Germany aka Deutschland, is a beautiful country with a long history, an ever-expanding economy and many intellectual thinkers! When I think of German culture and its influence around the world, I immediately think of Bavarian beer festivals and sausages, but I also think about the great impact Germany has had on European culture as a whole. From architecture, literature, religion and economic growth.
The main language spoken is German Deutsch, it is a West Germanic language and the 2nd most commonly spoken language in Europe. It is also the language in some parts of Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg and one of the main languages in Switzerland, although some differentiations are depending on location.
German people can sometimes be generalised as very ambitious, logical and sensible. They focus on the importance of building a sustainable life for themselves and value education, hard work and aspirations. German people are also private, who respect others privacy. They are polite in their approach and take manners quite seriously.
When it comes to marriage and family, Germany’s system is pretty similar to that of Brit’s, they have to get a marriage license, usually get married in a registry office and marriage in a Church is optional. All households in Germany receive suitable child support regardless of having a high income or not and maternity pay is full pay six weeks before and eight weeks after birth. They have a great healthcare system which many consider the best in Europe.
Within many of the families in Germany, there are traditional values that may have been passed down for religious reasons as well as social. The main religion practised in Germany is Christianity, which can be split into Protestant or Catholic depending on location, but there are many religions practised in Germany. In Germany, Christmas is celebrated on the 24th because the tradition is that Jesus was born near midnight on 24th, ahead of the celebration Midnight Mass.
There are many ways in which German people choose to spend their leisure time and games that they enjoy the most. They are known for enjoying their peaceful downtime though, and even have noise laws that mean instruments indoors cannot be played at certain times in the day for renters! Besides tranquillity, German’s love to spend their spare time watching TV, drinking their famous beer from Steins, making music, reading online, playing outdoor games, sunbathing, gardening, cycling and jogging. They especially love to play and watch football and as usual, people with more money prefer golf. Eisstockschiessen is one of Germany’s traditional sports, this is similar to shuffleboard that is played on ice. The players have to hit the block and try to get it as close to the ring as possible.
Now instead of shedding light on the German people and their values and interests, let’s dive into what it is they have created and what they offer in terms of representing themselves through their art, technology, science, economy, government and trade.
Art in Germany has been revolutionary time and time again. There are many things that we can thank Germans for when it comes to art and literature. Christmas traditions such as scriptures from the Bible and traditional Christmas decorations that we use in the UK were in fact from Germany. Bauhaus art and design, which started in 1919, is now what many architects and designers get their inspiration from. The style of Bauhaus is geometric and abstract, it primarily focuses on shapes and creating show stopping art with more simplistic but eye-catching designs in an array of colour palettes. Germany has always been so important to the development of art in European history and many of their famous people throughout time have been artists. They have been majorly influential through all of the main era’s, with a different style approach to each one of them, some other art styles that originated in Germany are; Landscape Art, Expressionism/Modern Art and Northern Mannerism. One of my personal favourites about Germany is their architecture and beautiful 9th-10th century castles, usually on the top of a cliff, towering heights and mystical looking. My favourite being Neuschwanstein Castle.
The largest political party with the most seats in parliament are the Christian Democratic Union, alongside the Christian Social Union and Social Democratic Party of Germany. Their current Federal President, Head of State is Frank Walter-Steinmeier, who is more ceremonial and status based compared to the Federal Chancellor, Angela Merkel who has what the UK would consider a Prime Minister role.
Science and technology in Germany are outstanding, they have made some of the most iconic scientific breakthroughs in history and continue to lead the way in technology and engineering. Throughout most of recent history, Germany have often landed first when it comes to scientific research and receiving Nobel Prizes for their contributions towards developing extraordinary and ground-breaking technological advancements.
Most people will immediately think of motor engineering when they think of Germany, this is of course because of their amazing cars such as Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Porsche and more. They are famously known for their Autobahns, where majority of the 8,000 miles of Autobahn have no speed limit. Although, you do still have to take extra care and cannot drive dangerously, there are parts which do have restrictions (80mph) or if you’re near accidents, roadworks and urban areas. People from all over the world purposely travel to Germany’s roads to drive their sporty German cars!
Because of Germany’s ability to create and use technology to their greatest advantages, it has made them the top most innovative economy in the world. They have recently surpassed South Korea who held this title for much longer, but Germany is improving in many ways and this is one in which they are taking the world by storm. Some ways that make Germany’s economy the most innovative are their focus on exports which make up for pretty much half of their wealth, this is because they have ownership of many high-quality and durable products that are used worldwide and bought by many large countries, one of their biggest customers are North America. This includes cars, medical technology, plant engineering, chemicals, metals, transport equipment, various machinery and much more.
Chloe is a junior account manager and content writer with a passion for beauty.
