Germany

"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing."

- Captain America to Loki

Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in west-central Europe. The country consists of 16 states, and its capital and largest city is Berlin.

Rise of Adolf Hitler
"So many people forget that the first country the Nazis invaded was their own. You know, after the last war, they... My people struggled. They... they felt weak... they felt small. Then Hitler comes along with the marching, and the big show, and the flags, and the, and the..."

- Abraham Erskine to Steve Rogers

The devastation caused by greatly destabilized Europe. Adolf Hitler managed to raise to power given the political and economic instability in Germany, and a lingering resentment over the terms imposed by the following the Great War.

Deutsches Opernhaus
In February 1934, Adolf Hitler attended a representation of 's opera  at the Deutsches Opernhaus in Berlin, with all the audience waiting to see Hitler's reactions before applauding the performance.

During the ensuing gala dinner, Hitler praised some aspects of the play that linked to his own line of thought, such as celebrating the purity of blood that must be safeguarded, while constructing a new aristocracy based on it.

Johann Schmidt, a university researcher in the field of physics, interrupted Hitler saying that the old ways shouldn't be disposed, as they could prove to be more than they appeared. After apologizing, Schmidt revealed that Wagner's music had influenced his work just as it "inspired" Hitler to set Germany back on a path of greatness.

Hitler asked for the link between Wagner and physics, and Schmidt answered that the "magic" from the that Wagner adapted into his operas could simply be the oldest science ever known. Intrigued by Schmidt's ideas, Hitler asked Ernst Kaufmann to arrange a lunch between Hitler and Schmidt to discuss the ideas.

Schmidt asked Kaufmann, leader of the special weapons division, to continue his research in his division, but Kaufmann, displeased with Schmidt's interruption, was threatened and warned not to come near Hitler again. However, Heinrich Himmler, head of the Schutzstaffel, overheard Schmidt's theories, and took him under his wing.

Night of the Long Knives
The 30th of June, 1934, Ernst Kaufmann and other leaders of the Sturmabteilung were hosted at the Hanselbauer Hotel in Bad Wiessee. In order to gain support from the German Army for his regime, Adolf Hitler ordered the assassinations of all higher officers of the SA, in a purge that later became known as the.

Johann Schmidt, having become Heinrich Himmler's protege, told Kauffmann that the only way the German Army would support Hitler's regime was if Kaufmann's stormtroopers were eliminated, and as Himmler and the Schutzstaffel shared Schmidt's interest in the old ways, Schmidt would take leadership of Kaufmann's weapons program.

Schmidt assasinated Kaufmann throwing a knife to his throat as the other leaders ot the Sturmabteilung were killed.

Takeover
In June, 1934, Johann Schmidt led a takeover in the SA Weapons Testing Ground in Kummersdorf, where troops loyal to Ernst Kaufmann and the Sturmabteilung shoot the members of the Schutzstaffel on sight, as they hadn't received orders of that the Sturmabteilung was dismantled following the.

As the troops had been handpicked by Kaufmann and were loyal to him to the death, Schmidt decided to kill all the soldiers in the facility. He came across scientist Arnim Zola, who was working on developing an Exo-skeleton battle armor, to make a soldier stronger.

On the other hand, Schmidt wanted to transform soldiers themselves into weapons, and he informed Zola that all his budget was going to be rerouted for that project, something Zola, fearing for his life, agreed.

Nuremberg Laws
The 14th of September, 1935, Doctor Abraham Erskine, his wife Greta, and their sons Klaus and Marlene, boarded a train to Geneva in hopes of avoiding a group of anti-semitic laws known as that Adolf Hitler would approve the following day in Nuremberg.

Upon arriving to the German/Swiss border, the train was stopped by Johann Schmidt. Schmidt's troops began looking for Erskine, and, although his wife plead him not to, Erskine turned himself in to avoid other people suffering because of him.

Erskine was taken to Schmidt's presence, where they discussed Erksine's attempt to leave the country at the last time, given his research at the university went so well he was reluctant to leave it. Schmidt had been monitoring Erskine progress in a project that increased the molecular density of cellular fibers through synthetic proteins of his own devising. However, a warning of the announce of laws against jews that would happen in Nuremberg, and given his own jewish heritage, made Erskine decide to leave the country for the well-being of his family.

Schmidt disregarded the purpose of those laws, as he was not interested in Nazi ideology, and his only goal was to create an actual "superior man" that would be a race unto himself. For that goal, he coerced Erskine into helping him, but threatening the lives of his wife and sons, that were sent to a in Dachau.

Beginning of the War
In 1939, Adolf Hitler began a conflict later denominated World War II, with the intention of creating a German Empire that would last for a thousand years. Germany was considered the center of Axis powers after the official outbreak of the war, with its capital, Berlin, housing the headquarters of the Nazi Third Reich government, the German Armed Forces and the Schutzstaffel.

Birth of the Red Skull
By 1940, Johann Schmidt had moved to Ernst Kaufmann's castle, now abandoned after Kaufmann was murdered by Schmidt during the.

Schmidt tested Abraham Erskine's Super Soldier Serum upon himself, and spent the following two days secluded in a room suffering the side effects of the serum as, according to Erskine, the serum was not ready yet. Schmidt' maiden, Eva, tried to bring food to Schmidt, who angrily threw a wardrobe against the door in a feat of the strength granted by the serum, demanding to be alone to contemplate the meaning of his fate.

In the dungeons, Arnim Zola visited a chained Erskine, to announce that the failure of the "Übermensch" soldier program would grant Zola an opportunity to provide a technological alternative for Schmidt's goals. Erskine answered that it wasn't the serum who failed, as Schmidt was the one who failed at being human. Zola mocked that the disfigurement inflicted upon Schmidt would result in an order of execution against Erskine, and against his family held in Dachau.

Eva came looking for Zola, as the dinner was served, and all the dinner guests fell unconscious, Zola included. Eva seized the opportunity to free Erskine, revealing herself as agent Peggy Carter of the British Secret Intelligence.

Carter cleared the path killing some of the men that didn't were unconscious. Erskine asked to free his family from the concentration camp in Dachau, but Carter informed him that his family died in 1937, in a typhus outbreak that killed thousands of inmates. Schmidt never informed Erskine of the deaths to continue using the family as leverage.

Erskine, enraged, tried to kill Schmidt in revenge for the deaths of his wife and sons, but Carter convinced him that the best way to get revenge on Schmidt and HYDRA was to take his serum to the Allies, as Schmidt's strength was now unbelievable, and a direct confrontation would result in a meaningless death.

Erskine and Carter ascended to the roof of the castle, where a plane extracted them. Colonel Chester Phillips and Howard Stark greeted Erskine and welcomed him to join the Strategic Scientific Reserve.

HYDRA Desertion
In March 1942, Johann Schmidt and his HYDRA division went rogue, separating themselves from the Nazi regime and intended to nuke the capitals of all countries that resist his conquest, including Berlin, even though by that time, German troops had conquered many countries in Europe.

The Sleeper
In 1944, in Castle Zemo in the mountains of Bavaria, Johann Schmidt attempted to activate the Sleeper, a giant robotic war machine, an attempt thwarted by Captain America, the only succesful test subject of Project Rebirth.

End of the War
In May 1945, Germany was defeated by the Allied forces of the United States and the United Kingdom.

Gorani Insurance
"Beautiful country, here. You should see it."

- Tony Stark to Pepper Potts

Tony Stark came to Germany for a business meeting with the representatives of Gorani Insurance, a company which backed most of his foreign factories, in order to negotiate new rates for their insurance policies.

While he was driving his Audi through the Autobahn, Stark encountered a road blockade. The police was searching for thieves who stole impressionist paintings worth over a hundred million dollars from the Maltese Museum, and they had to check all cars, including Stark's, finding a Repulsor Gauntlet for his new armor, and delaying him long enough to worry Pepper Potts on the other side of the phone.

Stark next encountered a beautiful woman, helping her to change a flat tire on her car. Though he asked her for her phone number, she didn't give it to him, instead prompting him to wait until fate brought them back together.

Upon returning to his car, Stark came across the a lair of thieves who stole the paintings, recognizing the red SUV described by the police. He got close to investigate, finding the paintings, but the thieves opened fired in order to make him flee. Though he wasn't carrying the whole Iron Man armor, he had still had the Repulsor Gauntlet in his trunk, and he used it to attack and capture all thieves.

One hour later, Stark arrived at the meeting with the represenatatives of Gorani Insurance, where once again encountered the woman he met of the highway, and discovered that she is Evetta Gorani, the vice president of the company. The president, Michael Gorani congratulated Stark for the recovery of the paintings, saving them over one hundred million dollars. In light of the events, Gorani assured that Stark would find the new rates for Stark Industries quite pleasing, while Stark was more worried about obtaining Evetta Gorani's phone number.

Loki's Arrival on Earth
Loki traveled to the city of Stuttgart in Germany, to find Heinrich Schafer, a scientist with access to a warehouse containing Iridium, an element Erik Selvig needed to stabilize the interdimensional portals created by the Tesseract.

Loki attended a gala where Schafer went as a guest, and personally attacked him to create a diversion while Clint Barton raided the secure installation where Iridium was contained. Loki used a device to transport Schafer's eye to Barton's location, and open the warehouse using the eye to pass a retina scanner.

The other guests, frightened for the attack, came out to the streets, trying to escape from Loki, but he surrounded them with a series of illusions of himself. Loki demanded the crowd to kneel before him, as man's only purpose was to be governed

A single man challenged him and his intentions, telling him that there have always been men like him. Loki prepared to kill the man as an example, but his attack was deflected by Captain America, sent by S.H.I.E.L.D. after having located Loki at Stuttgart.

Captain America challenged Loki, supported by a Quinjet piloted by Black Widow, who ordered Loki to surrender. Captain America fought Loki to allow the crowd to escape, but Loki proved to be superior to Rogers, barely being able to hold against Loki.

Iron Man arrived and knocked Loki down with a single shot, threatening him to fire with all his weapons if he dared to to make a wrong move. Outnumbered, Loki allowed himself to be captured, secretly plotting to use this to his advantage.

Trivia

 * Captain America: The Winter Soldier was released in Germany under the title Captain America: The Return of the First Avenger.