50 years of membership in the UN
Since joining the alliance in 1973, Germany has evolved to become one of the biggest donors to and supporters of the United Nations.
2023 saw Germany celebrate the anniversary of one of the most important events in the history of the Federal Republic: The country joined the United Nations (UN) 50 years ago. The UN had already been founded on 24 October 1945, just months after the end of the Second World War. 51 states had joined forces in order “to maintain international peace and security,” as stated in Article 1 of the Charta of the United Nations. Wars such as the First and Second World Wars were to be prevented in future. Yet it was inconceivable that the country that had begun the Second World War in Europe should be allowed to join the new alliance immediately.
This step then became possible in 1973: 28 years after the war had ended, the Federal Republic of Germany and the then German Democratic Republic (GDR) joined the UN. At the time, West German Foreign Minister Walter Scheel set out basic principles that still guide Germany’s international relations to this day: “You will always find us there when international cooperation, the preservation of peace and human rights are at stake.”
In 2023, the long since reunited Germany celebrated this accession in New York, where the United Nations is headquartered, as well as in the Federal City of Bonn, Germany’s “UN city”, which is home to around two dozen UN organisations. Germany has meanwhile become one of the most influential member states. Contributing around 6.7 billion euros in 2021, it is also the second-largest donor to the UN. Germany not only contributes money, however; it is also directly involved in numerous UN missions.
Germany also sees itself as having a particular obligation in its work in the United Nations on account of its history: the millions murdered in the Holocaust and the fact that it was to blame for the two World Wars give rise to a clear responsibility to promote a peaceful international community. In this context, it pursues a multilateral approach that is intended to encourage ideally all UN member states to act collectively. Another key element of German foreign policy is the joint international battle against climate change, the impacts of which pose a risk to peaceful and just coexistence.
Read everything you need to know about Germany’s role in the UN.
