From medieval times until today Germany has been a cocktail of very different peoples and cultural groups. The components of the 'cocktail' have changed, but not Germany's character as such. The many cultural divides have often led to conflict, once even to genocide, but surprisingly often cooperation, or at least peaceful coexistence, has been the characteristic feature. Against the background of a graphic historical survey the author analyzes the factors which have made cooperation possible, or conversely, have produced conflicts.

The Germans of today are the descendants of Celts, Romans, Saxons, Franks, Alaman, Poles, Mazurians, Sorbs, Kashubians, Pomoranians, Obodrites, Polabians, Czechs, Frenchmen, Italians, Croats, Turks and many more. Numerous cultural divides, for instance the cleavage between Protestants and Catholics, have crossed Germany, and many do so today. Often in history the cultural divides have produced harsh conflicts, once even genocide, but in most cases the various groups have successfully cooperated, or at least peacefully coexisted side by side, in spite of their differences. Wolfgang Zank gives a graphic account of the German experiences on this field, good and bad ones, and analyzes the mechanisms which in different times have allowed for cooperation or, conversely, have produced conflicts. He builds his presentation upon a wide range of academic historical research and integrates it into an innovative framework of conflict sociology.