Hey there world

Germany – land of mountains and water, Goethe and Schiller, East and West, history and Gemütlichkeit.

This month Hey there world features Germany.

Since I am originally German, this is the culture I probably know most about. Nevertheless, I have to say – during the time of investigation and writing I have realized that there are so many things you never consider which truly reflect the German culture and I am going to try to introduce you to some of them.

So much to say about Germany and so little time – so let´s get going.

Official name: Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) since May 23rd, 1949

Political system: federal, parliamentary, representative democratic republic

Capital: Berlin since 1990

States: 16 states (Bundesländer) with each having its own state constitution

Size: around 360 000 square kilometers

Population: around 81 million

Language: German (+ very many different German dialects)

Currency: Euro

Anthem: Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit (“Unity and Justice and Freedom”) – one part of “Das Lied der Deutschen”

Famous Germans:

Classical music: Beethoven, Wagner, Richard Strauss, Brahms

Poetry and Literature: Goethe, Schiller, Fontane, Heine, Mann, Hesse, Brecht, Kästner

Philosophers: Schopenhauer, Hegel, Kant, Nietzsche

Inventions: Did you know that these are all from Germans:

Some more stuff about Germany:

– Apart from Russia, Germany is the country in Europe with the highest population

– Beer…. after the Czech, Germans come second in the highest consumption of beer in the world

– around 7,5 million Germans are non-German descent (first and second generation)

– Although rumors say it is not … Haribo is a German brand (it is the abbreviation for Harald Riegel Bonn)

– Angela Merkel was the first woman becoming chancellor

– Germany has over 300 different kinds of bread

 

Well – that´s a little introduction to Germany.

Anything you did´t know or what surprises you? Share in the comments!