Germany: Facts & Stats

CULTURE

Traditions:

There are some traits historically associated with Germany and its people: cleanliness, order, efficiency, and industry. Germans often refer to their country as "das Land der Dichter und Denker", the land of poets and thinkers. Even today, there are strong regional differences between parts of Germany with varying histories and geographies. Bavaria, in particular, has its own way of life and value systems.

Celebrations:

Germany is a country full of traditions and festivals, all year around you will find a possibility to have fun with the public festivities.

In January there are few events being the most important the Three Hallowed Kings festivity.

February is the month of Carnival (Fasching), in almost every Germany’s city there are many big parties and parades. Although it is true that some carnivals are celebrated in November 11, the real festivities start in February. The most popular cities where carnival is celebrated are Aachen, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Mainz, Munich or Muenster.

March is the beginning of the spring and the end of the winter, so there are many festivals and events. There is a festival made for kids and why not the whole family, we are talking about the Berlin’s Spandau Spring Festival; there are roller coasters, rides, food stands and fireworks exhibitions. In Munich is celebrated the Strong Beer weeks, a traditional beer is brewed for this occasion. The beer has to contain about 6.5% alcohol; from there comes its fame of “Strong Beer”.

In April, the most important festivals are relative to the spring. In Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich there are many spring fairs, meanwhile Dresden is home to the FilmFest and the International Dance week. But the most important celebration in this month is Easter; it is celebrated 46 days after Ash Wednesday. Germany has many traditions in this festivity like the Easter egg beautifully decorated, paschal lamb, paschal bunny and Easter fires among others.

May is full of annual events, spring and summer festivals and many music festivals. In this month Germany is really beautiful, full of color and interesting places to visit. The most important events are the Munich Spring festival, the Bodensee Festival on Lake Constance in Friedrichshafen, the Dresden Music Festival and the Asparagus Festival in Darmstadt.

Germany’s June festivals include music festivals and sport events. The most important musical festivals are the massive Rock am Ring and Rock am Park and the festival of classical music in Dresden. In this month, the biggest sailing event of the world is the most popular sport event; about 3.5 million people arrive to Keil and enjoy this event.

July is also time of musical festivals, many of them free such as the Rheinkultur Bonn, Schlagermove pop music festival, Zeltfestival in Hamburg and the Das fest in Karlsruhe. This month is also famous for its summer and wine festivals.

August is popular for beer festivals, wine festivals and theatre festivals. In the regions of Mosel and Rhine, the wine festivals are the favorites for visitors. The cities of Stuttgart, Hamburg, Mainz, Frankfurt or Aachen don’t stay behind; these are famous destinations for beer fans. One of the most important festivals in this month is the Berlin Beer Festival, is like the Oktoberfest but in a different location.

In September the wine, beer and music festivals continue. The most attractive music festivals are the Beethoven Festival in Bonn, the Alstadt Autumn Festival in Dusseldorf, Berlin Musicfest and the Potsdam Jazz Festival. In the last days of September, the Oktoberfest begins in Munich; this is one of the most famous festivals of Germany. Many people arrive to the city just to try the delicious beers especially made for this occasion. The Oktoberfest ends in early October.

In November and December the Christmas markets appear, doesn’t matter the German city where you are, there is always a Christmas market. There you will find good ideas for Christmas gifts. One of the most famous markets is in Nuremberg.

Alcohol:

Beer is very common throughout all parts of Germany, with many local and regional breweries producing a wide variety of superb beers. Beer is generally not as expensive as in other countries and is of excellent quality.

Wine is also popular throughout the country. German wine comes predominantly from the areas along the upper and middle Rhine and its tributaries. Riesling and Silvaner are among the best-known varieties of white wine, while Spätburgunder and Dornfelder are important German red wines. The sweet German wines sold in English speaking countries seem mostly to cater to the foreign market, as they are rare in Germany.

Korn is a German spirit made from malt (wheat, rye and/or barley), that is consumed predominantly in the middle and northern parts of Germany. Obstler on the other hand, distilled from apples and pears ("Obstler"), plums, cherries (Kirschwasser), or mirabelle plums, is preferred in the southern parts. The term Schnaps refers to both kinds of hard liquors.

You can drink in germany at 16 as long as it is non-strong alcohol like beer and wine. For the higher alcohol levels like vodka and rum, it is 18. In some parts of germany if you can see over the bar then you can drink

Sports and Hobbies:

Sport forms an integral part of German life, as demonstrated by the fact that 27 million Germans are members of a sports club and an additional twelve million pursue such an activity individually.

Football is by far the most popular sport, and the German Football Federation (Deutscher Fußballbund) with more than 6.3 million members is the largest athletic organisation in the country. It also attracts the greatest audience, with hundreds of thousands of spectators attending Bundesliga matches and millions more watching on television.

The other two most popular sports in Germany are marksmanship and tennis represented by the German Marksmen’s Federation and the German Tennis Federation respectively, both including more than a million members. Other popular sports include handball, volleyball, basketball, and ice hockey.

Germany has historically been one of the strongest contenders in the Olympic Games. In the 2008 Summer Olympics, Germany finished fifth overall, whereas in the 2006 Winter Olympics Germany finished first.

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