Nemčija - Germany

Grad Gutenfels nad Ren
PrevidnoCOVID-19 informacije:Uradne informacije o COVID-19 nemške vlade, vključno z omejitvami vstopa, zahtevami za karanteno in drugimi pravili.
(Podatki so bili nazadnje posodobljeni 26. aprila 2021)

Nemčija (Nemško: Deutschland), uradno Zvezna republika Nemčija (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) je največja država v Srednja Evropa. Nemčija je politično, gospodarsko in kulturno vplivna in je največja Evropska unija države članice glede na število prebivalstva in gospodarsko proizvodnjo. Po vsem svetu znan po "nemškem inženiringu", pa tudi po vodilnih svetovnih bančnih in zavarovalnih družbah, ga obiskovalci občudujejo prav tako po starem svetovnem šarmu in Gemütlichkeit (prijetnost). Zavrnite kakršno koli dojemanje Nemčije kot preprosto homogene in čaka vas država presenetljive regionalne raznolikosti.

Regije

Nemčija je zvezna republika, sestavljena iz 16 politično močnih držav (imenovanih Bundesländer - skrajšana na Dežele), ki včasih ustrezajo zgodovinskim regijam pred enotno nemško državo, včasih pa naključno vržejo v isto državo zelo različna ljudstva, medtem ko jih ločujejo od bolj podobnih sorodnikov po državnih mejah. Trije od teh Bundesländer so dejansko mesta-države: Berlin, Bremen in Hamburg. Države je mogoče približno razvrstiti po zemljepisu, kot je navedeno spodaj, čeprav obstajajo tudi druge skupine. Dolgo časa je bila najbolj opazna kulturna delitev med severom in jugom, danes pa je zaradi zapuščine hladne vojne bolj opazna delitev med vzhodom in zahodom.

Regije Nemčije
 Severna Nemčija (Bremen, Hamburg, Spodnja Saška, Mecklenburg-Zahodnopomorjansko, Schleswig-Holstein)
Vetrovni griči in priljubljene počitniške destinacije na obalah Severnega in Baltskega morja
 Zahodna Nemčija (Severno Porenje-Vestfalija, Porenje-Pfalška, Saarland)
Vinska dežela in moderna mesta močno presenetijo dih Srednji Ren in Moselle doline
 Srednja Nemčija (Hesse, Turingija)
Zeleno srce Nemčije z nekaterimi najpomembnejšimi zgodovinskimi in finančnimi mesti ter starodavnim Turingijskim gozdom
 Vzhodna Nemčija (Berlin, Brandenburg, Saška, Saška-Anhalt)
Ekscentrična in zgodovinska prestolnica Berlina ter obnovljeni zgodovinski Dresden, "Firence na Labi"
 Južna Nemčija (Baden-Württemberg, Bavarska)
Schwarzwald, Alpe in Oktoberfest. Nemčija iz Lederhosen, Dirndl, pogledi na razglednice in podjetja visoke tehnologije.

Mesta

Hofbräuhaus v München
Nürnberg staro mesto, pogled z zahoda

Nemčija ima številna mesta, ki zanimajo obiskovalce; tukaj so samo devet najbolj znanih turističnih destinacij. Večinoma so to večja nemška mesta. Nekateri, kot sta Berlin in Hamburg, stojijo kot mestni otoki v bolj podeželskih pokrajinah, drugi, kot sta Düsseldorf in Frankfurt, so del metropolitanskih območij skupaj z drugimi mesti.

  • 1 Berlin - združena in oživljena prestolnica Nemčije; metropola raznolikosti z nekaterimi najbolj znanimi klubi, trgovinami, galerijami in restavracijami na svetu. Zaradi tega, da so ga med hladno vojno desetletja razdelili na dva desetletja, se Berlin zdaj ponaša z več opernimi hišami in muzeji na prebivalca kot večina drugih krajev na svetu.
  • 2 Bremen - Njegov stari trg, Schnoor, Böttcherstrasse, Viertel in njegov pomorski pridih naredijo Bremen odlično urbano doživetje.
  • 3 Köln (Köln) - Ustanovili so ga Rimljani pred 2000 leti in je bil znan po ogromni katedrali (druga največja na svetu), romanskih cerkvah, arheoloških najdiščih in živahni stari mestni četrti. Kölnski karneval je glavni žreb okoli februarja.
  • 4 Dresden - nekoč imenovana "Firence na Labi", znana po Frauenkirche (najlepša baročna katedrala zunaj Italije) in zgodovinski zgodovini Altstadt, ki sta bila oba obnovljena po uničenju med drugo svetovno vojno. Zwinger in Residenzschloss sta svetovno znana muzeja.
  • 5 Düsseldorf - Nemška prestolnica nakupovanja, ki ima tudi široko paleto fascinantnih novih arhitektur. V četrti "Altstadt" in renskih nabrežjih je živahno nočno življenje.
  • 6 Frankfurt - Veličastno obzorje, finančno in prometno središče Evrope, sedež Evropske centralne banke (ECB) in pomemben sejem. Majhno rekonstruirano središče s popločenimi hišami, pomembnimi muzeji in galerijami po Museumsufer kot Schirn Umetniška dvorana, Städel in Senckenberg Naravni muzej.
  • 7 Hamburg - Drugo največje nemško mesto je znano po svojem pristanišču, številnih kanalih in mostovih Speicherstadt, cerkev Michel in nova koncertna dvorana Elbphilharmonie, živahno nočno življenje v okolici St. Pauli z Reeperbahnom, muzikali in festival Hafengeburtstag.
  • 8 München (München) - Tretje največje nemško mesto in cvetoča prestolnica Bavarske je znano po Oktoberfestu, Hofbräuhausu, raznoliki kulturni ponudbi, vključno z operami, gledališči in muzeji, živahnim nočnim življenjem, številnimi glasbenimi festivali, pivskimi vrtovi in ​​deskanjem po rekah ter prehod v Alpe.
  • 9 Nürnberg (Nürnberg) - nekdanji Reichsstadt s srednjeveškim pridihom je bilo njegovo staro mestno jedro po hudih bombardiranjih med vojno, tudi gotsko, delno obnovljeno Kaiserburg in glavne cerkve. Obiščete lahko tudi shode nacistične stranke, dokumentacijski center in sodno dvorano 600, kjer so potekala sojenja za vojne zločine v Nürnbergu.

Druge destinacije

Baltsko obmorsko letovišče Binz na Rügen, Največji nemški otok
  • 1 Obala Baltskega morja (Ostseeküste) - Ko je igrišče za kronane glave to območje spet na svoje, potem ko ga je hladna vojna velik del sveta izključila iz širšega sveta. Spletna stran slavnega Strandkorb slika vrha G8 leta 2007.
  • 2 Bavarske Alpe (Bayerische Alpen) - Nemčija morda v najbolj klišejski, a hkrati tudi najlepši; lepo smučanje pozimi, pohodništvo poleti in Schloss Neuschwanstein so le najbolj očitne atrakcije.
  • 3 Črn gozd (Schwarzwald) - Verjetno boste pomislili na "kukavičjo uro" ali češnjevo pito in bi vam bilo odpuščeno, toda v tej regiji je veliko več.
  • 4 Vzhodnofriški otoki (Ostfriesische Inseln) - Med najbolj priljubljenimi nemškimi poletnimi počitniškimi mesti tisti otoki v Waddenovem morju, v katerih je večina avtomobilov, še vedno vidijo manj mednarodnih obiskovalcev, kot si zaslužijo.
  • 5 Franconska Švica (Fränkische Schweiz) - Ta kraška regija je priljubljena med pesniki iz zgodnjega 19. stoletja, ki so ji dali ime, ki je ostalo svetovno znano po svojem plezanju in ima nekaj čudovitih jame.
  • 6 Harz - Že dolgo pozabljen zaradi nemške predelne stene, ki teče skozi njo, danes privablja turiste z izvrstnim pohodništvom in mistično romantiko gore Brocken, ki slovi kot privabljanje čarovnic (kot je omenjeno v Goethejevem Faust).
  • 7 Bodensko jezero (Bodensee) - Največje nemško jezero, "švabski ocean" (kot je v šali) hkrati ponuja alpsko panoramo in vodne aktivnosti.
  • 8 Dolina srednjega Porenja (Mittelrheintal) - del reke Ren je pod Unescovo dediščino med Bingenom / Rüdesheimom in Koblenzom; dolina slovi po svojih vinih.
  • 9 Severnofriški otoki (Nordfriesische Inseln) - Mirni otoki s kraji ob obali Severnega morja, še posebej Sylt je znan po svojih razkošnih gostih zvezd in neokrnjeni pokrajini.

Razumeti

Zgodovina

rimsko cesarstvo

Poglej tudi: rimsko cesarstvo
Rekonstrukcija staro rimske utrdbe južno od Ljubljane Limes Germanicus ob Saalburg

V prvem stoletju našega štetja so Rimljani po vrsti vojaških kampanj osvojili sedanjo večino zahodne in južne Nemčije od tam živečih germanskih in keltskih plemen. Meje rimskega imperija so zaznamovale "limete". Odsek, ki ločuje imperij od germanskih plemen (Limes Germanicus) je bila dolga 568 km in se je raztezala od ustja Rena do Donave v bližini Regensburg. Odseke dvignjenega brega je še vedno mogoče videti in se sprehoditi. Toda v rimskih časih so bili limete vse prej kot toge meje in trgovina ter občasne rimske vojaške ekspedicije so vplivale na večino današnje Nemčije vsaj do četrtega stoletja našega štetja.

Nekaj ​​mest, ki so še danes pomembna v Nemčiji, so Rimljani ustanovili kot vojaške baze in kasneje naselja, vključno z Mainz, Wiesbaden, Köln in Bonn. Baden-Badenvrelce so zelo cenili tudi Rimljani, ki so zgradili kopališča, katerih ostanke je mogoče obiskati pod ustreznim imenom Römerplatz (Rimski trg). Najbolj impresivni rimski ostanki v Nemčiji so v Trier, najstarejše nemško mesto. Sem spadajo Porta Nigra, največja rimska mestna vrata severno od Alp in amfiteater Trier.

Sveto rimsko cesarstvo in srednji vek

Poglej tudi: Franki, Hanza
Aachen Katedrala - karolinški osmerokotnik
Hiša cehov tkalcev, Augsburg

Karl Veliki, frankovski kralj, je bil na božični dan leta 800 n. Št. Papež Leo III prvi za cesarja Svetega rimskega imperija. Karla Velikega pogosto povezujejo s Francijo, vendar je bilo njegovo področje ogromno; njegovo glavno mesto je bilo v Aix la Chapelle, danes v nemščini znano kot Aachen. Ostanki zimske cesarske palače Karla Velikega ( Kaiserpfalz) je mogoče videti v mestu Ingelheim. Korenine sodobne nemške zgodovine in kulture segajo v pokarolinško Sveto rimsko cesarstvo.

Od zgodnjega srednjega veka se je Nemčija začela deliti na stotine majhnih držav z močnimi regionalnimi razlikami, ki trajajo do danes, na primer v Bavarska. V tem obdobju se je moč lokalnih knezov in škofov povečala, njihova zapuščina pa so bili številni spektakularni gradovi in ​​palače, kot je grad Wartburg leta Eisenach, Turingija. Od 1200. let je trgovina z baltskim območjem povzročila Hanza in bogate mestne države, kot so Lübeck in Hamburg. Tudi druga mesta so izstopala po celinskih trgovskih poteh, kot npr Leipzig, Nürnberg in Köln.

Ko se je nemška družba postopoma spreminjala iz fevdalne strukture v merkantilistični sistem, so cehi oz Zünfte obrtnikov in postali glavni dejavnik nemške ekonomije in družbe. Nekatere srednjeveške cehovske dvorane še vedno stojijo in jih je danes mogoče obiskati. V tem obdobju so se pojavile tudi bančne družine, kot je Fugger, med dolžniki katerih so bili papeži in cesarji, ter vplivalo na rast mest, kot so Augsburg.

V srednjem veku in zgodnjem novem času je Sveto rimsko cesarstvo (večina je danes Nemčija, Avstrija, Madžarska, Češka in deli okoliških držav) sestavljalo približno 2000 polsamostojnih ozemelj, ki so bila vsa v bolj ali manj tehnični podrejenosti. cesarju. Sveto rimsko cesarstvo - kot je bil Voltaire slavno izmišljen - ni bilo niti rimsko niti sveto niti imperij. Medtem ko nekatera drobna vojvodstva niso bila več kot nekaj zaselkov, so pomembna mesta dobila status Reichsstadt (ali Reichsstädte v množini), zaradi česar so bile v bistvu mestne države podrejene samo cesarju samemu. Njihovo nekdanje bogastvo je še vedno mogoče videti v krajih, kot sta Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Nördlingen. Medtem ko je bilo nekaj prizadevanj za modernizacijo od 15. do začetka 17. stoletja, je Sveto rimsko cesarstvo sčasoma izgubilo vse, razen najbolj nominalne osrednje politične moči. In v zadnjih letih ni mogel ohraniti miru med dvema najmočnejšima volilnima skupinama v tistem času, Avstrijo in Prusija, katerega rivalstvo bo večino 19. stoletja prevladovalo v usodi nemško govorečih območij.

Zgodnja moderna Nemčija

Wartburg, Eisenach, zgrajena leta 1068. Martin Luther je zaradi varnosti ostal na gradu, 1521-1522.

Obdobje verskih reform in znanstvenih odkritij je bilo zaznamovano z objavo leta 1517 95 tez Martina Lutherja v Ljubljani Wittenberg, ki je začel Protestantska reformacija. Luther je nadaljeval s prevajanjem Biblije v osrednjenemški jezik v Wartburgu, s čimer je veliko naredil za standardizacijo nemščine in izključitev severnih narečij kot "spodnjenemško" ali "nizozemsko". Sveto carstvo se je razdelilo med katoličani in več vejami protestantov, medtem ko so se regionalne sile pojavile na bolj enotnih ozemljih Bavarska in protestantski Saška in Brandenburg (pozneje znana kot Prusija). Protestantsko-katoliški konflikt je dosegel vrhunec v Tridesetletna vojna, ki je opustošila številna nemška ozemlja. Trajalo je 100 let, dokler se prebivalstvo Nemčije ni povečalo na predvojno raven. Vladarji Saške (ne pa tudi njenega prebivalstva) so med vladanjem Avgusta Močnega prešli v katolištvo, ki je to storil kot predpogoj za to, da postane kralj Poljska, s čimer je izgubil prevladujoči položaj med nemškimi protestanti proti Prusiji.

Vladarji bogatejših vojvodin in kraljestev Nemškega cesarstva so podpirali razvoj umetnosti in znanosti, kot so dela Johanna Sebastiana Bacha, zaposlena pri volilnem Saška, ali dela Goetheja in Schillerja, ki sta imela oba visoko plačana sinekurja Weimar v svojih najbolj produktivnih pisateljskih letih. Richard Wagner (rojen na Saškem) je našel voljenega pokrovitelja v Ludwigu II. Na Bavarskem, ki je dal zgraditi tudi številne palače, ki so jih turisti zdaj radi imeli, a je svoje osebne finance bankrotiral. Pomembni znanstveniki so bili Daniel Fahrenheit, Alexander von Humboldt, Carl Wilhelm "trda sreča" Scheele in v matematiki Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz je močno napredoval v obeh Leipzig in Hannover.

V obdobju baroka v umetnosti in arhitekturi so številni nemški vladarji ustvarili veličastne kraljevske rezidence in obnovili svoja glavna mesta, da bi odražali njihovo moč in okus. Vključujejo čudovite stvaritve tega obdobja Dresden in Potsdam.

Cesarska Nemčija

Poglej tudi: Prva svetovna vojna
Deutsches Eck (Nemški kotiček) v Koblenz, kjer se Moselle pridruži Renu; s konjeniškim kipom cesarja Williama I. Od poznih sedemdesetih let 20. stoletja je bilo po vsem Nemčiji postavljenih veliko kipov in doprsnih kipov Williama.
Množice se zberejo leta 1932, da praznujejo Weimarsko ustavo. Trg pred Reichstag, potem in zdaj spet, ima ime Platz der Republik.

The Napoleonove vojne končal zadnji videz nemške države, ko se je rimsko-nemški cesar Franc II odločil za odstop leta 1806. Različne nemške države je pozneje povezala konfederacija, ki je bila v bistvu vojaško zavezništvo z manj "zveznimi" močmi kot današnja EU. To konfederacijo je zasenčil konflikt med liberalno buržoazijo in reakcionarno aristokracijo na eni ter med Prusijo in Avstrijo na drugi. Leta 1848 je izbruhnila ena od teh napetosti, ko so liberalna nacionalistična opozicija in nekateri elementi levo od nje zahtevali bolj centralizirano nemško državo, v kateri so sestavili parlament in ustanovni zbor. Paulskirche v Frankfurt. Revolucija je propadla, ker so se revolucionarji veliko časa prepirali, ali naj bo Avstrija del nove Nemčije ("großdeutsch") ali ne ("kleindeutsch"). Na koncu je bil naslov nemškega cesarja ponujen pruskemu kralju Friedrichu Wilhelmu IV., Vendar je ponudbo zavrnil, saj je bila "umazana" s ponudbo meščanstva in ne njegovih "enakih" po rangu. Bolj radikalni elementi so se borili do leta 1849 in nekateri revolucionarji so izgubili življenje, vendar so se zmernejši elementi pomirili z oblastmi in kasneje podprli cesarstvo, v katerem prevladujejo Prusi, medtem ko so bolj radikalizirani elementi vse bolj gravitirali k socializmu in radikalnemu nasprotovanju vsem stvarem monarhični. Ne premajhna manjšina se je odločila tudi za izgnanstvo, večinoma v ZDA, kjer so bili "oseminštiridesetletniki", kot sta Franz Siegel in Carl Schurz, med najbolj navdušenimi navijači severa v Ameriška državljanska vojna in med prvimi, ki so si prizadevali za emancipacijo.

V letih 1866-1871 (po odločilnih vojnah z Avstrijo in Francijo) je Prusija pod vodstvom Bismarcka Nemčijo združila kot nacionalno državo, imenovano Nemško cesarstvo (Deutsches Reich, ali Kaiserreich). Bila je zvezno organizirana država, ki je držala posamezne države s svojimi kralji, vojvodami in knezi. Nekatere države, kot sta Bavarska ali Württemberg, so imele celo lastno vojsko, železnice in poštne storitve. Države in njihova prebivališča so bila še vedno pomembna kulturna središča. Imperija je kombinirala tradicionalne institucije, kot je monarhija, z elementi moderne demokracije, kot je demokratično izvoljen parlament (Reichstag) in politične stranke. Na ravni rajha je obstajala splošna volilna pravica za odrasle, vendar so lahko posamezne države volilno pravico - ali težo glasov - vezale na lastninske zahteve, kar je Prusija storila za vse državne volitve. Poleg tega so pregon in sodni pregon ovirali delovanje političnih strank, ki so bile v sporu z Bismarckom in / ali Kaiserjem. Najprej je jeza režima padla na politični katolištvo z izrecnimi zakoni, ki prepovedujejo politične pridige zoper vlado, pozneje pa so bili izpostavljeni socialni demokrati in socialisti. Bismarck je glede delavskega razreda sledil preudarnemu "korenčku in palici". Po eni strani so bili delavski klubi, osumljeni levega nagiba - četudi so bili navzven "samo" družabni klubi, namenjeni atletiki, petju ali nogometu - policija prepovedana ali nadlegovana, hkrati pa je Bismarck silil skozi najnaprednejše in za svoje zakonodaja o socialni varnosti. Pokojnine, zdravstveno zavarovanje in izplačila v primeru bolezni, poškodbe ali smrti, ki jih zagotavlja država, izvirajo iz tega časa, in čeprav je bil njihov glavni namen uničiti vstajo, so močno izboljšali položaj rastočega mestnega proletariata. Kljub temu je socialdemokratska stranka povečala svoj delež glasov, Wilhelm II pa je Bismarcka odpustil in stopnjeval preganjanje. Posledično so se socialni demokrati iz radikalne in revolucionarne stranke spremenili v vse bolj "zvesto opozicijo". Stranka je leta 1914 glasovala za posojila za financiranje 1. svetovne vojne, da bi dokazala svoje domoljubje. Wilhelmov veseli "Ich kenne keine Parteien mehr, ich kenne nur noch Deutsche" (ne poznam več nobene stranke, poznam samo Nemce), ko je slišal, da so novice v Nemčiji še vedno znane.

Ko so trgovinske ovire postopoma padale, se je Nemčija znašla v središču poznejšega obdobja industrijske revolucije in se uveljavila kot glavna industrijska sila. V tem obdobju so bila ustanovljena večja podjetja, vključno z nekaterimi, ki so preživela do danes, in tehnološke inovacije so se odvijale na različnih področjih, kar je poudarilo ustvarjanje avtomobila Karla Benza in Gottlieba Daimlerja leta Baden-Württemberg. Od ustanovitve "Bismarckovega imperija" do prve svetovne vojne je nemška proizvodnja doživela razvoj poceni nizkokakovostnega masovnega blaga (za katerega so Britanci razvili "opozorilni znak" Izdelano v Nemčiji) za nekatere najboljše dobrine na svojih področjih sloves številnih nemških industrijskih izdelkov do danes. Tudi Nemčija se je začela vzpenjati na prvo mesto v naravoslovju in medicini, saj je Nobelova nagrada do druge svetovne vojne Nemcem prišla skoraj tako pogosto kot danes Američanom. Imena, kot so Paul Ehrlich (medicina), Max Planck (kvantna fizika), Robert Koch (teorija o zarodkih) ali Albert Einstein (ki pa je v času svojega življenja živel v Švici annus mirabilis 1905) še vedno poznajo po vsem svetu in po njih je poimenovano več raziskovalnih inštitutov na dobrem glasu.

Milijoni Nemcev so se odselili v tujino, zlasti v Ljubljano Združene države, kjer so postali prevladujoča etnična skupina, zlasti v Stari zahod. Medtem ko je nemško-ameriška identiteta med svetovnimi vojnami izginila, je še vedno vidna v Ameriška kuhinja z jedmi, kot sta hamburger in Wiener klobasa (znana tudi kot Frankfurter). Kanada je imel mesto z imenom Berlin na območju močnega nemškega priseljevanja; preimenoval se je Kitchener, po britanskem generalu, leta 1916. Avstralija sprejel tudi veliko število nemških priseljencev; lokalizirana različica šnicla je bila sprejeta kot običajna avstralska pub, medtem ko so nemški priseljenci igrali pomembno vlogo pri zagonu avstralske pivske in vinske industrije. Nemško priseljevanje se je zgodilo tudi v latinskoameriških državah in čeprav ni vedno veliko, je za seboj pogosto pustilo sled v gospodarski ali kulinarični zgodovini ciljnih držav.

Weimarska republika

Ob koncu prve svetovne vojne (1914-18) je bil cesar (Kaiser) Wilhelm II prisiljen odstopiti. Revolucionarni odbor je pripravil volitve za državni zbor v Weimarju, ki je rajhu dal novo republiško ustavo (1919). Prehodno obdobje se imenuje "novembrska revolucija", republika pa se je kasneje običajno imenovala "weimarska republika". Vendar je Nemčija ostala "nemški rajh" do leta 1945, prvi člen weimarske ustave je sprožil razpravo o tem, ali naj novi ustavni red imenuje "nemški rajh" ali "nemška republika" na kompromisno formulo "nemški rajh je republika ". Med revolucijo se je na kratko zdelo, kot da naj bi Nemčija postala socialistična / komunistična država, kakršna je bila Rusija dve leti prej, vendar so socialni demokrati s konservativci in reakcionarji iz obdobja Kaiserreicha sčasoma dosegli skupni cilj, da bi zmečkali karkoli na svoji levi in ​​ubili vidnejše socialista Rosa Luxemburg in Karl Liebknecht. Ta zaznana izdaja je zagrenila številne komuniste in v nasprotju s Francijo ali Španijo sile na levi strani socialdemokratov z demokratičnimi strankami nikoli niso dosegle skupnega cilja, da bi ustavile vzpon fašizma. Namesto tega sta KPD (komunistična stranka) in NSDAP (nacistična stranka) pogosto glasovala skupaj o nezaupnicah in populističnih, a nerealnih računih.

The Bauhaus Dessau, šola za uporabno oblikovanje, iz dvajsetih let 20. stoletja

Mlado republiko so mučili veliki gospodarski problemi, ki so izhajali iz vojne (na primer hiperinflacija leta 1923), zlasti zaradi odškodnin, ki jih je morala Nemčija plačati zaveznikom zaradi Versajske pogodbe, in sramote za ponižujoč poraz v prvi svetovni vojni. Druga težava je bila v tem, da so bile številne elite (sodniki, javni uslužbenci in celo politiki) odkrito monarhistični in so se v najboljšem primeru približali novemu sistemu, kar je privedlo do pravosodnega sistema, ki je bil do popustljivosti do desničarskega političnega nasilja in drakonsko, ko je šlo za komunistično vstajo. Kot je zapisal levičarski pisatelj Kurt Tucholsky: "Republika je bila slepa na njeno desno oko". Če navedemo samo en primer, je bilo leta 1923 poskus desničarskega državnega udara pod vodstvom Adolfa Hitlerja in generala prve svetovne vojne Ericha Ludendorffa ter komunistična vstaja v Hamburgu. Medtem ko je bil Hitler obsojen na kratko zaporno kazen, je bil Ludendorff oproščen. Komunistični uporniki niso imeli te sreče - izrečene so bile ostre zaporne kazni ali celo smrtne obsodbe. Posamezni politični atentati niso bili nič drugačni in desnica je ubila več znanih osebnosti v vladi in gospodarstvu - mnogi med njimi so bili centristične ali celo desnosredinske in nesorazmerno veliko judovskih prednikov. Freikorps in Konzul organizacije z navidezno nekaznovanostjo. Med slavnimi žrtvami so finančni minister Matthias Erzberger (sredinska stranka, politično katoliška), industrialec in zunanji minister Walter Rathenau (nemška demokratična stranka, liberalni), ki je bil ključni za organizacijo vojne industrije v prvi svetovni vojni, in več politikov zmernega do skrajno levo.

Inflacija in politični nemiri so privedli do rasti radikalnih strank, na levici predvsem KPD (Komunistična stranka) in na desni NSDAP (nacistična stranka). Medtem ko je poskus državnega udara leta 1923 na videz diskreditiral naciste - vsaj zunaj Bavarske - in je KPD izgubila podporo v dobrih gospodarskih časih med koncem hiperinflacije in veliko depresijo, volitve leta 1930 pa so se vrnile obe radikalni stranki v polna sila in navidezni propad političnega desnega centra (socialdemokrati, medtem ko so nekateri volivci izgubili nekaj glasov pred komunisti), pa tudi pobiranje glasov nekdanjih nevolilcev so privedli do vedno večjega dobička NSDAP in KPD, dokler brez glasov komunistov ali nacistov v Reichstagu ni bilo mogoče oblikovati večine. 1930 je tudi zadnjič, da je Weimarska republika imela vlado, ki se je lahko zanašala na pozitivno večino v rajhstagu pred Hitlerjevim vzponom. Vsi kabineti med tednom in letom 1933 so se zanašali na obsežna "nujna" pooblastila predsednika vlade (ki je lahko imenoval ali odpustil kanclerje sam, ne da bi se posvetoval z Reichstagom), parlament pa je vedno bolj postajal kraj za sovražnike demokracije gledališče in ne središče politične razprave in moči. Reichstag ni nikoli izgubil pravice do glasovanja o nezaupnici, Hindenburg pa je moral razpustiti Reichstag in razglasiti nove volitve (kar je spet lahko storil sam), da bi preprečil nezaupnico kanclerju z dne mimo.

V razmeroma dobrem gospodarskem ozračju sredi dvajsetih let so številne banke in podjetja najemale sorazmerno poceni kratkoročna posojila za financiranje dolgoročnih naložb, ki so močno razkrile gospodarstvo v zrušitvi Wall Streeta leta 1929. Čeprav se je v dvajsetih letih prejšnjega stoletja okrevanje Nemško gospodarstvo je zaradi ameriških naložb velika depresija privedlo do umika te naložbe. Posledično je bilo nemško gospodarstvo oslabljeno in vladna deflacijska politika ter globalna težnja k protekcionizmu so položaj le poslabšali. To je močnim protidemokratskim silam (kot sta KPD in NSDAP) omogočilo, da izkoristijo organizacijske težave weimarske ustave. In od volitev 1930 dalje v Reichstagu ni bilo nikoli več kakršne koli prodemokratične večine.

Nacionalsocialistična stranka (pogosto imenovana tudi "nacisti") je prevzela nadzor z zmago množice razočaranih nemških volivcev, ki so iskali spremembe. V začetku leta 1933 je takratni 84-letni predsednik Reicha Paul von Hindenburg - visoki general med prvo svetovno vojno - za kanclerja postavil nacističnega poglavarja Adolfa Hitlerja. Hindenburg je tudi s svojimi predsedniškimi pooblastili podpiral nastajajočo Hitlerjevo diktaturo. Zgodovinarji se še vedno prepirajo o Hindenburgovih motivih. Morda je Hitlerja podcenjeval ali pa je vsaj delno simpatiziral Hitlerjev avtoritarni slog. Ko je Hindenburg umrl leta 1934, se je Hitler hkrati razglasil za predsednika, Führerja in kanclerja, kar je očitna kršitev črke in duha ustave, od tam naprej pa nenadzorovano in samostojno.

Nacistična doba

Poglej tudi: Druga svetovna vojna v Evropi, Spomin na holokavst

V letu 1933 je prišlo do moči nacionalistične in rasistične nacionalsocialistične nemške delavske (nacistične) stranke in njene Führer, Adolf Hitler. Pod nacistično diktaturo so bile razstavljene demokratične institucije in okrepljena policijska država. Judje, Slovani, Cigani, hendikepirani ljudje, homoseksualci, socialisti, komunisti, unionisti in druge skupine, ki niso ustrezale nacistični viziji Velike Nemčije, so bili preganjani in so bili zasužnjeni ali umorjeni v taboriščih smrti. Evropski Judje in Cigani so bili označeni za popolno iztrebljanje. Kraj prvega nacističnega koncentracijskega taborišča v Ljubljani Dachau pa tudi več drugih je zdaj spominskih obeležij.

Wewelsburg (v bližini Dortmund), je bila rekonstruirana pod nacistično oblastjo, uporabljali so jo voditelji SS in jo razširili s kultnim mestom SS; danes je mladinski hostel z zgodovinskim muzejem in spomenikom zapornikom koncentracijskih taborišč

Hitlerjeve militaristične ambicije po ustvarjanju novega (tretjega) nemškega cesarstva v srednji in vzhodni Evropi so privedle do druge svetovne vojne, ki jo je nacistična Nemčija izgubila in je pustila slovesni pečat na celini in zlasti v Nemčiji. Zaradi dveh prejšnjih "nemških imperijev" nacistično dobo v nemščini pogosto imenujejo "drittes Reich"(tretji imperij) med drugimi poimenovanji.

Hitlerjeva zunanja politika je postajala vse bolj militaristična in agresivna. Vendar so bili voditelji Francije in zlasti Britanije previdni glede nove evropske vojne in ker je Nemčija z diplomacijo med leti 1919 in 1933 dobila veliko koncesij, nekateri sploh niso videli težave, če bi Hitlerju dovolili, da bi se rešil s kljubovanjem ali zlomom Versajska pogodba. Zgodovinarji še vedno razpravljajo o tem, ali je imel Hitler velik mojstrski načrt ali je vsakič le igral, da bi videl, kako daleč lahko gre, pri čemer ga spodbuja, da ga nikoli ne ustavijo, vendar končni rezultat ostaja enak. Nemčija je zapustila Ligo narodov (1933) in priključila Saarsko območje, potem ko je plebiscit, za katerega se je strinjal pred Hitlerjevim vzponom na oblast (1935), remilitariziral Porenje (1936), kljub Društvu narodov pomagal nacionalistični (Francovi) strani v španski državljanski vojni sporazum o izogibanju vojni (1936-1939), vključno z bombardiranjem enote nemških zračnih sil Guernica (1937). Nemčija je prav tako anektirala in napadla Avstrijo (1938) in prevzela agresivno držo proti Češkoslovaški, kar je povzročilo zdaj zloglasni Münchenski sporazum (1938), v katerem je bila Češkoslovaška prisiljena odreči se Sudetom, ne da bi se o tem posvetovali. Ko je Nemčija 1. septembra 1939 napadla Poljsko in v utemeljitev navedla očitno ponarejen poljski napad, sta se Francija in Velika Britanija končno čutili zavezani k zavezništvu in 3. septembra napovedali vojno Nemčiji. Na zahodu pa je bilo malo žaljivih akcij do ofenzive nacistov iz leta 1940, ki je privedla do padca Francije in umika britanskih čet Dunkirk. Ko je Hitler izdal svojega nekdanjega zaveznika Stalina in napadel Sovjetsko zvezo, "Blitzkrieg" ni uspel, saj niti Moskva niti Leningrad so bili zajeti in sčasoma so Sovjeti uspeli spremeniti tok s strašnimi izgubami na obeh straneh, vključno z grozljivimi kršitvami človekovih pravic in poboji, ki sta jih SS in Wehrmacht storila nad civilisti na napadenem območju. Leta 1944 so zavezniki (predvsem Amerika, Velika Britanija in Kanada) pristali v Normandiji, medtem ko je Hitler še naprej verjel, da je pristanek finta z glavnim potiskom, ki prihaja skozi Calais, in Sovjeti so nenehno napredovali, kar je doseglo vrhunec z zavzetjem Berlina aprila 1945 , predaja maja 1945 (različno praznovana kot 8. ali 9. maj) in zajetje zadnjih nacističnih zadržkov leta Schleswig Holstein kasneje tistega meseca. Nacističnim vojnim zločincem so sodili v Ljubljani Nürnberg čeprav so se mnogi izognili presoji in so končali v arabskem svetu, Latinski Ameriki ali celo sami Nemčiji, včasih na visokih vladnih, akademskih ali industrijskih položajih.

V poznejši fazi vojne so napadi zavezniških bombnikov povzročili uničenje skoraj vseh večjih nemških mest (kot so nemške zračne sile to storile z Rotterdamom, Varšavo, Londonom, Coventryjem in drugimi mesti v zgodnejših fazah vojne). Po izgubljeni vojni je okupirana država izgubila večino svojih vzhodnih ozemelj in se soočila z veliko begunsko krizo, milijoni Nemcev so preplavili zahod v tisto, kar je ostalo od Nemčije, in iz drugih držav, kjer so pomembne nemške manjšine uhajale vojaškemu in političnemu vplivu zmagovite Sovjetske zveze.

Po vojni

Poglej tudi: Evropa hladne vojne
Bonnje Haus der Geschichte (Hiša zgodovine) o zgodovini Zvezne republike z avtomobilom Mercedes, ki ga je uporabljal Konrad Adenauer, prvi povojni kancler

Po uničujočem porazu v drugi svetovni vojni (1939–45) je bila Nemčija razdeljena na štiri sektorje, ki so jih nadzirale britanske, francoske, sovjetske in ameriške sile. Združeno kraljestvo in ZDA sta se odločili, da združita svoja sektorja, sledili pa so jim Francozi. With the beginning of the Cold War, Germany became increasingly divided into an eastern part under Soviet control and a western part which was controlled by the Western Allies. The western part was transformed into the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG or BRD for its German name), a capitalist, democratic country with Bonn as the de facto capital, which was often referred to as West Germany.

The Soviet-controlled zone became the communist/authoritarian Soviet-style German Democratic Republic (GDR), commonly called East Germany. This encompassed the present-day Länder od Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Brandenburg in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Berlin, which was geographically left in East Germany, had a special status as it was divided among the Soviets and the West, with the eastern part serving as the capital of the GDR and the western sectors of Berlin (West Berlin) being a de facto exclave of the Federal Republic.

The fates of East and West Germany differed markedly, in political and economic development. The East saw heavy demontage - for example very close to every rail line lost its second track and electrification in the immediate postwar era, some having never regained them - and only a gradual switch to economic aid by the occupying power. Thanks to Western aid, the economy and industrial base in West Germany was quickly rebuilt, resulting in the Wirtschaftswunder (economic miracle). The East became a socialist, centrally-planned economy with almost all of its economy nationalised, and increasingly lagged behind the West as this system proved much less efficient or conducive to growth. The limitations of personal freedoms, ever-present censorship and secret police led many of the East's citizens to attempt to flee to the West. However, compared to the other Soviet Bloc countries like Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, or even the Soviet Union itself, the East Germans were (on average) wealthier.

In 1961, the Berlin Wall was erected around West Berlin as part of a heavily guarded frontier system of border fortifications to deter inhabitants from East Berlin from defecting to the more prosperous West. Today some remnants of the era are now museums, such as the former prisons in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen or Bautzen. While many pieces of the Berlin Wall were destroyed outright or sold to enthusiasts around the world, parts have been preserved in their original location as monuments or art installations. The most widely known such installations is the eastside gallery in central Berlin. If you want to avoid the tacky Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, Bernauer Straße (the street which had windows walled shut, as the houses were in the East and the street in the West) is more accurate — if chilling — with its museum and monument.

United Germany

Dresden's Frauenkirche, destroyed in World War II, became a symbol of German unity and German–British reconciliation because of the common efforts to rebuild it in 1994–2005

Germany was reunited peacefully in 1990, a year after the fall and collapse of the GDR's communist regime and the opening of the iron curtain that separated German families by the barrel of a gun for decades. The re-established eastern states joined the Federal Republic on 3 October 1990, a day since celebrated as a national holiday (Tag der Deutschen Einheit, day of "German national unity", or "Reunification Day"). The united Berlin became the capital of the unified Germany again, and with all federal government branches gradually moving there in the 1990s, the city saw a continued construction and economic boom, putting the city among the European hotspots.

Reunification meant that the affluent West helped the East rebuild its economy, while also accepting the willing migrants freely. This has not been without social and political tensions, but ultimately reunification is regarded as a success, with many cities of the East regaining their former glory (e.g. Dresden) and industrial might (e.g. Leipzig). The legacy of the GDR is still palpable in a slightly higher unemployment, a slightly lower standard of living and a more even distribution of wealth in some areas of the East, and with numerous mementos to socialism like the huge statue of Karl Marx in the city of Chemnitz, which was called Karl-Marx-Stadt during the period of communist rule. The DDR museum in Berlin offers a way to experience the peculiar, and sometimes absurd, life in the erstwhile East Germany.

While the major cities of the East are once again growing, rural areas and minor towns have been hit hard, and some appear to be on a terminal decline, having lost half their inhabitants to the big cities since 1990, with only elderly people remaining. However, even some places in the West are beginning to encounter problems once characteristic of the post-reunification East, such as dilapidated public infrastructure, empty municipal coffers and shrinking population figures. The overall downward trend was reversed - at least for the short term - due to the influx of refugees in 2015 and there seems to be a trend of re-urbanisation driving up housing costs in major cities, but the decline of rural areas seems to be only getting worse.

In the years after reunification Germany faces challenges such as the climbing average age of its population and partially the integration of inhabitants who immigrated recently. Germany enjoys the benefits of European cooperation and the digital revolution. A very visible modern development are the wind turbines, praised for providing sustainable energy and criticised for their impact on the landscape.

Economy

Frankfurt is the largest financial centre in continental Europe. It is also an important city in German history with many emperors being crowned or elected here and the first draft at a modern German constitution written in its Paulskirche in 1848

As one of the 10 biggest economies in the world by total GDP Germany is regarded as an economic powerhouse not only within Europe, but also globally. Much of Germany's economic reputation stems from the export orientation of many of their companies, both those who grew to be large multinationals, but also mid-sized enterprises. Germany is known as an exporter of various kinds of machinery and technology, be it consumer goods like automobiles, and all kinds of machinery for all branches of industry, mining and agriculture. Creative industries, high-tech start-ups and the service sector also play an increasing role for Germany's economical output.

A pretty unique feature of Germany's economy is the relative decentralization: you will find large companies headquartered in many different German cities and Länder, not only in or around the capital as in many other European centres. The result of that is not only the widespread relative wealth and high living standards, as well as elegant and tidy appearance of both large cities and small towns, but also the additional tourist opportunities. You can visit the factories and company museums of BMW in Munich or Mercedes and Porsche in Stuttgart. More and more factories are also built to be more than manufacturing plants, but also experience centres, like the BMW and Porsche plants in Leipzig ali gläserne Manufaktur of VW in Dresden, the latter now builds electric cars.

The global importance of the German economy and its geographically distributed nature has its reflection in the transportation network of the country. Frankfurt Airport is an important air traffic hub for Europe and the main one for Germany's flag carrier Lufthansa. That said, many other airports have numerous intercontinental connections, as well as busy intra-European and domestic traffic, including those in Berlin, Munich, Düsseldorf, Cologne in Hamburg. The somewhat unsatisfactory airport situation in the capital - in part a legacy of partition - was finally remedied by a new "Berlin Brandenburg International Airport", after it had a laughing stock due to numerous delays and problems with planned openings in the early 2010s before finally opening a decade late and several times over budget in autumn 2020. There is also a dense network of railway lines within Germany and to neighbouring countries, many of which have been upgraded to high-speed standards (served by Germany's state operator Deutsche Bahn's Inter-City-Express trains). The Autobahn (motorway) network is world-famous for its quality and comprehensiveness, as well as the lack of speed limits on certain stretches. Unlike most of its neighbours, Germany does not have any tolls (for cars, that is) for the vast majorities of its highways yet. The Autobahnen are also used by many bus companies, which offer a low-cost alternative to airlines and railways.

Politics

The Bundestag in Berlin is the legislature. It gathers in this historical building from 1894, which is called Reichstag.

Germany is a federal republic, consisting of 16 federal states (Bundesländer). The federal parliament (Bundestag) is elected every four years in a fairly complicated system, involving both direct and proportional representation. The parliament elects the Federal Chancellor (Bundeskanzler), who serves as the head of the government. The Bundesländer are represented at the federal level through the Federal Council (Bundesrat). Many federal laws have to be approved by this council and this can lead to situations where council and parliament block each other if they are dominated by different parties. The Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) has the right to pass judgement on the constitutionality of laws.

The head of state is the Federal President (Bundespräsident). He or she is not involved in day-to-day politics and has mainly ceremonial and representative duties. There is a tendency to nominate elder statesmen to the role which (as of 2020) is filled by former vice-chancellor and minister of the exterior Frank-Walter Steinmeyer. While the president lets his party membership "rest" during his time in office and the office is supposed to be non-partisan, all but one (Joachim Gauck) had had a clear party-affiliation prior to taking the office.

The two largest parties are the centre-right CDU (Christlich Demokratische Union, Christian Democratic Union) and the centre-left SPD (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, Social Democratic Party of Germany). Due to the proportional voting system, smaller parties are also represented in parliament. They cover a full spectrum of political views from free market economy, environmentalism to far left socialism. Still, the number of different parties is relatively low because a party is only represented if it gained at least 5 % at the elections. While Germany for a long time did not have a far-right populist party at the federal level - unlike most of the rest of Europe - the "Alternative für Deutschland" (AfD) now fulfills this role to much controversy.

Germany is subdivided into sixteen states which retain a great deal of political power, including education, setting the closing hours of stores and local rail traffic.

Demographics

German Unity Day celebration, 2013 in Stuttgart

Being a federal republic, Germany is very much a decentralised country, which does justice to the cultural differences between the regions. Some travellers will perhaps only think of beer, Lederhosen and Oktoberfest when Germany comes to mind, but Germany's famous alpine and beer culture is mostly in Bavaria in Munich. The annual Oktoberfest is Europe's most visited festival and the world's largest fair. Germany's south-western regions, however, are well known for their wine growing areas (e.g. Rheinhessen in Palatinate) and Bad Dürkheim on the "German wine route" (Deutsche Weinstraße) organises the biggest wine festival worldwide with over 600,000 visitors annually.

Immigration has also played a large part in Germany over the past 50 years, with approximately 20% of the total population being either foreign or of a 'migrant background' (Germans and non Germans who moved to Germany after 1949 or have at least one parent that did). Many cities have large communities of Turks, Poles, Italians as well as people from Southern and Eastern Europe or the Middle East. Immigration of various types also played a role before that, but in most cases descendants of e.g. refugees from the former German territories east of Oder and Neisse or descendants of French Huguenots are distinguished from other Germans by little more than their last name if that. Although the Jewish community was virtually wiped out by the Nazis, high levels of immigration from the former Soviet Union since its collapse in 1991 have resulted in a large number of Soviet Jews settling in Germany, and Germany now once again has one of the world's largest Jewish communities, and the fourth largest in Europe after France, the United Kingdom and Russia.

Many cities have a vibrant LGBT scene, especially Berlin in Cologne. Berlin's tourism agency and other tourism organisations actively attract gay and lesbian travellers to their cities. Laws legalising gay marriage were passed and implemented in 2017. Homosexuality is widely accepted in society. Open homosexuals have attained high political office, including the mayorships of Berlin and Hamburg, vice-chancellor and foreign minister and even some rural and conservative places have elected openly gay mayors. Views on homosexuality have traditionally been more negative in rural areas and among blue collar workers, but even here acceptance is increasing, as is visibility. Some people of Middle Eastern descent - including urban youth - also have more negative views of homosexuals and homosexuality as do people on the extreme political right.

Electricity

Electricity is supplied at 230 V and 50 Hz and power failures are very rare. Almost all outlets use the Schuko socket, and most appliances have a thinner but compatible Europlug. Travel adapters of all kinds are widely available in electronics stores, but they are often rather expensive.

Talk

See also: German phrasebook
Bad Hersfeld: statues of Konrad Duden, famous dictionary author, and Konrad Zuse, computer pioneer, both citizens of the city

The official language of Germany is German (Deutsch). The standard form of German is called "Hochdeutsch" (High German). It's understood by all and spoken by almost all Germans. However, every region has its own dialects, which might pose a challenge even to those who speak German well, even native speakers. This is usually noticeable only in the south and rural areas of the north and east. Dialect remains a strong part of the local identity in Bavaria, Saxony, southern Rhineland and Hesse, Württemberg and Baden. The general rule is that the Main River divides north Germany from the south in both language dialects and local culture. Dialects are losing ground to various extent throughout Germany, not least because of unsavoury associations of ruralness, lacking education and the prejudice that dialect as the home language would impede acquisition of "proper" standard German in school.

'Sie' or 'Du'?

Politeness in German is important, and you should generally refer to other unacquainted people with the formal and polite form of 'you' which is "Sie". The informal version of 'you' is "du" and can be used if both of you are already very familiar, or if the person is a child. These days younger people, roughly below the age of 30, can use "'du'" between complete strangers, except in some professional contexts. Verb endings will also change depending upon which you use.

Many Germans have learned some angleščina at school (a compulsory subject in the West since the 1980s), so you should be able to get by. However, while many Germans claim to speak it fairly well, actual proficiency varies tremendously across most social, generational, and even geographic dimensions; some Germans have near-native fluency on par with the Netherlands and the Nordic countries, while others maybe barely utter a few sentences. Generally speaking, people in large and cosmopolitan urban areas such as Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, and Stuttgart speak very good English, whereas people from more industrial regions, such as much of Rhine-Ruhr, smaller urban areas (Hanover, Kiel, Münster), rural areas, and most of east Germany may not possess as much fluency. Furthermore, younger people will usually be able to converse in English, whereas older generations tend to not speak any English at all.

Since language ability is a measure of social standing it may be difficult to persuade many Germans to speak German to you if they know you are a native English speaker. Saying that you are (even if pretending to be) a non-native English speaker can get around this situation. That said, Germans who are actually truly fluent and confident in English usually have no issue speaking German with you.

You'll meet German words on traffic signs; this one signs a detour

Germans tend to be direct, and will often answer in English with short responses. Since it's polite to reply "Bitte" if someone thanks you, Germans may literally translate this with "please" instead of "here you are" or "you're welcome".

Other languages are spoken in Germany as well. A surprising number of Germans speak French, often with really good proficiency. In parts of Eastern Germany, a small Slavic community of 50,000 also speaks Sorbian. Many people who grew up in the formerly communist East Germany were taught to speak Rusko and there's a sizable community of former residents of the Soviet Union who immigrated after 1990 and tend to speak Russian. Turkish is spoken by many in the large ethnic Turkish community. Due to immigration, it is becoming more common to find other foreign languages such as Italian, Polish, španski and various Yugoslav languages, although many do not speak the language of their parents or grandparents, let alone on a native level.

Virtually all movies, in addition to foreign shows broadcast on German TV are dubbed into German. If you wish to watch the newest movies in English, they may be shown without dubbing at select theatres at the biggest cities for a little premium fee. Look for the symbol OmU ali OmengU (Original with subtitles). An even rarer treat is the cinema showing movies in their original version brez subtitles - those usually only exist in cities of half a million or more. Niche films and shows shown on high-brow channels like arte (a French-German channel) or 3sat (a German-Swiss-Austrian channel) may sometimes be shown with their original audio and subtitles due to the cost of dubbing niche media, but those are rare even on these niche channels.

Vstopi

Entry requirements

The Dutch–German border, near Winterswijk. The crossings to the western neighbours of Germany hardly look different from any other path.

Germany is a member of the Schengen Agreement.

  • There are normally no border controls between countries that have signed and implemented the treaty. This includes most of the European Union and a few other countries.
  • There are usually identity checks before boarding international flights or boats. Sometimes there are temporary border controls at land borders.
  • Likewise, a visa granted for any Schengen member is valid in all other countries that have signed in implemented the treaty.
  • Please see Travelling around the Schengen Area for more information on how the scheme works, which countries are members and what the requirements are for your nationality.

Recognised refugees and stateless persons in possession of a valid travel document issued by the government of any one of the above countries/territories (e.g. Canada) are exempt from obtaining a visa for Germany (but no other Schengen country, except Hungary, The Netherlands in Belgium, and for refugees, Slovakia) for a maximum stay of 90 days in a 180-day period.

Citizens of Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and the US are eligible to obtain a residence permit, or Aufenthaltstitel (authorising a stay of more than 90 days and permission to work), upon arrival in Germany, but before the end of the 90-day period of visa-free entry. Before obtaining such status, they are not allowed to work, with the exception of some specific occupations (such as artists). Nationals of Honduras, Monaco and San Marino can also obtain such a permit, but this is issued only if they may not work on the residence permit. Other nationals will need to obtain a visa before if they intend to stay in Germany for longer than the 90-day period, even if they are visa-free for that period for a stay in the Schengen area, or if they intend to work.

Authorised members of the British and US military need to possess only a copy of their duty orders (NATO Travel Order) and their ID card to be authorised entry into Germany. The passport requirement, though, applies to spouses and dependents of military personnel, and they must obtain a stamp in their passports to show that they are sponsored by a person in Germany under the Status of Forces Agreement.

There are no land border controls: travel between Germany and other Schengen states, including Switzerland, is easy. However, plain-clothes officers of the German border police are known to ask travellers for their ID especially on the border between Bavaria and Austria.

When crossing a border in an international Eurocity train (especially to/from the Czech Republic and Poland) you will almost always be asked for ID.

There are a number of ways to get into Germany. From neighbouring European countries, a drive with the car or a train or bus ride are perhaps the easiest and most comfortable options; visitors from further away will probably be using air travel.

Z letalom

Frankfurt Airport is Germany's busiest and one of the world's key aviation hubs

Major airports and airlines

The most important airports are Frankfurt (FRA IATA), Munich (MUC IATA) and Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER IATA). Düsseldorf (DUS IATA), Cologne (CGN IATA), Hamburg (HAM IATA) and Stuttgart (STR IATA) also have many international flights.Frankfurt is Germany's main hub (as well as one of Europe's main hubs) and the destination of most intercontinental flights. Munich is a growing secondary hub. Travellers can easily fly into Frankfurt and Munich on Germany's flag carrier Lufthansa, which is a member of Star Alliance.

Flag carriers usually have - at the very least - flights from their main hub to Frankfurt Airport and all main airline alliances codeshare and cooperate for flights to one of more of Germany's major airports. Few countries are more than one connection away.

The airports of Frankfurt, Düsseldorf and Köln/Bonn are on the InterCityExpresshigh-speed rail network. Berlin Airport is served by local trains, S-Bahn and Intercity trains (on the Rostock-Berlin-Dresden route) but while the station is capable of accommodating an ICE it does not do so as of late 2020. Leipzig Halle airport (LEJ IATA) is served by both local and Intercity trains. Most other airports are either connected via the urban public transport network or have their own commuter rail station. However, this is not always the case with lesser "regional" airports, frequently used by no frills airlines, with "Frankfurt"-Hahn being a particular example having no rail connection and a bus that takes about 2 hours to Frankfurt as the only mode of public transport.

Lufthansa passengers travelling from Frankfurt Airport have the option to check in at Cologne or Stuttgart train stations and travel to Frankfurt airport by ICE, dropping off their luggage immediately at Frankfurt airport long distance railway station. If doing so, be sure to book the train journey as a Lufthansa connecting flight (i.e. in advance together with the flight); otherwise, ti are responsible for any missed connection. All major German airports and most airlines also offer rail&fly, a program that allows you to get a ticket to/from the airport and anywhere on the German rail network. Most of the time this has to be bought at the same time as the plane ticket, but some airlines allow you to buy it in addition to the plane ticket later on. For more see rail air alliances.

Minor and budget airlines

See also: Flying on a budget
Don't expect much of the secondary, "budget" airports like Memmingen

Flying can be the cheapest way to get to Germany and from there to other European countries. Before booking a budget flight, compare carefully as their destinations are often a bit out of the way and after adding all the fees, taxes, additional bus tickets to get to their airports, you might end up at even higher prices than you would pay for a discounted Lufthansa ticket. Also according to a 2013 VCD (Verkehrs Club Deutschland) study, inner-European flights are more expensive than a train ticket booked on the same day as the flight would be in over 80% of the time.

The major airports for budget airlines so Berlin Brandenburg Airport (particularly its "Terminal 5" which has seen better days) (BER IATA), "Frankfurt"-Hahn (HHN IATA) and Weeze (NRN IATA) as well as smaller airports with fewer choice of destinations like Memmingen (FMM IATA) (110 km (68 mi) from Munich). Some of the smaller airports are former military airports from the cold war era. They are far away from urban centres. Don't be tricked by the name: Frankfurt-Hahn is actually 130 km (81 mi) from the city of Frankfurt. Düsseldorf-Weeze was forced by a court decision to change its name, as Düsseldorf is 85 km (53 mi) to the south east. No frills airlines are notorious for changing the airports they serve at short notice and several airports that used to have dozens of flights daily have reverted to slumbering general aviation fields.

There are budget flights from almost every city in Europe to Germany. The major budget airlines in Germany are easyJet, Ryanair, Eurowings, in Wizz Air (for flights from Eastern Europe) which all offer several connections to many countries throughout Europe. The main hubs for easyJet are Berlin-Brandenburg and Dortmund, for Ryanair Hahn and Weeze and for Eurowings Cologne/Bonn and Stuttgart. Most of those airlines also fly into and out of other airports but usually with a more limited choice of connections.

For budget flights from European holiday destinations, for example around the Mediterranean, some of Germany's other carriers are Condor (also from main tourist destinations throughout the world) and TUIfly. The classical "holiday charter" airlines offer a number of - often seasonal - connections largely from Mediterranean destinations. While they still sell most of their seats as parts of package deals as the name indicates, almost all of them sell tickets unbundled and if they want to get a plane that would otherwise be half-empty full, you can get some amazing deals indeed. Antalya (Turkey) has several daily connections even to relatively minor German airports during the holiday season.

Z vlakom

Main article: Rail travel in Germany

Regular train services connect Germany with all neighbouring countries. Almost all neighbouring countries (especially Švica, Poland, Netherlands, Denmark, Czech Republic in Austria) and even some non-neighbouring countries (e.g. Italija in Hungary) are quite well connected with "EuroCity" trains. They are a little bit slower and sometimes slightly less comfortable than the European high-speed trains but nevertheless reach up to 200 km/h. They are a worthwhile way to travel – not only for budget travellers (although budget airlines might sometimes be cheaper) or landscape viewers (especially the Rhine valley lines). When booked in advance Deutsche Bahn offer very competitive prices to many European destinations under their "Europa-Spezial" brand, with tickets starting at €39 (or less for short "hops" across the border) one way (you can usually book no earlier than 180 days in advance); however, you cannot change the train or date of travel and refunds are limited. If you miss the train that usually means the ticket becomes worthless.

Several European high-speed trains cross into and out of Germany:

Frankfurt central railway station with ICE 3M Nederlandse Spoorwegen
  • The ICE brings you at 300 km/h top speed from Frankfurt (3.25 hr), Cologne (2.5 hr) or Düsseldorf (2.25 hr) to Amsterdam. The train journey from Frankfurt do Paris (320 km/h) using the ICE will take about four hours; going from Hamburg do Paris can take eight and a half hours. There is also an ICE line from Frankfurt to Brussels via Cologne.
  • The Thalys brings you from Cologne (Köln) to Paris in approximately four hours and to Brussels in about two hours.
  • The TGV brings you from Marseille, Lyon in Strasbourg to Frankfurt, and from Paris, and Strasbourg to Munich.
  • Between Stuttgart in Milan you can travel with one stop in Zurich, the fastest trans alpine train connection. The Italian and German lines feeding into the Gotthard Base Tunnel (which opened in late 2016) are being upgraded. The German and Swiss railways plan to introduce new services along this route for the 2018 schedule.

Standard rail fares are quite high, but there are a number of special fares and discounts available – see the "Get Around" section for more information. In particular, the Bahncard reduction applies for the whole journey as long as it starts or ends in Germany. If you have some time on your hand taking local trains to the border on a domestic ticket might actually be cheaper, especially to/from the Czech Republic and Poland.

By boat

Ferries

Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein: ferries link Kiel to many Scandinavian locations
View to the rear of a Finnlines ferry from Helsinki to Travemünde

International ferry services exist, notably to Scandinavia. Some of the most popular connections are listed below:

There are also ferries crossing Lake Constance to and from Švica.

Cruises

Rostock is by far the most important cruise port in the country. Other ports also see some cruises, including Hamburg in Kiel, the latter mostly for cruises passing through the Kiel Canal.

River cruises along Rhine in Danube also cross international borders. The Main Donau Kanal is popular with river cruises as it allows easy access to both Rhine and Danube and makes Nuremberg reachable by boat.

Z avtobusom

The German intercity bus market has grown and changed significantly since it was fully liberalised in the 2010s. Most operators have folded and Flixbus dominates both the German domestic market and international routes. Intercity buses in France were legalised shortly after Germany and it is France-based "Blablabus" that became the first serious challenger to Flixbus after they cornered the market. Most operators from Central and Eastern Europe that predate liberalisation still exist but have mostly been pushed aside by the rapid growth, so you are unlikely to see them advertised much. Newer non-German entrants to the market include Student Agency/Regiojet from the Czech Republic. New routes appear and disappear quickly, so don't take outdated information from other sources for granted.

By tram

Germany is served by two foreign tram systems with connections across the border. The Basel tram has one line to Weil am Rhein, whereas the Strasbourg tram system has a line to Kehl. As both Switzerland and France are part of the Schengen Area, there are no border controls. However, when going to/from Switzerland, you pass a customs border as Switzerland is not in the EU and thus there may be a customs inspection.

Obiti

On the whole transportation is efficient and fast, though last minute tickets can be a bit on the expensive side. All modes of transportation are up to a high modern standard, including a dense network of airports, high speed rail services connecting most major cities and regional trains reaching almost every settlement of any size, one of the densest and best maintained highway networks on earth (with stretches where the speed limit is shrug emoji), and intercity bus services introduced in 2013.

Z letalom

A graphic representation of the busiest flight routes in Germany - data from 2015

Given the size of Germany, there are few routes where flying makes sense. Business travellers are increasingly drawn to high speed rail services as they offer better overall travel times on all but the longest routes and flights are almost never cheaper than other options. That said, most airports have at least flights to Frankfurt airport and any one of either Hamburg airport, Munich airport, Cologne-Bonn airport or Berlin airport, mostly as feeder flights for their long distance services or catering to business travellers.

Domestic flights are also more prone to cancellation or weather delays. Strikes are at least as common on airlines as they are on the railways and when only some flights have to be cancelled, domestic flights are invariably the lowest priority. Don't worry though, you might be given a voucher for a train to complete your journey regardless.

Lufthansa or its subsidiaries are the only airlines on many domestic routes. Because of a fast connection by train from Berlin to Munich offering travel times competitive with aviation, and the Coronavirus in 2020, Easyjet has withdrawn and Lufthansa scaled back its domestic flights. DB meanwhile is increasing its frequencies on many busy routes — Hamburg Berlin will see a train every half-hour starting December 2020 — and can sometimes charge "premium" fares for business travellers with few other options.

The picture is a bit different for Germany's islands, but with the exception of Sylt none of them see service from any airport much farther away from the coast than "their" harbour.

  • Lufthansa Germany's former flag carrier has greatly reduced its domestic network. Some routes were turned over to subsidiary Eurowings to be run on a "no frills" basis, whereas some feeder flights have been replaced by trains, bookable through Lufthansa if you are booking an international flight with them
  • Eurowings Lufthansa's no-frills subsidiary is based in Düsseldorf and also serves some domestic routes in Germany

Some islands, such as Sylt or some East Frisian islands have small airports of which Sylt is also served by Lufthansa and Eurowings. Other operators include:

  • Sylt Air mostly flies Hamburg-Sylt
  • OFD (short for Ostfriesischer Flugdienst; East Frisian flight service) flies from Northern Germany to several islands, mostly the East Frisian islands

Z vlakom

Main article: Rail travel in Germany

Germany's railway system is usually fast, on time and reliable and if you book tickets in advance (180 days before departure at the earliest) it can be surprisingly affordable. Regional trains are now run by a variety of private operators as well as Deutsche Bahn subsidiaries, but they can all be booked through bahn.com. Long distance trains on the other hand are almost all run by Deutsche Bahn. Those few that aren't have to be booked through the operating company. To give you a hint of just how dense the German railway system is: the biggest town without any rail service has barely over 60,000 inhabitants and you've probably never heard of it.

Long distance

an InterCity-Express 1 EMU in Cologne (Cologne/Bonn Airport Station)

All major cities are linked by DB's ICE (InterCity-Express) and regular InterCity trains. ICE is a system of high speed trains that are capable of speeds up to 330 km/h. They can be expensive, with a 1-hr trip ( Frankfurt do Cologne, around 180 km) costing around €67 one-way (normal price "Flexpreis" without any discount). However, unlike high-speed trains in most other countries (e.g. France), taking the ICE on a "Flexpreis" fare does not require a reservation or bind you to a particular train.

If you want to save money, try for discounted "Super Sparpreis" or "Sparpreis" tickets, starting at €19.90 or €29.90, respectively regardless of distance. As those tickets are sold mainly to attract people to use less popular routes and times, you should try looking for them on off-peak times (Tuesday at noon is the time when trains are emptiest, according to statistics). You cannot change the train or departure time with the "Super Sparpreis" tickets and you will incur a change fee (plus fare difference) for changes to a "Sparpreis" ticket. However, if you miss a train due to a delay on another train you can use the next train, if you have a confirmation for the delay. With a BahnCard 25 or a BahnCard 50 you will get a 25% discount on the Sparpreis (reduced fare) tickets.

"Sparpreis" and "Flexpreis" ICE tickets include a DB City-Ticket, which gives passengers access to most local public transport networks to allow them to get to the station where they will commence their main train journey and from the station where they terminate their main train journey to their final destination (e.g. hotel). This is particularly useful if your actual origin and final destination are not covered by DB's railway network.

Seat reservations are not mandatory but are recommended, especially when you travel on weekends or holidays. This means that with an Interrail ali Eurail pass you can use domestic ICE trains without supplement (except for international ICE trains)

Next are the regular InterCity (IC) and EuroCity (EC) trains. The latter connect the larger European cities and are virtually identical to the regular ICs. These trains are also fairly comfortable, even if they lack the high-tech feeling of the ICE. The rolling stock used for IC services varies widely with both old coaches from the 1970s and 1980s and much newer ones - sometimes on the same train - as well as bilevel (Doppelstock or Dosto in German) multiple units that only entered service in 2015. Most older rolling stock, including the first two generations of ICE (dating to the 1990s) have since undergone extensive refurbishment. Eurocities on the other hand are often composed of cars from several different countries with the style and quality difference that implies.

On the major lines, an ICE or IC train will run each hour or so during the day, and even certain minor cities of touristic importance like Tübingen ali Heringsdorf are connected on a daily or weekly basis. Before you shell out the money for the ICE ticket, you may want to check if it actually makes a significant time difference. ICE trains travel faster than other IC trains only on specially equipped high-speed routes. There are also long distance trains operated by other companies than Deutsche Bahn, usually running over secondary routes. Virtually all of them are marketed by Flixbus under its Flixtrain brand. Other than that international trains such as Thalys or TGV serve stations in Germany and sometimes even domestic routes to an extent. However, a number of operators have announced plans to offer some train service, especially in the sleeper train business, as DB has abandoned that service completely. Usually DB only sells tickets for other operators if a cooperation exists or if forced to by law (e.g. all regional trains). DB tickets are not usually sold by other operators either.

Regional travel

Regional and local trains in Germany come in several flavours:

  • IRE (InterRegioExpress). The same as RE, but goes between two regions (Bundesland).
  • RE (Regional-Express). Semi-express trains, skips some stations. On many routes, this is the highest available train category.
  • RB (Regional-Bahn). Stops everywhere except that it may skip some S-Bahn stops.
S-Bahn-Logo.svg S-Bahn station Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof tief
  • S-Bahn. Commuter network for a city or metropolitan area but can travel fairly long distances. S-Bahn trains do not offer a toilet, with the exception of those in Bremen, Dresden, Hanover, Leipzig, Nuremberg and some S-Bahn Rhein-Neckar trains.

Within a region (Bundesland), it is often possible to get a budget (Länderticket) valid for one day. It can be used for RE, RB, most S-Bahn and some bus connections within the Bundesland, some local urban rail networks are included as well, though not necessarily all. It is available as a single or group ticket. Prices for Ländertickets vary from region to region, but start generally at about €23-27 for one person and usually between €3 and €5 for any additional member of your group up to a party of five. More information is provided at the Website of Deutsche Bahn as well as in the get around section of most Bundesländer.

While regional trains are more and more operated by companies other than Deutsche Bahn and carrying a livery other than DB red, in practice this makes little to no difference as vse za regionalne vlake velja franšiza, pri čemer država predpiše vse, od voznih redov do železniškega voznega parka, prevozniki, ki prejemajo subvencije, pa tudi ceno vozovnice. Na postajah, ki jih oskrbujejo, boste morda videli avtomate za prodajo vozovnic ali števce za več regionalnih železniških operaterjev, vendar je Deutsche Bahn - z zelo omejene izjeme - prisiljeni so vam prodati vozovnico tudi zanje in tam bodo sprejeti tudi zvezne dežele. Medtem ko mnogi operaterji, ki niso DB, sledijo zgoraj opisani shemi, so se nekateri odločili, da svoje storitve poimenujejo drugače kot RB ali RE, vendar bodo še vedno pogosto razlikovali med (pol) "ekspresnimi" in "lokalnimi".

Na splošno lokalni vlaki na krovu nimajo servisa za hrano ali pijačo, včasih pa prodajalec skozi sedeže proda proda (ponavadi predrage) pijače in prigrizke. Nekatere linije in operaterji - kot npr Metronom - na svojih vlakih imajo tudi prodajne avtomate.

Skupinske vozovnice za vlak

Ko se zbere manjša skupina, se z regionalnimi vlaki lahko poceni vozite. Obstaja nekaj opozoril:

  • Cena vozovnice je običajno odvisna od števila potnikov z razmeroma visoko osnovno ceno in majhnim dodatkom za vsakega drugega člana do pet let. Če je v vaši skupini več kot pet ljudi, se za posebne ponudbe za večje skupine obrnite na Deutsche Bahn.
  • Te karte so samo velja dne regionalni vlaki (RE, RB in S-Bahn) in nekaj lokalnega prevoza (podzemna železnica in avtobus), odvisno od mesta. Vzeti ICE ali IC s takšno vozovnico ni mogoče.
  • Nekatere vozovnice Ländertickets so na voljo za prvi razred (pod pogojem, da doplačate), vendar veljajo samo za drugi razred, razen če ni drugače določeno.

Če poznate svoj načrt potovanja, lahko na internetu uredite skupino, kupite vozovnico in začnete. Skupinske vstopnice lahko kupite prek aplikacije DB Navigator. Vse vozovnice veljajo od 9:00 med delavniki in od polnoči v soboto in nedeljo. Njihova veljavnost se običajno konča ob 03:00 naslednji dan.

Z avtobusom

Poglej tudi: Potovanje z avtobusom na dolge razdalje po Nemčiji

Iz večine večjih mest je na desetine dnevnih storitev, ki so pogosto bistveno cenejše od vlakov. Večina avtobusov ponuja udobja, kot so Wi-Fi in električne vtičnice, nekateri pa lahko prevažajo celo kolesa.

Poleg teh obstaja zelo gosto omrežje regionalnih in lokalnih avtobusnih linij. Na podeželju pa številne proge vozijo le enkrat na dan. Oznake regionalnih in lokalnih hitrih avtobusnih linij običajno vsebujejo črke CE (lokalno), E (regionalno okoli Hamburga; na drugih območjih se E uporablja za posebne vožnje), S (regionalno), SB (regionalno in lokalno) ali X (lokalno znotraj Berlin), lahko označevalci linij mestnih avtobusov vsebujejo črke BB ("Bürgerbus", ki niso vključene v carinske zveze), C ali O. Vedno natančno preverite odhodne table: včasih, zlasti ponoči ali na podeželju, morate naročiti avtobus po telefonu.

Z avtom

Glavni članek: Vožnja v Nemčiji
Ta nekdanja bencinska črpalka (Tankstelle) v Berlinu je danes spomenik.

Nemčija ima svetovno znano mrežo odličnih cest in avtocest (avtocest) brez cestnine in avtomobilov. Čeprav je javni prevoz v Nemčiji odličen, bodo tisti, ki se bodo odločili za vožnjo, tudi cestno omrežje hitro in učinkovito. Kot večina Evrope tudi Nemčija vozi po desni strani.

Vnaprej preverite, ali je vaš nemški vozniško dovoljenje velja v Nemčiji. V nasprotnem primeru lahko tvegate visoko kazen ali zapor do enega leta. Za daljše bivanje večina tujih licenc ne velja ne glede na vaš status prebivališča. Če nameravate voziti dlje (nekaj mesecev ali let), poskusite pridobiti evropsko vozniško dovoljenje, ki je običajno veljavno po vsej Evropski uniji.

Zelena puščica označuje, da je dovoljeno zaviti desno, ko se popolnoma ustavite in popustite

Spoštujte rdeče semaforje, vendar obstaja izjema: lahko zavijete desno, ko je na semafor poleg rdeče luči pritrjena majhna zelena desna puščica - še vedno je za to treba strogo ustaviti, pogledati in popustiti, preden zavijete desno.

Omejitve hitrosti z velikim številom hitrostnih kamer. Omejitve hitrosti so:

  • Hitrost hoje po "Spielstraßen" (označena z modro / belim znakom, ki prikazuje igralne otroke, prednost imajo pešci)
  • 30 km / h (19 mph) v večini stanovanjskih območij v mestih (označena z znakom "30-Zone Wohngebiet", 20-Zone in 10-Zone obstajajo, čeprav so znaki za 10 cono le svetovalni)
  • 50 km / h (31 mph) znotraj mest (označeno na vstopu z rumenim znakom mesta) in vključuje "Kraftfahrstraßen" (označeno z znakom, ki prikazuje bel avto na modri podlagi)
  • 100 km / h (62 mph) zunaj mest
  • Na "Autobahn" ali na "Kraftfahrstraßen" za avtomobile in motorna kolesa, ki ne vlečejo priklopnika, ni stalne splošne omejitve hitrosti. Ni povsem neomejeno, saj obstajajo odseki s periodičnimi ali trajnimi omejitvami hitrosti in priporočljivo največja hitrost na avtocesti je 130 km / h (81 mph), zato se tega potrudite, če ste novi v hitri vožnji. Vendar nekateri "hitri turisti" prihajajo v Nemčijo samo zato, da najamejo eksotični športni avto in uničijo omrežje Autobahn, ki je tretje največje avtocestno omrežje na svetu.

Avtobani, zlasti tisti z enomestnimi številkami (ki povezujejo večje regije na večje razdalje) ali tisti v mestnih območjih ali blizu njih (npr. Rhein / Ruhr), dobijo zelo gneča od petka popoldne ali poletnih počitnic. Priljubljene prometnice, ki vodijo proti jugu do Italije ali proti severu do obale Baltika in Severnega morja, na začetku šolskih počitnic v vsaki državi doživljajo določeno gnečo. Ko načrtujete potovanje, bodite pozorni na začetek šolskih počitnic in se izogibajte vožnji tisti dan ali konec tedna po njem. V zimskih počitnicah (božične in pustne) lahko na ulicah, ki vodijo do alpskih smučišč, postane tudi nekoliko gneče, kar še poslabša celo zmerno sneženje - še posebej, če gre za prvi sneg v sezoni.

Parkirišče je običajno enostavno najti, vendar je brezplačno parkiranje vse redkejše in redkejše. Medtem ko bi se nekatere sosednje države smejale tudi najvišjim stopnjam parkiranja v Nemčiji, je ponudba poceni parkirišč bistveno nižja kot v ZDA. Ena vrsta brezplačnega parkiranja, ki je še vedno na voljo, je parkiranje in vožnja (znano pod P&R v Nemčiji), zraven javnega prevoza, ki običajno temelji na železnici. Nekateri od teh sklopov se napolnijo zjutraj in ostanejo zasedeni do večerne vožnje, ob koncu tedna pa so lahko skoraj prazni. Trgovski centri in supermarketi imajo običajno brezplačno parkiranje za stranke v času njihovega bivanja, vendar vse pogosteje uveljavljajo kršitve parkiranja, kot so nenaročniki, ki svoje avtomobile shranjujejo na svojem zemljišču, ali avtomobile, ki ostanejo na parceli ure in ure.

Skupna raba (Carpooling) je priljubljen v Nemčiji, cena vožnje pa je pogosto cenejša od železnice. Blablačar je priljubljeno spletno mesto za urejanje skupnih voženj. S pomočjo spletnega mesta se lahko dogovorite tudi za mednarodna potovanja.

Taksiji so drage in pogosto sprejemajo le gotovino. Pogoji na avtu običajno niso napisani, zato vprašajte voznika. Cene določajo lokalne oblasti.

Z vozili za rekreacijo in avtodomi

Nemški kampi (kot večina drugih v Franciji) Zahodna Evropa) običajno ponujajo celoten nabor udobja. Vedno imate lastne priključke za elektriko in priključki za vodo in kanalizacijo so običajni. Vsako kampiranje ima sanitarije in tuše, pa tudi kuhinje, pralne in sušilne stroje.

Rumene strani kampiranja ali, če želite, nemška biblijska biblija je ADAC Campingführer, vodnik po kampu največjega nemškega avtomobilskega kluba ADAC. V njem so navedeni skoraj vsi kampi, skupaj s cenami, vrsto lokacije, velikostjo, delovnim časom, udobjem, vasim imenom. Ker vodnik uporablja veliko simbolov, ki so razloženi v številnih jezikih, je primeren tudi za popotnike iz tujine.

Splošna omejitev hitrosti velja za RV-je in vse, kar nekaj vleče - tudi na odsekih avtocest brez objavljene omejitve. Običajno je na hrbtni strani nalepka ali pa so v dokumentih ali pogodbi o najemu zapisane črke.

Z električnim vozilom (EV)

Največ polnilnih postaj v Nemčiji je naštetih na spletnih straneh www.goingelectric.de (mreža voznikov EV) pod točko "Stromtankstellen". Uradna spletna stran jeLadesäulenkartenemškega organa Bundesnetzagentur.

S stopiranjem

Možno je avtostop v Nemčiji večina Nemcev govori osnovno angleško, zato vas bodo razumeli, če boste govorili počasi. Vozniki redko pričakujejo, da jim boste dali kaj denarja za vožnjo. Prve črke nemške registrske tablice (pred vezajem) označujejo mesto, v katerem je avto registriran. Če poznate kodo svojega cilja, bo to povečalo vaše možnosti, da ustavite pravo vozilo.

Prepovedano je ustaviti se na Avtobusna proga, toda avtostopi s servisnih območij ali bencinskih servisov so dober način za dolge vožnje (100–200 km). Težji del je priti na avtocesto, zato se splača spati v bližini bencinskih črpalk, če greste daleč. Na bencinskih črpalkah lahko dobite brezplačno knjižico z imenom Tanken in Rasten z zemljevidom avtocest in bencinskih črpalk. Ko pridete do dvigala, se z voznikom dogovorite, kje izstopiti, in zagotovite, da je bencinska črpalka. Poskusite se izogniti Autohofs.

Pogosto je tudi dogovoriti se vožnja z zasebnim vozilom vnaprej prek agencije brez povezave ali interneta. Agencije brez povezave Citynetz ali ADM imajo pisarne v večjih mestih, večinoma v bližini mestnega središča ali glavne železniške postaje. Te agencije brez povezave zaračunajo provizijo za stroške goriva, ki ga morate plačati za voznika.

Spletne storitve za organizacijo voženj v zasebnih vozilih so zelo priljubljene, saj nobena stranka ne plača provizije tradicionalnim agencijam. Prispevati morate le k stroškom za gorivo (primer: Frankfurt do Berlin 25 €). Z voznikom se lahko obrnete neposredno po e-pošti, telefonu ali sms-u. Ker morajo biti vozniki registrirani, je varneje kot avtostopiranje.

Štoparji je primerljiva storitev, večjezična in brezplačna. Blablačar je še en dobro znan igralec z veliko vožnjami v svoji bazi podatkov.

S kolesom

Poglej tudi: Kolesarjenje po Evropi
obvezna kolesarska steza
skupna pot za pešce in kolesarje

Nemčija je na splošno prijazna do koles, saj ima v mestih veliko kolesarskih stez. Obstaja tudi precejšnja mreža dobro podpisanih kolesarskih poti na dolge razdalje. The Nemška kolesarska mreža (Radnetz Deutschland) je sestavljen iz dvanajstih uradnih poti (D1-12). GPX-posnetke za vsak odsek na spletni strani lahko prenesete brezplačno.

Kolesarji naj bi sledili enakemu cestna pravila kot motorna vozila. Medtem ko teoretično za kolesarje veljajo številna enaka cestna pravila kot za ljudi v avtomobilih ali na motornih kolesih, je izvrševanje praviloma bolj prizanesljivo, na primer meja DUI je veliko višja (1,3 na milijon) kot 0,5 promila za voznike. Tudi uporaba mobilnega telefona med kolesarjenjem je v redu, vendar ne tako visoko kot pri motornem vozilu. Če je ob cesti vzporedna kolesarska steza z belo-modrimi znaki "cikel" (glej desno), kolesar mora uporabi. Te kolesarske steze so na splošno ena smer, razen če ni izrecno navedeno drugače, in boste lahko kaznovani, če boste šli v napačno smer. V nekaterih mestih so kolesarske steze označene s temno rdečimi tlakovci na glavnem sprehajalnem območju. Vendar bodite previdni, saj kolesarji in pešci navadno plujejo čez te meje. Kolesarjenje po pločniku ni dovoljeno, razen če je označeno kot kolesarska steza (obstajajo izjeme za otroke, mlajše od 10 let).

Večina železniških postaj, nakupovalnih površin, hotelov in poslovnih prostorov ima stojala za kolesa (nekateri pokriti) s prostorom za pritrditev lastne verige za zaklepanje kolesa.

Na regionalni vlaki ponavadi je en voz, ki vam omogoča, da kolo vkrcate na krov. Vlaki InterCity omogočajo tudi vožnjo s kolesom, ICE pa ne. Običajno prinašanje koles zahteva ločeno vozovnico in / ali rezervacijo. Za več podrobnosti glej Železniška potovanja po Nemčiji # Kolesa.

Če želite vzeti kolo na avtobus za medkrajevne razdalje rezervirati morate nekaj dni naprej in morda ne bo uspešen, saj je shramba za kolesa zelo omejena (le dva ali tri na avtobus).

Zdaj ponuja več nemških mest programi za skupno rabo koles, večina jih vodi ena ali druga nextbike ali hčerinsko podjetje Deutsche Bahn pokličite kolo. So odličen način za prehod na krajše razdalje znotraj mesta, vendar niso najboljša možnost za daljše ture, saj je največ čas najema običajno 24 ur. Klasična izposoja koles še vedno obstaja v številnih mestih, pa tudi v manjših vasicah blizu obale, kjer je veliko turistov. Za najem pogosto zahtevajo polog ali osebno izkaznico.

Z e-skuterjem

V številnih večjih mestih, kot so Berlin, München in Köln; s pravilno naloženo aplikacijo lahko vzamete v roke skuter skuter, ki je raztresen po ulicah. Vodijo jih številna podjetja, vključno z Krog, Stopnja, Ptica in Lime. Če želite voziti, morate biti starejši od 14 let in imate enake predpise kot kolo; ki je ni mogoče uporabljati na pločnikih / sprehajalnih poteh (samo uporaba kolesarskih stez ali cest) in prekoračitev dovoljene količine alkohola bo vplivalo na status vašega vozniškega dovoljenja. Omejene so na 20 km / h, a vseeno so pogost vzrok nesreč od njihove uvedbe.

Glej

Kulturno zgodovinske znamenitosti

Rothenburg v Franconia, srednjeveško mesto s skoraj povsem originalnim zgodovinskim središčem

Ko razmišljamo o Nemčiji, pivo, lederhosen in alpski klobuki hitro pridejo na misel, vendar se ti stereotipi večinoma nanašajo na Bavarski kulture in ne predstavljajo Nemčije kot celote. Nemčija je obsežna in raznolika država s 16 kulturno edinstvenimi državami, ki politično unijo tvorijo šele od leta 1871. Tudi znotraj držav je pogosto precejšnja kulturna raznolikost. Bavarska vlada na primer rada govori o treh "plemenih", ki živijo v državi; "stari Bavarci", Frankonci in Švabi. Predvsem prva dva sta rada združena približno toliko kot Angleži in Škoti.

Ulmer Münster, najvišji cerkveni zvonik na svetu

Če še vedno iščete klišeje, Romantična cesta je znana slikovita pot po romantičnih gradovih in slikovitih vasicah. S svojim pravljičnim videzom Grad Neuschwanstein bi lahko veljali za najbolj ikoničen nemški grad. Obzidano mesto Rothenburg ob der Tauber ima čudovito srednjeveško središče, ki se zdi, da ga čas ni dotaknil. Nekatera podobna tipična nemška mesta lahko najdemo tudi drugod po državi, na primer Augsburg, Bamberg, Celle, Heidelberg, Lübeck, in Quedlinburg. Obisk vaše slikovne razglednice v Nemčiji bo dopolnjen z obiskom pivnic v München in pokukati v Alpe na Garmisch-Partenkirchen. V Ulm lahko obiščete najvišji cerkveni zvonik na svetu - Ulmer Münster. Lahko se odpravite tudi v ljubko, a redko obiskano srednjeveško mesto Schwäbisch Hall. Za ljubitelje Grimmovih pravljic, ki vključujejo številne znane, kot so Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin, Sneguljčica in Pied Piper, nemška turistična organizacija priporoča Pot pravljic ki vas popelje do krajev, kjer so živeli bratje Grimm, pa tudi do mest, ki so bila predstavljena v Grimmovih pravljicah.

Nemčija je sodobna industrijska država in ZDA Wirtschaftswunder najbolje predstavlja industrijska dediščina Ljubljane Ruhr. Hamburg je še ena gospodarska elektrarna z drugim najbolj prometnim pristaniščem na celini. Frankfurt je finančno središče Nemčije in celotne Evrope, saj je osnova Evropske centralne banke. Njeno obzorje se približuje tistim na drugi strani Atlantika. Modno mesto Ljubljana Düsseldorf, medijska industrija Köln, in avtomobilska podjetja v Stuttgart vsaka predstavlja cvetoč sektor nemškega gospodarskega čudeža.

Popolnoma drugačno izkušnjo lahko najdete v Berlin, mesto, ki ga verjetno ne najdemo nikjer drugje na planetu. Medtem ko je arhitekturno čudno neujemanje steriliziranih stanovanjskih blokov, postmodernističnih steklenih in jeklenih konstrukcij ter nekaterih zgodovinskih zaostankov, ima sproščeno vzdušje in kulturo internacionalizma. Njegova burna zgodovina je povzročila izjemno bogastvo zgodovinskih znamenitosti, med njimi Berlinski zid, Brandenburger Tor, Bundestag, Checkpoint Charlie, Fernsehturm, spomin na holokavst in Rotes Rathaus. Toda ne pozabite na sosesko Prenzlauer Berg, če se želite počutiti kot pravi Berliner. Kreuzberg (nekoč znan po punkerjih, zdaj večinoma gentrificiran) in čudovito poimenovano Poroka prav tako ne zaostajata.

Temni spomini na nacistično dobo so našli sledi tudi v Nemčiji; glej Druga svetovna vojna v Evropi in Spomin na holokavst. Medtem ko je tema občutljiva in so "šale" na to temo slaba ideja, če dobro ne poznate svojih gostiteljev, se je Nemčija zelo potrudila ohraniti spomenike te dobe kot opozorilo in podrobne izobraževalne eksponate na mestih, kot je bila nekdanja koncentracija taboriščih, nekdanjih zbirališčih nacistične stranke v Ljubljani Nürnberg ali nekdanji sedeži nacističnih ministrstev in pisarn v Berlinu so vredni ogleda, če so le mrzli in depresivni.

Naravne znamenitosti

Severozahod: Wattwanderung (blatno pohodništvo) ob oseki v Severnem morju, med Cuxhaven in majhna Neuwerk otok

Nemčija se zaradi svoje velikosti in lege v Srednji Evropi ponaša z veliko raznolikostjo krajine. Na severu ima Nemčija obsežno območje obala vzdolž Severnega morja in Baltskega morja na velikem območju, znanem kot Severnonemška nižina. Pokrajina je zelo ravna, podnebje pa grobo z močnim vetrom in milimi, hladnimi temperaturami. Zaradi jugovzhodnega vetra, ki pritiska vodo v Nemški zaliv, so razlike v plimovanju in oseki izjemno velike, kar ustvarja Waddenovo morje. Ogromna območja morskega dna se odkrijejo dvakrat na dan, kar omogoča sprehod od enega od številnih otokov do drugega. (To lahko storite le z vodnikom.) Vzhodnofriški otoki tik ob obali so zelo slikovite, čeprav jih večinoma obiskujejo Nemci sami. Vključujejo najljubša letovišča z belim peskom ob Baltskem morju Rügen in Usedom.

Jug: meteorološka postaja na Zugspitze vrh, najvišja gora Nemčije. Obisk ga ni tako zahteven: na voljo so tri žičnice, dve z nemške in ena avstrijske, če nočete peš.

Osrednja polovica Nemčije je mešanica Osrednje gorje, hribovita podeželska območja, kjer se polja in gozdovi mešajo z večjimi mesti. Veliko teh gričev je turističnih destinacij, kot je Bavarski gozd, Črn gozd, Harz, Rudne gore, Severni Hessen in Saška Švica. The Renska dolina ima zelo blago podnebje in rodovitna tla, zaradi česar je najpomembnejše območje za vinogradništvo in sadjarstvo v državi.

Na skrajnem jugu, ki meji na Avstrijo, je del Nemčije del Nemčije Alpe, Najvišja nadmorska višina Srednje Evrope, ki se je dvignila do 4000 m nadmorske višine, najvišji vrh v Nemčiji pa Zugspitze na 2962 m (9717 ft). Medtem ko le majhen del Alp leži v Nemčiji, slovijo po svoji lepoti in edinstveni bavarski kulturi. Vzdolž jugozahodne meje države leži Švica in Avstrija Bodensko jezero, Največje nemško sladkovodno jezero.

Poti

  • Spominska pot Bertha Benz - sledi prvemu potovanju na dolge razdalje z avtomobilom na svetu
  • Romantična cesta - najbolj znana slikovita pot v Nemčiji, ki se začne v Würzburgu in konča v Füssnu
  • Rheinsteig in Rheinburgenweg - Sprehodite se po visoki stezi skozi nekatere najlepše pokrajine v Nemčiji s čudovitim razgledom na gradove nad reko Ren Wiesbaden in Bonn ali Bingen in Bonn-Mehlem.
  • Elbe Radweg kolesarska pot ob reki Elbi, ki pelje mimo Dresdena in Magdeburga, preden doseže Hamburg. Zaradi bližine reke je nekaj strmih vzponov, zaradi česar je ta pot idealna za kolesarje začetnike.

Ali

Königssee ("Kraljevo jezero") v bližini Berchtesgaden, Bavarska

Nemčija ponuja široko paleto dejavnosti tako kulturne kot športne narave. Številni Nemci so člani športnega kluba.

Šport

Nemčija je nora na nogomet (nogomet) in Nemška nogometna zveza (DFB) je največja nogometna zveza na svetu s 6,35 milijona članov (8% nemškega prebivalstva) v več kot 25.000 klubih. Številni nemški nogometni klubi so med najbolj dragocenimi nogometnimi blagovnimi znamkami v Evropi, kot sta Borussia Dortmund in FC Bayern München. Vsaka vas ima svoj klub in igre so ob koncu tedna pogosto glavni družabni dogodek. Upoštevajte, da je zaradi narave (majhne manjšine) nogometnih navdušencev pogosto prisotna večja prisotnost policije med igrami, nasilje pa je redko, a ni slišati. Drugi priljubljeni ekipni športi vključujejo (olimpijski) rokomet (še posebej priljubljen na severu), hokej na ledu ("Eishockey"), odbojko in košarko. Avtomobilski športi so priljubljena atrakcija med številnimi znanimi Formula ena tečaji, kot so Hockenheim in Nürburgring ("Zeleni pekel").

Nemčija - zlasti sever - je tudi ena najboljših držav, kar zadeva Rokomet. Ekipe, kot so Flensburg, Kiel in druge, iz tedna v teden v svoje dvorane pritegnejo množice, ki jih prodajajo, in pripravijo nekaj najboljših rokometa na svetu.

Ameriški nogomet igrajo tudi v Nemčiji in uživajo v tradiciji iz sedemdesetih let prejšnjega stoletja. Nemška reprezentanca je na zadnjih dveh evropskih prvenstvih (2010 in 2014) zmagala. Medtem ko gneča ni blizu priljubljenih športov (2000 navijačev je veliko, ki jih veliko ekip dobi le za pomembne tekme), se v finalu zbere nekje med 15 000 in 20 000 gledalci, vzdušje pa je sproščeno, tudi navijači gostujoče ekipe so pozdravili in najhujše, kar se vam lahko zgodi, da ste dobrosrčni vdori v svoji ekipi ali njeni zgodovini. Na nedeljo Super Bowla je kup prireditev "javnega ogleda" (to je dejansko nemški izraz), čeprav je sredi noči in je dobra priložnost za srečanje z drugimi nogometnimi navdušenci in lokalnimi severnoameriškimi prebivalstvo.

Pozimi se veliko ljudi smuča v Alpah ali v gorskih verigah, kot so Harz, Eifel, Bavarski gozd ali Schwarzwald.

Eden bolj priljubljenih individualnih športov je tenis; čeprav je od dni Steffi Graf in Borisa Beckerja nekoliko upadel, so marsikje še vedno teniška igrišča in večino jih je mogoče najeti na uro.

Skoraj vsako srednje veliko nemško mesto ima zdravilišče (pogosto imenovano Therme) z bazeni, tobogani, masažnimi kadmi, savnami, parnimi kopelmi, sončnimi strehami itd.

Kulturne prireditve

Več gledališč v večjih mestih igra izjemne klasične in sodobne predstave. Nemčija se ponaša z najrazličnejšimi kulturnimi dogodki in vsako mesto oblikuje kulturni program. Večina gledališč in opernih hiš prejema velikodušne subvencije, da bi bile vstopnice cenovno ugodne, poceni sedež pa je na mnogih prizoriščih na voljo za manj kot 10 EUR, če izpolnjujete pogoje za določene popuste.

Klasična glasba

Poglej tudi: Evropska klasična glasba

Nemčija je znana po številnih opernih hišah svetovnega razreda (zlasti Berlin, Bayreuth, in München), in Berlinska filharmonija je eden najboljših treh orkestrov na svetu. Šteje se, da ima Nemčija eno najmočnejših tradicij klasične glasbe v Evropi, pri čemer imajo številni znani skladatelji, kot so Bach, Handel ( Händel preden se je leta 1712 naselil v Londonu), Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms in Wagner s poreklom iz Nemčije.

Medtem ko imata Francija in Italija daljšo zgodovino z opero, je tudi Nemčija razvila svojo edinstveno operno tradicijo. Nemščina, skupaj z italijansko in francosko, velja za glavnega opernega jezika, pri čemer so številne znane opere v nemškem jeziku sestavljali znani skladatelji, kot so Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner in Strauss.

Nemčija ima več kot 130 poklicnih orkestrov - več kot katera koli druga država na svetu. To je zapuščina fevdalnih časov, ko je bilo ozemlje države razdrobljeno in je vsak od lokalnih vladarjev uporabljal ločen dvorni orkester. Danes večino orkestrov vodijo državne ali lokalne vlade ali javne radiotelevizijske postaje. Največji je Gewandhausorchester v Ljubljani Leipzig s 185 plačanimi glasbeniki (vendar redko igrajo hkrati, deli orkestra spremljajo opero, balet, fantovski zbor Thomaner in igrajo svoje simfonične koncerte).

Muzikali

Glasbena kupola v Ljubljani Köln

Muzikali so priljubljeni v Nemčiji. Čeprav občasno obstajajo kakšne turneje, večina oddaj ostane v določenem mestu nekaj let. Glavna „glasbena mesta“ so Hamburg, Berlin, Oberhausen, Stuttgart, Bochum in Köln. Vključujejo nemške predstave Levji kralj, Hudoben, Starlight Express in Rocky.

Gledališče

Na splošno je nemških gledališč veliko in so - v primerjavi z večino drugih zahodnih držav - poceni, saj vlada meni, da so "nujna", in mnogim izmed njih subvencionira, da bi bili obiski dostopni vsem. Tudi nekatera subvencionirana gledališča so še vedno precej ugodna v primerjavi z, na primer, muzikali. Pogosto obstajajo posebni popusti za študente ali starejše ljudi. Večina iger je uprizorjenih v nemščini, prihajajo pa tudi občasni dogodki z igrami v drugih jezikih. Najbolj znane avtorje nemškega jezika lahko vsak dan najdemo tako v imenih številnih ulic kot v številnih gledališčih. Goethe, Schiller in Lessing so sicer vsa gospodinjska imena, vendar bolj pogosto interpretirajo in igrajo tudi sodobnejše avtorje, kot je Brecht. Med nemškim gledališčem in nemškim jezikovnim gledališčem zunaj Nemčije res ni mogoče enostavno postaviti meje, zato so dela avstrijskih, švicarskih ali drugih nemškojezičnih pisateljev in režiserjev pogosto prikazana tudi na nemških odrih in obratno.

Shakespeare

Globus iz Neussa (Severno Porenje-Vestfalija), na Shakespearejevem festivalu

Precej zanimivo je, da William Shakespeare morda ni nikjer bolj oboževan kot v Nemčiji - vključno z Anglosfero. Na primer - še vedno ohranjen - Deutsche Shakespeare Gesellschaft sega v leto 1864 in je torej pred katero koli angleško ali ameriško Shakespearejevo družbo. To lahko v veliki meri pripišemo Goetheju, ki se je zaljubil v Bardova dela. Če je vaš nemški kos, je ogled predstave lahko zelo zanimiv. Po mnenju nekaterih Nemcev naj bi Shakespeare dejansko bil izboljšano v prevodu, saj je uporabljeni jezik verjetno nekoliko bolj sodoben. Presodite sami.

Glasbeni festivali

V Nemčiji je nekaj dobro znanih in velikih letnih festivalov, kot so Wacken Open Air (festival težke kovine glasbe), Wave-Gotik-Treffen (festival za "temno" glasbo in umetnost v Leipzig) in Fusion Festival (festival elektronske glasbe v Ljubljani Mecklenburg Lake District).

Nakup

Denar

Menjalni tečaji za evre

Od 4. januarja 2021:

  • 1 USD ≈ 0,816 EUR
  • Združeno kraljestvo 1 £ ≈ 1,12 €
  • Avstralski $ 1 ≈ 0,63 €
  • Kanadski 1 USD ≈ 0,642 EUR

Tečaji nihajo. Trenutne cene za te in druge valute so na voljo pri XE.com

Nemčija uporablja evro, kot več drugih evropskih držav. En evro je razdeljen na 100 centov. Uradni simbol za evro je €, njegova ISO koda pa je EUR. Za cent ni uradnega simbola.

Vsi bankovci in kovanci te skupne valute so zakonito plačilno sredstvo v vseh državah, le da v nekaterih od njih postopoma odpadejo kovanci z majhnimi apoeni (en in dva centa). Bankovci so videti enako v vseh državah, medtem ko imajo kovanci na hrbtni strani običajno skupno obliko, ki izraža vrednost, in na sprednji strani nacionalno obliko, specifično za državo. Spredaj se uporablja tudi za različne modele spominskih kovancev. Zasnova aversa ne vpliva na uporabo kovanca.

Opombe, večje od 100 EUR, medtem ko zakonitega plačilnega sredstva niso v tako velikem obtoku in bodo zavrnjene v nekaterih trgovinah ali za manjše nakupe. Bodite pripravljeni na večje račune, ki bodo bolj pod drobnogledom glede morebitnih ponaredkov. Majhne trgovine in celo nekaj avtomatiziranih strojev za javni prevoz ne sprejemajo bankovcev za 50 € ali več.

Menjalnica se je po uvedbi evra močno zmanjšal, čeprav ga še vedno lahko najdete na ali v bližini večjih železniških postaj in letališč. Tuje valute - tudi valute sosednjih držav - bodo le redko sprejemali in pogosto po precej slabih menjalnih tečajih. Lahko pa imate nekaj sreče s švicarskimi franki v neposrednem obmejnem območju, saj je Nemčija precej priljubljena nakupovalna destinacija za švicarske turiste. Nekatere restavracije s hitro hrano, zlasti tiste v bližini objektov ameriške vojske, sprejemajo ameriške dolarje (spet po precej slabih menjalnih tečajih), vendar nanje ne računajo. Običajne banke bodo seveda nudile menjavo valut, vendar včasih zaračunajo precejšnje provizije za ne-stranke in pri prehodu z eura na tujo gotovino bo morda potrebno predhodno obvestilo. Potovalni čeki so vse bolj redke, vendar jih banke vseeno zamenjajo, čeprav bi bilo verjetno manj težav, če vzamete svojo debetno ali kreditno kartico in dvignete denar z običajnih bankomatov.

Gotovina (Bargeld) je najbolj zaželen način plačevanja vsakodnevnih transakcij. Neodvisni prodajalci, majhne kavarne in stojnice Božične tržnice na splošno ne sprejemajo kreditnih kartic in včasih obstaja minimalni znesek nakupa. Medtem ko nemško domače debetne kartice - poklical EC-Karte ali žirocard - (in v manjši meri kartice Maestro in VPay na osnovi PIN-a) uživajo skoraj splošno sprejetje, kreditne kartice (Visa, MasterCard, American Express) oz tuje debetne kartice (Visa Debit / Electron itd.) Niso tako splošno sprejeti kot v drugih evropskih državah ali državah Združene države. Sprejeli pa jih bodo v skoraj vseh večjih prodajalnah in večini trgovin s hitro prehrano. Večji trgovci na drobno vse pogosteje sprejemajo kreditne kartice (navadno samo Visa in MasterCard), tehnologija Near Field Communication pa je zdaj na voljo (poiščite logotip EMVCoContactlessIndicator.svg), čeprav mnogi ljudje, ki delajo na drobno, morda še ne poznajo tehnologije.

Večina Bankomati bo sprejel kreditne kartice in če bankomat zaračuna provizijo (ki jih je v Nemčiji v primerjavi z drugimi državami EU veliko), zakonodaja EU pooblašča stroj, da vam pred dvigom sporoči provizijo (bodisi z nalepko ali obvestilom na zaslon). Vendar lahko izdajatelj vaše kartice zaračuna svoje stroške, ne glede na to, ali obstaja poleg stroškov, ki jih zaračuna operater ATM; pred uporabo preverite pri izdajatelju.

Skupno z večino drugih zahodnoevropskih jezikov je pomeni točk in vejic so ravno obratni po angleškem običaju; v nemščini se z vejico označuje decimalno mesto. Na primer, "2,99 €" je dva evra in 99 evrocentov. Simbol "€" se ne uporablja vedno in je skoraj vedno postavljen za ceno, nekateri Nemci pa menijo, da je zapis "valutni znak najprej" čuden. Pika se uporablja za "združevanje" števil (ena pika za tri številke), tako da bi bilo "1.000.000" en milijon. Torej je "123.456.789,01" v nemščini enako številu kot "123.456.789,01" v angleško govorečih državah.

Davki

Vse blago in storitve vključujejo DDV (Mehrwertsteuer) 19%. Zakon ga vedno vključi v ceno izdelka (le izjema je blago, ki se komercialno izvozi, potem pa lahko veljajo dajatve). Za gorivo, penino, žgane pijače in tobak se plačujejo višji davki. Znižani DDV znaša 7% za hotele (ne pa tudi za užitne izdelke, porabljene znotraj), za užitne izdelke (nekateri predmeti, ki se štejejo za luksuzno blago, npr. Jastog, so izvzeti iz tega znižanja), tiskane izdelke, ves javni prevoz na kratke razdalje in vlake za dolge razdalje , in vstopna cena za opero ali gledališče. Natančne podrobnosti o tem, ali blago ali storitve dobijo celotno ali znižano stopnjo DDV, so neverjetno zapletene in skrivnostne, a če navedemo samo en primer, ima vprašanje "jej tukaj ali vzemi" v restavraciji s hitro hrano davčne posledice, saj obdavčena v višini 7%.

Prekuhavanje

V Nemčiji nasveti (Trinkgeld, dobesedno "pijan (ing) denar") so običajna v restavracijah, barih (ne v restavracijah s hitro prehrano), taksiji in frizerskih salonih. Čeprav ni obvezen, je vedno cenjen kot zahvala za odlično storitev. Tips rarely exceed 10% of the bill (including tax) and tips are also rather common when the bill is an uneven amount to avoid having to deal with small change (e.g. a bill of €13.80 will commonly be rounded up to €15 to make making change easier). The server will never propose this and even when dealing with one of the annoying €x.99 prices, they will diligently search for the copper coins to make change unless you say otherwise.

Unlike in some other countries, service staff are always paid by the hour and the minimum wage of €9.19 an hour (as of 2019) applies to service staff as well as any other profession. However, service staff is more likely to get only the minimum wage or barely above even in establishments where other jobs get higher wages. A tip is therefore mainly a matter of politeness and shows your appreciation. If you didn't appreciate the service (e.g. slow, snippy or indifferent service) you may not tip at all and it will be accepted by the staff. Americans in particular are known among service staff for being generous tippers pretty much regardless of service, so they may be a lesser priority on busy days in some places.

Tipping in Germany is usually done by mentioning the total while paying. So if, e.g., a waiter tells you the bill amounts to "€13.50", just state "15" and s/he will include a tip of €1.50. Alternatively, if you wish to ask them to keep the change, you may say "Stimmt so!" or simply "Danke!".

Tipping in other situations (unless otherwise indicated):

  • Taxi driver: 5–10% (at least €1)
  • Housekeeping: €1–2 per day
  • Carrying luggage: €1 per piece
  • Delivery services: 5–10% (at least €1)

Nakupovanje

Retail prices - especially for groceries - are much lower than one would expect given the GDP per capita and to some extent even compared to local wage levels. This in no small part due to intense competition on price led by "Discounter" (that's the usual German term for a low price supermarket) since the 1960s in the food sector and in other sectors since at least the 2000s. Germans are said to be very cost-conscious and advertisements tend to put an emphasis on price. That said, there's no upper limit for the price of high quality or high value goods in specialty stores.

Supermarkets

The simplistic presentation of goods in a typical discounter, ALDI

Got a euro?

Virtually all supermarkets that have shopping carts require you to insert a coin into them (usually €1 or €0.50). Most Germans have one or several small plastic chips that work just the same for the shopping carts. If and when you properly return the shopping cart, you will get back whatever you inserted into it. As Germany has been a rather slow adopter of "cashless" transactions, virtually everybody has change at hand when going shopping and if all else fails, there are those plastic chips, which seem to only ever exist as free giveaways for marketing purposes. If you intend to stay in Germany for a longer period of time, those come highly recommended.

Chains like "Aldi", "Lidl", "Penny" and "Netto" are discount supermarkets (Discounter). Their range of products is limited to the necessities of daily life (like vegetables, pasta, milk, eggs, convenience foods, toiletries, etc.), sold in rather simple packaging for tightly calculated prices. While quality is generally surprisingly high, do not expect delicatessen or local specialities when you go to shop there. Don't blame discounter personnel for being somewhat brusque; although they are paid slightly better than usual, they have to cope with a rather grim working atmosphere and a significantly higher workload than colleagues in "standard" supermarkets. Lidl and Aldi have tried to brand themselves as more "upscale" and laying focus on quality since about the mid-2010s but prices have stayed the same while new "gimmicks" such as coffee machines (€1 per drink) or freshly baked (from frozen dough) bread, rolls and other baked goods were introduced as part of that strategy.

In a supermarket of the Edeka group. Edeka traces its roots back to cooperatives of shops selling colonial goods, first established in 1898.

Examples of standard supermarket chains are Rewe, Edeka, Real, Kaufland, Globus or Famila. Their prices are slightly higher than in discount supermarkets, but they have a much wider range of products (including cheap to high-end quality). Usually there are big cheese, meat and fish counters where fresh products are sold by weight. The personnel in these shops is trained to be especially helpful and friendly.

Plenty of chain supermarkets only exist in certain parts of the country or show a clear geographic focus. Norma is only found in the south, Sky only in the north and Netto "with dog" (there are two separate chains both named "Netto", one of them having a dog as their symbol) only in the north and east.

Beside those major chains, Turkish supermarkets (which can be found in virtually all west German cities) can be a worthwhile alternative since they combine the characteristics of discounters (low price levels but limited assortment) with those of "standard" supermarkets ((Turkish) specialities and usually friendly staff). Fruits and vegetables at Turkish supermarkets tend to be particularly good value for money. Other diaspora groups also own some supermarkets, but they tend to be rarer outside big cities. In Berlin you might find an ethnic enclave of many groups, but they can be harder to find even in Munich or Hamburg and non-existent in smaller cities. The East has a surprisingly large Vietnamese diaspora and "Asia Shops" of varying kinds can be found in many parts of the country. Specialised Asian food items tend to be cheaper, of better quality and more readily available here than at Rewe and co. However, the shop might not look like much from the outside and feel rather cramped on the inside.

If you are looking for organic products, your best bet is to visit a "Bioladen" or "Biosupermarkt". (Bio- generally means organic.) There are also many farmers selling their products directly ("Hofladen"), most of them organised in the "Bioland" cooperative. They offer reasonable food at reasonable prices. Fresh produce - both organic and "regular" - can also be bought at roadside stalls or (for seasonal stuff like asparagus or strawberries) at temporary stalls on store parking lots. Buying directly from producers cuts out a lot of middlemen and you'll likely get fresh, high quality goods, but finding them can be a challenge as even internet based solutions (e.g. a website listing all agricultural producers who sell directly to producers or an order online service) tend to be rather local.

Toiletries, makeup, skincare and other amenities are best bought in Drogerie (drugstore) such as dm, Rossmann, and Müller, as the supermarkets do not usually provide the complete lineup. They also sell simple medicines and supplements that do not require a prescription. Common painkillers sold in drugstores elsewhere around the world such as aspirin or ibuprofen however are only sold in pharmacies and require a doctor's prescription.

Be prepared to bag your own groceries and goods as well as provide your own shopping bags for doing so. While most stores provide plastic or paper as well as canvas shopping bags at the checkout, you are charged up to 50 cents per bag for them. Buggies/shopping carts usually have to be unlocked with a euro coin which you get back. At most super markets you can spot a canister with lots of cardboard boxes in it, usually after the cash point. You are allowed to take cardboard boxes from there! It's a service the markets offer and also an easy waste disposal for them. Just tell them you are getting yourself a box when the cashier starts to scan your goods, come back and start packing.

Bottle and container deposits (Pfand)

A typical container of Pfand-bottles with carbonated water

Germany has an elaborate beverage container deposit ("Pfand") system. Reusable bottles, glass and plastic, usually cost between 8 and 25 cents Pfand per bottle depending on size and material - the actual value depends on the material but isn't always spelled out on the bottle (it will be spelled out on the receipt, though). Additional Pfand is due for special carrying baskets matching the bottle measures. The Pfand can be cashed in at any store which sells bottles, often by means of a high-tech bottle reader than spins the bottle, reads the Pfand, and issues a ticket redeemable with the cashier. Plastic bottles and cans usually cost 25 cents Pfand, if not they are marked as pfandfrei. Exempt from Pfand are liquors and plastic boxes usually containing juice or milk. There are also a few other instances where Pfand is due, for example for standardised gas containers or some yogurt glasses. Pfand on glasses, bottles and dishware is also common at discotheques, self-service bars or public events, but usually not at a students' cafeteria.

Factory outlets

Outlet centres as such are a rather new phenomenon, but the similar concept of "Fabrikverkauf" (literally factory sale) where products (including slightly damaged or mislabeled ones) are sold directly at the factory that makes them, often at greatly reduced prices. American style outlets not associated with a factory have become more common and Herzogenaurach for instance has outlets of Adidas and Puma (whose headquarters - but no production - are there) and of other clothing and sports companies.

Local products

You can find local food products (not necessarily organic) in most places at the farmer's market ("Wochenmarkt" or simply "Markt"), usually once or twice a week. While your chances on finding English-speaking sellers there may be somewhat reduced, it's nevertheless quite fun to shop there and mostly you will get fresh and good quality food for reasonable prices. Most winemakers sell their products either directly or in "Winzergenossenschaften" (winemaker cooperatives). These wines are almost always superior to the ones produced by German wine brands. Quality signs are "VdP" ("Verband deutscher Prädikatsweingüter", symbolised by an eagle) and "Ecovin" (German organic winemaker cooperative). Wines made of the most typical German wine varieties are usually marked with "Classic".

Some agricultural producers have also started to sell their produce directly to consumers, either via a small stand at the roadside (often along rural Bundesstraßen but sometimes also inside urban areas) or directly from their farm. Dairy farmers sometimes run "Milchtankstellen" (a compound noun from the German word for milk and gas station) where you can get milk from a vending machine similar to a soda fountain. All of those tend to be cash only but prices and value for money tend to be rather good.

Souvenirs

Nemško honey is a good souvenir, but only "Echter Deutscher Honig" is a guarantee for reasonable quality. Along the German coasts, smoked eel is quite a common delicacy and a typical souvenir. You can discover an astonishing German cheese variety in cheese stores or in Bioläden.

Some of those products may not be taken into all countries due to agricultural contamination concerns.

Other products

Some German brands of high-end goods such as kitchen utensils, stationery, and hiking gear are considerably cheaper than abroad.

Cheap clothing of sufficient quality might be bought at C&A, but don't expect designer clothes. During the end-of-season sales you should also compare prices of conventional stores since they may be even cheaper than the discounters. H&M sells cheap, stylish clothing, but with notoriously awful quality.

Germany is also a good place to shop for consumer electronics such as mobile phones, tablets and digital cameras. Every larger city has at least one "Saturn" or "MediaMarkt" store with a wide selection of these devices, as well as music, movies and video games on CD/DVD. MediaMarkt and Saturn belong to the same company, but there are also independent stores and the Expert/TeVi chain. Prices are generally lower than elsewhere in Europe. English-language movies and TV shows are universally dubbed into German, and computer software and keyboards are often German-only.

Germany is justifiedly famous for world-class board games. Board games are taken very seriously as a field even of academic study: Germany boasts "board game archives", several scientific publications on the phenomenon, and the prestigious "Spiel des Jahres" ("[board] game of the year") award first awarded in 1979. Many book stores, several Drogeriemärkte od Müller chain, and some general purpose stores will boast a board game section. In most bigger towns, there will be one or several dedicated board game stores. While games in languages other than German are hard to get, dedicated board game stores will often also have the raw materials for tinkerers to build their own board games. There are often conventions of board game enthusiasts to buy, play or exchange games.

Opening hours

Opening hours vary from state to state. Some states like Berlin, Hamburg in Schleswig-Holstein have no more strict opening hours from Monday to Saturday (however, you will rarely find 24 hour shops other than at petrol stations), while most stores in Bavaria and Saarland are by law required to close between 20:00 and 06:00. With some exceptions, shops are closed nationwide on Sundays and national holidays (including some obscure ones), including pharmacies; single pharmacies remain open for emergencies (every pharmacy will have a sign telling you which pharmacy is open for emergencies or the list can be found tukaj). An exception would be on special occasions called Verkaufsoffener Sonntag, in which shops at selected communes are open from 13:00 do 18:00 on selected Sundays, usually coinciding with public holidays or local events. Train stations however are allowed to and frequently have their stores open on Sundays, though usually for limited hours. In some larger cities such as Leipzig in Frankfurt, this can include an entire shopping mall that happens to be attached to the train station. Some shops in touristic areas and towns designated as a Kurort (health resort) are also allowed to have their stores open all week during tourist season.

As a rule of thumb:

  • Smaller supermarkets: 08:00-20:00 give or take an hour
  • Big supermarkets 07:00-22:00 or midnight
  • Shopping centres and large department stores: 10:00-20:00
  • Department stores in small cities: 10:00-19:00
  • Small and medium shops: 09:00 ali 10:00-18:30 (in big cities sometimes to 20:00). Small shops are often closed 13:00–15:00.
  • Spätis (late night shops): 20:00-23:59 or even longer, some open 24 hours, especially in big cities
  • Petrol stations & their attached minimart: in cities and along the "Autobahn" usually 24 hours daily - however during night hours you might have to pay and order through a small window and night cashiers might not always speak English well
  • Restaurants: 11:30–23:00 or midnight, sometimes longer, many closed during the afternoon

If necessary, in many big cities you will find a few (sometimes more expensive) supermarkets with longer opening hours (often near the main station). Bakeries usually offer service on Sunday mornings (business hours vary) as well. Also, most petrol stations have a small shopping area.

In some parts of Germany (like Berlin, Köln, Düsseldorf in Ruhr area) there are cornershops called "Späti" oder "Spätkauf" ("latey"), "Kiosk", "Trinkhalle" (drinking hall) or "Büdchen" (little hut) that offer newspapers, drinks and at least basic food supplies. These shops are, depending on the area, open till late night or even 24/7.

Jej

Poglej tudi: German cuisine

How to get service

In Germany, at sit-down establishments, you usually look for a table that pleases you by yourself. In more expensive restaurants, it is more likely that a waiter attends you at the entrance who will lead you to a table.

When you get a table, it's yours until you leave. There is no need to hurry. That said, if you see that the restaurant is getting really crowded and people find it difficult to get a place, it is polite to leave and continue your after meal chat with your friends elsewhere.

It is also not absolutely unheard of in restaurants in the countryside, and in cities like Munich, to take a seat at a table where other people are already seated, especially if there are no other seats available. While it is uncommon to make conversation, in this case saying a brief hello goes a long way.

In Germany, the waiter or waitress is contacted by eye contact and a nod. He or she will come to your table immediately to serve you. Many service staff are university students who do it as a side gig, so the service might not always be as prompt and flawless as you could expect of trained staff. Have a bit of patience. Also keep in mind that waiters in Germany are expected to be as professional and unintrusive as possible, so be sure to ask if you need anything; checking on customers periodically like what waiters in the United States is considered unprofessional.

You will usually pay your bill directly to your waiter/waitress. Splitting the bill between individuals at the table is common. For tipping practices, see "Tipping" in the "Buy" section.

German food

German food usually sticks to its roots and a typical dish will consist of meat with some form of potatoes and gravy, accompanied by vegetables or salad. Modern German cuisine has been influenced by other European countries such as Italija in France to become lighter. Dishes show a great local diversity which is interesting to discover. Most German Gaststätte and restaurants tend to be children and dog friendly, although both are expected to behave and not be too boisterous.

Putting places to eat into 7 categories gives you a hint about the budget and taste. Starting from the lower end, these are:

Imbiss

An Imbiss-Stand ali Imbiss in short, in the town of Essen
Currywurst

Schnellimbiss means 'quick snack', and is what you will see on the sign of German stalls and small shops that sell primarily sausage (Wurst) and fries (Pommes Frites). Sausages will include Bratwurst, which is fried and usually a boiled pork sausage. A very German variant is Currywurst: sausage chopped up and covered in spiced ketchup, dusted with curry powder. Beer and often even spirits are available in most Schnellimbisse.

Döner Kebab is a Turkish dish of veal, chicken or sometimes lamb stuffed into bread, similar to Greek Gyros and Arab Schawarma. Despite being considered Turkish, it's actually a specialty that originated in Germany. According to legend, it was invented by Turkish immigrants in West Berlin during the 1970s. In fact, the Döner is Germany's most loved fast food. The sales numbers of Döner shops exceed those of McDonald's and Burger King products by far.

Nevertheless, fast food giants like McDonald's, Burger King and Pizza Hut can be found in most cities. Nordsee is a German seafood chain, which offers 'Rollmops' (pickled herrings) and many other fish and seafood snacks. However, many independent seafood snack-bars (most common along the German coasts) offer slightly better and slightly cheaper seafood. You can also find independent shops selling pizza by the slice.

In addition to being able to grab a sweet snack at a bakery, during the summer, it seems like ice cream shops are on every block. Try Spaghettieis for a popular sundae that is hard to find elsewhere. They press vanilla ice cream through a potato ricer to form the "noodles". This is topped with strawberry sauce to mimic the "spaghetti sauce" and usually either white chocolate shavings or ground almond nuts for "Parmesan cheese".

Bakeries and butchers

A typical German bakery, or Bäckerei, in Bielefeld (Westphalia)

Germans do not have a tradition of sandwich shops, but you will find that bakeries and butchers sell quite good take-away food and are serious competition for the fast food chains. Even the smallest bakeries will sell many sorts of bread or rolls, most of them darker (for example, using wholemeal or rye flour) than the white bread popular around the world and definitely worth a try. Even if they don't already have it prepared, almost all butchers will prepare a sandwich for you if you ask. Some butchers even prepare meals for you.

This butcher 'imbiss' is mainly popular in southern Germany, and the quality and freshness of food is usually high. Butcher shops that sell a lot of meals will often have a narrow, stand-up counter along one edge, so that you have a place to put your food while you stand up and eat it. Other bakeries and butcher shops even have tables and chairs and serve you more or less like a Café, as they also sell coffee and other hot beverages.

Canteens and cafeterias

Although rarely a tourist attraction in themselves, if you are wanting to sit down to eat but have little time or a limited budget, canteens and cafeterias are a good alternative to fast food restaurants. Many companies allow non-employees to eat at their canteens although most of these require some local knowledge about location and access, as do the university and college cafeterias. Food at college cafeterias is usually subsidised by the university and you'll have to pay a higher rate as a non-student but even then rates are usually affordable. Whether students can invite guests to dine at the student rate varies from university to university, but it is usually accepted when they swipe the meal with their own payment card which is usually their student ID or linked to it. Another option popular with pensioners and office workers are self-service restaurants in the larger furniture stores such as XXXL or IKEA.

Biergarten

In a beer garden, you can get the obvious drink. In traditional beer gardens in Bavarska, it is possible to bring your own food if you buy their drinks. Most places will offer simple meals. Some Biergärten are also known as Bierkeller (literally beer cellar), especially in Franconia. Historically, Bierkeller originate from the need to store beer in a cool place prior to artificial refrigeration. Thus underground structures were dug and soon beer would be sold directly out of storage in the summer months, giving rise to the Bierkeller tradition as we know it today. Many are set in quite beautiful natural surroundings, but probably the best known ensemble of Bierkeller can be found in Erlangen where they gave rise to the Bergkirchweih, one of the biggest beer festivals in the area. They were dug through a mountain just out of town and gave the city an edge in beer storage and consequently higher production capabilities, which led to beer from Erlangen becoming a household name once the railway connection enabled export. The invention of artificial cooling ended that advantage, however. The cellars still exist and besides their role in Bergkirchweih one of them operates as a normal Keller (as it is often shortened to) year round.

As the name implies, a beer garden is in a garden. It may be entirely outdoors, or you may be able to choose between an indoor (almost always non-smoking) area and an outdoor area. They range in size from small, cozy corners to some of the largest eating establishments in the world, capable of seating thousands. Munich's Oktoberfest, which happens at the end of September each year, creates some of the most famous temporary beer gardens in the world.

Brauhaus

Brauhaus v Köthen (Saxony-Anhalt)

Smaller breweries sell their products straight to the customer and sometimes you will find food there as well. Haxe ali Schweinshaxe (the ham hock, or the lower part of the pig's leg) will usually be among the offerings. It is a distinctively German specialty and probably the best dish in almost every establishment of that sort.

Gasthof/Gasthaus

Probably 50% of all eating places fall into this group. They are mainly family-run businesses that have been owned for generations, comparable to pubs in the UK. You can go there simply for a drink, or to try German food (often with a local flavour). Food quality differs significantly from place to place but the staff will usually give you an indication of the standard; regulations require restaurant owners to indicate certain possibly harmful ingredients (e.g. glutamates/MSG) in footnotes – a menu containing lots of such footnotes usually indicates low quality; if a cheap "Gasthaus"/restaurant is overcrowded with Germans or Asians, this indicates at least sufficient quality (unless the crowd is thanks to an organised coach excursion).

Restaurants

In a restaurant in Leipzig

Germany has a wide range of flavours (e.g. German, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Polish, Indian, Italian, French, Spanish, Greek, Turkish, Vietnamese) and almost all styles of the world are represented.

Turkish cuisine in Germany ranges from simple "Döner" shops to mostly family-run restaurants offering a wide variation of usually very cheap (in relation to German price levels) Turkish home cooking.

You will rarely find restaurants catering for special needs within Germany (e.g. kosher restaurants are common only in cities with a notable Jewish population like Berlin), although most restaurants will prepare special meals or variants for you if they are neither relying on convenience foods only nor too fancy. Most restaurants have at least some vegetarian meals. Muslims may want to stick to Turkish or Arabic restaurants. At some Turkish or Arab food stalls vegetarians might find falafel and baba ganoush to suit their tastes. For not-so-strict Jews the halal (sometimes spelled helal for the Turkish word for it) Turkish food stalls are also the best option for meat dishes.

In most restaurants in Germany you can choose your own table. You can make reservations (recommended for larger groups and haute cuisine on Saturday nights) and these are marked by reservation cards ("Reserviert"). In expensive restaurants in larger cities you will be expected to make reservations and will be seated by the staff (who will not allow you to choose your table).

Restaurants in commercial areas often offer weekday lunch specials. These are cheap (starting at €5, sometimes including a beverage) options and a good way to sample local food. Specials tend to rotate on a daily or weekly basis, especially when fresh ingredients like fish are involved.

Some restaurants offer all-you-can-eat-buffets where you pay around €10 and can eat as much as you want. Drinks are not included in this price.

"XXL-Restaurants" are rising in popularity. These offer mostly standard meat dishes like Schnitzel or Bratwurst in big to inhumane sizes. There is often a dish that is virtually impossible to eat alone (usually bordering 2 kg!) but if you manage to eat everything (and keep it inside), the meal will be free and you'll get a reward. Unlike in other restaurants it is common and encouraged to take leftover food home.

Table manners

At very formal events and in high-end restaurants, a few German customs may differ from what some visitors may be used to:

  • It's considered bad manners to eat with your elbows resting on the table. Keep only your wrists on the table. Most Germans will keep up these manners in everyday life since this is one of the most basic rules parents will teach their children. If you go to a restaurant with your German friends, you may want to pay attention too.
  • When moving the fork to your mouth, the tines should point upwards (not downwards as in Britain)
  • When eating soup or other food from your spoon, hold it with the tip towards your mouth (not parallel to your lips as in, again, Britain). Spoons used to stir beverages, e.g. coffee, should not be put in the mouth at all.
  • If you have to temporarily leave the table, it's fine to put your napkin (which should have rested, folded once along the centre, on your lap until then) on the table, to the left of your plate, in an elegant little pile—unless it looks really dirty, in which case you might want to leave it on your chair.
  • If you want the dishes to be cleared away put your knife and fork parallel to each other with the tips at roughly the half past eleven mark of your plate. Otherwise the waitstaff will assume you are still eating.

Typical dishes

Hearty Bavarian food on a fancy plate. Left to right: Schnitzel, pork belly (Schweinebauch) with red cabbage (Rotkohl), Weißwurst with mashed potatoes (Kartoffelpüree), Bratwurst on sauerkraut

Rinderroulade mit Rotkraut und Knödeln: this dish is quite unique to Germany. Very thin sliced beef rolled around a piece of bacon and pickled cucumber until it looks like a mini barrel (5 cm diameter) flavoured with tiny pieces of onion, German mustard, ground black pepper and salt. The meat is quick-fried and is then left to cook slowly for an hour, meanwhile red cabbage and potato dumplings are prepared and then the meat is removed from the frying pan and gravy is prepared in the frying pan. Knödel, Rotkraut and Rouladen are served together with the gravy in one dish.

Pfefferrahm, Jäger, and Zigeuner Schnitzel with Pommes

Schnitzel mit Pommes Frites: there are probably as many different variations of Schnitzel as there are restaurants in Germany, most of them have in common a thin slice of pork that is usually breaded, and fried for a short period of time and it is often served with fries (usually called Pommes Frites or often just Pommes). Variations of this are usually served with different types of gravy: such as Zigeunerschnitzel, Zwiebelschnitzel, Holzfäller Schnitzel and Wiener Schnitzel (as the name suggests, an Austrian dish – the genuine article must be veal instead of pork, which is why most restaurants offer a Schnitzel Wiener Art, ali Viennese-style schnitzel which is allowed to be pork). In the south you can often get Spätzle (pasta that Swabia is famous for) instead of fries with it. Spätzle are egg noodles typical of south Germany – most restaurants make them fresh. Due to the ease of its preparation ordering it might be perceived as an insult to any business with a decent reputation (with the exception of Wiener Schnitzel perhaps), admittedly it is almost unavoidable to spot it on the menu of any sleazy German drinking hole (and there are many...), if nothing else therefore it might even be the most common dish in German restaurants (yes, at least German government officials do call their taverns as well as the common fast food stalls restaurants!).

Rehrücken mit Spätzle: Germany has maintained huge forests such as the famous Black Forest, Bayrischer Wald and Odenwald. In and around these areas you can enjoy the best game in Germany. Rehrücken means venison tenderloin and it is often served with freshly made noodles such as Spätzle and a very nice gravy based on a dry red wine.

Bratwurst and Sauerkraut from the 500 year old fast-food stand in Regensburg

Wurst "sausage": there is hardly a country in the world with a greater variety of sausages than Germany and it would take a while to mention them all. "Bratwurst" is fried, other varieties such as the Bavarian "Weißwurst" are boiled. Here is the shortlist version: "Rote" beef sausage, "Frankfurter Wurst" boiled pork sausage made in the Frankfurt style, "Pfälzer Bratwurst" sausage made in Palatine style, "Nürnberger Bratwurst" Nuremberg sausage – the smallest of all of them, but a serious contender for the best tasting German sausage, "grobe Bratwurst", Landjäger, Thüringer Bratwurst, Currywurst, Weißwurst ... this could go on till tomorrow. If you spot a sausage on a menu this is often a good (and sometimes the only) choice. Often served with mashed potato, fries or potato salad. The most popular type of sausage probably is the Currywurst (Bratwurst cut into slices and served with ketchup and curry powder) and can be bought almost everywhere.

Königsberger Klopse: Literally "meatballs from Königsberg", this is a typical dish in and around Berlin. The meatballs are made out of minced pork and anchovies and are cooked and served in a white sauce with capers and rice or potatoes.

Matjesbrötchen: Soussed herring or "roll mops" in a bread roll, typical street snack.

Local specialties

Pfälzer Saumagen s Sauerkraut, allegedly the favourite dish of former Chancellor Helmut Kohl
Maultaschen from Baden

Starting from the north of Germany going south you will find a tremendous variety of food and each region sticks to its origins.The coastal regions are fond of seafood and famous dishes include "Finkenwerder Scholle".

In the region of Cologne you will find Sauerbraten, which is a roast marinated in vinegar. Traditionally made from the tough meat of the horses who worked their lives pulling river barges up the Rhine, these days the dish is usually made from beef.

Labskaus (although strictly speaking not a German invention) is a dish from the north and the opinions about this dish are divided, some love it, others hate it. It is a mash of potato, beetroot juice and cured meat decorated with rollmops and/or young herring and/or a fried egg and/or sour cucumber and/or beetroot slices on top. The north is also famous for its lamb dishes, the best type of lamb probably being "Rudenlamm" (lamb from Ruden, a small island in the Baltic Sea; only a few restaurants in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania serve this), the second best type being "Salzwiesenlamm" (salt meadow lamb). The Lüneburger Heide (Lueneburg Heath) is famous not only for its heath but also for its Heidschnucken, a special breed of sheep. Be aware that a lot of restaurants import their lamb from New Zealand though because it is cheaper. Crabs and mussels are also quite common along the German coasts, especially in North Frisia.

A specialty of Hamburg is "Aalsuppe" which – despite the name (in this case "Aal" means "everything", not "eel") – originally contained almost everything – except eel (today many restaurants include eel within this soup, because the name confused tourists). At the coast there's a variety of fish dishes. Beware: if a restaurant offers "Edelfischplatte" or any dish of similar name, the fish may not be fresh and even (this is quite ironic) of poor quality. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that, for eating fish, you visit specialised (or quality) restaurants only. A fast-food style restaurant chain serving standardised quality fish and other seafood at low prices all over Germany is "Nordsee", though you will rarely find authentic specialties there.

Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, cherry cake from the Črn gozd region

Pfälzer Saumagen: Long a well-known dish in Palatinate, but difficult to find outside of this area. Literally this is pig stomach filled with a mash of potato and meat, cooked for 2–3 hours and then cut into thick slices. It is often served with sauerkraut. It gained some notoriety as Helmut Kohl was fond of serving it to official state guests such as Gorbachev and Reagan when he was Chancellor.

Swabia is famous for Spätzle (a kind of noodle, often served with cheese as Kässpätzle) and "Maultaschen" (noodles stuffed with spinach and mince meat, but lots of variations, even veggie ones, exist).

In Bavaria this may be Schweinshaxe mit Knödeln (pork's leg with knödel, a form of potato dumplings), "Leberkäs/Fleischkäse mit Kartoffelsalat" (a type of meat pie and potato salad), "Nürnberger Bratwurst" (probably the smallest sausage in Germany), Weißwurst (white sausages) and "Obatzda" (a spicy mix of several milk products).

The south is also famous for its nice tarts such as the "Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte" (tart with lots of cream and spirits made from cherries).

A delicacy in Saxony is Eierschecke, a cake made of eggs and cream similar to cheese cake.

A specialty of the East is "Soljanka" (originally from Ukraine, but probably the most common dish in the GDR), a sour soup containing vegetables and usually some kind of meat or sausages.

Seasonal specialties

Asparagus with hollandaise sauce and potatoes

White asparagus (Spargel) floods the restaurants from April to June all over Germany, especially in and around Baden-Baden and the small town of Schwetzingen ("The Asparagus Capital"), near Heidelberg, in an area north and north-east of Hannover ("Lower Saxony's Asparagus Route"), as well as in the area southwest of Berlin, especially in the town of Beelitz and along the Lower Rhine ("Walbecker Spargel"). Franconia, particularly the Knoblauchsland around Nuremberg also produces quite good asparagus. Many vegetables can be found all year round and are often imported from far away, whereas asparagus can be found for only 2 months and is best enjoyed fresh after harvest, it stays nice for a couple of hours or until the next day. The asparagus is treated very carefully and it is harvested before it is ever exposed to daylight, so that it remains white. When exposed to daylight it changes its colour to green and might taste bitter. Therefore, white asparagus is considered to be better by most Germans. Especially in areas with a Spargel growing tradition the devotion to this white vegetable can seem near-religious and even rural mom and pop restaurants will have a page or more of Spargel recipes in addition to their normal menu.

The standard asparagus meal is the asparagus stalks, hollandaise sauce, boiled potatoes, and some form of meat. The most common meat is ham, preferably smoked; however, you will also find it teamed with schnitzel (fried breaded pork), turkey, beef, or whatever is available in the kitchen.

White asparagus soup is one of the hundreds of different recipes that can be found with white asparagus. Often it is made with cream and contains some of the thinner asparagus pieces.

Dresdner Christstollen

Another example of a seasonal specialty is kale (Grünkohl). You can find that mainly in Lower Saxony, particularly the southern and south-western parts such as the "Emsland" or around the "Wiehengebirge" and the "Teutoburger Wald", but also everywhere else there and in the eastern parts of North-Rhine-Westphalia. It is usually served with a boiled rough sort of sausage (called "Pinkel") and roasted potatoes. If you are travelling in Lower-Saxony in fall, you should get it in every "Gasthaus".

Lebkuchen are some of Germany's many nice Christmas biscuits and gingerbread. The best known are produced in and around Nürnberg.

Stollen is a kind of cake eaten during the Advent season and yuletide. Although native to Dresden, Saška; it can be found everywhere in Germany.

Around St. Martin's day and Christmas, roasted geese ("Martinsgans" / "Weihnachtsgans") are quite common in German restaurants, accompanied by "Rotkraut" (red cabbage, in southern Germany it is often called Blaukraut) and "Knödeln" (potato dumplings), preferably served as set menu, with the liver, accompanied by some kind of salad, as starter, goose soup, and a dessert.

Bread

Selection of bread in a German bakery

Germans are very fond of their kruh (Brot), which they make in many variations. This is the food that Germans tend to miss most when away from home. Most people like their bread relatively dark and dense and scorn the soft loaves sold in other countries. Bakeries will rarely provide less than twenty different sorts of bread and it's worth trying a few of them. In fact, many Germans buy their lunch or small snacks in bakeries instead of takeaways or the like. Prices for a loaf of bread will range from €0.50 do €4, depending on the size (real specialties might cost more).

Because German bread tends to be excellent, sandwiches (belegtes Brot) are also usually to a high standard, including in train stations and airports. However, if you want to save money do as most locals and make the sandwich yourself as belegtes Brot can be quite expensive when bought ready made.

Vegetarian

Outside of big cities like Berlin, there aren't many places which are particularly aimed at vegetarian or vegan customers. Most restaurants have one or two vegetarian dishes. If the menu doesn't contain vegetarian dishes, don't hesitate to ask.

Be careful when ordering to ask whether the dish is suitable for vegetarians, as chicken stock and bacon cubes are a commonly "undeclared" ingredient on German menus.

However, there are usually organic food shops ("Bioladen", "Naturkostladen" or "Reformhaus") in every city, providing veg(etari)an bread, spreads, cheese, ice cream, vegan milk substitutes, tofu and seitan. The diversity and quality of the products is great and you will find shop assistants that can answer special nutritional questions in great depth.

Veganism and vegetarianism is on the rise in Germany so that many supermarkets (such as Edeka and Rewe) have a small selection of vegan products as well in their "Feinkost"-section such as seitan-sausages, tofu or soy milk at a reasonable price.

Allergy & Coeliac sufferers

When shopping for foods, the package labelling in Germany is generally reliable. All food products must be properly labelled including additives and preservatives. Be on the look out for Weizen (wheat), Mehl (flour) or Malz (malt) and Stärke (starch). Bodite previdni pri živilih z Geschmacksverstärker (ojačevalci okusa), ki imajo lahko sestavino gluten.

  • Reformhaus. 3000 močnih mrež trgovin z zdravo hrano v Nemčiji in Avstriji, ki ima namenske oddelke brez glutena, založene s testeninami, kruhom in priboljški. Trgovine Reformhaus običajno najdemo v spodnjem nivoju nakupovalnih središč (npr. PotsdamerArkaden itd.) 
  • Trgovine DM. CWS / Shopper's Drug Mart v Nemčiji ima namenske odseke brez pšenice in glutena 
  • Alnatura. - trgovina z naravnimi živili z velikim namenskim oddelkom brez glutena 

Pijte

Dovoljene starosti pitja so:

  • 14 - mladoletniki lahko v restavraciji kupujejo destilirane (fermentirane) alkoholne pijače, na primer pivo in vino, če so v družbi staršev ali zakonitega skrbnika.
  • 16 - mladoletniki lahko kupujejo destilirane (fermentirane) alkoholne pijače, kot sta pivo in vino brez njihovih staršev ali zakonitega skrbnika. Vsaka pijača, ki vsebuje destiliran alkohol (tudi če je celotna vsebnost alkohola nižja kot pri običajnem pivu), ni dovoljena
  • 18 - ko postanejo odrasli, imajo ljudje neomejen dostop do alkohola.

Pivo

Pivo

Nemci so svetovno znani po svojem pivu, njegovo proizvodnjo in porabo pa izvažajo po vsem svetu.

Že stoletja je na Bavarskem pivovarstvo urejalo Reinheitsgebot (zakon o čistosti), ki je bila sprejeta kot nacionalna politika z združitvijo Nemčije leta 1871, ki navaja, da je nemško pivo lahko samo iz hmelja, slada in vode (kvas takrat še ni bil znan). The Reinheitsgebot je bila zaradi evropskega povezovanja zaljena z uvozom, vendar se nemške pivovarne tega še vedno držijo, saj zanje velja nacionalna zakonodaja. Vendar je bila nacionalna zakonodaja prav tako razvodenela in zdaj navaja, da se med proizvodnim postopkom lahko uporabljajo različni dodatki in pomožne snovi, če jih ni v končnem izdelku.

Na domačem trgu piva ne prevladuje ena ali le nekaj velikih pivovarn. Čeprav obstaja nekaj velikih igralcev, je regionalna raznolikost ogromna in pivovarn je več kot 1.200, večina pa jih oskrbuje samo na lokalnih trgih. Običajno bari in restavracije strežejo lokalne sorte, ki se razlikujejo od mesta do mesta. Seveda pa ima sever manj raznolikosti kot jug, zlasti v krajih, ki niso specializirani za pivo, boste verjetno iz velikih pivovarn masovno zalivali Pils iz velikih pivovarn. Če resnično želite doživeti nemško pivo, se poskusite držati manjših blagovnih znamk, saj jim ni treba pritegniti množičnega trga in so tako bolj "individualnega" okusa. Ko sedi v nemščini Kneipe, lokalno pivo je vedno možnost in pogosto edina možnost.

Posebnosti vključujejo Weizenbier (ali Weißbier na Bavarskem), osvežujoče vrhunsko fermentirano pivo, ki je priljubljeno na jugu, Alt, nekakšen temen ale, ki je še posebej priljubljen v okolici Düsseldorf, in Kölsch, posebno pivo, pripravljeno v Köln. "Pils", nemško ime za pilsner, je svetlo zlato pivo, ki je v Nemčiji izjemno priljubljeno. Obstajajo tudi sezonska piva, ki jih pripravijo le ob določenih letnih časih (na primer Bockbier pozimi in Maibock maja, oba vsebujeta večjo količino alkohola, včasih dvakrat večjo od običajnega Vollbierja).

Pivo običajno postrežemo v kozarcih 200 ali 300 ml (v severnem delu) ali 500 ml v jugu. V Biergartensu na Bavarskem je 500 ml majhnega piva ("Halbe") in liter je običajno ("Maß" se izgovarja "Mahss"). Razen v "irskih pubih" so pinte ali vrči redki.

Za Nemce je veliko pene hkrati znak svežine in kakovosti; tako pivo vedno postrežemo z veliko glave. (Vsa očala imajo oznake prostornine za kritične duše.)

Poleg tega se Nemci ne bojijo mešati piva z drugimi pijačami (čeprav se starejša generacija morda s tem ne strinja). Pivo običajno mešamo z gazirano limonado (običajno v razmerju 1: 1) in ga imenujemo "Radler" (ali kolesar, imenovan tako, ker je običajno povezan z osvežilno pijačo, ki bi jo kolesar lahko užival spomladi ali poleti med kolesarskim izletom) (ali "Alsterwasser" / "Alster" (po reki v Hamburg) na severu); "Koktajli" iz Pilsenerja / Altbierja in brezalkoholne pijače, kot je Fanta, kola "Krefelder" / "Colaweizen" in pivo iz temne pšenice, je še ena kombinacija, ki jo lahko najdemo. Pils, pomešan s kolo, je zelo priljubljen zlasti med mlajšimi Nemci in se imenuje različno - odvisno od vašega območja - na primer "Diesel", "Schmutziges" (umazano) ali "Schweinebier" (prašičje pivo). Druga znana lokalna poslastica je "Berliner Weiße", motno, kislo pšenično pivo s približno 3% abv. ki je primešan sirupom (tradicionalno malinam) in je poleti zelo osvežujoč. Te mešane pijače na osnovi piva so zelo razširjene in priljubljene in jih je mogoče kupiti v predmešanih steklenicah (običajno v šestih pakiranjih) povsod, kjer se prodaja običajno pivo.

Pubi so odprti v Nemčiji do 02.00 ali pozneje. Hrana je na splošno na voljo do polnoči. Nemci običajno gredo ven po 20:00 (priljubljena mesta so že polna do 18:00).

Jabolčnik

Jabolčnik à la Frankfurt - Vrč in kozarec z rombi

Nesporni kapital jabolčnika "Apfelwein" (ali Äbblwoi, kot mu pravijo lokalno) jabolčnik v Nemčiji je Frankfurt. Frankfurters obožujejo jabolčnik. Obstajajo celo posebni bari ("Apfelweinkneipe"), ki bodo stregli samo Apfelwein in nekatere gastronomske specialitete. Jabolčnik pogosto postrežejo v posebnem vrču, imenovanem "Bembel". Okus se nekoliko razlikuje od jabolčnika v drugih državah in je precej osvežujoč. Jeseni, ko se jabolka spremenijo v jabolčnik, boste na nekaterih mestih morda označili "Frischer Most" ali "Süßer". To je prvi izdelek v verigi proizvodnje "Apfelwein"; en kozarec je sicer prijeten, toda po dveh ali treh kozarcih boste imeli težave, razen če boste veliko časa preživeli na stranišču. V Saarland in okoliških regij "Apfelwein" se imenuje "Viez". Tu se razlikuje od "Suesser Viez" (sladko), do "Viez Fein-Herb" (srednje sladko) do "Alter Saerkower" (kislo). Glavno mesto Viez v tej regiji je Merzig. Pozimi je prav tako pogosto piti vroč mošt (skupaj z nekaj nageljnovih žbic in sladkorja). Šteje se za učinkovit ukrep proti prihajajočemu prehladu.

Kava

Nemci pijejo veliko kava. Pristanišče Hamburg je najbolj prometno mesto na svetu za trgovanje s kavo. Kava je vedno sveže pripravljena iz mlete kave ali zrn - brez instant. Vendar pa osebe, ki prihajajo iz držav z veliko kavno tradicijo (npr Italija, Portugalska, puran, Grčija ali Avstrija) bi lahko bila kava, ki jo strežejo v običajnih restavracijah, nekoliko dolgočasna. Nemška specialiteta, ki izvira iz Severne Frizije, danes pa je pogosta tudi v Vzhodni Friziji, je "Pharisäer", mešanica kave in žgane pijače, običajno ruma, z debelim kremnim pokrovom. Različica tega je "Tote Tante" (mrtva teta, s kavo nadomeščeno z vročo čokolado).

V zadnjih nekaj letih se je ameriška veriga kavarn Starbucks ali kloni razširila v Nemčijo, vendar boste večinoma naleteli na "kavarne", ki običajno ponujajo veliko izbiro peciva, ki se doda k kavi.

Glühwein

Decembra na obisku v Nemčiji? Potem pojdite k enemu od slavnih Božične tržnice (najbolj znano dogajanje v Ljubljani Nürnberg, Dresden, Leipzig, Münster, Bremen, Augsburg in Aachen) in tu najdete Glühweina (kuhano vino), začinjeno vino, ki vas postreže v zelo hladnem zimskem mrazu.

Žgane pijače

Splošna beseda za žgane pijače iz sadja je Obstler, in vsako področje ima svoje posebnosti.

Bavarci imajo radi svoje pivo, pa tudi svoje Enzian, žganje z veliko alkohola, ki je po zajetnem obroku najboljše kot prebavilo.

Kirschwasser dobesedno pomeni češnjeva voda; vsekakor ima okus po češnji, po drugi strani pa to ni običajna pitna voda. V Badenu obstaja dolgoletna tradicija izdelovanja žganih pijač, "Kirschwasser" pa je verjetno vodilni izdelek in vas bo morda spodbudil, da okusite druge specialitete, kot so Himbeergeist (iz malin), Schlehenfeuer (aromatiziran s kosmičevimi jagodami), Williamchrist (hruška) in Apfelkorn (jabolčni sok in korn).

Korn, narejen iz žita, je verjetno najpogostejši alkohol v Nemčiji. Korn je bolj priljubljen na severu, kjer po priljubljenosti presega pivo. Na jugu so razmere obratne. Njegov glavni proizvodni center (Berentzen) leži v kraju Haselünne, kjer se lahko v destilarnah dogovorijo za oglede in degustacije. Mesto je blizu reke Ems na severozahodu Nemčije; za železniški promet do Haselünne (zelo redko) glej Eisenbahnfreunde Hasetal[mrtva povezava]. Običajna mešanica je korn z jabolčnim sokom ("Apfelkorn"), ki se običajno obnese na približno 20% abv. in ga običajno uživajo mlajši ljudje. Še eno mesto, ki slovi po svojem Doppelkorn (z več kot petsto letno tradicijo zagona) je Nordhausen v Turingiji, kjer se enostavno organizirajo tudi ogledi in degustacije.

V Spodnji Saški, zlasti na območjih, ki obkrožajo Lüneburg Heath, so vidni različni specializirani likerji in rakija. Ratzeputz vsebuje 58% alkohola in vsebuje izvlečke in destilate koreninskega ingverja. Heidegeist je zeliščni liker, ki vsebuje 31 vročih sestavin z vsebnostjo alkohola 50%. Je bistre barve in močnega, metenega okusa.

V Severni Friziji, Köm (kumin), čist ali mešan s čajem ("Teepunsch", čajni punč), je zelo priljubljen.

Eiergrog je vroča mešanica jajčne pijače in ruma.

Čaj

Čaj, Tee, je prav tako zelo priljubljen in je na voljo velika izbira. Regija Vzhodna Frizija zlasti ima dolgo čajno tradicijo in je verjetno edino mesto v Nemčiji, kjer je čaj bolj priljubljen kot kava. Vzhodnofrizijski čajni obred je sestavljen iz črnega čaja, postreženega v ploščati porcelanski skodelici s posebnim kamnitim sladkorjem (Kluntje), ki ga damo v skodelico, preden nalijemo čaj. Nato se doda smetana, ki pa se ne vmeša v čaj. Iz vzhodnofriške ljubezni do čaja so se norčevali v precej razvpiti reklami za neko sladko, ki se menda dobro poda k kavi, le da je trditev prekinil hrupni vzhodnofriški, ki bi rekel: "Und was ist mit Tee? " (In kaj je s čajem?) S stereotipnim severnonemškim naglasom. Večina Nemcev še vedno pozna ta stavek, če ne nujno tudi njegov izvor.

Vroča čokolada

Še posebej pozimi Nemci obožujejo vročo čokolado (heiße Schokolade), ki je splošno dostopna. Vroče čokolade v Nemčiji je običajno bolj ali manj Zartbitter - to je grenko sladko - in v bolj gurmanskih obratih je lahko precej temno in grenko in le malo sladko. Običajno se postreže z Schlag (sveža stepena smetana, imenovana tudi Schlagsahne). Čeprav običajno postrežemo vnaprej pripravljenih, v nekaterih kavarnah postrežejo kockico čokolade, ki jo sami zmešate in stopite v vroče mleko. Mlečna čokolada se imenuje Kinderschokolade ("otroška čokolada") v Nemčiji in je sploh ne jemljejo resno, zato ne pričakujte, da boste lahko naročili vročo mlečno čokolado, če ste odrasli.

Vino

Zračni pogled na vinograde v Markgräflerlandu

Nekateri Nemci so enako navdušeni nad svojimi vina (Wein) kot drugi o svojem pivu. Pri tem se podobnosti ne ustavijo; oba izdelka pogosto proizvajajo majhna podjetja, najboljša vina pa porabijo lokalno. Proizvodnja vina ima v Nemčiji 2000 let staro zgodovino, kot se lahko naučimo iz Rheinisches Landesmuseum v Trier toda seveda je bila to takrat rimska naselbina. Sonce je omejevalni dejavnik za proizvodnjo vin v Nemčiji, zato je proizvodnja vina omejena na jug. Belo vino ima glavno vlogo pri pridelavi vina, vendar nekatera območja pridelujejo rdeča vina (Ahr, Baden Württemberg). Bela vina pridelujejo iz grozdja rizling, kerner in Müller-Thurgau (teh je veliko več), proizvajajo pa na splošno sveža in sadna vina. Nemška vina so lahko bogata s kislino in so precej osvežilna. Splošno sprejeto je, da grozdje rizling daje najboljša nemška vina, vendar zahteva veliko sonca in najbolje uspeva na zelo izpostavljenih območjih, kot so Mosel, Rheingau, Bergstraße, Kaiserstuhl in Pfalz.

Nemčija je znana po ledenem vinu (Eiswein), pri katerem grozdje pred trgatvijo pusti zamrzniti na trti. Nemške sorte ledenega vina so na splošno manj sladke kot njihove Kanadski kolegi.

Najboljši način za spoznavanje vin je, če pridete do kraja, kjer ga pridelujejo, in ga sproti okusite. To se imenuje "Weinprobe"in je na splošno brezplačen - čeprav morate na turističnih območjih plačati majhno pristojbino.

Dobra vina se običajno prilegajo dobri hrani, zato jih boste morda radi obiskali, ko boste lačni in žejni. Tako imenovani Straußenwirtschaft, Besenwirtschaft ali Heckenwirtschaft so majhne "pivnice" ali vrtovi, kjer pridelovalec vina prodaja svoje vino, običajno z malo obroki, kot so sendviči ali sir in šunka. Običajno so odprti le poleti in jeseni in ne dlje kot 4 mesece na leto (zaradi zakonskih predpisov). Ker so včasih v vinogradih ali na nekaterih zalednih ulicah, jih ni vedno lahko najti, zato za naslednjega (ali najboljšega) najbolje prosite lokalnega prebivalca Straußenwirtschaft ve.

Jeseni lahko kupite "Federweisser" v jugozahodni Nemčiji. To je delno fermentirano belo vino in vsebuje nekaj alkohola (odvisno od starosti), vendar je zelo sladkega okusa. Na voljo je tudi iz rdečega grozdja, ki se imenuje "Roter Sauser" ali "Roter Rauscher".

Bocksbeutels iz Franken, eden sodoben, drugi konec 19. stoletja.

Vinogradniška območja so:

  • Ahr je raj nemških rdečih vin. Polovica proizvodnje je namenjena rdečim vinom in je gosto poseljena z "Gaststätten" in "Strausswirten". Pregovor pravi: Kdor je obiskal Ahr in se spomnil, da je bil tam, dejansko ni bil tam.
  • Baden s c. Baden je tretje največje nemško vinorodno območje s 15.500 hektarji vinogradov in 1 milijonom hektolitrov. To je najbolj južno nemško vinorodno območje in je edini Nemški član evropske kategorije vina B skupaj s slavnimi francoskimi območji Alzacija, Šampanjec in Loire. Baden je dolg več kot 400 km in je razdeljen na devet regionalnih skupin: Tauberfranken, Badische Bergstraße, Kraichgau, Ortenau, Breisgau, Kaiserstuhl, Tuniberg, Markgräflerland in Bodensee. Kaiserstuhl in Markgräflerland sta najbolj znani predeli za vino iz Badna. Ena največjih vinskih zadrug je Badischer Winzerkeller v Breisach.
  • Franken: Frankonija je v severnem delu Ljubljane Bavarska in tam lahko najdete zelo lepa vina, najpogosteje suho belo vino. Nekatera vina, pridelana v Franconiji, se prodajajo v posebni steklenici, imenovani "Bocksbeutel".
  • Hessische Bergstraße: na pobočjih doline Rena je mirno majhno vinogradniško območje in vina običajno uživajo na območju znotraj in okoli Heppenheim.
  • Mosel-Saar-Ruwer: najstrmejše vinograde v Nemčiji si lahko ogledate med vožnjo po dolini Mosel iz Ljubljane Koblenz do Trier.
  • Pfalz: največje vinorodno območje v Nemčiji. Ima nekaj odličnih vin za pokušino in veliko lepih vasic, vgrajenih v vinograde. Degustacija vina v Deidesheim je dobra ideja in več glavnih proizvajalcev nemškega vina je na glavni cesti. Bi radi videli največji vinski sod na svetu? Potem pojdi na Bad Dürkheim.
  • Rheingau: je najmanjše vinorodno območje, vendar proizvaja visoko ocenjena rizling vina v Nemčiji. Obiščite Wiesbaden in se odpravite na potovanje po Renu do Eltville in Rüdesheim.
  • Rheinhessen tudi je še posebej znan po rizlingu. Obiščite Mainz in se odpravite na potovanje po Renu do Črvi, Oppenheim, Ingelheim ali Bingen.
  • Saale-Unstrut: v zvezni deželi Saška-Anhalt na bregovih rek Saale in Unstrut je najbolj severno vinorodno območje v Evropi.
  • Sachsen: Ena najmanjših vinskih regij v Nemčiji, ki se nahaja ob reki Elbi v bližini Dresden in Meissen.
  • Württemberg: Kot smo že omenili, tudi tu velja pravilo, da najboljše vino uživajo domačini; poraba vina na glavo je dvakrat večja kot v preostali Nemčiji, ne glede na to, ali gre za rdeče ali belo vino. Posebnost regije je rdeče vino, imenovano Trollinger, ki je po nemških merilih lahko zelo lepo.

Spi

Nemčija ponuja skoraj vse možnosti nastanitve, vključno s hoteli, penzioni, hostli in kampiranjem. Razmislite tudi o tem, da bi ostali pri članih izmenjava gostoljubja omrežje.

Nemške vzmetnice imajo običajno trdnost v primerjavi z mehkimi ameriškimi in trdimi japonskimi vzmetnicami. Posteljnina je ponavadi preprosta: rjuha za prevleko žimnice, ena odeja na osebo (Decke, zelo lepo, če spite z nekom, ki ponavadi pokriva odeje, včasih pa malo prevetri okoli prstov za visoke ljudi) in ogromno blazinico iz kvadratnega perja, ki jo lahko oblikujete v poljubno obliko. Jutranja postelja traja le nekaj sekund: prepognite Decke v tretjinah s hitrim premikom zapestja, kot da bo spala na vašem mestu, ko ste zunaj, in vrzite blazino na vrh postelje.

Hoteli

Adlon, slavni luksuzni hotel v Berlinu

Večina mednarodnih hotelskih verig ima franšize v večjih nemških mestih, obstaja pa tudi veliko različnih lokalnih hotelov. Vsi hoteli v Nemčiji so razvrščeni po zvezdicah (od 1 do 5 zvezdic). Lestvice so narejene neodvisno in so zato na splošno zanesljive, v nekaterih primerih pa lahko temeljijo na precej zastarelih inšpekcijskih pregledih. Cena vedno vključuje DDV in je običajno na sobo. Cene se močno razlikujejo glede na mesto (München in Frankfurt so najdražje). Tu lahko najdete številne "vrednostno usmerjene" verige hotelov Motel One ali Ibis, tako v predmestjih kot v mestnih središčih večine mest, ki so pogosto precej nova ali prenovljena in presenetljivo lepa za svojo ceno. Za ljudi, ki potujejo z avtomobili, podobno kot Francija, ima Nemčija gosto mrežo Ibis Budget hotelov na obrobju mest v bližini Autobahnsa in nudi resnično golo hotelsko izkušnjo po cenah, ki se lahko kosajo s hostli.

Na drugem koncu lestvice je v Nemčiji veliko luksuznih hotelov. Trdnost hotelskih verig je velika. Med lokalnimi blagovnimi znamkami je izjemno luksuzni Kempinski (ki je do zdaj že globalna blagovna znamka), Dorint in Lindner pa upravljata vrhunske poslovne hotele. Večina svetovnih hotelskih verig je trdno prisotna, prednjačijo Accor (Sofitel, Pullman, Novotel, Mercure).

Ne morete računati, da bodo nemški hoteli ponujali kakovost in predvidljivo izkušnjo. Morda se ne boste razvajali, če v brošuri tega ne piše, vendar je zelo redko, da bodo vaše izkušnje resnično slabe. Poleg tega je nemški domači turizem precej družinsko usmerjen, zato ne bi smeli imeti težav pri iskanju družinam prijaznih hotelov z dodatnimi ležišči v sobah, pogosto v obliki pograda, in udobja za vaše mlajše.

Če ime hotela vsebuje izraz "Garni", to pomeni, da je vključen tudi zajtrk. Tako je lahko veliko hotelov, katerih ime vsebuje "Hotel Garni"v mestu; pri vprašanju za pot navedite polno ime hotela in ne samo"Hotel Garni".

postelja in zajtrk

Nočitev z zajtrkom ("Pensionen" ali "Fremdenzimmer") (običajno) nudi manj udobja kot hoteli po ugodnejših cenah. Prednost je ta, da boste verjetno srečali Nemce in se dotaknili nemškega načina življenja. Znak z napisom "Zimmer frei" označuje nočitev z zajtrkom, ki ima na voljo sobo.

Hostli

Mladinski dom Schloss Ortenburg (Baden-Württemberg)

Hostli zagotovite preprosto in poceni nastanitev predvsem v skupnih sobah. So dobra mesta za spoznavanje drugih popotnikov. Tako kot v mnogih državah v Nemčiji obstajata dve vrsti: mednarodni mladinski in neodvisni hostli.

Mednarodni mladinski domovi ("Jugendherbergen") so v lasti in pod vodstvom združenja "Deutsches Jugendherbergswerk" (DJH), ki je del mreže Hostelling International (HI). Obstaja več kot 600 hostlov po vsej Nemčiji v velikih in majhnih mestih ter na podeželju. Gostje niso samo posamezni potniki, temveč tudi šolski tečaji in druge mladinske skupine. Če želite tam spati, morate biti ali postati član organizacije za mladinski hostel, ki pripada tej HI omrežje. Podrobne informacije o tem in vsakem njihovem hostlu najdete na DJH-jih. Na splošno to pomeni preprosto izpolnitev kartice in plačilo nekaj dodatnih evrov na noč. Na splošno je prednost teh krajev v tem, da ponavadi postrežejo samopostrežni zajtrk brez doplačila, čeprav to ni absolutno pravilo. Vendar je kakovost pogosto nižja od kakovosti zasebnih hostlov in mnogi ne nudijo dobre priložnosti za druženje.

Zasebni neodvisni hostli postajajo privlačna alternativa za podobno ceno. V Nemčiji že obstaja več kot 60 in jih je vsako leto bolj odprtih. Najdemo jih v večjih mestih, zlasti v Berlin, München, Dresden, in Hamburg. Le redki so na podeželju. Včasih jih vodijo nekdanji popotniki, hostli se vzdržijo strogih pravil. Še posebej majhni so pogosto kraji, kjer se lahko počutite kot doma. Mnogi so znani po svojem živahnem, zabaviščnem vzdušju in so lahko odličen način za spoznavanje drugih popotnikov. Ni treba biti član neke organizacije, da bi tam spal. Približno polovica hostlov se je organizirala v a "Backpacker Network Nemčija", ki vsebuje seznam njihovih hostlov. Spletno mesto, ki vsebuje skoraj vsak neodvisen hostel v Nemčiji Gomio. Seveda so tudi mednarodne agencije za rezervacijo sob, kot so Hostelsclub, Hostelworld & Hostelbookers, dober vir in popotnikom omogočajo, da pustijo mnenja. A & O Hostli / Hoteli imajo številne kakovostne osrednje mestne lokacije v Nemčiji, ki ponujajo zanimivo mešanico prenočišč v hostlih in hotelih, ki običajno skrbijo za mlade odrasle in družine.

Kampiranje

Kamp v Hattingen (Severno Porenje-Vestfalija

V Nemčiji je nešteto kampov. Znatno se razlikujejo po infrastrukturi in standardu. Nemški avtomobilski klub ADAC ponuja odličen vodnik za večino nemških kamping skupin. Če ste član nacionalnega avtokluba, so vam vodniki brezplačni ali po bistveno nižjih cenah.

Nekateri popotniki preprosto postavijo šotore nekje na podeželju. V Nemčiji je to nezakonito (razen v Mecklenburg-Predpomorjanski), razen če imate dovoljenje lastnika zemljišča. Praktično pa nikogar ne zanima, dokler ste diskretni, ostanite samo eno noč in s seboj odnesite smeti. Zavedajte se lovišč in poligonov za vojaško prakso, sicer lahko tvegate veliko strel.

Nauči se

Baročna palača v Ljubljani Münster (zdaj uporablja Univerza)

Nemške univerze so konkurenčne najboljšim na svetu. Na splošno Nemci ne razmišljajo veliko o relativni kakovosti ene nemške univerze v primerjavi z drugo, vendar pa državne običajno veljajo za bolj prestižne kot zasebne, starejše pa bolj kot mlajše. Zvezna vlada je sprožila "pobudo za odličnost", s katero je počastila najprestižnejše univerze in jim namenila dodatna sredstva, vendar je bilo financiranje strogo dano na podlagi raziskave ne njihov poučevanje in je pogosto omejena na nekaj izbranih oddelkov. Ena najbolj znanih univerz v Nemčiji med angleško govorečimi Univerza Heidelberg (Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg), ki je tudi najstarejša nemška univerza.

Ker je velika večina univerz v državni lasti, je študij v Nemčiji običajno zelo poceni (50–700 EUR / semester), vendar ne pozabite, da so življenjski stroški v večini Nemčije precej visoki (na primer Tübingen: približno 350–400 EUR najemnine na mesec za življenjske stroške enosobnega stanovanja), pri čemer je glavni dejavnik najemnina. Zaradi tega večina študentov deli stanovanje ali živi v študentskem domu. Spalnice pogosto upoštevajo tudi finančno stanje prosilcev in se o tem odločajo.

Medtem ko je sprejem na nemške univerze za državljane EU enostaven, se bodoči študenti iz držav, ki niso članice EU, lahko soočijo z birokratskimi ovirami, na primer z zahtevo, da predložijo dokazilo, da lahko krijejo svoje stroške. Zaradi povpraševanja po mladih kvalificiranih delavcih nemška vlada spodbuja tuje študente iz držav, kot sta ZDA in Indija, več univerz pa ponuja tečaje angleščine. Tujcem je na voljo zelo malo štipendij, "klasična" študentska posojila so netipična in "duale Studiengänge" (hkrati delajo in študirajo, pridobivajo poklicno in akademsko izobrazbo) običajno plačujejo manj kot primerljiva delovna mesta, zlasti ob upoštevanju obremenitev. Številne univerze so bile ustanovljene pred stoletji in že dolgo preraščajo prvotno zgrajene zgradbe, zato je skladen kampus prej izjema kot pravilo. Kljub temu se mnoge univerze trudijo, da bi sorodna področja vsaj držala blizu, toda če slučajno preučujete kombinacijo predmetov, ki se poučujejo v različnih delih mesta - ali celo v različnih mestih - boste morali narediti kar nekaj vožnje na delo. Nekatere univerze so tudi rezultat združitev in imajo zato lokacije v različnih mestih. Pisarne za svetovanje študentom ali univerzitetna uprava imajo lahko nenavaden delovni čas ali pa so celo popolnoma zaprte izven semestra. Prav tako ni nezaslišano, da vam bodo precej osorno rekli, da bi morali iti v kakšno drugo pisarno - pomenijo, da vam ne škodijo, so samo preobremenjeni in nočejo imeti opravka s stvarmi, ki niso njihova naloga.

Medtem ko je imel nemški univerzitetni sistem veliko edinstvenih domislic, je med "bolonjskim procesom" večina predmetov zdaj na voljo v celotnem EU sistemu "Bachelor / Master", ki je v primerjavi s prejšnjim sistemom precej šolski in poenostavljeno. Kljub temu se na nemških univerzah pričakuje več samoiniciativnosti kot marsikje drugje. Pomoč pri težavah ni "samodejna" in novinci se lahko na začetku počutijo nekoliko same. "Fachhochschulen" (ki se v angleščini pogosto imenujejo "Univerze uporabnih znanosti") se običajno osredotočajo na "praktična" ali "uporabna" področja in so še bolj podobna šoli. Medtem ko so na "FH" (nemška kratka oblika) nekoč gledali kot na "nižjo" univerzitetno stopnjo, ta stigma na mnogih področjih bledi.

Delo

Uradna stopnja brezposelnosti v Nemčiji je od oktobra 2019 tam okoli 4,8% so delovna mesta za tiste z ustreznimi kvalifikacijami ali povezavami. Tujci, ki niso člani EU in želijo delati v Nemčiji, bi morali zagotoviti ustrezna dovoljenja. Pridobitev teh dovoljenj lahko pomeni dolgotrajno sodelovanje z izrazito germansko birokracijo, zlasti za državljane držav, ki niso članice EU, in zato morda ni praktičen način za pomoč pri potovanju.

Študentje, ki niso iz EU, lahko delajo na dovoljenju za prebivanje, vendar obstaja omejitev 120 polnih (več kot štiri ure dela) dni na leto ali 240 pol dni (manj kot 4 ure dela) brez posebnega dovoljenja. Za delo na univerzi pa ni potrebno posebno dovoljenje.

Državljani nekaterih držav, ki niso članice EU (Avstralija, Kanada, Japonska, Izrael, Nova Zelandija, Južna Koreja in ZDA), lahko med 90-dnevnim bivanjem v Nemčiji zaprosijo za status rezidenta z delovnim dovoljenjem; vendar ne smejo delati brez vizuma / dovoljenja. Drugi državljani pred vstopom v državo potrebujejo delovni vizum, ki ga morajo po vstopu zamenjati za dovoljenje za prebivanje. Za več informacij glejte pododdelek „Zahteve za vstop" v zgornjem razdelku „Vstopite". Nezakonito delo je v nemškem gostinstvu in turizmu precej pogosto (približno 4,1% nemškega BDP) in je skoraj edini način, da se izognete nemškemu birokracija. Ujetje pa lahko pomeni čas v zaporu in delodajalcu odgovarjate skoraj v enaki meri, kot če bi delali zakonito.

Če želite ostati v Nemčiji dlje časa, vendar ne obvladate nemškega jezika, so vaše najboljše stave velika mednarodna podjetja v bančništvu, turizmu ali visokotehnološki industriji. Frankfurt, Stuttgart, München in seveda Hamburg in Berlin so verjetno najboljša mesta za začetek iskanja. Običajno se pričakuje dobro znanje nemščine, vendar ne vedno pogoj. Angleži, ki so certificirani učitelji v svojih državah, si bodo morda lahko zagotovili delo v ameriških ali britanskih mednarodnih šolah. Poučevanje angleščine brez teh kvalifikacij v Nemčiji ni donosno. Če tekoče obvladate druge jezike (po možnosti španščino ali francoščino), je poučevanje na zasebni osnovi lahko (dodaten) vir dohodka.

V sezoni belušev (od aprila do junija) kmetje običajno iščejo začasne delavce, vendar to pomeni resnično trdo delo in mizerno plačilo. Glavna prednost teh delovnih mest je, da znanje nemščine ni potrebno.

Ostani varen

Nemčija je zelo varna država. Stopnja kriminala je nizka in pravna država se dosledno izvaja.

Nasilni zločini (umori, ropi, posilstva, napadi) so v primerjavi z večino držav zelo redki. Na primer, stopnja umorov v letu 2010 je bila 0,86 primerov na 100.000 prebivalcev - bistveno nižja kot v Združenem kraljestvu (1,17), Avstraliji (1,20), Franciji (1,31), Kanadi (1,81) in ZDA (5,0) - in še naprej upada. Žeparji je včasih težava v velikih mestih ali na prireditvah z veliko gnečo. Prosjačenje v nekaterih večjih mestih ni redko, vendar v večji meri kot v večini drugih večjih mest in le redko boste srečali agresivne berače.

Če bivate približno 1. maja v določenih delih Berlina ali Hamburga (Schanzenviertel) (Tag der Arbeit) pričakujejo demonstracije, ki se pogosto prerastejo v spopade med policijo in manjšino demonstrantov.

Upoštevajte običajne previdnostne ukrepe in med bivanjem v Nemčiji najverjetneje ne boste naleteli na nobeno kaznivo dejanje.

Nujne primere

Državna številka za klic v sili za policijo, gasilsko in reševalno službo je 112 (enako kot v vseh državah EU) oz 110 samo za policijo. Te številke lahko brezplačno pokličete s katerega koli telefona, vključno s telefonskimi govorilnicami in mobilnimi telefoni (potrebna je kartica SIM). Če poročate o nujnem primeru, veljajo običajne smernice: bodite mirni in navedite svojo točno lokacijo, vrsto nujnega primera in število vpletenih oseb. Ne prekinite, dokler operater ne prejme vseh zahtevanih informacij in konča klica.

Ob glavnih avtocestah so vmes oranžni telefoni za nujne primere. Najbližji SOS-telefon najdete tako, da sledite puščicam na odsevnih stebrih ob cesti.

Reševalna vozila (Rettungswagen) je mogoče poklicati prek državne brezplačne številke za klic v sili 112 in vam bo pomagal ne glede na zavarovalna vprašanja. Vse bolnišnice (Krankenhäuser), razen najmanjših zasebnih, imajo 24-urne nujne sobe, ki se lahko spoprimejo z vsemi vrstami zdravstvenih težav.

Rasizem

Velika večina tujih obiskovalcev se v Nemčiji nikoli ne bo ukvarjala z vprašanji odprte rasne diskriminacije ali rasizma. Velika mesta v Nemčiji so zelo svetovljanska in multietnična z velikimi skupnostmi ljudi z vseh celin in religij. Tudi Nemci se zelo zavedajo in se sramujejo zgodovinskega bremena nacistične dobe in so običajno odprti in strpni v stikih s tujci. Obiskovalci, ki niso beli, lahko občasno previdno pogledajo, vendar ne v večji meri kot v drugih državah s pretežno belim prebivalstvom.

Ta splošna situacija je lahko drugačna v nekaterih pretežno podeželskih delih Vzhodne Nemčije (vključno z obrobjem nekaterih mest z višjo stopnjo brezposelnosti in soseskami z visokim rastom, npr. "Plattenbau"). Incidenti rasističnega vedenja se lahko pojavijo z nekaj primeri nasilja. Večina teh se zgodi ponoči, ko skupine pijanih "neonacistov" ali nekatere skupine migrantov iščejo težave (in osamljene žrtve) v središču mesta ali v bližini javnega prevoza. To bi lahko vplivalo tudi na tuje obiskovalce, brezdomce, zahodne Nemce in ljudi z drugačnim videzom, kot so punki, Goti itd.

Public displays of overt anti-semitism are strictly forbidden by laws that are very much enforced. The Hitler salute and the Nazi Swastika (but not religious Swastikas) are banned, as is the public denial of the Holocaust. Violations of these laws against racism are not taken lightly by the authorities, even when made in jest. You should also avoid displaying a Swastika even for religious reasons.

Police

Officer from the Hamburg state police

Nemško Police (German: Polizei) officers are always helpful, professional and trustworthy, but tend to be rather strict in enforcing the law, which means that one should not expect that exceptions are made for tourists. When dealing with police you should remain calm, courteous and avoid getting into confrontations. Most police officers should understand at least basic English or have colleagues who do.

Police uniforms and cars are green or blue. Green used to be the standard, but most states and the federal police have transitioned to blue uniforms and cars to comply with the EU standard.

Police officers are employed by the states except in airports, train stations, border crossings etc. which are controlled by the federal police (Bundespolizei). In mid-sized towns and big cities, local police (called Stadtpolizei, kommunale Polizeibehörde or Ordnungsamt) have some limited law enforcement rights and are in general responsible for traffic issues. States have a pretty big leeway when it comes to police and their tactics and as most police are state police, there is a marked difference between left wing city states like Berlin and conservative Southern states like Bavaria. As a broad generalization, police in the North tend to be more hands-off and tolerant of minor misbehavior while police in the South show more presence and are stricter about the rules, but you may get fined for jaywalking in Berlin just as well. The only major cases of police using violence on citizens (or vice versa) happen during demonstrations and soccer games, but you will notice that by the riot gear and mounted police patrolling in seemingly vastly excessive numbers. It's not advisable to talk to police during political demonstrations or soccer matches as they might construct a case of "Landfriedensbruch" (disturbing the peace) during such events on pretty flimsy grounds, sometimes misrepresenting what you said. Police are armed but will hardly ever use their weapons and never on unarmed people. As firearms are hard to get and a permit to carry one in public is virtually unheard of, police usually do not think anybody is armed unless the suspect brandishes a weapon and are thus unlikely to shoot somebody reaching in their pocket or the likes.

If you get arrested, you have the right to have an attorney. Foreign nationals also have the right to contact their respective embassy for assistance. You are never obliged to make a statement that would incriminate yourself (or someone related to you by blood or marriage) and you have the right to remain silent. Wait until your attorney arrives and talk to your attorney first. If you do not have a lawyer then you can call your embassy or else the local justice official will appoint an attorney for you (if the alleged crime is serious enough).

If you are a victim of a crime (for example robbery, assault or theft in public) and wave an oncoming patrol car or officer, it is not uncommon that the officers will (sometimes very harshly: "Einsteigen") command you to enter the back seat of the police cruiser. This is an action to start an instant manhunt to identify and arrest the suspect. In this case remember that you are not under arrest but to help the officers to enforce the law and maybe get back your property.

German police do have ranks but are not that keen about them; many Germans won't know the proper terms. Do not try to determine seniority by counting the stars on the officers shoulders in order to choose the officer you will address, since such behaviour can be considered disrespectful. Talk to any officer and they will answer your questions or redirect you to the officer in charge.

Prostitution

Prostitution is legal and regulated in Germany.

All larger cities have a red light district with licensed bars, go-gos and escort services. Tabloids are full of ads and the internet is the main contact base. Brothels are not necessarily easily spotted from the streets (outside of redlight districts) to avoid legal action by neighbours. Places best known for their redlight activities are Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt in Köln.

Recreational vehicles parked by the roadside in forests along Bundesstraßen (German for "federal highway"), with a red light in the front window and perhaps a lightly dressed woman on the passenger's seat, are most likely prostitutes soliciting customers.

Due to Germany's proximity to Eastern Europe, several cases of human trafficking and illegal immigration have taken place. Police regularly raid brothels to keep this business within its legal boundaries, and check the identity documents of workers and patrons alike.

Drugs

Alcohol may be purchased by persons 16 years and older. However, distilled beverages and mixed drinks with those (including the popular 'Alcopops') are available only at 18. It is not technically illegal for younger people to drink, but it is illegal to allow them to drink on premises. Youth 14 years and older are allowed to drink fermented beverages in the presence and with the allowance of their legal guardian. If the police notices underage drinking, they may pick the person up, confiscate the drinks and send the person home in the presence of an officer.

Smoking in public is allowed starting at age 18. Vending machines for cigarettes require a valid "proof of age", which in practice means that you need a German bank card or a (European) driving license to use them.

The situation on marijuana can be confusing. The Constitutional Court ruled that possession for "personal use", though still illegal, should not be prosecuted. Germany is a federal state; therefore the interpretation of this ruling is up to the state authorities. In fact charges are sometimes pressed even for tiny amounts, which will cause you a lot of trouble regardless of the outcome. As a general rule the northern states tend to be more liberal while in the south (especially Bavaria), even negligible amounts are considered illegal. The customs officials are also aware of the fact that you can legally buy marijuana in the Netherlands and therefore set up regular border controls (also inside trains), as importation of marijuana is strictly prohibited.

Even if you get off the charges, the authorities may cause different problems, like revoking your drivers license and if you have more than a few grams, you will be prosecuted in any case. Drugs will be confiscated in all cases.

All other recreational drugs (like ecstasy) are illegal and possession will lead to prosecution and at least a police record.

Crimes with date-rape drugs have been committed, so as anywhere else in the world be careful with open drinks.

Weapons

Some types of knives are illegal in Germany: this concerns mostly some types of spring knives, "butterfly" knives, knuckle knives and the like — possessing such knives is an offense. Knives that are intended as weapons are restricted to persons over 18. Furthermore, nunchakus, even soft-nunchakus, are illegal in Germany.

It is illegal to carry any type of "dangerous knife" on your person in public unless you have a valid reason to do so. For example, if you are out fishing you are still entitled to carry a fishing knife. "Dangerous" knives are generally those with a blade length exceeding 12 cm and locking "one-handed" folding knives.

Carrying any knife beyond a pocket knife (typically Swiss army knives) without any professional reasons (carpenter, etc.) is seen as very rude and unacceptable in Germany. Germans consider any non-professional used knives as signs of aggression and do not accept this behaviour. Flashing a knife (even folded) may cause bystanders to call the police, who will be very serious in handling the upcoming situation.

Firearms are strictly controlled. It is practically impossible to legally carry a gun in public unless you are a law enforcement officer. "Fake" firearms may not be carried in public if they resemble real guns. CO2 and air guns are relatively easy to acquire. If the police find any kind of weapon or firearm on you, you will appear highly suspicious.

Bow and arrow do not legally count as weapons while crossbows do, but you're certain to get stopped by police openly carrying either. Hunting is only legal with firearms or employing birds of prey and requires a license with rather strict requirements for environmental and animal welfare reasons.

Fireworks

Avoid bringing any fireworks into Germany, especially from outside the EU. Even bringing those can be an offence. Fireworks are traditionally used on New Year's Eve. Most "proper" fireworks (marked as "Klasse II") will be available at only the end of the year; they may be used by persons only over 18 on December 31 and January 1. Really small items (marked as "Klasse I") may be used around the year by anyone.

Fishing

Fishing laws differ a lot from state to state. Obtaining a fishing license for Germans and foreigners has become a highly bureaucratic process due to animal protection laws.

Gay and lesbian travellers

Germany is in general very tolerant of homosexuality. Nevertheless, like in every country some individuals still may disapprove and some areas are more accepting than others, so use common sense and be geared to the behaviour of the locals around you. In small towns and in the countryside, open displays of homosexuality should be limited.

The attitude towards gays and lesbians is rather tolerant, with openly gay politicians and celebrities being considered increasingly normal. While some, especially the elderly, Germans inwardly still don't approve of homosexuality or bisexuality, they usually suppress open utterances of homophobia. Therefore, in most cases, display of homosexuality (holding hands or kissing) will at most provoke stares or sometimes comments by children or elderly people.

Ostani zdrav

Sanitary and medical facilities in Germany are excellent. The phone book lists telephone numbers for various medical services, many hotlines and services exist that are open during "off hours". See the section Medical Emergencies above if you are in an emergency

Health care

If you have an non-urgent medical problem, you may choose from any local doctor. The German health system allows specialists to run their own surgery so you will usually be able to find every discipline from Dentistry to Neurology on duty within reasonable reach. In remote regions finding a doctor might require a ride to the next town but the German infrastructure allows fast connections. GPs/family doctors will usually describe themselves as "Allgemeinmediziner" – meaning "general medical doctor".

Pharmacy sign in Germany: A for Apotheke

Pharmacies are called "Apotheke" and are marked by a big, red "A" symbol. At least one pharmacy in the area will be open at all times (usually a different one every day), and all pharmacies will post the name and address of the pharmacy-on-duty in the window. Some medication that is sometimes freely available in other countries (e.g. antibiotics) needs a prescription in Germany, so you may want to check before your journey. The staff of an Apotheke is well-trained, and it is mandatory to have at least one person with a university degree in pharmaceutics available in every Apotheke during opening hours. A German pharmacist is able to offer advice on medications. The apotheke is also where you go to get common over-the-counter medications such as aspirin, antacids, and cough syrup. Don't be misled by the appearance of "drug" in the name of a drogeriekonzern, such as the large dm-drogerie markt chain: "drug stores" in Germany sell everything except drugs.

In Germany pharmaceuticals tend to be expensive, so it might be wise to ask the pharmacist for "Generika" (generic drugs): A "Generikum" is virtually the same substance and dose, often even produced by the same pharmaceutical trust, just lacking the well-known brand name and being considerably cheaper. As the brand names for even common substances can vary a lot between countries as well as brands try to know the scientific name of the substance you need as they will be printed on the package and trained pharmaceutical professionals will know them.

Health insurance

EU citizens that are members of any public health insurance can get a European Health Insurance Card. The card is issued by your insurance provider and lets you use the public health care system in any EU country, including Germany.

If you're from outside the EU, or if you have a private health insurance, check if your insurance is valid in Germany. If not, get a travel health insurance for the trip – German health care is expensive.

Foreign insurance, even if it covers travel abroad, may not be accepted by local hospitals.

In any somewhat urgent case you will be treated first and asked for insurance or presented a bill later.

Drinking water

Standard sign in Germany for Kein Trinkwasser; many Germans know it from rest rooms in trains

Voda iz pipe (Leitungswasser) is of excellent quality, and can be consumed with little concern. Exceptions are labeled ("Kein Trinkwasser", no drinking water) and can for example be found on fountains and in trains. In restaurants and cafes you will often have to specifically request 'Leitungswasser' since it is not generally assumed.

Many Germans tend to avoid drinking tap water and prefer bottled water (still or sparkling), in the erroneous belief that tap water is somehow of inferior quality. The term Leitungswasser actually means 'plumbing water' which also doesn't actually sound too enticing. As a matter of fact, tap water is sometimes of even better quality than bottled water and unlike in e.g. the US there is no chlorine taste to it whatsoever. However, on some areas there is a taste difference for particularly sensitive palate due to the different mineral composition. Be aware however that some regions tap water have nitrate content above WHO levels and should not be drunk by women in early stages of pregnancy for any prolonged period.

Many Germans prefer sparkling (carbonated) water. Sparkling water is sold in any store that sells beverages and prices range from inexpensive 19-cent bottles (1.5 L) of "no-name" brands to several euros for fancy "premium" brands.

Most people buy bottled water in crates of 12 glass bottles or packs of 6 plastic bottles. Both the bottles and crates include a returnable deposit (Pfand). While the deposits for reusable plastic (15 cents) or glass bottles (8 cents) are relatively low, the deposit for disposable plastic bottles (marked by a special symbol on the side of the bottle) is relatively high at 25 cents and may be higher than the price of the water itself. Bottled water is usually sold carbonated (sparkling), although regular water (stilles Wasser) is also widely available and slowly gaining popularity among Germans. Sparkling water is usually sold in supermarkets in two degrees of sparkling: one with more CO2 (usually called spritzig or classic) and one with less CO2 (usually called medium).

Most springs and many public restrooms (e.g. on planes or trains) use non-potable water that has to be clearly marked by the words "kein Trinkwasser" or a symbol showing a glass of water with a diagonal line through it. If there is no such sign and the surroundings don't indicate otherwise it is safe to assume that the water is safe for human consumption.

Plavanje

Many lakes and rivers, as well as both the North Sea and Baltic Sea are generally safe for swimming. Nevertheless, while there may be no life-threatening pollutants in most bodies of water, you would do very well to inform yourself about local regulations. If you intend to swim in a large river, at best do so only on official bathing locations. Keep away from structures (power plants might cause streams you don't see from the surface) in the river or reaching from the shore into the river, also keep out of the path of ships. Both structures and ships, even if they look harmless or far away, may create major sucks underwater. Take particular care of children.

If you intend to swim in the North Sea you should inform yourselves about the tide schedules and weather conditions – getting caught in a tide can be fatal, getting lost in the mist, too. Hiking in the Wattenmeer without a local guide is extremely dangerous. In the Baltic Sea, on the other hand, there are virtually no tides.

Diseases

Brauneck mountain, Bavaria: loose dogs and cats will be shot, because of risk of rabies.

You should be aware of rabies (Tollwut) which has been a problem in some areas in the past, even though the authorities take it very seriously. If you go hiking or camping then be careful around wild animals such as foxes and bats.

The biggest risks hikers and campers face are two diseases transmitted by ticks. In some parts of Germany there is a (low) risk of contracting tick-borne encephalitis; vaccination is advised if you plan out-door activities in high-risk areas. The risk of Lyme disease is higher and vaccination is not available. Therefore, you should try to prevent tick-bites by wearing long trousers and appropriate shoes. Chemical repellents can also be effective. You should also check for ticks afterwards since the risk of transmission is lower if the tick is removed early. The safest way to remove a tick is by using a credit card sized device called a "Zeckenkarte" (tick card), which you can get at most pharmacies. Other methods (fingers, using glue, etc.) might lead to the tick injecting even more infectious material into the wound. If in any doubt consult a doctor.

Natural dangers

Wild boar sow foraging with young

Today, wild animals, although they abound, are mostly very shy, so you might not get to see many. When a few wolves in Saxony and Pomerania and a bear in Bavaria have been sighted, their immigration from Eastern Europe caused quite a stir. In the course of events, "Bruno" (the bear) was shot, and while the wolves are under heavy protection, local hunters have been suspected of killing them illegally. The most dangerous animal in Germany's forests is by far the wild boar; in particular, sows leading young are nothing to joke about. Wild boar are used to humans, since they often plunder trash cans in villages and suburbs, and their teeth can rip big wounds. If you see one, slowly walk into the opposite direction while still facing the animal. Also the poisonous crossed viper can pose a threat (in the Alpine region and natural reserves), though they are rare - don't provoke them.

Toilets

It can be surprisingly hard to locate a public toilet when needed. They are usually indicated by the letters WC, pictograms or the letter "H" (Herren; gentlemen) or "D" (Damen, ladies). Public toilets are rarely free. Sometimes you have to be a customer at the place they're attached to, sometimes there's an attendant and a "tip plate" to guilt trip you into paying money that may or may not be handed on to cleaning personnel. But one of the more common ways they charge you is the Sanifair system whereby you pay an amount of money and get a voucher for a lower amount of money (75 cents pay, 50 cents value) that you are able to cash in for goods at the adjacent (and other) stores, often subject to a bunch of conditions. Thankfully toilets in trains air-planes and buses are still free, but patrons often leave them in a disgusting state and sadly there isn't always someone around who can clean them. Fast food outlets and hotel receptions are usually a good option, fuel stations will usually provide facilities on request of a key. Shopping centres (Globus, Kaufland, Real, MediaMarkt etc) or hardware stores (Bauhaus,, Hagebau, Hela, Hornbach, Obi etc.) also have customer toilets, which can mostly be used free of charge. Aldi, Lidl or Netto mostly have no customer toilets.

Smoking and vaping

Individual Bundesländer started banning smoking in public places and other areas in early 2007, however the laws vary from state to state. Smoking is generally banned in all restaurants and cafes. Some places may provide separate smoking areas but it is best to enquire when booking. Smokers should be prepared to step outside if they want to light up. The only three states with a strict non-smoking law without exceptions are Bavarska, Saarland in Severno Porenje-Vestfalija. Smoking is banned on all forms of public transport including on railway platforms (except in designated smoking areas, which are clearly marked with the word Raucherbereich [smoking area]). The laws are strictly enforced.

In restaurants it is widely accepted for customers to leave their table without paying the bill to go for a smoke and return later. If you are alone, tell the staff that you are going outside to smoke, and if you have a bag or coat, leave it there.

Supermarkets sell cigarettes, but they are usually encased in a special section adjacent to the cashier, where you must ask if you want to get one. Vending machines can also be found near bus stops, but you must insert a German ID card before using it. One pack of 20 cigarettes would usually cost €5-€7,50. Cheaper alternatives are roll-your-own tobacco, yet these cannot be bought in vending machines.

Vaping is also upcoming in Germany, more in the urban areas than the country sides. In nearly every city you can find a Dampfershop [vaping store] where you can get hardware or liquid, with or without Nicotine, €3-6 per 10ml. If you stay longer buy base and aroma separate and mix by yourself, it is much cheaper. Bringing large liquid bottles with Nicotine into Germany, in particular with more than 20 mg/ml and from outside the EU, can be illegal. To be safe carry only your needs for few days. The law say vaping is not smoking and so it is not affected by the non-smoking law, but most people do not know this. So if you like to be kind and safe do it like smoking and accept the common no-smoking rules too. Deutsche Bahn and other state-level public transport companies do not allow vaping on stations (except in the smoking areas), nor on their public transport.

Spoštovanje

Kultura

The Germans have earned themselves a reputation for being stiff and strict with rules but also hard working and efficient. If you are caught breaking the rules, this will be readily pointed out to you by someone. The main exception in Germany seems to be speed limits. A quintessentially German action is waiting at a red traffic light at 2 AM with all streets empty.

More importantly, the German sense of "politeness" differs significantly from the Anglo-American concept of courteous remarks, small talk and political correctness. Germans highly value honesty, straight talking, being able to cope with criticism and generally not wasting other people's time. For instance, while the answer to "How is your day?" is a standard pleasantry like "It's going very well." in the Anglosphere, Germans will feel obliged to answer the question honestly when asked. Consequently, business meetings tend to lack the introductory chit-chat.

Titles (such as Dr., Prof. etc.) tend to be more used in the south than in the north. One would not blame you to leave them away. Some colleagues that have worked together for many years still call each by their surname. When a German introduces himself to you, he/she will often simply state their surname, prompting you to call them "Mr/Mrs...". Germans would not expect you to use the German words "Herr" (man) and "Frau" (woman) when speaking in English. The title "Fräulein" for an unmarried woman is considered nowadays to be dated or even sexist, so just stick to "Frau".

Using first names immediately is most likely seen as derogatory, depending on the situation. Of course, there are differences between the young and older people. You should consider the use of the surname and the formal Sie as a sign of friendly respect. If you have a drink together, you may be offered the non-formal Du and to call your colleague by their first name, you can also offer it. However it might be seen as a faux-pas to do so if you are clearly younger or "lower-ranking". Start-up culture usually values informality and will address every employee with Du and there are a few organizations in which members have been addressing each other with Du since the 19th century, including leftist parties like the SPD, railroaders or the Scouting movement. Still, being too formal by using "Sie" is virtually always the "safer" option and saying "Du" to a police officer on duty can even get you fined.

The German word Freund dejansko pomeni close friend, or "boyfriend". Someone you may have known for a few years may still not refer to you as a Freund but rather Bekannter (an acquaintance).

There is also a strong desire to achieve mutual agreement and compromise. As for the infamous efficiency: Germans are the world's leading recreationists (at an average of 30 days of paid leave per year, not counting public holidays), while maintaining one of the highest productivity rates on earth. A late-running train is considered a sign of the degradation of society.

Despite popular belief, the Germans do have a sense of humour although it is often expressed differently than it is in English-speaking countries. If you are around people, you get to know well that sarcasm and irony are very common kinds of humour. Puns are popular too, just like in anglophone countries. However, humor is not the default approach to the world (unlike in - say - England) and therefore a quip in the wrong situation may draw blank stares or disapproval or simply not be understood as a joke.

Punctuality

In official contexts (when conducting business) punctuality is seen not as a courtesy but as a precondition for future relations. As in most countries, you are expected to arrive on time at a business meeting unless you can give a good reason in your defense (i.e. being stuck in unforeseeable heavy traffic). It is seen as a courtesy to call the other participants if you seem to be running late, even if there is still a chance that you will arrive on time. Regular delays are seen as disrespect for the other participants. Vendar such German punctuality doesn't apply on German railway.

For personal relations, importance attached to punctuality may differ from individual to individual. It is still always safer to be punctual than late, but the subject may be a negotiable matter: if unsure just ask 'is punctuality important to you?'. Punctuality also depends on the milieu, in a collegiate environment, for example, it is taken much less seriously. For private invitations to a home, it may even be considered more polite to be 5–15 minutes late as to not embarrass the host in case not everything has been prepared.

Behaving in public

Germany, especially urban Germany, is rather tolerant and your common sense should be sufficient to keep you out of trouble.

Drinking alcohol in public is not forbidden and is even a common sight in the far west (Cologne and the Rhine-Ruhr Area). In some larger cities (such as Cologne), there are local laws that in theory make drinking alcohol in public a misdemeanour punishable with a fine of tens of euros; these laws are rarely enforced against tourists, except in cases when drinking leads to rowdy behaviour. Such laws have also been successfully challenged in court in several places. Behaving aggressively or disturbing the peace will earn you a conversation with German police officers and possibly a fine or an order to leave, regardless of whether you're drunk or stone-cold sober.

Be particularly careful to behave respectfully in places of worship and places that carry the dignity of the state, such as the numerous war and holocaust memorials, parliaments and other historical sites. Some such sites will post Hausordnung (house rules) that prohibit disrespectful or disruptive behaviors. These rules may range from common-sense prohibitions against taking pictures during religious ceremonies to things that may seem strange to you, like prohibiting men from keeping their hands in their pockets. You should keep an eye out for these signs and obey the posted rules. Another very common sight is a sign that says Eltern haften für ihre Kinder (parents are liable for their children). This is a reminder that German people believe both that children should be children, and also that parents should supervise them, so that no one gets hurt and nothing gets broken. If your child is being rowdy and accidentally spills or breaks something in a store, you can generally expect to pay for it.

Insulting other people is prohibited by German law and, if prosecuted, can result in jail time and a heavy fine. It is unusual that charges are brought, but exercise common sense in all cases. Insulting a police officer will always lead to charges though.

On German beaches, it's generally all right for women to bathe topless. Full nudity is tolerated on most beaches, although not a frequent sight outside of the numerous nudist areas (labeled "FKK" or "Freikörperkultur", literally free body culture). These are especially common at the East German Baltic Sea coastline, due to the high popularity of nudism in the former GDR. It's also possible to spot nudists in Berlin's public parks and in Munich's "English Garden". In most saunas, nudity is compulsory and mixed sessions are common practice. One day of the week is usually only for women.

Being a guest

In general, Germans will only invite you to their home if they expect you to take them up on the offer. The "Yeah let's hang out sometime" that Americans sometimes use as a piece of meaningless conversation fluff will not be understood by Germans. While Germans value hospitality ("Gastfreundschaft", literally "guest friendliness") they themselves see their culture of hospitality as weaker than that of - say - the Arab world. When invited it is certainly courteous to bring a small gift. Consumable gifts are usually prepared as many Germans dislike filling their home with trinkets they don't know what to do with. If the invitation is one where the consumption of alcohol can be expected, bringing a bottle of wine or spirit can be a good gift and if you are invited by younger people for a party you can also bring a crate of beer - though preferably of a smaller independent and more upmarket brand. If you can gift something connected to your place of origin, all the better - a treat from abroad will virtually always arise the curiosity of your hosts. Germans like to keep their home neat and tidy and will likely "apologise for the mess" even if there isn't any. This entails that you usually should leave your shoes at the entrance - when in doubt, just ask. Most hosts will provide you with Hausschuhe (literally "house shoes") to be worn inside. When you are invited to a German's home, you can expect to have some sort of food or drink. Should you have any allergies, religious dietary restriction or be a vegan or vegetarian, you should make that clear ahead of time, to avoid the mutual embarrassment of a menu being cooked for you which you can't or won't eat. "Kaffee und Kuchen" ("coffee and cake") is the quintessential German afternoon food and it is likely that any invitation during the afternoon for an informal gathering will entail that. If you don't drink coffee, it is usually possible to replace the coffee with cacao, though it may be seen as a bit odd if you are an adult.

People

Owing in part to the long era of numerous German petty states being de jure ali de facto sovereign, Germany has strong regional identities and local patriotism that may refer to a city, a federal state or a region within a federal state or crossing state lines. While some state boundaries are drawn pretty arbitrarily, states are politically powerful and many have their own unique character. The rule of thumb is that wealth rises towards the south and west: While Baden-Württemberg in Bavarska compete with Switzerland and Austria for quality of life, the economy of the eastern states is still lagging behind. A more liberal atmosphere is dominant as the traveller goes northward: Hamburg in Berlin have had homosexual mayors, bars and clubs are open all night and the density of young artists in Berlin Friedrichshain easily surpasses that of London, Paris or Manhattan. Northern Germany is in the same cultural sphere as the Netherlands and Scandinavia with even the food and architecture more pragmatic, simple and unrefined than in the south, where Catholicism has been predominant. Contrary to the general trend, Hamburg is the richest city in Germany (and one of the ten richest regions in Europe) even outpacing trendy Munich.

The Nazi era

In the late 19th Century, Germany was arguably one of the most enlightened societies in the world. As a mental exercise, try to think of five famous physicists, philosophers, composers or poets without mentioning a German name. This dignity and prestige faced a severe setback during the period of National Socialist rule under Hitler (1933-1945). Since then, the Third Reich has been a permanent scar on the German national identity, and is considered a blot on Germany's national honour and will remain so for a very long time. Every German pupil has to deal with it at about 5 times during his or her schooling, and is very likely to visit a concentration camp at least once (most such sites have been transformed into memorials). Not a single day passes without educational programmes on television and radio dealing with this period of time.

Growing up in Germany, whether in the GDR or West Germany, meant and still means growing up with this bitter heritage, and every German has developed her or his own way of dealing with the public guilt. For the traveller, this can mean confusion. You might come across people (especially young ones) eager to talk to you about Germany's troubled history, feeling the urge to convince you Germany has come a long way since then. Choose adequate places to talk about the issue and be polite about it. If you are visiting friends, you might find it hard to keep them from dragging you into a memorial.

Humour, even made innocently, is absolutely the wrong way of approaching the matter and is insulting. All Nazi-era slogans, symbols, and gestures are forbidden (except for educational purposes, and even these are regulated). Displaying them in public or spreading propaganda material is illegal. Foreigners are not exempt from these laws. Do not even think about jokingly giving a stiff arm Nazi (roman) salute! This is a punishable act according to the German Penal Code, §86a: displaying the symbols of anticonstitutional organisations. Usually you will face 'only' a fine, of like €500. If the authorities suspect you of having propagandistic intentions, they can put you in jail for up to three years! (Religious Swastikas are exempted from this rule, though you are still advised to avoid displaying the symbol so you do not cause any unintentional offence.)

The German national anthem is the third stanza of a traditional song from the 19th century, Lied der Deutschen, written to the melody of Joseph Haydn's Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser by one August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben on the island of Heligoland while the latter was under English control. The first stanza starts with Deutschland, Deutschland über Alles (Germany, Germany above everything). While this stanza is not forbidden, and even was officially a part of the national anthem during the Weimar Republic, do not quote or sing this stanza. Many people associate it with hyper-nationalism, and it will disgust them the same way as a Nazi slogan. Similarly, symbols of the 1871-1918 Kaiserreich like the Black-White-Red flag are not officially forbidden yet, but are these days virtually only used by the far right and will draw zelo negative reactions. In 2020 there was a renewed debate about officially outlawing symbols of the Kaiserreich which however has not produced any concrete results as of October 2020.

Probably the best way to deal with the issue is to stay relaxed about it. If the people around you like to talk about German history then use the opportunity for a sincere, maybe even very personal conversation. If you want to steer clear of awkward moments, don't bring up the matter.

German Democratic Republic era

Compared to the Nazi era, Germans have a more open attitude to the postwar division of Germany into East and West. Communist symbols, GDR songs and other East-German related regalia are circulated freely (though uncommon in the western parts) and many are somewhat nostalgic about the country, hence the artistic and commercial movement "Ostalgie" (nostalgia for the East). Be careful when discussing the East German secret police (Stasi) since many people in the East were negatively affected by the control of all aspects of life by this organisation, that maintained an extensive network of informants throughout the country during the communist era. While the division is some time in the past now, there are still cultural remnants often referred to as the "mental wall" (Mauer in den Köpfen) and the last couple of years seem to have reinforced stereotypes between East and West if anything. More and more positive aspects of East German policies are openly discussed these days - be they the more extensive use of rail as a mode of transportation or the comparatively high gender equality of the East, but attitudes vary from person to person and generally follow the political spectrum - right wingers will be less inclined to see anything positive about the GDR.

Regional rivalries

Many Germans are fiercely attached to their region or even town and it is nothing out of the ordinary to hear people making disparaging remarks about a town a few miles over or even a different neighbourhood in large cities like Berlin. While the purported reasons for such rivalries vary, they're almost never as serious as they may appear. Some of those rivalries overlap with sports rivalries (mostly soccer), but even then they only get heated when a game is on or someone is wearing the uniform of a team involved. While saying positive things about the town or region you're in is always appreciated, you should tread more lightly with bashing other places, even if locals seem to be doing it constantly.

Traditionally, regional rivalries also extended to religion, with the north and east being predominantly Lutheran, and the south and west being predominantly Roman Catholic, however cuius regio eius religio and early modern splintering of territories ensured heavily Catholic areas could lie right next to heavily Lutheran or reformed areas. However, this has diminished significantly in modern times as Germany has transformed into a largely secular society, with regular churchgoers now being in the minority. Work migration and the influx of (post-) World War II refugees has also made erstwhile confessionally homogenous villages much more mixed. In general, people from formerly communist East Germany tend to be less religious than people from the West, due to the fact that religion was discouraged by the officially-atheist communist regime.

Povežite se

Telephone

In a public pay phone, there is also sometimes a hotspot.

The international calling code for Germany is 49, and the prefix for international calls is 00; the area code prefix is 0. Some number blocks are reserved for special use: Number starting with 010xx let you choose a different phone provider, 0800 and 00800 are toll-free numbers, 0180 are service numbers (which may or may not be more expensive than a local call). Avoid 0900 prefix numbers. These are for commercial services and usually incredibly expensive.

Landlines

German phone numbers are of the form 49 351 125-3456 where "49" is the country code for Germany, the next digits are the area code and the remaining digits are the "local" part of the subscriber number that can be called from within that particular area code using abbreviated dialing. Since there are no standard lengths for either geographic area codes or subscribers' numbers, the last part may be as short as two digits! The 5000-odd German area codes vary in length from 2 thru 5 digits. You need to dial "0" in front of the geographic area code from outside that particular area code (but when still within Germany).

Since the liberalisation of Germany's phone market, there are a multitude of phone providers on the market. If you're calling from a private landline phone, you can usually choose from the different providers (and thus from different pricing schemes) by using special prefix numbers (starting with 010xx) with prices of €0.01 or €0.02, sometimes below €0.01 even for international calls. There's a calculator on the net kjer lahko primerjate cene za različne destinacije. Hoteli imajo običajno pogodbe z določenim ponudnikom telefonov in vam ne dovolijo uporabe drugega. Telefonske tarife, ki jih zaračunavajo hoteli, so lahko osupljive, zlasti v luksuznih hotelih, kjer lahko petminutni telefonski klic za rezervacije restavracij stane 50 EUR. Prepričajte se, da ste preverili tarifno kartico, še preden ste dvignili telefon.

Mobilni

Poglej tudi: Evropska unija # Connect

Mobilne številke v Nemčiji je treba vedno poklicati z vsemi številkami (10–12 številk, vključno s predpono „0“ pred „1nn“ v Nemčiji), ne glede na to, od kod jih kličejo. The 1nn je mobilna predpona in ne "območna koda" kot druga ter druga in tretja številka ( št del) označuje prvotno mobilno omrežje, dodeljeno, preden se na primer upošteva prenosljivost številk 49 151-123-456.

Mobilni pokritost telefona v treh omrežjih (Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone in O2) je na splošno odličen po vsej državi. Na voljo so tudi UMTS (podatki 3G in HSDPA), LTE (4G) in EDGE. LTE je še vedno nekoliko omejen na urbana območja. Vsi mobilni ponudniki uporabljajo tehnologijo GSM na Frekvenčna območja 900 in 1800 MHz. To se razlikuje od standarda GSM 1900, ki se uporablja v ZDA, vendar sodobni "večpasovni" telefoni običajno delujejo v vseh omrežjih GSM. Telefonov, ki niso GSM, v Nemčiji ni mogoče uporabljati. Če imate mobilni telefon GSM iz ZDA, pred potovanjem pokličite svojega ponudnika v ZDA in naj »odklene« vašo telefonsko slušalko, da jo boste lahko uporabljali z nemško kartico SIM. Cestnino za telefonski klic na nemško številko mobilnega telefona plača klicatelj.

Če ostanete dlje časa, razmislite o nakupu predplačniške telefonske kartice pri enem od ponudnikov mobilnih telefonov; ne boste imeli težav z iskanjem Deutsche Telekoma (kupljenega pri Trgovina Telekom), Vodafone ali O2 shranite v katerem koli večjem nakupovalnem območju.

Mobilna telefonija še vedno obstaja razmeroma drago v Nemčiji. Za klice na nemški mobilni in stacionarni telefon vam lahko zaračunamo približno 0,10–0,39 EUR na minuto, odvisno od vaše pogodbe. Klici z vašega nemškega mobilnega telefona na nenemške telefonske številke (vključno z nemškimi mobilnimi telefoni, ki so fizično prisotni v Nemčiji) pogosto stanejo od 1 do 2 EUR na minuto, odvisno od države in vašega načrta. Na splošno sta za mobilne telefone T-Mobile in Vodafone najprimernejša izbira za ljudi, ki želijo visokokakovostne storitve, zlasti zunaj mest. O2/ E-Plus ima nižje cene. Če pričakujete, da boste potrebovali podporo strankam v angleščini, je morda ena izmed boljših možnosti Vodafone.

V večini verig supermarketov (na primer Aldi, Lidl, Penny, Netto, Tchibo, Rewe, toom) lahko kupite predplačniške kartice SIM lastnih virtualnih ponudnikov, čeprav njihovo omrežje še vedno upravljajo veliki trije nemški telekomunikacijski operaterji. Običajno jih je precej poceni kupiti (10–20 EUR s 5–15 minutnim prenosom) in za nacionalne klice (0,09–0,19 EUR / minuto), za mednarodne klice (približno 1–2 EUR / min) pa drage, vendar dohodne klici so vedno brezplačni, SMS pa stane približno 0,09–0,19 EUR. Medtem ko so mednarodni klici z nemško kartico SIM lahko dragi, obstaja nekaj predplačniških ponudb z dobrimi cenami.

Podjetja, kot so Lyca Mobile, Lebara in druga, so se specializirala za zagotavljanje cenovno ugodnih cen mednarodnih klicev (včasih cenejših od storitev Voice over IP), ki so večinoma namenjene diaspori in priseljenskim skupinam.

Na žalost pa zaradi paranoje zaradi mobilnih telefonov, ki se uporabljajo v kriminalu ali terorizmu, čedalje težje preprosto kupiti telefon ali predplačniško kartico SIM in začeti klicati. Odvisno od ponudnika boste morda morali navesti številko kreditne kartice, se identificirajte s poštnim ID-jem ali ID-jem videoposnetka. Tudi kadar so izvedljive, niso vedno zasnovane tako, da bi bile tujcem brez statusa prebivališča enostavne, čeprav teoretično lahko te kartice kupi vsak z veljavno identifikacijsko številko in da na navedenem nemškem naslovu ni treba zapisati v sistem . Kljub temu je najbolje, da kartico SIM kupite v trgovini, ki ponuja storitve registracije kartic SIM, in s seboj imejte osebno izkaznico. Če že imate aktiven paket mobilnega telefona pri ponudniku s sedežem v drugi državi EU, boste običajno lahko uporabljali svoje redne podatke (ob upoštevanju mesečne zgornje meje podatkov), SMS in klice za domače klice, medtem ko Nemčija, ne da bi jo bilo treba registrirati ali zaračunati dodatne stroške (čeprav lahko klicanje nemške telefonske številke stane dodatno: preverite pri svojem ponudniku)

Alternativne metode

Velika večina Nemcev ima v lasti mobilne telefone (v nemščini jih imenujejo "Handys", izgovarjajo "hendy"); pomanjkljivost tega je, da je nekoč pogost telefonske govorilnice začeli izginjati, razen na "strateških" lokacijah, kot so železniške postaje. Običajno so sestavljeni iz srebrnega stebra z roza vrhom in telefona, pritrjenega na sprednji strani. Ponekod so še vedno starejše različice, ki so sestavljene iz rumene kabine z vrati in telefona v notranjosti.

Lahko pa tudi kupite predplačniške telefonske kartice lahko uporabite tako, da pokličete brezplačno številko; to je še posebej dobro, če nameravate opravljati mednarodne klice. Kakovost in cene kartic se močno razlikujejo, zato dobrih priporočil ni mogoče dati.

V telefonske trgovine, ki jih najdete v večjih mestih, lahko pokličete na mednarodne klice po ugodnih cenah. Te klicne prodajalne so večinoma v mestnih območjih z veliko priseljenci in so vaša najboljša možnost za mednarodne klice. Poleg tega, da ponujajo klice v tujino, prodajajo mednarodne klicne kartice za uporabo s katerega koli telefona v Nemčiji. Običajno lahko te trgovine opazite ob številnih zastavah, ki krasijo njihova okna.

Internet

Wifi

Dostop do interneta prek Wi-Fi (imenovan tudi WLAN) je pogost v Nemčiji. Internetne kavarne postajajo vse manj pogosti zaradi široke ponudbe brezplačnega brezžičnega interneta v trgovinah, restavracijah ali kavarnah. Včasih zahteva minimalno porabo, običajno pa je v prostorih brezplačno. Tudi telefonske trgovine pogosto ponujajo dostop do interneta. Naslednje trgovine ponujajo brezplačen dostop do brezžičnega interneta: Galeria Kaufhof, real (supermarket), REWE, IKEA, H&M, dm-Drogerie, Subway, McDonald’s, Starbucks in Burger King.

Veliko hoteli gostom ponujajo dostop do interneta, vendar so hitrosti omejene in so morda neprimerne za hiter ogled in uporabo večpredstavnostno bogatih strani / aplikacij. Na voljo je vrhunski hitri internet - pogosto po visokih cenah, zato pred uporabo potrdite dostop in cene v hotelu. Majhni zasebni hoteli in cenejši hoteli v verigah pogosto ponujajo brezplačen brezžični internet (npr. Motel One), ko rezervirate kot paket z zajtrkom, večje verige običajno zaračunajo pretirane cene. Priporočljivo je pridobiti članstvo v njihovih program zvestobe, saj vam bo to običajno omogočilo brezplačen dostop do interneta.

V več mestih obstajajo projekti, ki jih je mogoče zagotoviti brezplačne "skupne" dostopne točke za brezžično mreženje. Na primer, vroče točke "Freifunk" zagotavljajo lokalne skupnosti brezplačno in ne zahtevajo nobene registracije. freifunk-karte.de pokaži zemljevid teh vročih točk.

Potniške salone v nekaterih letališčih in osrednje železniške postaje svojim strankam omogočajo tudi dostop do interneta.

Javne knjižnice pogosto ponujajo dostop do interneta, čeprav običajno ni brezplačen. Knjižnice so na voljo brezplačno. Če knjigo odnesete domov, boste morda morali z nizko ceno dobiti kartico stranke. Podružnice Narodne knjižnice v Leipzigu, Frankfurtu na Majni in Berlinu niso brezplačne.

V njem sodeluje večina univerz v Nemčiji eduroam. Če ste študent ali uslužbenec sodelujoče univerze, vam ta storitev morda omogoča gostujoč dostop do njihovih brezžičnih omrežij. Za podrobnosti se pred potovanjem obrnite na svojo univerzo.

Vklopljeno prevoz, Wi-Fi je na voljo v majhnem (a naraščajočem) številu lokalnih vlakov (večinoma zaradi pogodb o železniškem prometu pred državo pametnih telefonov in države, ki subvencionira storitve WiFi, ni bilo vedno videti kot velika prednostna naloga). Medkrajevni vlaki nimajo nobene vrste WiFi, imajo pa skoraj vsi vlaki ICE brezplačen WiFi v drugem in prvem razredu. Avtobusi na dolge razdalje so običajno opremljeni z WiFi, vendar je pasovna širina pogosto omejena in avtobusi morda nimajo WiFi brez predhodne najave. Lokalni avtobusi so vedno bolj opremljeni z brezžičnim internetom. Vsem tistim je skupno, da vas bo povezava z WiFi postavila na ciljno stran, kjer boste morali vnesti nekatere podatke ali e-poštni naslov ali preprosto potrditi, da sprejemate določila in pogoje. Zaradi mobilnih dostopnih točk, ki se zagotavljajo prek običajnega mobilnega internetnega omrežja, so na podeželju ali kadar jih uporablja več ljudi hkrati manj stabilne in če imate podatkovni paket, ki to omogoča, je lahko vaš telefon hitrejši od WiFi, ki ga zagotavlja način prevoza. WiFi na letalih je razmeroma redek, tudi na domačih letih. Flixbus ponuja brezplačen WiFi (in pogosto tudi vtičnice) na svojih avtobusnih storitvah.

Mobilni podatkovni paketi

Številne predplačniške kartice SIM omogočajo dostop do interneta za mesečno pavšalno plačilo, na primer tiste, ki so na voljo v kavarnah Tchibo (omrežje o2, 10 EUR / mesec omejeno na 500 MB, 20 EUR / mesec za 5 GB) ali Aldi (omrežje E-Plus ). Običajna kartica O2 SIM, ki jo lahko uporabljate za klice in besedilna sporočila, znaša 15 EUR, z novimi 15 EUR pa kupite 1 GB podatkov, ki velja 1 mesec. Vodafone ponuja predplačniško kartico SIM za 25 EUR, ki vključuje 22,5 EUR dobroimetja, od tega lahko dobite 300 MB podatkov za 2 dni za 15 EUR in ostane 7,5 EUR dobroimetja.

Težave z avtorskimi pravicami

Deljenje datotek in pretakanje vsebin, zaščitenih z avtorskimi pravicami, je v Nemčiji nezakonito. Specializirane odvetniške družbe kršitelje neprestano spremljajo po njihovih IP-številkah in zaračunavajo zajetne globe (do nekaj tisoč evrov), prav tako pa od kršitelja zahtevajo, da podpiše pravne dokumente, da se tega ne bo več odrekel. Tudi če ste zapustili državo, ima lahko registrirani lastnik internetne povezave, ki ste jo uporabili, resne težave. To se nanaša predvsem na zasebne povezave (prijatelji, družina itd.). V svojem in gostiteljskem interesu se prepričajte, da so vse aplikacije za skupno rabo datotek v vaših napravah neaktivne, medtem ko ste v Nemčiji, in se vzdržujte pretakanja vsebin s spletnih mest, ki so nedvomno zakonita, ali uporabljajte storitev VPN.

Pošta

Postamt na Münsterplatzu v Ljubljani Bonn

Deutsche Post, nemška delno privatizirana poštna storitev, vodi več mednarodnih podjetij, vključno z DHL in drugi. Od avgusta 2020 običajna razglednica stane 0,60 EUR za pošiljanje v Nemčijo in 0,95 EUR povsod drugje. Običajno pismo, ki tehta več kot 20 gramov, stane v Nemčijo 0,80 EUR, povsod drugje pa 1,10 EUR. Pisma, težka do 50 gramov, stanejo 0,95 evra (Nemčija) ali 1,70 evra (mednarodna).

Poštne znamke so na voljo na poštah in včasih v prodajalnah časopisov ali trgovinah z razglednicami, čeprav boste morda našli trgovine, ki bodo prodale le poštne znamke, ki spremljajo razglednice, ki ste jih tam kupili. Avtomate z žigi lahko najdete na številnih mestih. Pri prodajnih avtomatih lahko kupite znamke vseh apoenov od 0,01 € do 36,75 €, čeprav v dolgočasnem enotnem dizajnu.V nasprotju z večino drugih prodajnih avtomatov sprejemajo vsak kovanec od 1 centa do 2 evra, sprememba pa je podana samo na znamkah. Ker lahko ti "menjalni žigi" prikazujejo čudne vrednosti, raje poskrbite, da imate dovolj majhnih kovancev.

Pisemske škatle v Münnerstadtu. Na levi je rumena nekdanje državne poštne službe; druga je lokalna služba (v Nemčiji še vedno precej nenavaden pogled)

Pisma v Nemčiji so večinoma dostavljena v enem dnevu, kar omogoča malo dlje za Evropo. Pošta v Severno Ameriko lahko traja do enega tedna.

Storitev se je v postopku privatizacije zmanjšala. Zaradi velikega števila tatvin (zlasti pri zunanjih izvajalcih pisem in izvajalcih) bi bilo treba zavarovati vse mednarodne pošiljke, zlasti dohodne, če so dragocene. Medtem ko bi zasebna darila običajne vrednosti običajno morala biti v redu, je znano, da nemška carinska služba dolgo časa zadržuje stvari, ki jih naročajo na spletnih mestih, ki niso članice EU, zlasti s Kitajske, in včasih celo zaseže blago zaradi suma piratstva izdelkov.

Letalska pošta (Luftpost) je lahko tako poceni kot alternativa, Landweg. Če želite poslati paketov, obstajajo tri možnosti (najcenejše do najdražje): Maxibrief (prevelika črka do 2 kg in D Š V = 900 mm), Päckchen (majhen paket do 2 kg, nezavarovan za mednarodno pošto) in Paket DHL. Če bi le knjige se pošljejo, veljajo nižje cene (Büchersendung), vendar pričakujte, da se pošta odpre in pogleda, saj so v njih res dovoljene samo knjige. Cene za Büchersendungen se gibljejo med 1,00 in 1,65 EUR, odvisno od velikosti in teže. Nemška poštna služba dovoljuje naslavljanje stvari na pošto in njihov lasten sistem Packstationen pogosto najdemo na parkiriščih z živili ali bencinskih črpalkah. Amazonove omarice so vse pogostejše, vendar so nezdružljiv sistem - ista omarica za shranjevanje je lahko le Packstation ali Amazonovo omarico.

Na postajah FedEx in UPS lahko spustite pisma in pakete. Pričakujte čakalno vrsto.

Pojdi naprej

Nemčija je odlično izhodišče za raziskovanje preostale zahodne Evrope Letališče v Frankfurtu ima neposredne povezave s številnimi večjimi letališči po vsem svetu. Tudi iz Frankfurta vas nekaj neposrednih hitrih železniških povezav v nekaj urah pripelje do glavnih evropskih prestolnic.

Ta vodnik po državi Nemčija ima vodnik stanje. Vsebuje vrsto dobrih in kakovostnih informacij o državi, vključno s povezavami do krajev za obisk, zanimivosti, informacijami o prihodu in odhodu. Prosimo, prispevajte in nam pomagajte, da to naredimo zvezda !