(1) Germany is a medium-sized coiuntry. With a population of over 80 million, it is the 15th largest in the world.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html
Also, a higher percentage of Germans work in manufacturing than for most other developed countries. About 22% of the German economy is manufacturing, where in the U.S. it is only 12%.
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/tables/10s1315.pdf
Compared with the U.S., in the period from 1995 to 2007, unit labor costs (dollar per unit of production) has dropped in both Germany and the U.S. but has dropped more in Germany:
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/tables/10s1317.pdf
Germany exports a much higher percentage of what it produces than does the U.S. (The U.S. actually manufacturers more than Germany. (The U.S. is #1 in the world, while Germany is #4) It just doesn't export as much)
http://investing.curiouscatblog.net/2008/09/23/top-manufacturing-countries-in-2007/
So one way to look at is that since it is a smaller country, it can't produce as many of the goods and services it needs as a larger country can. Also, unlike the U.S., it has to import essentially all its oil, most of its natural gas, etc. German imports are 33% of GDP, as compared with 14% for the U.S. and 8% for Japan.
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/eco_imp_rat_of_gdp-economy-imports-ratio-of-gdp
So, like Japan, and unlike the U.S., it has to have an export oriented economy - it has to sell things so that it can buy the things it needs. And it will do whatever it takes to produce the goods that the rest of the world will buy. After all, every country has comparative advantages.