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Prior to 1871, Germany was not a unified nation-state, and had no capital city.The medieval German Holy Roman Empire used to have Aachen as its preferred seat of government during Charlemagne's reign, and until 1531 it was the place where 31 Holy Roman Emperors were crowned Kings of the Germans.
East Berlin was declared the capital of East Germany, while Bonn became the West German capital. Following German reunification in 1990, Berlin once again became the capital of all of Germany. Due to its geographic location and history, Berlin has been called "the heart of Europe". [19] [20] [21]
The history of Berlin starts with its foundation in the 12th century. It became the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1237, and later of Brandenburg-Prussia, and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia grew about rapidly in the 18th and 19th centuries and formed the basis of the German Empire in 1871.
Bonn served as the capital of West Germany from 1949 until 1990 and was the seat of government for reunified Germany until 1999, when the government relocated to Berlin. The city holds historical significance as the birthplace of Germany's current constitution, the Basic Law .
With the reunification of Germany, the newly reunified Berlin became Germany's capital once again, a status it had held from the foundation of Germany 1871 to the fall of the German Reich 1945. However, the seat of government remained in Bonn, which had been the "provisional" capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990.
Germany, [e] officially the Federal Republic of Germany, [f] is a country in Central Europe.It lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 82 million in an area of 357,596 km 2 (138,069 sq mi), making it the most populous member state of the European Union.
The act was a consequence of the Hauptstadtbeschluss (English: Enactment regarding the capital) of 20 June 1991, which made Berlin the seat of government. Berlin had already been the capital of the united Germany since the Unification Treaty of 3 October 1990. The Berlin/Bonn Act was enacted on 26 April 1994.
Germany's dominance in physics and chemistry was such that one-third of all Nobel Prizes went to German inventors and researchers. The German cartel system (known as Konzerne), being significantly concentrated, was able to make more efficient use of capital. Germany was not weighted down with an expensive worldwide empire that needed defense.