Some Quick Facts:

Area:	357.021 sq.km
Population:	82.4 Mio
Time zone:	GMT + 1 hour
Electricity:	230 Volt
Prefix:	00 49
Currency:	Euro

Main Cities:
Berlin - Capital (3.4 Mio.)
Hamburg (1.8 Mio.)
Munich (1.3 Mio.)

Airports:
More than 60 Airports
Most important: Frankfurt

Harbours:
Hamburg; Bremerhaven
Rostock; Wilhelmshaven

History:

First proofs of settlement can be dated back more than 700.000 years. Although, it has to be said, that for most of the time after that, the area which we call Germany today, was not populated, because it was covered by ice. Greeks and Romans were actually the first afterwards, to mention Celtic and Germanic tribes in the area. The oldest towns in Germany were found by the Romans.

Germany always was and still is situated in the heart of Europe and throughout its history, many tribes left their marks and traces. Archaeological discoveries from ancient times can be found in many parts of Germany.

After WW II, Germany was divided into the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic. But in 1990 both parts were reunified and Berlin was made capital of Germany again.

Geography:

Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands, and Denmark are the neighbouring-countries of Germany. No other country has that many neighbours and this shows the privileged location of Germany - right in the heart of Europe. In the north, Germany also has direct access to North Sea and Baltic Sea, which makes Germany also a global Player in sea-traffic.
That many neighbours and the direct access to the sea create a multitude of opportunities in European and worldwide business in a country, which is looking equally to the West and the East.

Germany shows samples of many landforms, which can be found the world over. In the north we find coastal regions, followed by plains dotted with lakes and moors. Further inland, we find hills, crisscrossed by streams, rivers and valleys. These hills are leading upwards, forming high plateaus with woodlands and climaxing in the spectacular mountain ranges of the Alps.

Climate:

Although Germany is closer to the Arctic Circle than to the equator, the climate in Germany is moderate, without sustained periods of cold or heat.

There is maritime climate in the North and Northwest, with warm summers and mild winters. Further inland we find continental climate, with more seasonal variations, which means warmer summers and colder winters. Those two climatic-zones are covering most part of Germany, except the extreme South, where we find Alpine climate, with generally lower temperatures and cold winters because of the altitude.

The average temperature during the coldest month, January, is 1,6 degrees in the north and 2 degrees in the south. During the warmest month July, it has 18 degrees in the north and 19,5 in the South. The average rainfall per year is 600 to 800 millimetres.

Economical Facts:

Germany is the largest economy in Europe and the 3rd. largest in the world. It has the highest GNP in Europe and is the most important marketplace in the European Union. With its location, right at the heart of the European continent, Germany is the ideal gateway between the old economies in the west and the new economies in the east. Investors in Germany have access to all the markets of the former eastern block, which offer an immense potential for the near future.

"The smart money from all over the world is heading for Germany!" say some of the leading analysts worldwide. And that is not much of a surprise. The German economy has grown in 2006 by 2,8 percent, which was far above all the forecasts by the experts. The momentum was kept throughout the year 2007 and the signs for a continuing upswing for the years to come are excellent. Senior managers of large German companies say that the business conditions in Germany are excellent and will continue to improve.

The highest quality and most flexible labour force in Europe, an efficient and dense infrastructure for communication and transport, liberal regulations, a competitive and modern tax system and a reduced bureaucracy make sure that the German economy will continue to ride successfully the wave of globalization.

Out of the G-7, only one nation has grown its share of the world trade after 1998 and that is Germany. This is the proof of the quality of the German business location and the competitiveness of German enterprises.

Additionally, the German government has produced a "High Tech Strategy" in order to network science and industry, to connect market and research. These reforms will strengthen the position of Germany and make it even more competitive on the global level in the future.

Real-Estate Facts:

Despite all the economical facts, Germany is amongst the very few countries, which have not benefited from the property boom all over the world in the last 15 years. According to a study of the OECD, there are only two severely undervalued property markets in the world, Germany with 26 % and Japan 21 %.

Over the past two years, there was a steady increase of foreign investment in the German property market. Real Estate deals between 50.000 Euros and 2 billion Euros have been completed by investors from all over the world. German property represents great value for money and property investors can be confident to achieve strong returns on their investment in the years to come.

And amongst the brilliant possibilities in the German Real-Estate market, Berlin the Capital, even stands out from the rest. Berlin is the third biggest tourist city in Europe, the government centre of Germany and educational centre of Germany. Berlin is the most significant cultural centre east of Paris and is the capital of Europe's biggest economy.

Berlin real estate prices are a tenth of those in London. Berlin is considered the city with the lowest real estate prices in Europe. Even in Moscow or Prague the prices of land and houses are considerably higher than in the German capital. In the current market an apartment in Berlin costs 30 % less than the same apartment in Munich and international comparisons show Berlin property at an average of 1000 Euros per square meter, Paris and London in excess of 5000 Euros per square meter. Property prices in Berlin are at the moment below Prague, Warsaw and Budapest, just to name three.

The indications are that Germany and Berlin are set to boom! The time is now for property investors to head for Berlin, to head for Germany!