Methacton High School

The German-speaking countries' economic significance is even greater. Only four nations, all with significantly larger populations, have a GDP larger than Germany's, and the economies of German-speaking Switzerland and Austria are also significant. This importance is compounded by Germany's position as the most influential member of the European Union - the world's second-largest economy - even after the introduction of the Euro. As the New York Times put it on January 1, 2002, Germany is "not so much giving up the mark as exporting it to the rest of Europe." Among the EU nations, Germany is the top contributor to the organization, paying 22.7% of its budget.

Size is not the only source of Germany's importance. The Federal Republic boasts the highest worker productivity in Europe, and a survey conducted by Ernst & Young in 2004 rated it the world's third-most attractive economic location, behind only the U.S. and China. The World Economic Forum's 2003 Global Competitiveness Report ranks Germany's potential for sustained growth 13th in the world, ahead of that of 15th-ranked Great Britain, 26th-ranked France and 41st-ranked Italy. In determining that Germany has one of the world's most competitive economies, the Forum cited its innovative research universities and their cooperation with industry. This collaboration helps to explain why Germany accounted for 12.7% of all patent applications in 2003, trailing only the U.S. and Japan and leading the next four European nations combined. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, four of the world's ten most innovative companies are German.²

In the area of world trade, Germany's significance is greater than just its GDP would indicate - it is the world's top exporter and enjoys a huge trade surplus, despite having to import so many raw materials. It is the world's second-highest creditor nation and also grants the second-greatest amount of foreign aid.³ In travel, too, German tourists are second in the world (behind the U.S.): in 2002 they spent $53.78 billion on visiting other countries ($2.6 billion in the U.S.). That same year, Germany ranked 7th in the world as a tourist destination; around two million Americans visit Germany each year.

In addition to its exports, Germany invests heavily around the world. In 2001, Volkswagen plants in China supplied over half the automobiles sold in that country. That market share decreased the following year, but actual sales went up considerably. In fact, overall exports to China increased 19.6% between 2001 and 2002. Similarly significant investments can be found in many other parts of Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, and the Americas. The more than 700 German companies with operations in Mexico, for example, account for 5% of that country's gross domestic product. This world-wide activity is reciprocal: in 2000, other nations invested $262 billion in Germany.

Despite its global reach, Germany maintains an especially strong economic relationship with the United States. This association is partly defined by trade: in 2003 the exchange of goods and services between the two countries reached $96.8 billion. Of perhaps even greater significance is the amount that the two countries invest in each other; in 2003, the German investment in the U.S. totalled $137 billion, while the 2001 U.S. investment in Germany was $71.6 billion. 1,600 German companies employ approximately 1,000,000 workers in the U.S., while around 800,000 Germans work for the more than 2,000 U.S. companies in Germany.⁴

Mid-size businesses traditionally form the backbone of the German economy, but a number of larger companies also play important international roles. Siemens is the world's eighth-largest business enterprise, and the Deutsche Bank is one of its biggest financial institutions. DaimlerChrysler and Volkswagen are among the leading automotive producers, and General Motors and Ford have large German divisions. In 2003 Forbes Magazine named BMW the most-admired company in Europe. In terms of money spent on research and development, DaimlerChrysler and Siemens rank third and fourth in the world, while Volkswagen, Bayer, Hoechst, Bosch, BASF, Boehringer/Ingelheim, Deutsche Telekom, and Mannesman also occupy places among the first 90 (International Herald-Tribune, 26 Feb. 2000).

Germany's automobile, engineering, chemical, pharmaceutical, and high-end appliance firms are well known, but the country's information enterprises are also significant. Bertelsmann is the world's largest publisher, and the German book-publishing industry as a whole ranks third in the world (behind England and China), traditionally producing over a third more new titles each year than does the United States (see The Bowker Annual). Germany is also among the world's leaders in computing. A 1999 study by McKinsey found that the Munich area's 1,800 computer firms, with over 100,000 employees, formed the world's fourth largest concentration of hardware and software producers (after Silicon Valley, Boston, and London - Munich is also home to 115 biotech companies, while Dresden hosts 765 semiconductor firms). German is the internet's second language, both in terms of webpages and of languages used in search engines (see http://www.daad.de/deutschland/en/2.5.1.html). According to a study by the European Interactive Advertising Association, 52% of Germans went online every day in 2003, more than in any other European country, and had the highest number of websites per capita: 85 per 1000 inhabitants. In fact, Germany's '.de' is the world's most widely-used country-specific domain, and only '.com' accounts for a larger number of web addresses in any category.⁵

A leader in the development of alternative energy sources, Germany tops all other nations both in wind energy production and in the use of photovoltaic cells to produce electricity. 50,000 Germans are employed in the wind power industry, and some 120,000 work in alternative energy. 10% of the country's energy comes from renewable sources.

Even in the world of sport, German-speakers figure prominently. Since unification, Germany has stood no lower than 5th place in the number of medals won in the Summer Olympics. When the women's national soccer team won the 2003 World Cup, Germany became the first country whose men and women have both held the championship. The men's team has reached the finals more often than that of any other country, and only Brazil has won the title more often. Tennis, swimming, rowing, golf, track, basketball, boxing, riding, and auto racing are just some of the other major sports at which Germans excel. German-speaking Switzerland has also produced some of the world's top tennis players, including Martina Hingis and Roger Federer. In both the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics, Germany was the top medal winner, and athletes from all the German-speaking countries traditionally dominate alpine skiing to the extent that German is the sport's primary language.

Thus it becomes clear that a knowledge of German grants access not only to rich literary, philosophical, and artistic traditions but also to many other kinds of contemporary cultural, economic, political, and scientific developments.

 

¹ See Thttp://www.daad.de/deutschland/en/2.5.1.html. Among the world's languages, German ranks 12th in the number of native speakers. According to the 1990 Census, 1.5 million residents of the U.S. speak German at home (see www.glreach.com/globstats/refs.php3). In Europe, German is also the second-most-often taught foreign language. Since Europeans who study English frequently learn German, as well, the total of German-speakers in the European Union actually exceeds that of English-speakers (Franz Stark, "The Historical and Current Position of the German Language in Europe," New York: The German Information Center, 1995; the DAAD Letter Nr. 1, March 2000, p. 18). In most countries in the world, French and German are, after English, the most frequently taught foreign languages. In the countries that have recently joined the European Union, 77% of students learn English, 37% German, and 18% French. In Japan, 68% of all students learn German.
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² See the comparative economic review from The German Information Center and the report of February 16, 2001, from info@germany-info.org. For an updating of general facts about Germany, see the Center's Fact Page, as well as http://www.magazine-deutschland.de. For facts about the other German-speaking countries, see www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook.
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³ The export percentages presented here are from the German Federal Statistics Bureau report of Jan. 3, 2001. It is also worth noting that Germany's wealth is distributed relatively equitably among the whole population. When post-tax transfers are factored in, Germany's relative poverty rate is 2.4%, while Switzerland's is 4.3% - the United States' rate is 11.7% (See The New York Review of Books, March 23, 2000, p. 21). In the average large German company, the CEO's compensation is 11 times that of the average worker; in the U.S., the ratio is 531 to 1 (The New York Times, Jan. 25, 2004).
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⁴ Factsheet prepared by the German Information Center, 2004.

The German-speaking countries' economic significance is even greater. Only four nations, all with significantly larger populations, have a GDP larger than Germany's, and the economies of German-speaking Switzerland and Austria are also significant. This importance is compounded by Germany's position as the most influential member of the European Union - the world's second-largest economy - even after the introduction of the Euro. As the New York Times put it on January 1, 2002, Germany is "not so much giving up the mark as exporting it to the rest of Europe." Among the EU nations, Germany is the top contributor to the organization, paying 22.7% of its budget.

Size is not the only source of Germany's importance. The Federal Republic boasts the highest worker productivity in Europe, and a survey conducted by Ernst & Young in 2004 rated it the world's third-most attractive economic location, behind only the U.S. and China. The World Economic Forum's 2003 Global Competitiveness Report ranks Germany's potential for sustained growth 13th in the world, ahead of that of 15th-ranked Great Britain, 26th-ranked France and 41st-ranked Italy. In determining that Germany has one of the world's most competitive economies, the Forum cited its innovative research universities and their cooperation with industry. This collaboration helps to explain why Germany accounted for 12.7% of all patent applications in 2003, trailing only the U.S. and Japan and leading the next four European nations combined. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, four of the world's ten most innovative companies are German.²

In the area of world trade, Germany's significance is greater than just its GDP would indicate - it is the world's top exporter and enjoys a huge trade surplus, despite having to import so many raw materials. It is the world's second-highest creditor nation and also grants the second-greatest amount of foreign aid.³ In travel, too, German tourists are second in the world (behind the U.S.): in 2002 they spent $53.78 billion on visiting other countries ($2.6 billion in the U.S.). That same year, Germany ranked 7th in the world as a tourist destination; around two million Americans visit Germany each year.

In addition to its exports, Germany invests heavily around the world. In 2001, Volkswagen plants in China supplied over half the automobiles sold in that country. That market share decreased the following year, but actual sales went up considerably. In fact, overall exports to China increased 19.6% between 2001 and 2002. Similarly significant investments can be found in many other parts of Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, and the Americas. The more than 700 German companies with operations in Mexico, for example, account for 5% of that country's gross domestic product. This world-wide activity is reciprocal: in 2000, other nations invested $262 billion in Germany.

Despite its global reach, Germany maintains an especially strong economic relationship with the United States. This association is partly defined by trade: in 2003 the exchange of goods and services between the two countries reached $96.8 billion. Of perhaps even greater significance is the amount that the two countries invest in each other; in 2003, the German investment in the U.S. totalled $137 billion, while the 2001 U.S. investment in Germany was $71.6 billion. 1,600 German companies employ approximately 1,000,000 workers in the U.S., while around 800,000 Germans work for the more than 2,000 U.S. companies in Germany.⁴

Mid-size businesses traditionally form the backbone of the German economy, but a number of larger companies also play important international roles. Siemens is the world's eighth-largest business enterprise, and the Deutsche Bank is one of its biggest financial institutions. DaimlerChrysler and Volkswagen are among the leading automotive producers, and General Motors and Ford have large German divisions. In 2003 Forbes Magazine named BMW the most-admired company in Europe. In terms of money spent on research and development, DaimlerChrysler and Siemens rank third and fourth in the world, while Volkswagen, Bayer, Hoechst, Bosch, BASF, Boehringer/Ingelheim, Deutsche Telekom, and Mannesman also occupy places among the first 90 (International Herald-Tribune, 26 Feb. 2000).

Germany's automobile, engineering, chemical, pharmaceutical, and high-end appliance firms are well known, but the country's information enterprises are also significant. Bertelsmann is the world's largest publisher, and the German book-publishing industry as a whole ranks third in the world (behind England and China), traditionally producing over a third more new titles each year than does the United States (see The Bowker Annual). Germany is also among the world's leaders in computing. A 1999 study by McKinsey found that the Munich area's 1,800 computer firms, with over 100,000 employees, formed the world's fourth largest concentration of hardware and software producers (after Silicon Valley, Boston, and London - Munich is also home to 115 biotech companies, while Dresden hosts 765 semiconductor firms). German is the internet's second language, both in terms of webpages and of languages used in search engines (see http://www.daad.de/deutschland/en/2.5.1.html). According to a study by the European Interactive Advertising Association, 52% of Germans went online every day in 2003, more than in any other European country, and had the highest number of websites per capita: 85 per 1000 inhabitants. In fact, Germany's '.de' is the world's most widely-used country-specific domain, and only '.com' accounts for a larger number of web addresses in any category.⁵

A leader in the development of alternative energy sources, Germany tops all other nations both in wind energy production and in the use of photovoltaic cells to produce electricity. 50,000 Germans are employed in the wind power industry, and some 120,000 work in alternative energy. 10% of the country's energy comes from renewable sources.

Even in the world of sport, German-speakers figure prominently. Since unification, Germany has stood no lower than 5th place in the number of medals won in the Summer Olympics. When the women's national soccer team won the 2003 World Cup, Germany became the first country whose men and women have both held the championship. The men's team has reached the finals more often than that of any other country, and only Brazil has won the title more often. Tennis, swimming, rowing, golf, track, basketball, boxing, riding, and auto racing are just some of the other major sports at which Germans excel. German-speaking Switzerland has also produced some of the world's top tennis players, including Martina Hingis and Roger Federer. In both the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics, Germany was the top medal winner, and athletes from all the German-speaking countries traditionally dominate alpine skiing to the extent that German is the sport's primary language.

Thus it becomes clear that a knowledge of German grants access not only to rich literary, philosophical, and artistic traditions but also to many other kinds of contemporary cultural, economic, political, and scientific developments.

 

¹ See Thttp://www.daad.de/deutschland/en/2.5.1.html. Among the world's languages, German ranks 12th in the number of native speakers. According to the 1990 Census, 1.5 million residents of the U.S. speak German at home (see www.glreach.com/globstats/refs.php3). In Europe, German is also the second-most-often taught foreign language. Since Europeans who study English frequently learn German, as well, the total of German-speakers in the European Union actually exceeds that of English-speakers (Franz Stark, "The Historical and Current Position of the German Language in Europe," New York: The German Information Center, 1995; the DAAD Letter Nr. 1, March 2000, p. 18). In most countries in the world, French and German are, after English, the most frequently taught foreign languages. In the countries that have recently joined the European Union, 77% of students learn English, 37% German, and 18% French. In Japan, 68% of all students learn German.
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² See the comparative economic review from The German Information Center and the report of February 16, 2001, from info@germany-info.org. For an updating of general facts about Germany, see the Center's Fact Page, as well as http://www.magazine-deutschland.de. For facts about the other German-speaking countries, see www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook.
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³ The export percentages presented here are from the German Federal Statistics Bureau report of Jan. 3, 2001. It is also worth noting that Germany's wealth is distributed relatively equitably among the whole population. When post-tax transfers are factored in, Germany's relative poverty rate is 2.4%, while Switzerland's is 4.3% - the United States' rate is 11.7% (See The New York Review of Books, March 23, 2000, p. 21). In the average large German company, the CEO's compensation is 11 times that of the average worker; in the U.S., the ratio is 531 to 1 (The New York Times, Jan. 25, 2004).
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⁴ Factsheet prepared by the German Information Center, 2004.

The German-speaking countries' economic significance is even greater. Only four nations, all with significantly larger populations, have a GDP larger than Germany's, and the economies of German-speaking Switzerland and Austria are also significant. This importance is compounded by Germany's position as the most influential member of the European Union - the world's second-largest economy - even after the introduction of the Euro. As the New York Times put it on January 1, 2002, Germany is "not so much giving up the mark as exporting it to the rest of Europe." Among the EU nations, Germany is the top contributor to the organization, paying 22.7% of its budget.

Size is not the only source of Germany's importance. The Federal Republic boasts the highest worker productivity in Europe, and a survey conducted by Ernst & Young in 2004 rated it the world's third-most attractive economic location, behind only the U.S. and China. The World Economic Forum's 2003 Global Competitiveness Report ranks Germany's potential for sustained growth 13th in the world, ahead of that of 15th-ranked Great Britain, 26th-ranked France and 41st-ranked Italy. In determining that Germany has one of the world's most competitive economies, the Forum cited its innovative research universities and their cooperation with industry. This collaboration helps to explain why Germany accounted for 12.7% of all patent applications in 2003, trailing only the U.S. and Japan and leading the next four European nations combined. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, four of the world's ten most innovative companies are German.²

In the area of world trade, Germany's significance is greater than just its GDP would indicate - it is the world's top exporter and enjoys a huge trade surplus, despite having to import so many raw materials. It is the world's second-highest creditor nation and also grants the second-greatest amount of foreign aid.³ In travel, too, German tourists are second in the world (behind the U.S.): in 2002 they spent $53.78 billion on visiting other countries ($2.6 billion in the U.S.). That same year, Germany ranked 7th in the world as a tourist destination; around two million Americans visit Germany each year.

In addition to its exports, Germany invests heavily around the world. In 2001, Volkswagen plants in China supplied over half the automobiles sold in that country. That market share decreased the following year, but actual sales went up considerably. In fact, overall exports to China increased 19.6% between 2001 and 2002. Similarly significant investments can be found in many other parts of Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, and the Americas. The more than 700 German companies with operations in Mexico, for example, account for 5% of that country's gross domestic product. This world-wide activity is reciprocal: in 2000, other nations invested $262 billion in Germany.

Despite its global reach, Germany maintains an especially strong economic relationship with the United States. This association is partly defined by trade: in 2003 the exchange of goods and services between the two countries reached $96.8 billion. Of perhaps even greater significance is the amount that the two countries invest in each other; in 2003, the German investment in the U.S. totalled $137 billion, while the 2001 U.S. investment in Germany was $71.6 billion. 1,600 German companies employ approximately 1,000,000 workers in the U.S., while around 800,000 Germans work for the more than 2,000 U.S. companies in Germany.⁴

Mid-size businesses traditionally form the backbone of the German economy, but a number of larger companies also play important international roles. Siemens is the world's eighth-largest business enterprise, and the Deutsche Bank is one of its biggest financial institutions. DaimlerChrysler and Volkswagen are among the leading automotive producers, and General Motors and Ford have large German divisions. In 2003 Forbes Magazine named BMW the most-admired company in Europe. In terms of money spent on research and development, DaimlerChrysler and Siemens rank third and fourth in the world, while Volkswagen, Bayer, Hoechst, Bosch, BASF, Boehringer/Ingelheim, Deutsche Telekom, and Mannesman also occupy places among the first 90 (International Herald-Tribune, 26 Feb. 2000).

Germany's automobile, engineering, chemical, pharmaceutical, and high-end appliance firms are well known, but the country's information enterprises are also significant. Bertelsmann is the world's largest publisher, and the German book-publishing industry as a whole ranks third in the world (behind England and China), traditionally producing over a third more new titles each year than does the United States (see The Bowker Annual). Germany is also among the world's leaders in computing. A 1999 study by McKinsey found that the Munich area's 1,800 computer firms, with over 100,000 employees, formed the world's fourth largest concentration of hardware and software producers (after Silicon Valley, Boston, and London - Munich is also home to 115 biotech companies, while Dresden hosts 765 semiconductor firms). German is the internet's second language, both in terms of webpages and of languages used in search engines (see http://www.daad.de/deutschland/en/2.5.1.html). According to a study by the European Interactive Advertising Association, 52% of Germans went online every day in 2003, more than in any other European country, and had the highest number of websites per capita: 85 per 1000 inhabitants. In fact, Germany's '.de' is the world's most widely-used country-specific domain, and only '.com' accounts for a larger number of web addresses in any category.⁵

A leader in the development of alternative energy sources, Germany tops all other nations both in wind energy production and in the use of photovoltaic cells to produce electricity. 50,000 Germans are employed in the wind power industry, and some 120,000 work in alternative energy. 10% of the country's energy comes from renewable sources.

Even in the world of sport, German-speakers figure prominently. Since unification, Germany has stood no lower than 5th place in the number of medals won in the Summer Olympics. When the women's national soccer team won the 2003 World Cup, Germany became the first country whose men and women have both held the championship. The men's team has reached the finals more often than that of any other country, and only Brazil has won the title more often. Tennis, swimming, rowing, golf, track, basketball, boxing, riding, and auto racing are just some of the other major sports at which Germans excel. German-speaking Switzerland has also produced some of the world's top tennis players, including Martina Hingis and Roger Federer. In both the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics, Germany was the top medal winner, and athletes from all the German-speaking countries traditionally dominate alpine skiing to the extent that German is the sport's primary language.

Thus it becomes clear that a knowledge of German grants access not only to rich literary, philosophical, and artistic traditions but also to many other kinds of contemporary cultural, economic, political, and scientific developments.

 

¹ See Thttp://www.daad.de/deutschland/en/2.5.1.html. Among the world's languages, German ranks 12th in the number of native speakers. According to the 1990 Census, 1.5 million residents of the U.S. speak German at home (see www.glreach.com/globstats/refs.php3). In Europe, German is also the second-most-often taught foreign language. Since Europeans who study English frequently learn German, as well, the total of German-speakers in the European Union actually exceeds that of English-speakers (Franz Stark, "The Historical and Current Position of the German Language in Europe," New York: The German Information Center, 1995; the DAAD Letter Nr. 1, March 2000, p. 18). In most countries in the world, French and German are, after English, the most frequently taught foreign languages. In the countries that have recently joined the European Union, 77% of students learn English, 37% German, and 18% French. In Japan, 68% of all students learn German.
back to text 1

 

² See the comparative economic review from The German Information Center and the report of February 16, 2001, from info@germany-info.org. For an updating of general facts about Germany, see the Center's Fact Page, as well as http://www.magazine-deutschland.de. For facts about the other German-speaking countries, see www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook.
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³ The export percentages presented here are from the German Federal Statistics Bureau report of Jan. 3, 2001. It is also worth noting that Germany's wealth is distributed relatively equitably among the whole population. When post-tax transfers are factored in, Germany's relative poverty rate is 2.4%, while Switzerland's is 4.3% - the United States' rate is 11.7% (See The New York Review of Books, March 23, 2000, p. 21). In the average large German company, the CEO's compensation is 11 times that of the average worker; in the U.S., the ratio is 531 to 1 (The New York Times, Jan. 25, 2004).
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⁴ Factsheet prepared by the German Information Center, 2004.