Traditionally creative – in the arts and the modern media
Germany is a land of culture with many classic contributions to literature, music and philosophy and a dynamic creative economy
There are many sides to cultural life in Germany: From North to South there are around 350 theaters and 130 professional orchestras. The museum world is of quite unparalleled quality – featuring 630 art museums with diverse internationally renowned collections. Young German painting is equally vibrant, and is long since part of the international scene. And Germany is one of the major book nations, with around 90,000 new books and re-editions each year. The 350 dailies and thousands of magazines go to show how lively the German media world is. Moreover, German films are once again a great success at home and abroad.
Tradition
German writers, composers and philosophers such as Goethe, Schiller, Bach, Beethoven, Kant and Hegel have strongly influenced cultural epochs and are acclaimed figures the world over
Cultural facilities
6,200 museums (630 of them art museums), 820 theaters (including musical theaters and opera houses), 130 professional orchestras, 8,800 libraries
Festivals
Richard Wagner Festival Bayreuth, Bachfest Leipzig, Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), Theatertreffen Berlin, Rock am Ring
Books
90,000 new publications or new editions each year
Internet
82% of households and 96% of companies have Internet access
Press
Around 350 daily newspapers with total sales of 24 million copies reaching 71% of the population. The German Press Agency (dpa) is one of the world’s largest news agency
Radio, TV
Two-prong system: alongside the public (license-based) radio and TV stations (ARD, ZDF) there are private (ad-financed) channels. ZDF is the largest broadcasting station in Europe. Germany’s foreign radio station is Deutsche Welle (DW-TV, DW-Radio, DW.de and DW-Akademie)
Magazines
1,500 general interest magazines including “Der Spiegel”, “Stern”, and “Focus”