Driving Directions Germany
GERMANY is a large populous country in northern central Europe, which comprises the former East and West German Republics, reunified in 1990. In the north lies the North German Plain, which merges with the North Rhineland in the west. Further south, a plateau that stretches across the country from east to west is divided by the River Rhine. In the southwest, the Black Forest Mountains, or Schwarzwald, separate the Rhine Valley from Swabia’s fertile valleys and scarp lands. The Bavarian Forest is in the southeast, approaching the border with the Czech Republic. The Bohemian Uplands and Erz Mountains mark the border with the Czech Republic. The beautiful River Danube, the second-longest river in Europe, rises in the Bavarian Alps and crosses most southern Germany.
However, Germany’s most famous river is the mighty Rhine, which flows along the border with Switzerland and France before heading northwards towards the Netherlands and the North Sea.
The Rhine has several large and important tributaries, including the Neckar, Main, Lahn, Mosel, Ruhr, and Lippe, and is a major navigable waterway used to transport considerable amounts of freight. Because of heavy industrial development along much of the Rhine valley’s length, there are considerable problems with water pollution. Efforts continue to make, however, to address this situation and to improve water quality.