Germany's contribution to world's art is huge, from music and literature to paintings, sculptures, architecture and film - Germany has it all. When it comes to music, German people have a tradition of composing ever since the 12th century when the first love ballads and hymns were sung. Minnesingers were the first musicians to sing in German. Germans also had a huge influence on the development of classical music - world's best classical composers like Bach, Brahms, Beethoven, Händel or Schumann were all Germans. German classical music owes its development to Oswald von Wolkenstein who traveled around Europe and came back home with new classical traditions, styles and techniques with which he influenced many German composers. Poliphony was a huge hit in German music of the 16th century, mostly in a form of protestant chorals famous for their vivacity and energetic melody. Baroque music became popular in Germany soon after it was introduced here and was the first music to use tonality, ornamentation and counterpoint. The most popular German baroque composer was Johann Sebastian Bach who composed most of his work in the first half of the 18th century. Bach's music had a major influence on the development of European music. His contemporaries were Georg Phillip Telemann and Georg Friedrich Händel.

The Scorpions are the most famous German rock band

In the middle of the 18th century orchestral music was very popular, especially in the cities of the so called 'Vienna circle'. Joseph Haydn from Vienna circle had a huge influence on Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven was the first one to use odd harmonies and rhythm in his masterpieces, composing many different concert pieces, symphonies and an opera. Beethoven was following the ideals of the Enlightenment and with his last work started the period of Romanticism. Several German composers belong to the Romantic period, like Felix Mendelssohn and Richard Wagner. Wagner was often called the 'Musician of the Future' because of his dislike of traditional music. He was the first one to introduce the so-called leitmotives in his music - the repeating themes in his operas. Johannes Brahms and Robert Schumann were also Romantic composers who wrote several symphonies and piano music.

Most famous orchestra of Germany is the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, but very good are also the Leipzig Orchestra and the Dresden Opera Orchestra. Berlin Chamber Symphonie was established in 1991 and keeps the legacy of the not so popular orchestral and chamber works. First form of German pop music was cabaret, featuring Margo Lion and Marlene Dietrich as the first performers. After the WW2 pop music was mostly under the influence of GB and US music. Music of West Germany was more popular than pop music from East Germany. In the 1960s very popular were Schlager and Volkmusik - the sentimental pop ballads, typically sung in German. Today jazz is very popular music in Germany and practically every town has a jazz club. The most popular jazz festival in Berlin is the JazzFest Berlin with the best German and European jazz performers, held every year in November.

German rock is divided between singing in English, German or both. Most popular German rock bands are The Scorpions, Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream. Neue Deutsche Welle (New German Wave) is a German version of British punk rock and New Wave, popular in 1970s. Members of NDW always sang in German, although Nena sang her popular 99 Luftballons also in English. Rap is also popular in Germany and German rappers are very different considering both quality and politics. Germany is also famous for its writers, starting with old German minnesingers and their love ballads, after which the renaissance and Reformation periods have continued. The baroque period was also very fruitful, with different novels, tragedies and poetry. The Enlightenment period was when the first Bildungsroman was written. Weimar classicism and Sturm und Drang movement are famous for their representatives Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller. German Romanticism was a movement in German literature taking place from late 18th century to early 19th century. Main writers of German Romanticism were Heinrich Heine, Novalis, the Grimm brothers and many others. Thomas Mann wrote great novels about social issues and was awarded a Nobel prize for literature in 1929. Herman Hesse is another Nobel prize winner, famous for his work influenced by New Romantic Spirituality. Günter Grass is probably the most popular contemporary German writer and a Nobel prize winner. His first novel Tin Drum made him very famous. Writers from former East Germany are still very productive, like famous Christa Wolf and Sarah Kirsch. Thomas Brüssig from Berlin formed a Gruppe 05 together with Günter Grass, including German writers involved in politics such as Matthias Politycki and Burkhard Spinnen. Other contemporary German writers are Botho Strauss, Bernard Schlink, WG Sebald, Patrick Süsskind, Vladimir Kaminer, Feridun Zaimoglu and others.

Germany is a country of great Europe's philosophers - portrait of Georg Friedrich Hegel

Germany is also a country of great Europe's philosophers such as Immanuel Kant, the father of German Idealism, or Georg Friedrich Hegel who replaced Kant as the dominant thinker of German Philosophy by the end of the 19th century and introduced the method of dialectics to continental philosophy as the main method of reasoning. Hegel's philosophy also influenced a group of young radicals called the Young Hegelians from the 19th century. Karl Marx was also a member of this group and his philosophy was under influence of French Socialism, Hegel's philosophy and British Economic Theory. His philosophy, the Marxism, has influenced economy and politics of many countries in the world. In the middle of the 19th century main thinker of German philosophy was Friedrich Nietzsche whose work has influenced existentialism and postmodern philosophy, with main ideas of eternal recurrence, concept of Übermensch (Overman) and Will to power. Phenomenology was a philosophical movement in the beginning of the 20th century, with its main philosophers Ludwig Wittgenstein and Martin Heidegger, the latter being among the most influential philosophers of the 20th century. Frankfurt school of philosophy was formed after the Second World War by a group of radical Marxists who were criticizing the modernity and the failure of the Enlightenment movement in the books written by the group members. The group is mostly known as the beginners of postmodern thought in continental philosophy.

Germany's visual arts are very diverse, ranging from the medieval frescoes and oil-on-canvas paintings to latest industrial designs. The oldest examples of visual arts are medieval fresco works from Carolingian times and stained glass in the cathedrals of Cologne and Augsburg. German Renaissance was marked with a figure of Albrecht Dürer, one of the first German artists who used classical motifs in his work. He also had an influence on Franconian artist Lucas Cranach the Elder during his stay in Wittenberg. German sculptors of the 17th century integrated their work in German gardens and buildings, like the sculpture of Victoria's four horse chariot placed on the top of the Brandenburg Gate. While baroque period was mostly characterized by frescoes painted on the palace walls, neoclassical period has typical motifs from Greek and Roman mythology. 19th century Romanticism brought some mystic religious themes, like the works of Caspar David Friedrich or Phillip Otto Runge. Paintings of German impressionism can be seen in the Modern Gallery of the Saarland Museum in Saarbrücken. Main artists from the late 19th century were Fritz von Uhde, Max Liebermann and Lovis Corinth.

Two famous groups of expressionists were Die Brücke and the Blue Rider, including artists like Klee, Kandinsky, Nolde, Münter and others. During the Nazi period in 1930s and 1940s many artists were declared 'degenerate' (opposite) due to their critics of the regime through their work, like 'artistic bolshevism' or 'Jewish subversion'. During the 1950s and 1960s new artistic group from Düsseldorf, Group Zero (Gruppe Zero) joined the Bauhaus movement. Most impressive contemporary painter and sculptor of Germany is Anselm Kiefer, whose works can be seen in Berlin. Artist HA Schult became very famous for his sculptures made of garbage, the Trash people. Everyone interested in German visual art will find something for themselves among the numerous museums and art galleries of Germany. Those who are interested in household design should visit one of the Bauhaus museums. Applied visual art can also be seen at the Berlin Fashion Week in January and/or July. Berlin is the cultural center of Germany, which has been emphasized when it became the first City of Design in Unesco's Creative Cities Network.

Wonderful interior of the cathedral in Aachen

The oldest buildings in Germany were built in Roman and Carolingian period. Carolingian, Roman (early Christian) and Byzantine influences are altogether visible in the Romanesque cathedrals of Speyer, Worms and Mainz. Gothic style was at first using the Romanesque elements, but later churches were mostly built in pure Gothic style, with pointed arches, big windows and many vaults. Best example of Gothic style is the Dom in Cologne. During the Renaissance period in the middle of 16th century many buildings were built in Heidelberg and other towns in the south of Germany, using motifs of leaves and columns. In northern Germany Renaissance had a special form called the Weser Renaissance - typical representative is the Schloss in Celle in Lower Saxony. Most of the castles and feudal residences in Germany were built between 17th and 18th centuries, during the baroque period. Neoclassicism appeared in the end of the 18th century and after the overly-decorated baroque period brought back geometric features, cupolas and columns, with visible Greek and Roman influences, like the Brandenburg Gate built in Greek style. Late 19th century in Germany was characterized by derivative architecture using different old styles. For instance, rainbow style used Roman and Byzantine elements, while renaissance elements were used by Georg Adolph Demmler to design the Schloss in Schwerin. Neobaroque style, also known as the Wilhelmian style, can be seen in the famous Reichstag building. Architects of Art Noveau used steel and glass surfaces to build some of the most grandiose examples of industrial architecture. Bauhaus movement, led by Walter Gropius, had a huge impact on the development of modern architecture in the world. After the school had been shut down by the Nazis, new style became popular, with monumental and grandiose buildings which can still be seen around Berlin. During the 1960s experimental design was a big hit, while today modern architects design big buildings made of glass and steel.

German film industry is flourishing again after the period of stagnation and quality films are being produced, but they still don't account for more than 20% of box office sales. The oldest commercial film studio in the world, the Universum Film AG - German film studios in Potsdam - Babelsberg was founded in 1911 and today is a huge studio and a multimedia complex situated close to Berlin. One of the earliest films of German movie production was Metropolis by Fritz Lang, while other films of that period include famous Blue Angel and Testament of Dr Mabuse. 1960s brought a new movement in the German film industry - the German New Wave movement, with quality films like Paris Texas, Der Himmel über Berlin, Longing of Veronica Voss and Aguirre, the Wrath of God being its main representatives. The 1990s were marked by Tykwer's Run Lola Run. Tykwer also directed a very popular movie 'Perfume: the story of a Murderer. Newer movies of German production include Rothemund's Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, Head-On by Fatih Akin and popular Goodbye Lenin! directed by Wolfgang Becker. Most of German films are shown at the Berlin International Film Festival, famous film festival with Germany's premier film awards. Germany also has around 6000 stages all over the country. Many plays are held in the multipurpose theaters, just as the opera and music. State takes part in financing of multipurpose theaters and most of the theaters in Germany stage 20 or more plays per year. The famous playwrights from the Enlightenment period are Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Friedrich Schiller and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe with his famous Faust. Woyzeck by Georg Büchner is an innovative drama which made a great start for the Theater of Absurd. However, main innovator was Bertolt Brecht, known for his controversial work and cooperation with director of Deutsches Theater in Berlin, Max Reinhardt. Brecht was the founder of the Berliner Ensemble, which is still one of the most active theaters in Berlin. In the second half of the 20th century some directors stages classic plays in a new and provocative manner, like Peter Stein, member of the Young Wild Ones, who founded the Schaubühne theater in Berlin. Berlin today has the most dynamic modern theater director, Frank Castorf, the head of Volksbühne. German contemporary drama is very modern and innovative, especially the works of Fritsch, Rinke and Goetz.