portunities are enjoyed by many: there are over 91 million German museum visits every year; a

The German language is the most widely spoken first language in the European Union, with around 100 million native speakers.[177]
Main article: Languages of Germany
German is the official and predominant spoken language in Germany.[178] It is one of 23 official languages in the European Union, and one of the three working languages of the European Commission.
Recognised native minority languages in Germany are Danish, Low German, Sorbian, Romany, and Frisian; they are officially protected by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The most used immigrant languages are Turkish, Kurdish, Polish, the Balkan languages, and Russian. 67% of German citizens claim to be able to communicate in at least one foreign language and 27% in at least two languages other than their own.[178]
Standard German is a West Germanic language and is closely related to and classified alongside English, Low German, Dutch, and the Frisian languages. To a lesser extent, it is also related to the East (extinct) and North Germanic languages. Most German vocabulary is derived from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family.[179] Significant minorities of words are derived from Latin and Greek, with a smaller amount from French and most recently English (known as Denglisch). German is written using the Latin alphabet. German dialects, traditional local varieties traced back to the Germanic tribes, are distinguished from varieties of standard German by their lexicon, phonology, and syntax.[180]
Education
Main articles: Education in Germany and List of universities in Germany


Heidelberg University is the oldest university of Germany and among its best ranked.[181] It was established in 1386.
Over 99% of Germans age 15 and above are estimated to be able to read and write.[5] Responsibility for educational supervision in Germany is primarily organised within the individual federal states. Since the 1960s, a reform movement attempted to unify secondary education in a Gesamtschule (comprehensive school); several West German states later simplified their school system to two or three tiers. A system of apprenticeship called Duale Ausbildung ("dual education") allows pupils in vocational training to learn in a company as well as in a state-run vocational school.[182] This successful model is highly regarded and reproduced all around the world.[183]
Optional kindergarten education is provided for all children between three and six years old, after which school attendance is compulsory for at least nine years. Primary education usually lasts for four to six years and public schools are not stratified at this stage.[182] In contrast, secondary education includes three traditional types of schools focused on different levels of academic ability: the Gymnasium enrols the most gifted children and prepares students for university studies; the Realschule for intermediate students lasts six years; the Hauptschule prepares pupils for vocational education.[184]


Wendelstein 7-X, a research facility at Max Planck Institute of Plasma Physics in Greifswald. Much of the research in Germany is done in independent institutes.
The general entrance requirement for university is Abitur, a qualification normally based on continuous assessment during the last few years at school and final examinations; however there are a number of exceptions, and precise requirements vary, depending on the state, the university and the subject. Germany's universities are recognised internationally; in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) for 2008, six of the top 100 universities in the world are in Germany, and 18 of the top 200.[185]
Most of the German universities are public institutions, funded by the Länder governments, and students have traditionally undertaken study without fee payment. In 2005 the public universities introduced tuition fees of around €60 per semester (and up to €500 in the state of Niedersachsen) for each student for a trial period;[186][187] however, the German public was not amenable to the experiment and the temporary fee-based system was mostly abolished, with two remaining universities to cease the fee requirement by the end of 2014.[188]
Academic education is open to most citizens and studying is increasingly common in Germany.[189] The dual education system that combines practical and theoretical learning, but does not lead to an academic degree, is typical for Germany and is recognised as an exemplary model for other countries.[190]
The established universities of Germany are also among the oldest and most reputable in the world, with Heidelberg University being the oldest (established in 1386 and in continuous operation since then). Heidelberg is followed by Leipzig University (1409), Rostock University (1419), Greifswald University (1456), Freiburg University (1457), LMU Munich (1472) and the University of Tübingen (1477).[citation needed]
German universities traditionally emphasize a combination of teaching and research. In addition, research is performed at independent non-university research institutions, such as within the Max Planck, Fraunhofer, Leibniz and Helmholtz institutes. Many of these institutions have also established close connections with nearby universities.[citation needed]
Health
Main article: Health in Germany


Hospice of the Holy Spirit in Lübeck - one of the world's oldest social institutions and a precursor to modern hospitals
Germany has the world's oldest universal health care system, dating back to Bismarck's social legislation in 1883.[191] He stressed the importance of three key principles; solidarity, the government is responsible to ensure access by those who are in need, subsidiarity, policies are implemented with smallest no political and administrative influence, and corporatism, the government representative bodies in health care professions deems feasible procedures. [192] Since then there have been many reforms and provisions to ensure a balanced health care system. Currently the population is covered by a fairly comprehensive health insurance plan provided by statute. Certain groups of people (lifetime officials, self-employed persons, employees with high income) can opt out of the plan and switch to a private insurance contract. Previously, these groups could also choose to do without insurance, but this option was dropped in 2009.[193] According to the World Health Organization, Germany's health care system was 77% government-funded and 23% privately funded as of 2005.[194] In 2005, Germany spent 11% of its GDP on health care. Germany ranked 20th in the world in life expectancy with 77 years for men and 82 years for women, and it had a very low infant mortality rate (4 per 1,000 live births).[194]
In 2010, the principal cause of death was cardiovascular disease, at 41%, followed by malignant tumours, at 26%.[195] In 2008, about 82,000 Germans had been infected with HIV/AIDS and 26,000 had died from the disease (cumulatively, since 1982).[196] According to a 2005 survey, 27% of German adults are smokers.[196]
Culture

Main article: Culture of Germany


Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), composer
From its roots, culture in German states has been shaped by major intellectual and popular currents in Europe, both religious and secular. Historically Germany has been called Das Land der Dichter und Denker ("the land of poets and thinkers"),[197] because of the major role its famous writers and philosophers have played in the development of Western thought and culture.
The federated states are in charge of the cultural institutions. There are 240 subsidised theatres, hundreds of symphonic orchestras, thousands of museums and over 25,000 libraries spread in Germany. These cultural opportunities are enjoyed by many: there are over 91 million German museum visits every year; annually, 20 million go to theatres and operas; 3.6 million per year listen to the symphonic orchestras.[198] As of 2013 the UNESCO inscribed 38 properties in Germany on the World Heritage List.[199]
Germany has established a high level of gender equality,[200] promotes disability rights, and is legally and socially tolerant towards homosexuals. Gays and lesbians can legally adopt their partner's biological children, and civil unions have been permitted since 2001.[201] Germany has also changed its attitude towards immigrants; since the mid-1990s, the government and the majority of Germans have begun to acknowledge that controlled immigration should be allowed based on qualification standards.[202] Germany has been named the world's second most valued nation among 50 countries in 2010.[203] A global opinion poll for the BBC revealed that Germany is recognised for having the most positive influence in the world in 2011,[204] and for being the most positively viewed nation in the world, in 2013.[205]
Art
Main article: German art