Shadowrun History - Germany

((More about the individual cities/places you might have been from after I sleep. This is just to get you started thinking about the place you've grown up in))

Germany suffered through some of the worst catastrophes of the 20th century, and has endured in it's unique way. To get it all started at the turn of the century, old soviet dumps in Eastern Germany began leaking into the North sea. Utterly poisoning the water along the vital crop region.

The nuclear power plant of Cattenom in Lorraine, France suffered catastrophic failure of it's cooling system, and exploded - sending up a cloud of radiation over several French and German provinces. The two nations were forced to evacuate the province of Lorraine, the entire Saarland and the nation of Luxembourg. This region is now a massive quarantine known as the SOX administrative area.

The military was forced to impose martial law in 2009 after the Bavarian state attempted to seeceed in protest over the economic drain from the SOX refugees.

The first VITAS plague swept through here, as it had else where – but 2011 also brought with it the worst winter storms on record. Destroying many levees that held back the North Sea. Vast swaths of the Low Land countries were covered in a sludge that made the land uninhabitable, and tainted water pushed up the Elba.

The awakening shook everything up further. Four Great Dragons are confirmed to have appeared in Germany during the Awakening. Lofwyr, Nebelherr, Kaltenstein and Feuerschwinge – although only Nebelherr is known to lair in Germany to this day.

The aforementioned pollution of the North Sea lead to more serious magical issue in the Awakening. Toxic spirits began to arise in the area and threaten freight shipping, forcing many companies to become completely automated or cease shipping through the North Sea entirely.

Continue rebellion in Berlin, combined with race riots and a second VITAS plague forced the government to relocate the seat of power to Hannover in 2022. Berlin would continue to descend further into near-anarchy over the next several years, the '29 computer crash destroying the local economy and bringing many survivors under the umbrella of multinationals.

The Euro-Wars and battles against Turkey in the Balkans through 2030-2035 briefly united the country, but Germany also suffered the brunt of political and metahuman refugees escaping the Russian front and Middle East.

The Euro-Wars and lax gun laws also accelerated the internal tension in the nation. The Autobahn was evolving into a battlefield for go-gangs and riggers, with both groups using borders to abuse the lack of cooperation between police forces. In 2038, the southern Germany states finally seceded and formed the Southern German Federation (SGF), establishing its capital in Munich – under control of the conservative and insuler Bavarian People's Party.

The Night of Rage caused few deaths in either state, although the violence elsewhere in the world sparked more riots in Berlin. But, little changed either way for metahumans – no region had yet to acknowledge metahuman equality. The conservative SGF went so far as maintaining repressive measures against the Awakened based on “reasons of public health” well into the 40's.

A brief attempt by the South German Lander in 2042 to herd its metahumans into camps was met with fierce resistance (including volcanic eruptions along the Eifel Mountain chain) – causing the SGF to quickly shelve it's eugenic plan and grant citizenship to metas. However, most metas did not stick around to see if the laws would be enforced. South German dwarves emigrated to the Eifel and Hunsruck hill regions, while the orks and trolls took to the near-inaccessible valleys of the Black Forest.

2043, the Troll/Ork kingdom of the Black Forest declared itself independent from the Federal Republic, establishing it's capital at Freiburg. Likewise the dwarves who had migrated to Eifel and Hunsruck announced the formation of the Grand-Duchy of Westrhine-Luxembourg. SPG made several attempts to regain the territory – but after your second battalion gets eaten by Nature Spirits, its time to give up.

A failed attempt by SPG to break the monopoly of the foreign megacorps by turning the matrix off (yes, it's as dumb as it sounds) forced the entire German region into a economic and constitutional crisis. But after some significant shake-ups in leadership, the new Allied German States was formed. A very loose confederation of the southern and northern provences, the new Troll and Dwarven kingdoms, the Elven Duchy of Pomorya and the Free City of Berlin.

The Arkoblock openings on the devastated North Sea region began to see the first signs of recoery in ages. Also in 2041, significant progress was made on the Baltic Sea when the now-elven Duchy of Pomorya used a combination of bio-bacteria and magical support to revitalize it.

Things are finally, maybe, looking up for Germany - but how long does that last in Shadowrun?

Major German States and Urban Areas.

These are the places your character could be from, or could possibly have an interest in if you were in the area.

Berlin Free State.

Once the heart of the German federation, the city rose up in full rebellion against the military leadership in 2015 – riots, rallies and gangs took the streets, forcing the military to wall off the city entirely and declare it an exclusion zone to keep the chaos contained. Only military-approved traffic by the bullet trains and airports was allowed in or out of the city. This near-chaos and fighting with the government persisted for nearly forty years, out lasting the martial law. During the confederation, it was at last declared it's own state and remains the one and only true Anarchist state in the world. It is one of the most popular places in Europe for smugglers, Shadowrunners and all manner of otherwise illegal and illicit activity.

Bavaria Provence – Capital: Munich

Southern state, with both a very high industrial sector (primarily aerospace and automotive) and rural areas. A place steeped in traditional German values, of which pointy ears and tusks aren't particularly welcome.

The Black Forest – Capital: Freiburg

The free troll and ork kingdom is very sparsely populated still, relying mainly on light manufacture and agriculture. It has held it's own thus far from attempts by neighbors to regain the territory, and exists as a feudal monarchy, ruled by Berthold I.

Wurttemberg Provence – Capital: Stuttgart

One of the southern state, it boats heavy agriculture and some cybertech manufacture – and also a near police state level of control over the social aspects. “Moral Re-education” campaigns against BTL's and 'social ills' are common, and religious groups like the Knights of Christ are very powerful.

Greater Frankfurt Metroplex.

Made it's own state in the German reformation, this area is very densely urban. A hotbed of corp influence, biotech and neuochem R&D – local runners call it the AGChem Sprawl because the local government won't sneeze without permission from local corp AGChem.

Frankfurt's Hiedelberg district is one of Europe's premier centers of Hermetic magic, alchemy, and corporations dealing with either of the above.

Grand Duchy of Westrhine-Luxemburg – Capital: Neuenahr.

Although home to the vast majority of Germany's dwarves, this region is still sparsely populated compared to the metroplexes. The region is very popular with both mages and shaman, particularly the sites of the old volcanic eruptions and the forested regions of Hunsruck. Spas in the region contribute to light tourism, and Dwarven businesses and craftsman are settling into the region.

Nominally a constitutional monarchy, electronic voting machines are used to allow the populace to vote directly on various issues.

Northrhine-Ruhr Metrosprawl

This is the largest urban sprawl in Europe, holding 25 million people (at best count). You've got everything here – high tech enclaves, magical dens, abandoned industrial sites, prohibited areas, ecological reserves, maglev trains, gangs and smog. Sin, crime and villainy second only to Berlin.

Duchy of Pomorya – Capital: Sassnitz

The Elven population of Germany took over the lands along the Baltic coast and founded one of the smaller kingdoms in the new confederation. The residents have placed full work behind revitalizing the area and cleaning the Baltic spills. Successes in recent years have allowed the Elven kingdom to obtain self-reliance in both basic necessities and energy.