What countries does Germany border on today?

The German state has many neighbors. So with which countries does Germany border? Clockwise this is Denmark, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. A large number of neighboring countries is due to the fact that Germany is in the heart of Europe, at the intersection of many cultures and peoples.

Slavic neighbors

Which countries border Germany in the east? Poland and the Czech Republic are Slavic states. These two peoples settled east of the Germans in the 9th century. The long neighborhood of different cultures, religions and language groups led to constant conflicts and wars.

Thus, many Polish cities in the west of the country also have German names because they used to belong to Germany. For example, it's Poznan-Posen, Wroclaw-Breslau, etc. It's about the Baltic Pomerania and Silesia. Here, the influence of the western neighbor is still felt, although many local Germans were expelled from the country after the Second World War. It does not hurt to remember that the biggest conflict in the history of mankind began precisely in 1939, after the Reich troops crossed the border of the two states.

Today, the territories of Germany and Poland are divided along the Oder. This situation was established in 1945. At the same time, East Prussia, which is still east, moved to the USSR and became the Kaliningrad region. Residents of Poland remain the most massive migrants in Germany, where they often work in the service and service sector. This country is bordered by the federal states of Mecklenburg, Brandenburg and Saxony. Poland, Germany and its other neighbors are part of the European Union.

The borders with the Czech Republic are more established. They have existed since the XIX century and reflect the resettlement of these two peoples. In the 1930s, a dispute broke out over the Sudetenland, the Czech mountains, where the German population was predominant. The Third Reich occupied this territory even before the Second World War, but after the war all the German-speaking people were deported from there, and the region again moved to the Slavic socialist state. With the Czech Republic, the federal states of Saxony and Bavaria are bordered.

Which countries border Germany in the south?

Here the borders are in contact with Austria and Switzerland. These countries are ethnically and culturally closest to Germany. Here, too, German has the status of a state language (in Switzerland, also French).

The name of Austria confirms this status. Österreich translates as "eastern empire". Before, Austria and Germany were part of one state. However, over time, each country went its own way. Austria became the residence of the mighty Habsburg dynasty, which also united under their authority a number of Slavic states in the east. In Germany, the main role was played by Prussia. Its capital was in Berlin. It united the country, and it was this state with different changes that eventually became modern Germany.

Switzerland, like Austria, borders Germany on the hills, plains, Alps and numerous ponds. One of them is the famous Lake Constance, which has long been a popular point on the tourist map. Also, the upper Rhine current is the natural boundary between Germany and Switzerland. Many bridges and autobahns are laid here. With these southern neighbors border the federal lands of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.

France

The borders of Germany with this neighbor pass along the Rhine and then make a turn 90 degrees to the west. There are many large cities and industrial sites. These lands often passed from hand to hand. Especially Alsace and Lorraine. For this reason, residents of these areas speak both French and German. Thanks to the Schengen agreement, the borders are open, and residents can move freely in both states. The same applies to most of the members of the European Union. France is bordered by the federal states of Baden-Württemberg, Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate.

Benelux

This universal reduction is used to refer to three small countries in Western Europe - Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Here is the Rhine-Ruhr region, where most of the cities in the country, which is associated with a large concentration of production and human resources. This is Cologne, Dusseldorf, Dortmund, etc. The borders of Germany here belong to the Rhineland-Palatinate regions, North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony. The local landscape is a plain that transitions to the lowlands as it approaches the North Sea.

Which countries border Germany in the north?

The only state from this side of the world is Denmark. Its border with Germany passes through a small piece of land located in the Baltic Sea. This is the historical region of Schleswig-Holstein.