1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
Russia's war in UkraineGerman election 2025COP29 climate talks

German History

"Germany" refers to a region in Central Europe that was made up of kingdoms and principalities for centuries. It was unified as the German Empire in the 19th century. This page collates DW content on German history.

Skip next section News

News

November 9, 2024

Germany commemorates 35 years since fall of Berlin Wall

Skip next section Reports & Analysis

Reports & Analysis

Nadja Ofuatey-Alazard, Director of the Dekoloniale project, speaks into a DW microphone

Activists meet to reflect on 1884 Berlin Conference

Activists meet to reflect on 1884 Berlin Conference

"Colonialism has not entered the memory culture in Europe or in Germany," the Dekoloniale Festival director told DW.
HistoryNovember 21, 202403:49 min
projection of the former synagogue in Dortmund

A light in the darkness: Remembering Germany's destroyed synagogues

A light in the darkness: Remembering Germany's destroyed synagogues

To commemorate the pogroms, images of destroyed synagogues were projected onto their original locations in 2023.
HistoryNovember 9, 20247 images
Fire engulfs Berlin's Eberswalde Synagogue on November 9, 1938

'Kristallnacht' not strong enough term for anti-Jewish riots

'Kristallnacht' not strong enough term for anti-Jewish riots

In Germany, the term "Kristallnacht" is falling out of favor when referring to the violent events of November 9, 1938.
HistoryNovember 9, 2024
A woman stands in front of a piece of the graffiti-covered Berlin Wall.

Segments of Berlin Wall — 35 years after fall

Segments of Berlin Wall — 35 years after fall

The Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989. A DW team went looking for still-standing segments of the structure.
HistoryNovember 9, 202405:30 min
People look at artworks lined up as an open-air installation at river Spree marking the former course of the Berlin Wall

How the Berlin Wall split the city in two

How the Berlin Wall split the city in two

In 1961, Communist East Germany built a massive barrier throughout Berlin, dividing the city into east and west.
HistoryNovember 9, 202402:46 min
A man takes a photo of a large display at Checkpoint Charlie

What was it like when the wall fell at Checkpoint Charlie?

What was it like when the wall fell at Checkpoint Charlie?

Amateur photographer Mathias Brauner captured the atmosphere when the Berlin Wall fell at the former border crossing.
TravelNovember 8, 202402:30 min
Show more
Skip next section In the spotlight

In the spotlight

Six Der Spiegel magazine covers featuring Hitler

'After Hitler': Changing German views of Nazism

From secret adoration to loud dismay, Germans have reconciled the Nazi past in very different ways across 80 years.
CultureSeptember 26, 2024
Wehrmacht soldiers tearing down a barrier - black and white foto

Hitler's Germany invaded Poland 85 years ago

World War II began with Germany's invasion of Poland. It was a turning point that still has a geopolitical impact today.
HistoryAugust 31, 2024
black and white photo of a man casting his ballot in the polling station at Frankfurt train station

Germany remembers its first post-WWII national election

In 1949, four years after the end of dictatorship and war, Germans could once again elect a democratic parliament.
HistoryAugust 13, 2024
Heads of people carrying red flags and a VVN federation flag with a red triangle and blue stripes in Buchenwald

Red triangle symbol: Germany debating a ban

Once worn by political prisoners in Nazi camps, the symbol has recently been associated with Hamas.
SocietyAugust 4, 2024
Christian Pfeil

European Holocaust Remembrance Day for Sinti and Roma

Christian Pfeil survived the Nazi genocide, and later experienced racist attacks. He has a warning for society.
HistoryAugust 1, 2024
black and white photo of Stauffenberg, Hitler, General Fromm from July 15, 1944

Operation Valkyrie: 80th anniversary of plot to kill Hitler

One act of resistance against the Nazi dictator had more of a long-term impact than all the others.
HistoryJuly 20, 2024
All content (10000) on this topic