria in the ministry of the royal house and of the exterior; in Wurttemberg in the ministry of the exterior; in Saxony in the ministry of the interior; in Baden and-Hesse-Darmstadt in commissions of the ministry of finance; and in Alsace-Lorraine in the imperial ministry of railways. The management of the Prussian railway system is committed to the charge of twenty " directions," into which the whole network of lines is divided, being those of Altona, Berlin, Breslau, Bromberg, Danzig, Elberfeld, Erfurt, Essen a.d. Ruhr, Frankfort-on-Main, Halle a.d. Saale, Hanover, Cassel, Kattowitz, Cologne, Konigsberg, Magdeburg, Munster, Posen, Saarbriicken and Stettin. The entire length of the system was in 1906 20,835 m., giving an average of about 950 M. to each " direction." The smallest mileage controlled by a " direction " is Berlin, with 38o m., and the greatest, Konigsberg, with 1200 M. The Bavarian system embraces 4642 m., and is controlled and managed, apart from the " general direction " in Munich, by ten traffic boards, in Augsburg, Bamberg, Ingolstadt, Kempten, Munich, Nuremberg, Regensburg, Rosenheim, Weiden and Wurzburg. The system of the kingdom of Saxony has a length of 1616 m., and is controlled by the general direction in Dresden. The length of the Wurttemberg system is 1141 m., and is managed by a general direction in Stuttgart. Baden (state) controls 1233, Oldenburg (state) 382, Mecklenburg-Schwerin 726 and Saxe-Weimar 257 M. respectively. Rail-ways lying within the other smaller states are mostly worked by Prussia. Alsace-Lorraine has a separate system of Io85 m., which is worked by the imperial general direction in Strassburg. By the linking-up of the various state systems several grand trunk line routes have been developednotably the lines Berlin-Vienna-Budapest; Berlin-Cologne-Brussels and Paris; Berlin-Halle-Frankfort-on-Main-Basel; Hamburg-Cassel-Munich and Verona; and Breslau-Dresden-Bamberg-Geneva. Until 1907 no uniform system of passenger rates had been adopted, each state retaining its own faresa condition that led to much confusion. From the 1st of May 1907 the following tariff came into force. For ordinary trains the rate for first class was fixed at lid. a mile; for second class at .7d.; for third class at id., and for fourth class at id. a mile. For express trains an extra charge is made of 2s. for distances exceeding 93 M. (150 kils.) in the two superior classes, and Is. for a lesser distance, and of is. and 6d. respectively in the case of third class tickets. Fourth class passengers are not conveyed by express trains. The above rates include government duty; but the privilege of free luggage (as up to 56 lb) has been withdrawn, and all luggage other than hand baggage taken into the carriages is charged for. In 1903 371,084,000 metric tons of goods, including animals, were conveyed by the German railways, yielding 68,085,000 sterling, and the number of passengers carried was 957,684,000, yielding 29,300,000. The passenger ports of Germany affording oversea communications to distant lands are mainly those of Bremen (Bremerhaven) and Hamburg (Cuxhaven) both of which are situate on the North Sea. From them great steamship lines, notably the North German Lloyd, the Hamburg-American, the Hamburg South American and the German East African steamship companies, maintain express mail and other services with North and South America, Australia, the Cape of Good Hope and the Far East. London and other English ports, French, Italian and Levant coast towns are also served by passenger steamboat sailings from the two great North Sea ports. The Baltic ports, such as Lubeck, Stettin, Danzig (Neufahrwasser) and Konigsberg, principally provide communication with the coast towns of the adjacent countries, Russia and Sweden. Waterways.In Germany the waterways are almost solely in the possession of the state. Of ship canals the chief is the Kaiser Wilhelm canal (1887-1895), 61 m. long, connecting the North Sea and the Baltic; it was made with a breadth at bottom of 72 ft. and at the surface of 213 ft., and with a depth of 29 ft. 6 in., but in 1908 work was begun for doubling the bottom width and increasing the depth to 36 ft. In respect of internal navigation, the principal of the greater undertakings are the Dortmund-Ems and the Elbe-Trave canals. The former, constructed in 1892-1899, has a length of 150 M. and a mean depth of 8 ft. The latter, constructed 1895-1900, has a length of 43 M. and a mean depth of about 71 ft. A project was sanctioned in 1905 for a canal, adapted for vessels up to 600 tons, from the Rhine to the Weser at Hanover, utilizing a portion of the Dortmund-Ems canal; for a channel accommodating vessels of similar size between Berlin and Stettin; for improving the waterway between the Oder and the Vistula, so as to render it capableof the upper Oder. On the whole, Germany cannot be said to be rich in canals. In South Germany the Ludwigs canal was, until the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, the only one of importance. It was constructed by King Louis I. of Bavaria in order to unite the German Ocean and the Black Sea, and extends from the Main at Bamberg to Kelheim on the Danube. Alsace-Lorraine had canals for connecting the Rhine with the Rhone and the Marne, a branch serving the collieries of the Saar valley. The North German plain has, in the east, 2 canal by which Russian grain is conveyed to Konigsberg, joining the Pregel to the Memel, and the upper Silesian coalfield is in communication with the Oder by means of the Klodnitz canal. The greatest number of canals is found around Berlin; they serve to join the Spree to the Oder and Elbe, and include the Teltow canal opened in 1906. The canals in Germany (including ship canals through lakes) have a total length of about 2600 m. Navigable and canalized rivers, to which belong the great water-systems of the Rhine, Elbe and Oder, have a total length of about 6000 m. Roads.The construction of good highways has been well attended to in Germany only since the Napoleonic wars. The separation of the empire into small states was favourable to road-making, inasmuch as it was principally the smaller governments that expended large sums for their network of roads. Hanover and Thuringia have long been distinguished for the excellence of their roads, but some districts suffer even still from the want of good highways. The introduction of railways for a time diverted attention from road-making, but this neglect has of late been to some extent remedied. In Prussia the districts (Kreise) have undertaken the charge of the construction of the roads; but they receive a subsidy from the public funds of the several provinces. Turnpikes were abolished in Prussia in 1874 and in Saxony in 1885. The total length of the public roads is estimated at 80,000 m. Posts and Telegraphs.With the exception of Bavaria and Wurttemberg, which have administrations of their own, all the German states belong to the imperial postal district (Reichspostgebiet). Since 1874 the postal and telegraphic departments have been combined. Both branches of administration have undergone a surprising development, especially since the reduction of the postal rates. Germany, including Bavaria and Wurttemberg, constitutes with Austria-Hungary a special postal union (Deutsch-Osterreichischer Postverband), besides forming part of the international postal union. There are no statistics of posts and telegraphs before 1867, for it was only when the North German union was formed that the lesser states resigned their right of carrying mails in favour of the central authority. Formerly the prince of Thurn-and-Taxis was postmaster-general of Germany, but only some of the central states belonged to his postal territory. The seat of management was Frankfort-on-Main. The offices Year. Post Offices. Men employed. 1872 7,518 r 88o 9,460 1890 24,952 128,687 1899 36,388 206,945 1904 38,658 261,985 1907 40,083 319,026 In 1872 there were 2359 telegraph offices; in 188o, 9980; in 1890, 17,200; and in 1907, 37,309. There were 188 places provided with telephone service in 1888, and 13,175 in 1899. The postal receipts amounted for the whole empire in 1907 to 33,789,460, and the expenditure to 31,096,944, thus showing a surplus of 2,692,516. Constitution.The constitution of the German empire is, in all essentials, that of the North German Confederation, which came into force on the 7th of June 1867. Under this the presidency (Praesidium) of the confederation was vested in the king of Prussia and his heirs. As a result of the Franco-German war of 1870 the South German states joined the confederation; on the 9th of December 1870 the diet of the confederation accepted the treaties and gave to the new confederation the name of German Empire (Deutsche Reich), and on the 18th of January 1871 the king of Prussia was proclaimed German following table shows the growth in the number of post for the whole empire: CONSTITUTION] emperor (Deutscher Kaiser) at Versailles. This was a change of style, not of functions and powers. The title is " German emperor, not " emperor of Germany, being intended to show that the Kaiser is but Primus inter pares in a confederation of territorial sovereigns; his authority as territorial sovereign (Landesherr) extends over Prussia, not over Germany. The imperial dignity is hereditary in the line of Hohenzollern, and follows the law of primogeniture. The emperor exercises the imperial power in the name of the confederated states. In his office he is assisted by a federal council (Bundesrat), which represents the governments of the individual states of Germany. The members of this council, 58 in number, are appointed for each session by the governments of the individual states. The legislative functions of the empire are vested in the emperor, the Bundesrat, and the Reichstag or imperial Diet. The members of the latter, 397 in number, are elected for a space of five years by universal suffrage. Vote is by ballot, and one member is elected by (approximately) every 150,000 inhabitants. As regards its legislative functions, the empire has supreme and independent control in matters relating to military affairs and the navy, to the imperial finances, to German commerce, to posts and telegraphs, and also to railways, in so far as these affect the common defence of the country. Bavaria and Wurttemberg, however, have preserved their own postal and telegraphic administration. The legislative power of the empire also takes precedence of that of the separate states in the regulation of matters affecting freedom of migration (Freizugigkeit), domicile, settlement and the rights of German subjects generally, as well as in all that relates to banking, patents, protection of intellectual property, navigation of rivers and canals, civil and criminal legislation, judicial procedure, sanitary police, and control of the press and of associations. The executive power is in the emperor's hands. He represents the empire internationally, and can declare war if defensive, and make peace as well as enter into treaties with other nations; he also appoints and receives ambassadors. For declaring offensive war the consent of the federal council must be obtained. The separate states have the privilege of sending ambassadors to the other courts; but all consuls abroad are officials of the empire and are named by the emperor. Both the Bundesrat and the Reichstag meet in annual sessions convoked by the emperor who has the right of proroguing and dissolving the Diet; but the prorogation must not exceed 6o days, and in case of dissolution new elections must be ordered within 6o days, and the new session opened within 90 days. All laws for the regulation of the empire must, in order to pass, receive the votes of an absolute majority of the federal council and the Reichstag. Alsace-Lorraine is represented in the Bundesrat by four commissioners (Kommissdre), without votes, who are nominated by the Statthalter (imperial lieutenant). The fifty-eight members of the Bundesrat are nominated by the governments of the individual states for each session; while the members of the Reichstag are elected by universal suffrage and ballot for the term of five years. Every German who has completed his twenty-fifth year is prima facie entitled to the suffrage in the state within which he has resided for one year. Soldiers and those in the navy are not thus entitled, so long as they are serving under the colours. Excluded, further, are persons under tutelage, bankrupts and paupers, as also such persons who have been deprived of civil rights, during the time of such deprivation. Every German citizen ivho has completed his twenty-fifth year and has resided for a year in one of the federal states is eligible for election in any part of the empire, provided he has not been, as in the cases above, excluded from the right of suffrage. The secrecy of the. ballot is ensured by special regulations passed on the 28th of April 1903. The voting-paper, furnished with an official stamp, must be placed in an envelope by the elector in a compartment set apart for the purpose in the polling room, and, thus enclosed, be handed by him to the presiding officer. An absolute majority of votes decides the election. If (as in the case of several candidates) an absolute majority over all the others has not been declared, a test election (Stichwahl) takes place between the two candidates who have received the greatest number of votes. In case of an equal number of votes being cast for both candidates, the decision is by lot. The subjoined table gives the names of the various states composing the empire and the number of votes which the separate states817 have in the federal council. Each state may appoint as many members to the federal council as it has votes. The table also gives the number of the deputies in the Reichstag. States of the Empire. No. of No. of Members in Members in Bundesrat. Reichstag. Kingdom of Prussia 17 236 Bavaria 6 48 Saxony 4 23 Wurttemberg 4 17 Grand duchy of Baden . 3 14 ,, Hesse . . 3 9 Mecklenburg-Schwerin 2 6 Saxe-Weimar I 3 ,, Mecklenburg-Strelitz . 1 I Oldenburg I 3 Duchy of Brunswick 2 3 Saxe-Meiningen i 2 Saxe-Altenburg 1 1 $axe-Coburg-Gotha I 2 Anhalt 1 2 Principality of Schwarzburg-Sonders- r 1 hausen Schwarzburg-Rudol- r 1 stadt Waldeck I I ,, I 1 Reuss-Schleiz 1 I ,, 1 1 Schaumburg-Lippe aumburg-Lippe Lippe 1 i Free town of Lubeck I I Bremen . 1 1 Hamburg. I 3 Imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine . .. 15 Total . 58 397 The Reichstag must meet at least once in each year. Since November 1906 its members have been paid (see PAYMENT OF MEMBERS). The following table shows its composition after the elections of 1903 and 1907: Parties. 1903. 1907. Centre . . I00 Io8 Social Democrats 81 43 Conservatives 51 6o National Liberals 49 57 Freisinnige Volkspartei 27 33 Reichspartei 19 22 Alsatians, Guelphs and Danes . 18 5 Poles 16 20 Wirtschaftliche Vereinigung (Reform Partei) I2 2I Freisinnige Vereinigung . . 9 16 Wilde (no party) . 9 5 Bund der Landwirte 3 6 Bauernbund . 3 All the German states have separate representative assemblies, except Alsace-Lorraine and the two grand-duchies of Mecklenburg. The six larger states have adopted the two-chamber system, but in the composition of the houses great differences are found. The lesser states also have chambers of representatives numbering from 12 members (in Reuss-Greiz) to 48 members (in Brunswick), and in most states the different classes, as well as the cities and the rural districts, are separately represented. The free towns have legislative assemblies, numbering from 120 to 200 members. Imperial measures, after passing the Bundesrat and the Reichstag, must obtain the sanction of the emperor in order to become law, and must be countersigned, when promulgated, by the chancellor of the empire (Reichskanzler). All members of the federal council are entitled to be present at the deliberations of the Reichstag. The Bundesrat, acting under the direction of the chancellor of the empire, is also a supreme administrative and consultative board, and as such it has nine standing committees, viz.: for army and fortresses; for naval purposes; for tariffs, excise and taxes; for trade and commerce; for railways, posts and telegraphs; for civil and criminal law; for financial accounts; for foreign affairs; and for Alsace-Lorraine. Each committee includes representatives of at least four states of the empire. For the several branches of administration a considerable number of imperial offices have been gradually created. All of them, however, either are under the immediate authority of the chancellor of the empire, or are separately managed under his responsibility. The most important are the chancery office, the foreign office and the general post and telegraph office. But the heads of these do not form a cabinet. The Chancellor of the Empire (Reichskanzier). The Prussian plenipotentiary to the Bundesrat is the president of that assembly; he is appointed by the emperor, and bears the title Reichskanzler. This head official can be r |
