Which came first, Germany or the Statue of Liberty?

Germany came first, by 15 years. The German Empire was proclaimed at Versailles.

Side by side

Germany

Germany as a unified state dates from 1871, which makes it younger than the United States, Canada, Italy and the bicycle. It then ceased to exist as a single state in 1949 and was reunified on 3 October 1990, so the current Federal Republic in its present borders is younger than the personal computer. Nintendo, founded in 1889, is older than most people's mental image of Germany allows.

the Statue of Liberty

Dedicated in October 1886, the statue predates the Eiffel Tower by two and a half years — and its internal iron framework was designed by Gustave Eiffel, who went on to use what he learned on the tower. It arrived from France in 214 crates and the American side had to raise the money for the pedestal by public subscription, which nearly failed. The copper skin is about 2.4 mm thick, roughly the thickness of two pennies.