 | |
 Germany |  Netherlands |
|---|---|
| Diplomatic mission | |
| Embassy of Germany, The Hague | Embassy of the Netherlands, Berlin |
| Envoy | |
| Ambassador Franz Josef Kremp[1] | AmbassadorMonique van Daalen[2] |
German–Dutch relations are diplomatic, military and cultural ties between thebordering nations ofGermany and theNetherlands. Relations between the modern states started after Germany became united in 1871.[3] Before that the Netherlands had relations withPrussia and other, smaller German-speaking nations. Both countries are full members of theCouncil of Europe, theEuropean Union andNATO.
Significant parts of what are now Germany and the Netherlands formed theRoman Provinces ofGermania, which gives Germany its namesake in English.
TheFranks were aGermanic Tribe that played a major role in the aftermath of the Roman Empire and originated from lands now in Germany and the Netherlands. The succession partitions of theFrankish Empire impacted cultural and political stratification between the lands ofEast Frankish Kingdom,Austrasia, andWest Frankish Kingdom.
Germany and the Netherlands share a common history with their lands core to theCatholicHoly Roman Empire from the time ofCharlemagne to the mid-second millennium.
The development of theHanseatic League significantly impacted relations between what are now German and Dutch cities, stimulating and regulating trade with formalGuild relations and trade in theBaltic andNorth Sea.
In the 15th century,Mary of Burgundy, titularDuchess of Burgundy, reigned over theBurgundian State before she marriedArchduke Maximilian of Austria, the futureHoly Roman Emperor Maximilian I, in 1477.[4] TheSeventeen Provinces arose from theBurgundian Netherlands, a number of fiefs held by theHouse of Valois-Burgundy and inherited by theHabsburg dynasty in 1482. Starting in 1512, the Provinces formed the major part of theBurgundian Circle. WhenEmperor Charles V, who secularizedPrince-Bishopric of Utrecht, began the gradual abdication of his several crowns in October 1555, his sonPhilip II took over as overlord of the conglomerate of duchies, counties and other feudalfiefs known as the Habsburg Netherlands.[5]
In 1566, theDutch Revolt and the ensuingEighty Years War started, and a number of incidents and frictions accumulated between the Dutch provinces and theirHabsburg overlords. In 1648, the Seven United Provinces became independent and seceded to form theDutch Republic by thePeace of Westphalia. TheDutch Golden Age continued in peacetime, during which the Dutch government worked with well-known Germans such asPhilipp Franz von Siebold andCaspar Schamberger inDutch East Indies inJapan, or the GovernorPeter Minuit in theNew Netherland.
From the mid-17th century, the costly conflicts, including theAnglo-Dutch Wars,Franco-Dutch War andWar of the Spanish Succession fuelled economic decline, including heavy dependence on the French during the period in the Netherlands known as theBatavian Republic and theKingdom of Holland. The Netherlands became independent again in 1813.
DuringWorld War I, theImperial German army refrained from attacking the Netherlands, and thus relations between the two states were preserved. The 1914Septemberprogramm authorized by German ChancellorTheobald von Bethmann Hollweg proposed the creation of a Central European Economic Union, comprising a number of European countries, including Germany and the Netherlands, in which, as the Chancellor secretly stressed, there was to bea semblance of equality among the member states, but in fact it was to be under German leadership tostabilize Germany's economic predominance in Central Europe, with co-authorKurt Riezler admitting that the union would be a veiled form of German domination in Europe (see also:Mitteleuropa).[6][7] The plan failed amid Germany's defeat in the war. At war's end in 1918, the formerKaiser Wilhelm II fled to the Netherlands, where he lived until his death in 1941.
The German armyoccupied the Netherlands during World War II andkept the country under occupation in 1940–1945.Adolf Hitler had considered the Netherlands suitable for annexation within theGreater Germanic Reich, viewing the Dutch as a related Germanic people. During this period, nearly three-quarters of theDutch Jewish population were murdered in the Holocaust.Anne Frank was the most famous victim, as her diary survived and was published after the war.[8] TheDutch famine of 1944–45, known in theNetherlands as theHongerwinter (literal translation: hunger winter), was afamine that took place in theGerman-occupied Netherlands, especially in the densely populated western provinces north of the great rivers, during the winter of 1944–45, near the end ofWorld War II. A German blockade cut off food and fuel shipments from farm towns. Some 4.5 million were affected and survived thanks to soup kitchens. At least 18–22,000 deaths occurred due to the famine.[9][10][11] The famine was alleviated by the liberation of the provinces by theAllies in May 1945.[10]
The Netherlands launchedOperation Black Tulip in 1946 andannexed some German territories. The Netherlands and the Federal Republic of Germany officially remained in a state of war with each other until 26 July 1951.[12][13]
Germany has anembassy inThe Hague and consuls inAmsterdam,Arnhem,Eindhoven,Enschede,Groningen,Leeuwarden,Maastricht,Noord-Beveland,Rotterdam, while the Netherlands has an embassy inBerlin and consuls inDüsseldorf,Frankfurt,Hamburg,Munich andStuttgart. Both nations are members of theEuropean Union andNATO.
According to the official website of theDutch government, relations between the two are currently "excellent", enjoying "close political, economic, social, cultural, administrative and personal ties". Germany is also by far the Netherlands’ main trading partner, both in imports and exports.[14]
As of 2017[update], around 164,000 people with a Dutchmigration background resided in Germany.[15] Around 77,000 Germans resided in the Netherlands.
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