Germany and Azerbaijan have enjoyed good bilateral relations since 1992. Azerbaijan is Germany’s principal economic partner in the Caucasus. Germany’s only Chamber of Commerce Abroad in the region is based in Baku. Azerbaijan is one of Germany’s ten most important suppliers of crude oil. The key exports from Germany are machinery, motor vehicles and components, iron and steel products, and production facilities.

In western Azerbaijan (Goygol, Shemkir), numerous historic buildings are a reminder that Swabian immigrants settled there from 1818/19 onwards. A cornerstone of cultural relations is the German-Azerbaijani Cultural Association, which runs the Kapellhaus (Chapel House) meeting centre in Baku. A Goethe-Zentrum opened in Baku in December 2017 and has made a major contribution to cultural exchange between the two countries since then.

German is taught at many schools and several universities. The Goethe-Institut Tbilisi (Georgia) carries out language work in Baku thanks to cooperation with and support from the Language Training Centre. The German Academic Exchange Service awards a large number of scholarships each year and works to promote academic exchange. It has an Information Centre (IC) at its regional office in Tbilisi. Many partnerships have been set up between universities and academic institutions in the two countries.

There is an active town twinning programme between Sumqayit and Ludwigshafen and another between Baku and Mainz.