Germany—Ireland relations
Map indicating locations of Germany and Ireland

Germany
Ireland

Germany and the Republic of Ireland are members of the European Union. Relations between the two countries have described, in 2011 by Ruairí Quinn, then Irish Minister for Education: "Ireland and Germany have enjoyed an excellent long-standing political and economic relationship, and culture, mutual trust and common values have always been at the core of our relations", going to on add further that "When the first hydro-electric Shannon scheme was established, it was a very deliberate decision, a very cultural assertion of separation from London, to invite Siemens to provide technical assistance."[1]

History

The Christian missionary activity of Irish monks independent of Rome between the 6th and 8th centuries is called the Hiberno-Scottish mission. This also strongly influenced the German-speaking areas. Columbanus of Luxeuil and St. Gallus, for example, were active in the Lake Constance region. Saint Kilian is said to have preached in Würzburg and the surrounding area. (The German-Irish Society of Würzburg has existed there since 1986.) Virgil of Salzburg, on the other hand, was active as a bishop in Salzburg. The second phase of the Iro-Scottish missionary work was closely connected with the Irish work in the Benedictine Scottish monasteries. Their origin went back to the Irish Marianus Scotus, who appeared with companions in Regensburg in 1070 and founded an ascetic monastic community, from which several monasteries were founded. The relatively large geographical distance caused German-Irish relations to be also later often concentrated on important individuals. For example, the commander-in-chief of the imperial forces in the Thirty Years' War, Albrecht von Wallenstein, was assassinated in 1634 in Eger by the Irish captain Walter Deveroux.[2] In all, quite a few Irish soldiers fought in the German theatres of war of that period.[3]

In later warfare during the Jacobite uprisings, the German-born army commander Friedrich von Schomberg fell in the Battle of the Boyne in eastern Ireland in 1690. The German Richard Cassels (1690-1751) worked as a successful architect in Ireland, while the Dublin-born William Thomas Mulvany (1806-1885) earned great merit in the Industrialisation of the Ruhr.[4]

Lola Montez (real name Elizabeth Rosanna Gilbert, born in Grange, Ireland) became the "catalyst" of the 1848 revolution in Bavaria through her relationship with King Ludwig I of Bavaria. In the 19th century, Celtic studies established itself as a scientific discipline in the German-speaking world. This also influenced the awakening of Irish national consciousness at a time when the country was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. There were repeated protests and uprisings against British rule during the period.

In 1914, the passage of the Irish Home Rule Bill by the British House of Commons could no longer be prevented by the opponents of Irish autonomy, but the outbreak of World War I delayed its enforcement initially to 1915, as the war was expected to be short. (No Home Rule Bill was implemented until 1920.) Many of the members of the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Irish Volunteers joined the British Army during the war, quite often for Irish political considerations. They fought against the German Empire and its allies primarily on the Western Front, at the Battle of Gallipoli and in the Middle East. It is believed that 30,000 to 50,000 Irish died during the war. As part of the preparations for the Easter Rising against the British in 1916, the Germans, following the motto "the enemy of my enemy is my friend", had agreed to transport Irish prisoners of war who had agreed to rise in Ireland and to land some 40,000 French and Russian looted rifles in Ireland (County Kerry) by relief ship on Good Friday. The landing failed because the location and the time were not well coordinated. Likewise, the entire rebellion failed.

However, the massive British repression against the insurgents created widespread anti-British attitudes among the Irish population and led to popularization of the idea of Irish independence. The ensuing Irish War of Independence (1919-1921) led to the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921, which guaranteed independence from Britain for 26 of the 32 Irish counties (except Northern Ireland).

Irish Ambassador William Warnock with the German Foreign Ministry official Dr. Heß, after signing a trade agreement in 1961

Ireland remained neutral during World War II. Germany had an ambassador in the country, Eduard Hempel, until 1945. De facto, however, there was intelligence and military cooperation of Ireland with the western enemies of the Third Reich: the United Kingdom and the United States. Éamon de Valera was the only head of government in the world to condole with the German embassy after Adolf Hitler's suicide in 1945 and he later protested to the British embassy about the death sentences imposed on the main war criminals during the Nuremberg trials.

In 1973, the country joined the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union. After considerable adjustment difficulties, the following years saw a sustained economic upswing, largely by European structural funding, with Germany as one of the main net contributors. In 1990, Ireland, as holder of the presidency of the Council of the European Communities, now the Council of the European Union, actively supported the completion of German reunification.

In 1999, the euro was introduced in Ireland as a digital currency, followed by cash in 2002. The joint membership of Ireland and Germany in the European Union has made relations between both states intensifiy in recent decades. In 2011, the publication of plans by the Irish government to increase value-added tax in the German Bundestag, before the plans had been communicated in Ireland itself, caused disgruntlement in Ireland. That was painfully perceived by many Irish as a loss of sovereignty by Ireland in the context of the Irish debt crisis toward of the European Union, especially Germany.[5]

Overview

See also

References

  1. ↑ Jason Michael (May 6, 2011). "Irish-German relations 'excellent'". The Irish Times.
  2. ↑ Rebitsch, Robert (2010). Wallenstein: Biografie eines Machtmenschen (in German). Böhlau. ISBN 978-3-205-78583-5.
  3. ↑ John Hennig: Irish Soldiers in the Thirty Years War, in: The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Bd. 82,1 (1952), pp. 28–36.
  4. ↑ "Irland und Deutschland - eine ungetrübte Freundschaft - News". 2012-01-11. Archived from the original on 2012-01-11. Retrieved 2022-12-26.
  5. ↑ "Pläne für Steuererhöhungen: Irland empört sich über deutsches Datenleck". Der Spiegel (in German). 2011-11-18. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2022-12-26.
  6. ↑ "German embassy in Dublin". Dublin.diplo.de. Archived from the original on 2006-11-15. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
  7. ↑ "Irish embassy in Berlin". Embassyofireland.de. 13 December 2009. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
  8. ↑ "CSO Emigration" (PDF). Census Office Ireland. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
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