Germany–Qatar relations
By January 1973, just two years after Qatar gained its independence, Germany was among the eighteen countries that Qatar appointed an ambassador to. Qatar has had an embassy in Berlin since 2005. It is headed by Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani as of 2017. Germany has an embassy in Doha, which is headed by Hans-Udo Muzel as of 2017. In 1999, sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani visited Germany, marking the first time the Qatari leadership made an official visit to the country. President of Germany Johannes Rau paid a visit to Qatar in 2001, and in 2002 Sigmar Gabriel, the Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, also visited Qatar. The first German chancellor to travel to Qatar on an official capacity was Gerhard Schröder, who did so in 2005. During his visit, the two countries signed a security agreement. Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani visited Angela Merkel in September 2017 to discuss the 2017 Qatari diplomatic crisis. Merkel expressed "great concerns" over the dispute and the absence of any immediately foreseeable resolution. In August 2014, Gerd Müller, German Minister of Development, alleged that Qatar was funding ISIS militants. Following the comments, Germany said that it "regrets" the remarks made by Müller, and that it did not wish for any misunderstandings. One day after Germany commented on the minister's statements, Qatar denounced ISIS and claimed that it does not provide funding of any kind. On 6 June 2017, German FM Sigmar Gabriel condemned the Saudi-led boycott of Qatar. In July, he called on the blockading countries to respect Qatar's rights as a sovereign nation, and applauded its prudence in responding to the blockade. In April 2013, Qatar signed a $2.5 billion deal with German defense company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann to purchase 62 Leopard tanks. Almost half of the tanks had been delivered to Qatar by October 2016. In early 2019 Germany announced that it had approved the sale of the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) weapon system to Qatar. The deal was criticized by opposition lawmakers citing ongoing human rights concerns in the Persian Gulf region. Announcement of the deal came amidst a freeze on German weapons sales to Saudi Arabia in the wake of the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi. Qatar has made large-scale investments in some of Germany's most prominent companies, including Volkswagen, Siemens and Deutsche Bank.
The Qatar German Business Forum was inaugurated in 2000, and a joint economic commission between the two countries was set up in 2007. In 2015, Germany accounted for 7.3% of Qatar's foreign trade volume. Qatar's main export to Germany is liquefied natural gas. Germany's main exports to Qatar are motor vehicles and machinery. The Qatar Germany 2017 Year of Culture was an initiative organized by Qatar Museums Authority to enhance cultural ties between Qatar and Germany. The first joint event was a performance by the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, which was directed by German conductor David Niemann. They played both German and Qatari music at the Katara Opera House.
Diplomatic relations
Germany–Qatar relations are the bilateral relations between Germany and the State of Qatar.