country automobilwerk eisenach
Erfurt is the capital and largest city in the state of Thuringia , central ___MASK89___ . It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin , within the wide valley of the Gera river . It is located south - west of Leipzig , south - west of Berlin , north of Munich and north - east of Frankfurt . Together with neighbouring cities Weimar and Jena it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 400 , 000 inhabitants . Erfurt ' s old town is one of the most intact medieval cities in ___MASK89___ , having survived World War II with very little damage . Tourist attractions include the ( Merchants ' bridge ), the ensemble of Erfurt Cathedral and " Severikirche " ( St Severus ' s Church ) and Petersburg Citadel , the one of the largest and best preserved town fortress in Europe . The city ' s economy is based on agriculture , horticulture and microelectronics . Its central location has led to it becoming a logistics hub for ___MASK89___ and central Europe . Erfurt hosts the second - largest trade fair in eastern ___MASK89___ ( after Leipzig ) as well as the public television children  s channel KiKa . The inner German border ( or " deutsch - deutsche Grenze "; initially also " Zonengrenze ") was the border between the German Democratic Republic ( GDR , ___MASK25___ ) and the Federal Republic of ___MASK89___ ( FRG , ___MASK45___ ) from 1949 to 1990 . Not including the similar but physically separate Berlin Wall , the border was long and ran from the Baltic Sea to ___MASK37___ . A republic ( from ) is a sovereign state , country , or government which is organized with a form of government in which power resides in elected individuals representing the citizen body and government leaders exercise power according to the rule of law . In modern times , the definition of a republic commonly refers to a government which excludes a monarch . Currently , 147 of the ___MASK41___ ' s 206 sovereign states use the word " republic " as part of their official names ; not all of these are republics in the sense of having elected governments , nor do all nations with elected governments use the word " republic " in their names . Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia . Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north , the ___MASK76___ to the west , and the Mediterranean Sea to the south . To the east and southeast , Europe is generally considered as separated from Asia by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains , the Ural River , the Caspian and Black Seas , and the waterways of the Turkish Straits . Yet the non - oceanic borders of Europe  a concept dating back to classical antiquity  are arbitrary . The primarily physiographic term " continent " as applied to Europe also incorporates cultural and political elements whose discontinuities are not always reflected by the continent ' s current overland boundaries . Berlin is the capital and the largest city of ___MASK89___ as well as one of its constituent 16 states . With a population of approximately 3 . 5 million people , Berlin is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the ___MASK24___ . Located in northeastern ___MASK89___ on the banks of rivers Spree and Havel , it is the centre of the Berlin - Brandenburg Metropolitan Region , which has about 6 million residents from more than 180 nations . Due to its location in the European Plain , Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate . Around one - third of the city ' s area is composed of forests , parks , gardens , rivers and lakes . Düsseldorf ( Low Franconian , Ripuarian : " Düsseldörp " ) is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine - Westphalia and the seventh most populous city in ___MASK89___ . Düsseldorf is an international business and financial centre , renowned for its fashion and trade fairs . The city is headquarters to one Fortune Global 500 and two DAX companies . Messe Düsseldorf organises nearly one fifth of premier trade shows . The Automobilwerk Eisenach ( AWE ) was an automobile manufacturer in Eisenach , ___MASK89___ . The ___MASK24___ ( EU ) is a political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe . It has an area of , and an estimated population of over 510 million . The EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states . EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people , goods , services , and capital within the internal market , enact legislation in justice and home affairs , and maintain common policies on trade , agriculture , fisheries , and regional development . Within the Schengen Area , passport controls have been abolished . A monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002 , and is composed of 19 EU member states which use the euro currency . Stuttgart ( Swabian : " Schduagert "), often nicknamed the "" Schwabenmetropole "" in reference to its location in the center of Swabia and the local dialect spoken by some natives , is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden - ___MASK13___ . It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley locally known as the " Stuttgarter Kessel " an hour from the Swabian Jura and the Black Forest . Stuttgart ' s name comes from the Old High German word "" Stuogarten "," or " stud farm "  a reference to the city ' s founding in 950 AD as a stud farm . Stuttgart  s urban area has a population of 623 , 738 , and a further making it the sixth largest city in Germany , 2 . 7 million people live in the city  s administrative region , and another 5 . 3 million people in its metropolitan area , making it the fourth largest metropolitan area in Germany . Kassel ( spelled Cassel until 1928 ) is a city located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse , ___MASK89___ . It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the Kreis of the same name and has 200 , 507 inhabitants in December 2015 . The former capital of the state of Hesse - Kassel has many palaces and parks , including the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe , which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site . Kassel is also known for the " documenta " exhibitions of contemporary art . The Free State of Thuringia is a federal state in central ___MASK89___ . It has an area of and 2 . 29 million inhabitants , making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of ___MASK89___ ' s sixteen states . Most of Thuringia is within the watershed of the Saale , a left tributary of the Elbe . The capital is . Munich ( also in British English ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of ___MASK47___ , on the banks of River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps . Munich is the third largest city in Germany , after Berlin and Hamburg , and the 12th biggest city of the European Union , with a population of above 1 . 5 million . The Munich Metropolitan Region is home to 5 . 8 million people . Hamburg ( local pronunciation ; Low German / Low Saxon : " Hamborg " ), officially " Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg " ( Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg ), is the second largest city in ___MASK89___ and the eighth largest city in the ___MASK24___ . It is the second smallest German state by area . Its population is over 1 . 7 million people , and the wider Hamburg Metropolitan Region covers more than 5 . 1 million inhabitants . The city is situated on the river Elbe . Frankfurt am Main is a metropolis and the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth - largest city in ___MASK89___ , with a 2015 population of 731 , 095 within its administrative boundaries , and 2 . 3 million in its urban area . The city is at the centre of the larger Frankfurt Rhine - Main Metropolitan Region , which has a population of 5 . 8 million and is ___MASK89___ ' s second - largest metropolitan region after Rhine - Ruhr . Since the enlargement of the ___MASK24___ in 2013 , the geographic centre of the EU is about to the east of Frankfurt ' s CBD , the Bankenviertel . Frankfurt is culturally and ethnically diverse , with around half of the population , and a majority of young people , having a migration background . A quarter of the population are foreign nationals , including many expatriates . Eisenach is a town in Thuringia , ___MASK89___ with 42 , 000 inhabitants , located west of Erfurt , southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt . It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions , situated near the former Inner German border . A major attraction is Wartburg castle , which has been a UNESCO world heritage site since 1999 . The euro ( sign : €; code : EUR ) is the official currency of the eurozone , which consists of 19 of the member states of the ___MASK24___ : Austria , Belgium , Cyprus , Estonia , Finland , France , Germany , Greece , Ireland , Italy , Latvia , ___MASK62___ , Luxembourg , Malta , the Netherlands , Portugal , ___MASK90___ , Slovenia , and Spain . The currency is also officially used by the institutions of the ___MASK24___ and four other European countries , as well as unilaterally by two others , and is consequently used daily by some 337 million Europeans . Outside of Europe , a number of overseas territories of EU members also use the euro as their currency . ___MASK89___ , officially the Federal Republic of ___MASK89___ , is a federal parliamentary republic in central - western Europe . It includes 16 constituent states , covers an area of , and has a largely temperate seasonal climate . With about 82 million inhabitants , ___MASK89___ is the most populous member state of the ___MASK24___ . After the United States , it is the second most popular immigration destination in the world . ___MASK89___ ' s capital and largest metropolis is Berlin . Other major cities include Hamburg , Munich , Cologne , Frankfurt , Stuttgart and Düsseldorf . Cologne is the largest city in the German federal State of North Rhine - Westphalia and the fourth - largest city in ___MASK89___ ( after Berlin , Hamburg , and Munich ). It is located within the Rhine - Ruhr metropolitan region , one of the major European metropolitan regions and the largest in ___MASK89___ , with more than ten million inhabitants .