FOOTNOTE:

[1] As the result of wars with the natives, the population greatly

decreased. The number of adult (native) males in the colony at the

beginning of 1908 was officially estimated at 19,900, a figure

indicating a total population of little more than 100,000.

GERMANTOWN, a residential district and former suburb, now the

Twenty-second Ward, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., on

Wissahickon Creek, in the N. part of the city. It is served by the

Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia & Reading railways. There are many old

colonial houses and handsome modern residences along Main Street (the

old Germantown Road or Avenue). Prominent among the historic houses is

Cliveden, or the "Chew House," built about 1761 by Benjamin Chew

(1722-1810), who was chief-justice of Pennsylvania in 1774-1777 and was

imprisoned as a Loyalist in 1777, and whose home during the battle of

Germantown (see below) was occupied by British troops. The

well-preserved Morris House (1772) was the headquarters of General Howe

at the close of the battle, and in 1793, when Germantown, owing to the

yellow fever in Philadelphia, was the temporary capital of the United

States, it was occupied by President Washington. Three doors above stood

until 1904 the Ashmead House, used for a time by Count Nicholas Lewis

Zinzendorf and his daughters for their Moravian school, which was

removed to Bethlehem. In the same street, opposite Indian Queen Lane, is

the old Wister Mansion, built as a country-seat in 1744 and occupied by

British officers during the War of Independence. In another old house

(now Nos. 5275-5277), John Fanning Watson (1779-1860), the annalist of

Philadelphia, did most of his literary work. Just outside the ward

limits, in what has since become a part of Fairmont Park, is the house

in which David Rittenhouse, the astronomer, was born; it stands on

Monoshore Creek or Paper Mill Run, in what was long called Roxborough

(now the 21st ward of Philadelphia). In this vicinity the first paper

mill in America was erected in 1690 by a company of which William

Rittenhouse, David's great-grandfather, was the leading member. The King

of Prussia Inn, built about 1740, and the Mermaid Hotel, as old or

older, are interesting survivals of the inns and taverns of old

Germantown. The Germantown Academy was built in 1760, and after the

battle of Germantown was used by the British as a hospital. In

Germantown are also a Friends' (orthodox) school, a Friends' free

library, and the Germantown branch of the Philadelphia public library.

The first school in Germantown was established about 1701, and for the

first eighteen years was under the mastership of Francis Daniel

Pastorius (1651-1719), the leader in founding the town, who lived in a

house that stood on the site of the present First Methodist Episcopal

church, High Street and Main Street. He compiled a primer which was the

first school book produced in the state; with three others he drafted

and signed in 1688 what seems to have been the first public protest made

in America against slavery; and he is celebrated in Whittier's

_Pennsylvania Pilgrim_. Later the same school passed to Christopher Dock

(d. 1771), who in 1770 published an essay on teaching (written in 1750),

which is said to have been the first book on pedagogy published in

America. The first Bible printed in America in any European language was

published in Germantown in 1743 by Christopher Sauer (d. 1758), a

preacher of the German Baptist Brethren, who in 1739 established

Germantown's first newspaper, _The High German Pennsylvania Historian,

or Collection of Important News from the Kingdom of Nature and of the

Church_. His grandsons are said to have cast about 1772 the first

American printing type. The Friends were the first sect to erect a

meeting-house of their own (about 1693). The Mennonites built a log

meeting-house in 1709, and their present stone church was built in 1770.

The town hall of Germantown was used as a hospital during the last three

years of the Civil War. In Market Square a soldiers' monument was

erected in 1883. The Site and Relic Society of Germantown maintains a

museum of relics. Many of the early settlers were linen weavers, and

Germantown still manufactures textiles, knit goods and yarns.

Germantown was founded in October 1683 by thirteen families from

Crefeld, Germany, under the leadership of Francis Daniel Pastorius. The

township, as originally laid out, contained four distinct villages known

as Germantown, Cresheim, Sommerhousen and Crefield. Cresheim was later

known as Mount Airy, and Sommerhousen and Crefield became known as

Chestnut Hill. The borough of Germantown was incorporated in 1689. For

many years it was a straggling village extending about 2 m. along Main

Street. Its growth was more rapid from the middle of the 18th century.

In 1789 a motion for the permanent location of the national capital at

Germantown was carried in the Senate, and the same measure passed the

House, amended only with respect to the temporary government of the

ceded district; but the Senate killed the bill by voting to postpone

further consideration of it until the next session. Germantown was

annexed to Philadelphia in 1854.

_Battle of Germantown._--This famous encounter in the American War of

Independence was fought on the 4th of October 1777. After the battle of

Brandywine (q.v.) and the occupation of Philadelphia, the British force

commanded by Sir W. Howe encamped at Germantown, where Washington

determined to attack them. The Americans advanced by two roads, General

Sullivan leading the column on the right and General Greene that on the

left. Washington himself accompanied Sullivan, with whom were Stirling

(an officer who claimed to be earl of that name) and Anthony Wayne. The

right at first met with success, driving the British advanced troops

back on the main body near the Chew House. Colonel Musgrave, of the 40th

Foot, threw a portion of his regiment into this house, and General Agnew

came up with his command. The Americans under Stirling attempted to

dislodge Musgrave, thus losing time and alarming part of Sullivan's

advance who had pushed farther forward in the fog. General Greene on the

left was even less fortunate. Meeting with unexpected opposition at the

first point of attack his troops were thrown into confusion and

compelled to retreat. One of his brigades extended itself to the right

wing, and by opening fire on the Chew House caused Wayne to retreat, and

presently both of the American columns retired rapidly in the direction

of their camp. The surprise had failed, with the loss to Washington's

army of 673 men as against 500 on the side of the British. The British

General Agnew and the American General Nash were both mortally wounded.

In December Washington went into winter quarters at Valley Forge, 40 m.

west of Philadelphia. The British wintered in and around the city.

See N.H. Keyser, "Old Historic Germantown," in the _Proceedings and

Addresses of the Pennsylvania-German Society_ (Lancaster, 1906); S.W.

Pennypacker, _The Settlement of Germantown, Pennsylvania, and the

Beginning of German Emigration to North America_ (Philadelphia, 1899),

and S.F. Hotchkin, _Ancient and Modern Germantown, Mount Airy and

Chestnut Hill_ (Philadelphia, 1889).

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 10, 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 1890, but Germany has acquired extensive colonies in

Africa and the Pacific (see below, _Colonies_).

The German empire extends from 47 deg. 16' to 55 deg. 53' N., and from 5

deg. 52' to 22 deg. 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 time--1 hour E.

of Greenwich. The empire is bounded on the S.E. and S. by Austria and

Switzerland (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 _haffs_ or lagoons on the Baltic coast, is 208,830 sq. m., and the

population (1905) 60,641,278. In respect of its area, the German empire

occupied in 1909 the third place among European countries, and in point

of population the second, coming in point of area immediately after

Russia and Austria-Hungary, and in population next to Russia.

_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

(Schwaben), 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,[1] 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 Dollart 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 also has been considerably reduced by the sea. The

tides rise 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 Brusterort. 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.

Mountains and plateaus.

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 of the Northern Tirolese or Bavarian Alps. The loftiest peak of

this group, the Zugspitze (57 m. S. of Munich), is 9738 ft. in height,

being the highest summit in the empire. The upper German plain sloping

northwards 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 may be estimated at about

1800 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, 1000 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 180 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 Mulhausen. 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

Hunsruck, 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 of the Thuringian Forest (Thuringerwald; with three peaks

upwards of 3000 ft. high), and an extensive elevated plain to the

north. Its rivers are the Saale and Unstrut. The plateau is bounded on

the north by the Harz, an isolated group of mountains, rich in

minerals, with its highest elevation in the bare summit of the Brocken

(3747 ft.). To the west of the Harz a series of hilly tracts is

comprised under the name of the Weser Mountains, out of which above

Minden the river Weser bursts by the Porta Westphalica. A narrow

ridge, the Teutoburger Wald (1300 ft.), extends between the Weser and

the Ems as far as the neighbourhood of Osnabruck.

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 sandstone 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

international traffic, like that through the Mulhausen 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 Luneburger

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 give rise to the Pregel. Some peaks near the Russian

frontier attain to 1000 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 Muritz 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 deg. to 53 deg. N. lat., where

the Vistula, Netze, Warthe, Oder, Spree and Havel form vast swampy

lowlands (in German called _Bruche_), 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 Havel 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, Elbe, 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 Switzerland; 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 empire--about 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 Aller, 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, 480 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 waterways, 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 (204-3/4 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

Haffs--the 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 Siebengebirge

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

deposits. These are in part of glacial origin, and contain

Scandinavian boulders; but fluviatile and aeolian deposits also occur.

Quaternary beds also cover the floor of the broad depression through

which the Rhine meanders from Basel to Mainz, and occupy a large part

of the plain of the Danube. The depression of the Rhine is a trough

lying between two faults or system of faults. The very much broader

depression of the Danube is associated with the formation of the Alps,

and was flooded by the sea during a part of the Miocene period.

(P. La.)

[Illustration: Goelogic Map.]

_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 deg. to 54 deg.

F., that of central Germany 48 deg. to 50 deg., and that of the

northern plain 46 deg. to 48 deg. In Pomerania and West Prussia it is

only 44 deg. to 45 deg., and in East Prussia 42 deg. to 44 deg. The

mean January temperature varies between 22 deg. and 34 deg. (in

Masuren and Cologne respectively); the mean July temperature, between

61 deg. in north Schleswig and 68 deg. at Cologne. The extremes of

cold and heat are, as recorded in the ten years 1895-1905, 7 deg. in

Konigsberg and 93 deg. 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 deg. 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 deg. and upwards, while the average

temperature of January does not descend to the freezing point (32

deg.). 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 deg. to 62 deg.), and snow in winter remaining

but a short time on the ground. West of the Weser the average

temperature of January exceeds 32 deg.; to the east it sinks to 30

deg., and therefore the Elbe is generally covered with ice for some

months of the year, as are also its tributaries. The farther one

proceeds to the east the greater are the contrasts of summer and

winter. While the average summer warmth of Germany is 60 deg. to 62

deg., the January temperature falls as low as 26 deg. to 28 deg. in

West Prussia, Posen and Silesia, and 22 deg. to 26 deg. 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 deg. to 26 deg.

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, Rhon, 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 16

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 16 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 deg. 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.

Forests.

Speaking generally, northern Germany is not nearly so well 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 _wald_ 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 inland, and

especially east of the Elbe, coniferous trees are the most prevalent,

particularly 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 destitute 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

everywhere; 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

(_Kreuzotter_).

_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._

+-----------------------------+--------+-----------------------------------------------+-------+

| | Area | Population. |Density|

| States of the Empire. |English +-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+ per |

| | Sq. m. | 1871. | 1875. | 1900. | 1905. | Sq. m.|

+-----------------------------+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-------+

| Kingdoms-- | | | | | | |

| Prussia |134,616 |24,691,433 |25,742,404 |34,472,509 |37,293,324 | 277.3 |

| 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-- | | | | | | |

| Baden | 5,823 | 1,461,562 | 1,507,179 | 1,867,944 | 2,010,728 | 345.3 |

| 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-- | | | | | | |

| Brunswick | 1,418 | 311,764 | 327,493 | 464,333 | 485,958 | 342.5 |

| 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-- | | | | | | |

| Schwartzburg-Sondershausen| 333 | 75,523 | 76,676 | 80,898 | 85,152 | 255.7 |

| Schwartzburg-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-- | | | | | | |

| Lubeck | 115 | 52,158 | 56,912 | 96,775 | 105,857 | 920.5 |

| Bremen | 99 | 122,402 | 142,200 | 224,882 | 263,440 |2661.0 |

| Hamburg | 160 | 338,974 | 388,618 | 768,349 | 874,878 |5467.9 |

| Imperial Territory-- | | | | | | |

| Alsace-Lorraine | 5,604 | 1,549,738 | 1,531,804 | 1,719,470 | 1,814,564 | 323.8 |

| +--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-------+

| German Empire |208,780 |41,058,792 |42,727,360 |56,367,178 |60,641,278 | 290.4 |

+-----------------------------+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-------+

[Illustration: German Empire.]

The population of the empire has thus increased, since 1871, by

19,582,486 or 47.6%. The increase of population during 1895-1900 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 8.0 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 10.1 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 northwestward to Hoyer will nearly give the

boundary between the two idioms.[2] 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 Slavs 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 Brunn, 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 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 3-1/3

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 12,000,000 | Other European

Netherlands (Dutch) 5,200,000 | Countries 2,300,000

Belgium (Walloon) 4,000,000 | America 13,000,000

Luxemburg 200,000 | Asia 100,000

Switzerland 2,300,000 | Africa 600,000

France 500,000 | Australia 150,000

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 (60%). 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 100,000, 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 | Wurttemberg | 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 | " | 168,301 |

| 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 | 110,347 |

| Plauen | Saxony | 105,182 |

| Wiesbaden | Prussia | 100,953 |

+--------------------+----------------+-----------+

_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

Wurzburg 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

1880 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 1820 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 Germany--West 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, 5.01% by pastures, and 0.25% 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 4-1/2 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 acres--a 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 somewhat 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.

Vine.

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 Harz, crossing 52 deg. 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 Rudesheimer,

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 1000 million gallons, of a

value of L4,000,000; 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.

Live stock.

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 (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 1860. 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

L1,691,035, as against L742,632 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 Geestemunde 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, Eckernforde, Kolberg and

Travemunde. The principal catch is haddock and herrings. The catch of

the North Sea and Baltic fisheries in 1906 was valued at over

L700,000, 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 L1,600,000, and gold, about 4 tons,

valued at about L548,000.

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 zinc were produced, of which 16,500 tons were

exported.

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

Saarbrucken 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.

Coal-mining appears to have been first practised in the 14th century

at Zwickau (Saxony) and on the Ruhr. There are six large 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 60 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,

Ibbenburen 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 (460 sq. m.), is of great importance. The thickness of 80 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 borderland 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._

+------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------+

| | 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 | 180,000 | 12.8 | 38.1 | 25,600 |

| 1891 | 73.7 | 589.5 | 283,000 | 20.5 | 54.2 | 35,700 |

| 1899 | 101.6 | 789.6 | 379,000 | 34.2 | 78.4 | 44,700 |

| 1900 | 109.3 | 966.1 | 414,000 | 40.5 | 98.5 | 50,900 |

| 1905 | 121.2 | 1049.9 | 490,000 | 52.5 | 122.2 | 52,800 |

+------+-----------+----------+---------+-----------+----------+--------+

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 L28,900,000.

Germany possesses abundant salt deposits. 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 and Minden

(Westphalia). In south Germany salt abounds most in Wurttemberg (Hall,

Heilbronn, Rottweil); the principal Bavarian works are at the foot of

the Alps near Freilassing and Rosenheim. Hesse and Baden, Lorraine and

the upper Palatinate have also salt-works. The total yield of mined

salt amounted in 1905 to 6,209,000 tons, including 1,165,000 tons of

rock salt. The production has made great advance, having in 1850 been

only 5 million cwts.

_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.

Iron industry.

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 and the

Rhine province (_auf roter Erde_), in upper Silesia, in

Alsace-Lorraine and in Saxony. Of the total production of pig iron in

1905 amounting to over 10,000,000 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 the German 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.

Cotton and textiles.

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

were about 9,000,000 spindles in Germany. The export of the goods

manufactured amounted in this year to an estimated value of

L19,600,000. Cotton spinning and weaving are not confined to one

district, but are prosecuted in upper Alsace (Mulhausen, 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.

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 L18,000,000. 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 L13,000,000.

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 L2,000,000. 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 Mulhausen in

Alsace.

Paper.

The manufacture of paper is prosecuted almost everywhere in the

empire. There were 1020 mills in operation in 1895, and the exports in

1905 amounted to more than L3,700,000 sterling, as against imports of

a value of over L700,000. The manufacture is carried on to the largest

extent in the Rhine province, in Saxony and in Silesia. Wall papers

are produced chiefly in Rhenish Prussia, Berlin and Hamburg; the finer

sorts of letter-paper in Berlin, Leipzig and Nuremberg; and

printing-paper (especially for books) in Leipzig, Berlin and

Frankfort-on-Main.

Leather.

The chief seat of the leather industry is Hesse-Darmstadt, in which

Mainz and Worms produce excellent material. In Prussia 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.

Sugar.

The beetroot sugar manufacture is very considerable. It centres mainly

in the Prussian province of Saxony, where Magdeburg is the chief

market for the whole of Germany, in Anhalt, Brunswick 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.

Beer is produced throughout the whole of Germany. The production is

relatively greatest in Bavaria. The _Brausteuergebiet_ (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

160 imperial pints in the excise district; to 450 in Bavaria; 280 in

Wurttemberg; 260 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 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 Geestemunde, 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

force 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 soda--were 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 determined 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 L31,639,000, or about 10s. 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 L173,400,000 and that of the exports at L124,700,000. In

1905 the figures were--imports, L371,000,000, and exports,

L292,000,000, including precious metals.

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.