Obtaining residency through investment and establishment of companies in Germany

The Weather of Germany

Germany is located in the middle of mild and cool western winds of the Atlantic Ocean and the continental climate of the east. The temperature variation in Germany is small. There is rainfall during all the seasons. The average temperature in the winter varies from 5.1  in low lands to  in   mountainous areas. The average temperature in January varies from 18  in low lands to   in southern valleys. The flat lands around the Rhine with a mild climate, the upper Bayern area with occasional hot and dry winds from the south, the Alpine Mountains and the Harz Region with intense winds, cool summers, and snowy winters are exceptions to the rule. These areas have special climates. 

Geography of Germany

Germany is surrounded by the Northern Sea, the Baltic Sea, and Denmark from the north, by Poland and Czech Republic from the east, by Austria and Switzerland from the south, and by France, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands from the west. In the plains of the northern Germany (a region covered by fertile farms and sand dunes), the Elbe and Weser Rivers and their branches are flowing. In the west, these plains connect to the plains of in the north of the Rhine. A series of flatlands, consisting of hard rocks, stretch from east to the west of the country. 
The Rheinland, the Taunus, and Westerwald are in Hessen and stretch to the Hartz and Erzgebirge mountains in Thuringia. The Rhine River flows through a narrow and deep valley through the central plains. In the southern part of Germany, the Schwarzwald (the Black Forest) separates the Rhine valley from the fertilized valleys and Swabia rocks. The forest edge of Bohemia is near the border with Czech Republic, while the Alpine mountains in Bavaria create the border with Austria. The highest point in Germany is the Zugspitze Summit with an altitude of 2963 meters. 

German Economy

Germany is the largest economy in Europe and following the USA and Japan, it is the third most powerful industrial power in the world. Considering per capita income, Germany ranks five in the world. The economic growth of Germany in 2007 was equal to 2.4. With an export volume of 1.33 billion dollars, Germany is one of the largest exporters in the world. 
The main products of Germany include engineering products specifically electrical products, mechanical products, car manufacturing, chemical substances, textiles, aerospace, food products, and vehicles. The heavy engineering industries are concentrated in Ruhr Region, chemical industries are concentrated around Rhine River, and motorized vehicles are concentrated in large state centers including Stuttgart. 
In 2002, Germany was the fifth largest energy consumer in the world. In the same year, Germany was the largest consumer of electricity among European countries. In the same year, German authorities added the plan to supply half of the energy consumption of the country from renewable energy sources to their agenda. Currently, Germany is a pioneer in constructing and implementing wind turbines and solar energy in the world. 
Among the 500 largest companies in the world based on the size of the capital, 37 companies are located in Germany. The top ten companies are Daimler, Volkswagen, Allianz (the most profitable), Siemens, Deutsche Bank (second most profitable), AAN, Deutsche Post, Deutsche Telekom, Metro, and BASF, respectively. Deutsche Post and Bosch have the largest number of employees. Some of the most famous brands from Germany are Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Adidas, Porsche, Volkswagen, and NIVEA. 
Except for coal and relatively small mines of iron ore, Bauxite, copper, nickel, tin, silver, potash, and salt, Germany doesn’t have a lot of natural resources and the country is severely dependent on importing raw material. Banking and financial affairs are among the most important sources for foreign currency and Frankfurt is considered one of the main financial and commercial hubs in the world. 

German Culture

Similar to any nation, German people have their own unique culture through which their rituals and behaviors become meaningful. In order to be comfortable in Germany, we have a number of suggestions for you: 
If you are going to a restaurant, putting your elbows on the table is considered rude and when eating at a restaurant in Germany, do not put any part of your arm except for the hands up to your wrists on the table. When eating, Fork only in left hand when you are using the knife also.  When you don't using knife it's fine to use the fork with any hand. 
Tipping in restaurants is one of the characteristics of German people and they usually pay 15 percent tip to the waiter. In order to pay the bill in many restaurants, you can use international credit cards or German banking cards. Cash payments will make the restaurant owner much happier though. 
On Sundays (which is a holiday), instead of breakfast and lunch, German people usually eat a meal called brunch which is served in hotels from 11 am to 2 pm. This meal is very tasty and delicious. 
In European countries, taxis are very expensive. It is much better to use buses or the subway instead of taxis for the majority of your trips. By paying a fourth of what you usually pay for taxis, you can easily use other transportation. You can also purchase the map and schedule of buses and the subway in the airport or in any subway station. When you see the bus or the subway arrive on time, it is now your turn to look around in surprise. There is usually no one to check your subway ticket, but if the subway officer asks someone for their ticket and they don’t have it, they will be penalized, which can be 30 times the price off the ticket, so it is better not to try anything fishy. 
If you stay on the streets until midnight, then you will be forced to take a taxi. The driver will ask for the exact price determined by the taxi meter. Don’t worry about getting tricked. 
Clean and neat clothes have a positive impact on people. German people usually don’t get too close, so they don’t like kissing when greeting. They also keep their distance when in line for cinema, buses, and so on. Everybody keeps their distance and no one cuts in the line. 
Opera and theater are very expensive; however, watching these art forms in Europe will be a great experience. Cinemas are much cheaper. No movie is more expensive than 15 euros in Germany. Cultural movies, action movies, and Hollywood movies have their dedicated fans. 

Languages of Germany

The German language is a member of the Indo-European language group and it is a Germanic language. This language is in the same family as Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Dutch, and English. In the middle ages, there were a large number of local written languages. With the spread of the Luther’s translation of the bible, a unified written language gradually took hold which was primarily based on the court language of Saxon. 
The standard German is the main written and verbal language in the media. There are some local dialects of this language as well. Unlike some other countries, having an accent in Germany is not considered a defect in language; rather, it is considered a manifestation of cultural diversity. Famous dialects of German include Alemannisch, Badisch, Bairisch, Fränkisch, Hessisch, Schwäbisch, Kölsch, and Sächsisch. 
You can usually determine the origin of people in Germany based on their accent and way of pronunciation. For instance, if someone from Meklenborg and someone from Bayern start speaking to each other in their own dialects, neither of them will understand the other. In the current land of Germany, there were various tribes including Franks, Saxons, Schwabs, and Bayerns. Nowadays, these tribes do not exist in their original form, but their traditions and dialects are living on in the regional groups. 
The standard German, which is known as Hochdeutsch in German, is spoken in Hanover and Kassel without any dialects. Literate people in northern Germany rarely speak with an accent; however, in southern Germany, having an accent is common even in academic settings. Two other languages which are common as a mother tongue in Germany are Turkish and Russian. 
Nowadays, the German language is considered a mother tongue and is spoken in Austria, Liechtenstein, a large region of Switzerland, South Tyrol (in northern Italy), northern Schleswig (in Denmark), and in some regions in Belgium and Luxembourg along the German border. Moreover, German minorities in Poland, Romania, Sudetenland Region in Czech Republic, and former Soviet nations have maintained the German language. The German language is the mother tongue of more than 100 million people. One in ten books published in the world is in German. 
Currently, German is the second language after English to be widely taught in Europe. German is one of the most important languages on the internet. Based on the statistics from the late 2006, 8 percent of webpages are in German. Following English, German has the highest usage on the Internet. 

Religions of Germany

In Germany, religion and government are separate from teach other. Based on this separation, no one must be discriminated against based on religious or anti-religious views. No group will enjoy any special political right because of renouncing religion. The constitution tasks the government with neutrality in religious affairs. Provided that they follow the law, all religions are free and their believers can organize their internal affairs however they like. There should be no discrimination against anybody because of their religion or atheism. 
The statistical classification of the German population based on religious views (late 2004) is as follows: 25.9 million people (31.4 percentage of the total population) are believers in the Catholicism, 25.63 million people (31.1 percentage of the total population) are believers in the Protestant Church, 23.4 million are atheists, 3.3 million are Muslim, and 210,000 people are Jews. 

German Food

When foreigners are asked about German food, they usually picture meat, sausage, potatoes, and pickled white cabbage. One of the reasons for the high consumption of meat in Germany is the fact that due to the geographical location, this country has very cold winters, and so the population tends to eat meat, particularly pork, to save calories. German dished and common foods of the people vary from state to state. The common meals in each state have somewhat been influenced by the cuisine of neighboring countries. 
In general, German people eat one hot meal per day, which is lunch from 11:30 am to 13 pm. In the afternoons, German people usually have a coffee and biscuits and in the evening, people usually have a cold meal like sausages or meals like Olivier Salad. However, during the recent years, because many young people are working, lunch had become less important and the hot meal is eaten in the evening when all the family members are present. 
Breakfast depends on the time and schedule of people. However, it usually consists of coffee or tea, jam, yogurt, cheese, or cornflakes. German people eat a large breakfast on Sundays and it usually consists of eggs. 

German Breads

German breads and German bakeries are very famous abroad. It is said that there are about 300 types of bread in this country and by combining them together, the number will get much higher. In the European culture, similar to the Iranian culture, bread is not only a food item, it is also of religious importance and it is considered sacred. Based on archeological evidence, bread was first introduced to Romans by Egyptians and Europeans learned of this food item through this path. 
Nowadays, we can see very different types of bread in Germany; however, they can be divided into four main groups:
Rye bread and rye mix: this is considered one of the most energizing and full of vitamin breads and it is baked using sourdough or dough. The higher the amount of rye, the darker the color of the bread. Of course, pure rye bread is not popular all over Germany, so it is usually baked in combination with other cereals. 
Wheat bread and wheat mix. Ninety percent of wheat bread, which is also known as white bread, is wheat; it is very soft and readily digestible. Some believe that since white bread is quickly digested, it can’t fill you up and it has low nutritional value. The wheat mix bread is a mix of wheat and rye. In Germany, this type of mixed bread has the highest sales because of its diverse taste. 
Special bread: some types of bread are called special breads based on the method of baking and the type of flours used. These breads include other ingredients besides flour including onion, pumpkin seeds, sesame, sunflower seeds, or special spices. The name will be based on the ingredients. Diet breads are in this category. 
Sweet/spicy bread: biscuits and cookies in various forms and sizes are put in this category. These include croissants, pie bread, or Pretzel bread, which is a type of salty bread formed like an 8.