The rapid progress of German industries in the second half of the century. XIX, it is a fact that cannot fail to arouse admiration. It is true that the political unification (1871) with the customs consequences that ensued and the direction given to commercial policy were all factors that acted favorably on the development of industries, which is due to the natural wealth of the regional territory and the attitudes of the population. Germany became an industrial state: but it is important to note that German industries produce to a much greater extent for internal needs than for export, which corresponds only to one fifth of the products manufactured.
The essential point of view from which the geographer considers industries is their distribution, which is by no means accidental. It depends above all on that of the forms of energy available; it also depends on communications, because in fact all the most important nodes of railway traffic and ports became industrial cities. It should therefore be noted first of all that, if the importance of litantrax and other fossil coals is great as sources of energy for industries and transport, they also derive life from running water and wind. The first can act where there is sufficient slope and therefore a large number of mills are found in the mountain valleys; and even more numerous arise at the foot of the mountains or in the town in front of them, where, due to the reuniting of currents into larger ones, the slopes and flows combine to determine the best conditions. On the other hand, in the lowland, factories moved by water are scarce.
According to the Halbfass, the available water energy in Germany is 12 million HP. To make a profit, massive dams and hydroelectric plants were built and are being planned in the Middle Mountains. These at the end of 1930 reached a total power of approximately 1,350,000 HP. In the lowland the wind is important, especially near the sea, which blows with much greater frequency and force than in the interior and between the mountains.
Domestic industries are based in the mountains and in the big cities, because there is a bitter struggle for life. In the cities, women and children work at home on behalf of traders or industries. In mountain villages segregated from important communications, large industry is impossible and since the soil cannot produce everything necessary to feed the population, this at home manufactures fabrics (Giant Mountains, Lusatian hills, Vogtland, Fichtelgebirge, Eichfeld), clothes (heights of Lusatia), trimmings (Ore Mountains), glass works (Bavarian Forest, Franconian Forest, Giant Mountains), wood (Thuringian Forest, Harz, Alps), toy factory (Saxony, Franconian Forest, Selva from Thuringia, Rhön), musical instruments and clocks (Black Forest), makes wickerwork (Upper Franconia), cigars (Palatinate, Westphalia, Thuringia). Among the domestic industries, there are several which do not consist in the processing of local raw material; which instead comes from outside.
This can also be said with regard to large industries, which are directly related to local conditions only if the existence of coal or the supply of cheap labor have given the impetus. Sometimes a local condition only at first gave reason to an industry. Such is, for example, the case of the Thuringian porcelain industry, where there was kaolin, a necessary raw material, and the dense forests provided the fuel. Today those deposits are exhausted and yet porcelain continues to be made with kaolin imported from outside. And since the wood has become too expensive and not suitable for large industry, litantrax is used as fuel. True industries dependent on local conditions are those that transform the raw material from agriculture such as the production of beet sugar, spirit, beer, malt, starch and the grinding of cereals. Germany is currently (after the law against alcoholic beverages in the United States), among the countries of the world, the largest producer of beer, but it is also the largest consumer: in 1929 it produced 58,163,000 hl. of beer and consumed almost 55 million hl.; in 1930 the production dropped to 48,486,000 hl. In 1913 (including the Saarland) production was around 70 million hl. Germany is currently (after the law against alcoholic beverages in the United States), among the countries of the world, the largest producer of beer, but it is also the largest consumer: in 1929 it produced 58,163,000 hl. of beer and consumed almost 55 million hl.; in 1930 the production dropped to 48,486,000 hl. In 1913 (including the Saarland) production was around 70 million hl. Germany is currently (after the law against alcoholic beverages in the United States), among the countries of the world, the largest producer of beer, but it is also the largest consumer: in 1929 it produced 58,163,000 hl. of beer and consumed almost 55 million hl .; in 1930 the production dropped to 48,486,000 hl. In 1913 (including the Saarland) production was around 70 million hl.
The distribution of the sugar factories is closely related to that of the cultivation of the plant, because the beets, due to their weight and the ease with which they are damaged, do not allow long transport. Some factories grow part of the beets themselves. The provinces of Saxony, Anhalt, Brunswick, southern Hanover and Silesia are the countries where raw sugar is manufactured. Refineries are much less dependent on agriculture. They need to be in a good position with respect to communications and therefore in the beet-growing regions they preferably arise where there are important traffic nodes, such as Magdeburg, Brunswick, Hanover, Cologne; he has some especially in Hamburg, Szczecin, Lübeck. Total (raw) sugar production was 2,542 in 1930-31. 000 tons (1,985,000 mouse in 1929-30; 2,259,000 tons in 1913-14).
As for the alcohol factories (production, in 1929, 3,243,000 hectoliters; in 1913, 3,753,000), their distribution depends on the raw materials of vegetable origin that are used there. Thus those factories that use potatoes, are found especially in countries where the sands, preferred by the plant, abound (Silesia, Brandenburg, Pomerania). As a consequence, starch factories also have a similar distribution. And finally, among the agricultural industries, it is worth mentioning the grinding of cereals that is done on the harvest of the nearby countryside, in wind and water mills. In the cities, there are also large steam grinding plants, especially where it is easy to transport grains by water: these plants are therefore located along major rivers and in ports located at their mouths (eg: Konigsberg, Kiel, Altona, Hameln, Mannheim). In 1927-28 over 50 million quintals were ground in Germany. of wheat and over 46 of rye.
Mainly related to soil conditions are the industries of iron and other metals. We have already mentioned the importance of the existence of iron and coal deposits within a short distance, which also determines the situation of the ironworks. Their crude products are then processed according to purpose, in a large number of factories. The production of cast iron and iron alloys exceeded 13 million tons. in 1929, but dropped to 9,695,000 tons. in 1930; in 1913 it was over 19 million tons. The production of steel from 16,023,000 tons. in 1929 it dropped to 11,511,000 tons. in 1930; in 1913 it had been over 18 million tons. The iron and steel industry surpasses all other kinds of industry in importance. It employs about one and a half million workers. The largest factories are in the province of the Rhine (Essen, Duisburg, Saarbrücken, Neunkirchen), in Westphalia (Bochum, Dortmund, Hagen) in Silesia and in Saxony (Zwickau). The largest iron and steel workshops in Germany are Krupp’s in Essen. The machinery industry is very diverse, with headquarters in Duisburg, Kassel, Magdeburg, Berlin, Chemnitz, Wroclaw, Offenbach, Nuremberg, Munich, Mannheim, Düsseldorf and Cologne-Deutz. Agricultural machinery is mainly manufactured in Magdeburg, Breslau, Crefeld and Barmen; spinning and weaving machines in Aachen. The small iron industry is particularly flourishing in Solingen, Remscheid and Iserlohn. The largest iron and steel workshops in Germany are Krupp’s in Essen. The machinery industry is very diverse, with headquarters in Duisburg, Kassel, Magdeburg, Berlin, Chemnitz, Wroclaw, Offenbach, Nuremberg, Munich, Mannheim, Düsseldorf and Cologne-Deutz. Agricultural machinery is mainly manufactured in Magdeburg, Breslau, Crefeld and Barmen; spinning and weaving machines in Aachen. The small iron industry is particularly flourishing in Solingen, Remscheid and Iserlohn. The largest iron and steel workshops in Germany are Krupp’s in Essen. The machinery industry is very diverse, with headquarters in Duisburg, Kassel, Magdeburg, Berlin, Chemnitz, Wroclaw, Offenbach, Nuremberg, Munich, Mannheim, Düsseldorf and Cologne-Deutz. Agricultural machinery is mainly manufactured in Magdeburg, Breslau, Crefeld and Barmen; spinning and weaving machines in Aachen. The small iron industry is particularly flourishing in Solingen, Remscheid and Iserlohn. Agricultural machinery is mainly manufactured in Magdeburg, Breslau, Crefeld and Barmen; spinning and weaving machines in Aachen. The small iron industry is particularly flourishing in Solingen, Remscheid and Iserlohn. Agricultural machinery is mainly manufactured in Magdeburg, Breslau, Crefeld and Barmen; spinning and weaving machines in Aachen. The small iron industry is particularly flourishing in Solingen, Remscheid and Iserlohn.
The rapidly developing automobile industry has its headquarters in Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Mannheim and Stuttgart. In 1930, Germany manufactured 70,044 automobiles. Machines for the production and consumption of electricity are manufactured in Nuremberg, Frankfurt am Main, Cologne and Berlin.
The shipbuilding industry (Kiel, Stettin, Elbing, Wilhelmshaven, Hamburg, Bremen) is surpassed only by the English one: in 1930 vessels for 246,000 tons were launched. gross tonnage (in 1921 and 1922, when Germany was rapidly rebuilding the lost fleet, vessels of over 500,000 tonnes were launched). In close relation with the metal industry is that of musical instruments (Berlin, Stuttgart, Leipzig, Dresden, Cologne, Düsseldorf) and scientific instruments.
Among the industries closely related to soil conditions are also those that depend on certain rocks. Among these industries, the largest is that of plastic lands, as there are many deposits. In the vicinity of the large cities there are many brick factories; cement factories in Westphalia, Hamburg and Szczecin: the production of cement was 5,511,000 tons. in 1930, but in each of the previous three years it had exceeded 7 million tons. The porcelain manufacture which had its origins in Meissen, Charlottenburg and Nymphenburg in the Rococo period is still active and its main centers are today in Saxony and Thuringia. No less old is the glass industry (Thuringia, Giant Mountains, Šumava).
According to Medicinelearners, the chemical industries of which the presence of certain minerals is the foundation are excellent: the locations depend on the presence of coal or on that of other technically necessary energies. The production of compounds to be used in large quantities is based in the coal and salt industries and also in the cities on the Reno, Elbe and Oder rivers, because the transport by water of raw materials, and then of products, is less expensive (nitrates, acid sulfuric, soda, lime chloride, fertilizers). German chemical colors eliminated those obtained from plants and animals from the trade (Ludwigshafen, Höchst, Frankfurt am Main, Offenbach, Elberfeld, Dresden, Berlin); preparations for scientific purposes, for photography and medicine are manufactured in many cities of Germany such as Berlin, Dresden, Chemnitz, Leipzig, Cologne, Darmstadt, Mainz,
The wood industry had its first reason for being in the rich wooded heritage. At present it is not so closely dependent on it, because it has to import a considerable amount of timber. Furniture is mainly manufactured in large cities (Berlin, Dresden, Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt am Main). Pulp is obtained from wood and paper is manufactured and therefore frequently the pulp, pulp and paper factories are nearby. Paper production was 1,961,000 tons in 1930, but had exceeded 2 million tons. in 1929; in 1913 it was 1,611,000 tons. Paper making, book printing, and the graphic industries that depend on it, find nothing around the world to match them. They practice particularly in Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart.
The leather industry is linked to forestry production on the one hand and livestock farming on the other. Tanneries must be distinguished according to the tanning material they are used for: Rhine Hesse, the province of the Rhine, the Rhineland Palatinate and Württemberg and also Westphalia, Hesse-Nassau, Upper Bavaria and Franconia are the countries where this industry, which makes use of oak bark, has been established for a long time. In northern Germany, materials imported from transmarine countries are used. The shoe factories have their main offices in the Palatinate, in the state of Saxony, in Berlin, Wroclaw, Weissenfels, Burg near Magdeburg, Munich, Erfurt, Tuttlingen. The gloves are manufactured especially in Saxony, home to 2 / 5 of the Germans glove makers.
Less tied to natural conditions are the textile industries. In the past, the wool mills worked with national raw materials, but now they import a large part of it. In the textile industry, the cotton industry holds the primacy (Saxony, Silesia, Thuringia, the province of the Rhine, Westphalia, Swabia); the spindles for cotton spinning installed in Germany at 31 July 1931 were 10,591,000 (11,250,000 in 1929; 11,186.00 in 1913); looms at the end of 1930 were 224,000 (230,200 in 1913). The wool industry has almost the same locations; that of linen is more restricted. The weaving of silk (Krefeld) is very remarkable. From the production of fabrics comes that of made clothes and linen largely based on domestic work.
The modern artificial silk industry also had a remarkable development in Germany: from 3,500,000 kg. in 1913 it reached 25 million kg. in 1929 and 27 million in 1930.
