Religion

The people of N. Germany are, with few exceptions, Protestants of the Luther an Church; in S. Germany, on the other hand, Roman Catholicism predominates, especially in Bavaria; where only abt. one third of the pop. belong to the Reformed Church. All religious sects find the fullest toleration in the exercise of worship.- Educ. Perhaps in no civilized country in the world is education so universal and so far advanced as in G. Attendance of children at school is compulsorily the rule, and carried out in all its integrity. The chief universities are those of Göttingen, Heidelberg, Jena, Königsberg, Halle, Leipzig, Bonn, .-Mil. and Nav. Service in the German army is obligatory on all male citizens between the ages of 18 and 45; the total effective force on peace-footing is 402,733 men of all ranks, and 92,954 horses; the war-establishment, including troops in depôts and garrisons, numbers a grand whole of 1,294,080 men, 271,976 horses. The navy in 1871 consisted of 48 ve els of all arms, aggregating 47,154 tons, and mounting 484 guns.-Railroads, . On Jan. 1, 1871, there were throughout G. 4,091-81 miles of railway in working operation, along with 9,672,235 kilometres of telegraph wires.-Hist. From all that can be collected of the early history of G.(called German i a by the Romans), it appears to have been divided into many petty nations and principalities, many of which frequently united under one head or general,both in their offensive and defensive wars. The Germans maintained along and aggre ive warfare against the Romans, but were at length kept in check by Germanic us (q. v.). The Romans, neverthele , prudently contented themselves by making the Rhine and the Danube the boundaries of their conquests; they accordingly built fortre es on the banks of both those rivers, to prevent the incursions of what they termed the barbarous nations; but within abt. a century after Const an tine the Great, the Franks, Burgundians, Alemanni, and other German nations,broke through those boundaries, and dispo e ed the Romans of all Gaul, [s. 405] IMG:p0446_0.jpg:Gravür