Kiez?!? What is it? ….  An area in Wuppertal? A special type of house? A boutique?

Nope – it is a word describing or rather replacing the word neighborhood. An area in a bigger city that might seem like a small little village. Your hood. The word has its origin in Berlin and here it is still used a lot.

What defines a Kiez is its people. It is not depending on city boundaries or officials announcing a new Kiez.

Hamburg has probably the most famous Kiez in Germany. The Reeperbahn – the red light and night life district. People mainly refer to it as “the Kiez”.

It is a positive word – I would say … at least when you live in the right Kiez.

There are even several songs praising the Kiez. Udo Lindenberg – a very famous German singer and artist – together with Jan Delay sing a little hymn to their Kiez – the Reeperbahn.

What is the best thing about your Kiez?

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There are also great ones out there that sing in English and some of them are maybe even known outside of the German speaking area.

Beatsteakes and Leslie Clio, Fury in the Slaughterhouse and Fiddler´s Green – just to name a few. 4 German bands with very different styles…. give it a go!

Surprised? What do you think about German music?

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Never  hear about St. Martin?

Martin of Tours was a French Roman soldier who later on became bishop. He is most famous for his cutting of the cloak in half to share with a beggar on a cold winter evening.

In memory of him hiding from becoming a bishop in the goose pen and being betrayed by the sound of the geese, people share a goose with friends or family the night of the 11^th. In the really old days people started a 40 day long fasting period the day after this feast. This period was shortened later on by the church and is now known as Advent – the 24 days leading up to Christmas eve.

From being a French tradition it spread all over Europe and is well known and celebrated in most countries.

In Germany most kindergarten or school classes have a little lantern procession on the 11th or the night before – so today. For weeks they prepare lanterns and rehearse famous St. Martin´s songs. The most famous song is probably this one:

So why does she tell us today and not tomorrow, the 11^th ? … Well…. There is another fancy tradition coming up tomorrow, which I would like to introduce to you. And beside that. You might be inspired and spontaneously invite your family, friends or neighbors for a little feast. Bon appetite!

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1989 – a year of change for all Germans – not matter if you were from East or West. Many songs are connected to the fall of the wall. The Scorpions sang “Wind of Change”, Pink Floyed took “another brick in the wall” off the shelf and David Hasselhoff even claims some fame for his song “looking for freedom” playing a big part in the reunification. The song that I connect to November 1989 is “Freiheit” – freedom – from Marius-Müller Westernhagen.

When he wrote the song 3 years earlier, he was not thinking about the possibility of a re-united Germany. This song became one of the hymns of German reunification. For me it brings it to the point: At the end of the day – Freedom is the highest good and the only thing that counts … at least for me.

What song do you connect to the German reunification?

If you like to read some stories of people whose lives changes tremendously on this day, have a look at the interviews with 3 Ossis and 1 Wessi, Katja and Doreen.

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Oom-pah music, beer tent, Dirndl and Lederhosn.

Unfortunately this is not representing Germany. All those things very well describe Bavaria. Some part of Bavaria. The southern part.

I hope during one month of introducing different cultural aspects of Germany you will get a different picture of this very diverse country. But up to now we are still quite in the beginning of the months – therefore some stereotypes are of course allowed.

So here we go:

All people in Germany are like Bavarians….. Tell that to a person from Hamburg and the chance to become friends will very fast go down to zero.

Germany has all the same traditions. North and South – East and West.There are some quite significant differences. Carnival is the biggest event in the Cologne area. Try to call a business partner on “Faschingsmontag” – the Monday of the festivities. I would assume the chances of reaching anybody are quite low. In most other parts of Germany people might dress up a bit, but honestly, it is not the biggest event in Hamburg.

Everyone in Germany speaks the same language. German ≠ German. I have a friend in Berlin who just loooooves when I role the “r” the way we do it in the northern part of Bavaria. Little side note – the rolling “r” is not even the same in north and south Bavaria. And some people in Aachen would not understand what a person from Saxony with a strong accent tells them.

Roasted pork with dumplings is Germany´s national dish. Ah, nope. The north eats a lot of fish dishes (logic, since they have the sea right in front of their doorstep.) The south eats a lot of roasted pork and dumplings. Berlin is known for its Currywurst while the cuisine in the southwest is very much influenced by the French kitchen (again they are quite close to France).

Fashion = Dirndl and Lederhosn. If you would like to out yourself as a tourist, wear a Dirndl in Hamburg. You better not wear a Dirndl or Lederhosn outside of southern Germany – around Carnival times it is ok though. And even in Bavaria – again north and south differs here as well – not everybody has a Dirndl in their wardrobe. Coming from north Bavaria I got my first Dirndl when I moved to south Bavaria – Munich. It might be different nowadays, but back in the days running around in Dirndl was a definite no-go and considered really conservative – even strange – when you were under 65. There is by the way some great and quite famous German designers out there that you probably already know. Karl Lagerfeld, Bogner, Guido Maria Kretschmer, Wolfgang Joop to just name a few…. and you probably don´t know them for their Dirndls.

German music = oompah music. Yes – also. But again – Bavaria – in beer tents – at the Octoberfest. And even with the oompah music there are hugh differences. If you are not particularly into oompah music – try this one. LaBrassBanda. They are really cool and almost made it to the Eurovision Song Contest for Germany … but that´s another story.

Eventhough you thought you understand German you have not understood what this song is all about? Don´t worry – even as a native Bavarian (to be very specific Frankonian – which means I speak a very different language myself) I could not fully translate this song to you.

There are many more stereotypes on Germany and we will touch upon some more in later posts.

What stereotypes do you have about Germany?

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German – the language of poets like Goethe, Schiller and …. Herbert Grönemeyer.

Undoubtedly one of Germany´s best singers and songwriters – and modern poets. He mumbles a bit, he is not the best dancer, and his voice is not like Celine Dion´s – but what he sings about and what he expresses through his songs surely touches even the thickest icebergs.

Difficult to pick one song .. but I decided to go for “Der Weg”. He dedicated this song to his wife who died in 2002 of cancer – the same week as his brother did. This destiny made a whole nation suffer with him. It took him over a year to come back as an artist – but what he came back with was mindblowing. Eventhough you might not understand the lyrics, I hope you can feel the love expressed in this song.

So … what do you think about his music?

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