Outlines of the public research in Germany

With a budget around 59 billion euros in 2006, the R & D in Germany is largely funded by industry. 

Furthermore, the country includes some 750 units of public research financed by the Bund and the Länder and 383 Higher Education institutions. 

Some extra-university research organizations have a joint funding – Federal State and Länder - as for example, the Max Planck Society (MPG).
 
German Research is also funded by agencies and foundations as the DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst) and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH). 

You will find all the above information and more in the report "Les grandes lignes de la recherche publique en Allemagne" (only available in French), published in May 2008 by the Science and Technology Department of the French Embassy in Germany.