Prior to 1998
Beginning with the election of Konrad Adenauer in 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany had Christian Democratic chancellors for 20 years until a coalition between the See more

Head of state
The German head of state is the federal president. As in Germany's parliamentary system of government, the federal chancellor runs the government and day-to-day politics, while the role of the federal president is mostly … See more

Germany maintains a network of 229 diplomatic missions abroad and holds relations with more than 190 countries. It is the largest … See more

Germany comprises sixteen states that are collectively referred to as Länder. Due to differences in size and population, the subdivision of these states varies especially between city-states (Stadtstaaten) and states with larger territories … See more

The "Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany" (Grundgesetz der Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is the Constitution of Germany. It was formally approved on 8 May … See more

Federal legislative power is divided between the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. The Bundestag is directly elected by the … See more

Germany follows the civil law tradition. The judicial system comprises three types of courts.
• Ordinary courts, dealing with criminal and most civil cases, are the most numerous by far. The Federal Court of Justice of Germany (Bundesgerichtshof) … See more