German-Swedish relations

The German-Swedish relations are mainly characterized by close economic cooperation today. Germany and Sweden are members of the European Union and part of the Schengen area .

history

Territorial expansion of Sweden 1560–1660

Sweden was a war party in the Thirty Years' War on the territory of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation . As a result of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, parts of today's Germany went to Sweden, including Bremen-Verden , Wismar and Swedish-Pomerania with Stralsund .

Bremen-Verden was conquered in the Swedish-Brandenburg War from 1675 to 1676 in the so-called Bremen-Verden campaign by several states of the Holy Roman Empire and Denmark and remained in Allied ownership until the end of the war in 1679. In the course of the Peace of Saint-Germain in 1679 Bremen-Verden fell back to Sweden. After a short period of time under Danish rule, Bremen-Verden was bought by the Electorate of Braunschweig-Lüneburg in 1715 and remained there (with further interruptions due to Swedish and French rule) until the Kingdom of Hanover was annexed by Prussia in 1866 .

The Swedish rule over Wismar ended de facto in 1803 when the kingdom pledged the city with the Malmö pledge agreement for 99 years to the duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin . However, it and the surrounding areas did not finally revert to Germany until 1903, when Sweden contractually waived the redemption of the pledge.

After parts of Swedish Pomerania were already transferred to Brandenburg-Prussia in the Peace of Saint-Germain in 1679 and in 1720 in the Peace of Stockholm , Sweden ceded the remaining area to Prussia at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 .

During the First World War , Sweden remained officially neutral , but traded mainly with Germany, which led to a limited blockade by the Entente powers .

During the Second World War , Sweden once again remained officially neutral, but after the occupation of Norway and Denmark allowed the Germans to be transported through Sweden as part of the Weser Exercise company . After the attack on the Soviet Union , Sweden even allowed German troops to be deployed across its territory. During the war, Germany was by far Sweden's most important trading partner. In December 1940, the most extensive trade agreement between Germany and Sweden to date was concluded. After the Skagerrak was closed , around 90% of Swedish exports went to Germany. The most important export good was iron ore from the northern Swedish ore fields. (see: Sweden in World War II )

Visit of Prime Minister Tage Erlander at the Kieler Woche 1961

In 1995 Sweden joined the European Union , of which the Federal Republic of Germany was a founding member of the previous organization. Both states are members of the Council of Europe , the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe , the OECD , and the Baltic Sea Council . Since March 25, 2001, the Schengen Agreement has been in force in Sweden and the transit country Denmark, as it was in Germany. This makes it possible to travel between Germany and Sweden by land, sea or air without border controls.

Sweden has not yet adopted the euro, although it is obliged to do so.

economy

With 28.1 billion US dollars and a share of 17.3% of Swedish imports, Germany is clearly in first place. Sweden mainly imports vehicles, machines and electronic devices from Germany.

In terms of Swedish exports, Germany ranks second just behind Norway with 15.9 billion US dollars and 9.7% . Mainly machines, paper and vehicles are exported to Germany.

For many Swedish retail companies ( IKEA , Hennes & Mauritz ) or the energy sector ( Vattenfall ), Germany is an important market, sometimes even more important than the home market.

Diplomatic missions

Sweden has an embassy in Berlin . Honorary consuls are active in Bremen , Düsseldorf , Erfurt , Frankfurt am Main , Hamburg , Hanover , Kiel , Leipzig , Lübeck-Travemünde , Munich , Stuttgart and Rostock .
Germany operates an embassy in Stockholm . Honorary consuls are active in Åmotfors , Gothenburg , Jönköping , Kalmar , Luleå , Malmö , Sälen , Uddevalla and Visby .

In the past, the Kingdom of Sweden acted as the protective power of the Federal Republic of Germany in North Korea and represented German diplomatic interests there by means of a staff in the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang .

Web links

Commons : German-Swedish relations - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Information from the German Foreign Office on relations with Sweden

Individual evidence

↑ Overview of imports from Sweden

↑ Overview of exports to Sweden

↑ Swedish Embassy Berlin (German and Swedish) . Archived from the original on January 6, 2012. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 6, 2012. @1@ 2

↑ German Embassy Stockholm (German and Swedish) . Archived from the original on January 17, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 6, 2012. @1@ 2

↑ Aspects of protecting power . Retrieved February 5, 2018.

[1] Overview of imports from Sweden

[2] Overview of exports to Sweden