The analysis of the noun phrase as a determiner phrase, a functional projection of the determiner, permits a more accurate description of various phenomena of noun phrase syntax. The present volume takes a look at German with a view to providing new impulses for DP analysis by examining constituent shift within DPs and in positions external to the DP. Constraints such as complex noun-phrase constraint or nominative island condition are traced to the interplay between barriers in Chomsky's sense of the term and the DP structure, thus providing an explanation for shift options and movement constraints operative in German.