The Empire went up and down through the ages, and gradually began to lose large amounts of land as new Empires started to gain power. 

In 1870 Germany saw the threats of these other nations growing around them. With the French on their border, the English looking down on them, the Russians making a name for themselves and Austria out for blood, it came down to uniting or being taken apart piece-by-piece. Otto von Bismarck realized the importance of having a Prussian dominated Germany. In 1871 his dream was realized as a unified Germany became an official state for the first time. (Ozment, 2005 pg 212)
Germany has since gone through major changes but currently holds an important place in the European world. When Greece began to experience growing financial instability, Germany approved a controversial bill which gave Greece 110 billion euros in loans over the next three years. (Washington Times, 2010) 

Germany is greatly involved in world politics as a whole. It is a member of NATO, The United Nations, as well as the Council of Europe. It is involved with the G8 – which it hosted 5 times – and the G20 summits. 

Germany recently made monumental steps against nuclear energy. Chancellor Angela Merkel claimed that “[Germany has] the chance to become the first industrialized nation to switch over to the electricity of the future” by disabling all of its nuclear power plants by 2022. (Bundesregierung, 2011) 

The main exports of Germany are metals, and automobiles. With more than 1.3 trillion dollars in exports this past year (a 16.77% increase since last year, and nearly a trillion dollars more than in 2003) the German export market continues to increasingly grow despite foreign markets struggling. (IndexMundi, 2010) 
In order to discuss the size and shape of Germany, one has to decide what you consider Germany. Throughout this essay I've discussed the history and prehistory of Germany and how much it has changed. Therefore I find it vital to begin there again in terms of the geography. Germania as a whole covered a vast area. It generally signified the regions which were unconquered by the Romans. From the Rhine river to the North and Baltic seas and far into modern day Russia, the region was something grand. However, size does not always count. Despite it being such a large region, it was not one united group, or nation but various small, nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes often at war with each other. 

As the Frankish Empire began to grow out of the area between the Rhine and Meuse rivers, it quickly began to expand. In 481 it held Austrasia, a region which currently consists of Aachen, Köln, parts of France and The Netherlands. Clovis I went on to conquer what is now France but was part of the Frankish Empire at that point. After Clovis came the conquests of Burgundy, and Gascony in the 530's. Charlemagne brought it to the greatest extent as he brought in Bavaria, Italy, and Upper Saxony to the empire. 