Germany

Capital: Berlin
Population: 81,083,600
Conventional Name: Federal Republic of Germany
Chief of State: President Joachim Gauck
Head of State: Chancellor Angela Merkel
National Anthem: Das Lied der Deutschen (Song of the Germans)
Lyrics/Music: August Heinrich Hoffmann Von Fallersleben/Franz Joseph Haydn

Rick Steves Videos on The Rhine, Rothenburg, and King Ludwig's Castles

Facts about Germany

  • The German language is the most spoken language in Europe.
  • Germany is the 5th largest country in Europe. 
  • Germany borders nine countries: Denmark, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
  • The capital of Germany has changed multiple times: Aachen, Regensburg, Frankfurt-am-Main, Nuremberg, Berlin, Weimar, Bonn (and East Berlin), and, since 1990, the capital has been Berlin.
  • Germany has the largest economy in Europe.
  • Germany is in the process of phasing out nuclear power plants in the process to try and create cleaner power. In Germany we saw fields of solar panels as well as windmills harvesting wind power.
  • Germany was the first country to adopt the concept of Daylight Savings Time. This happened in 1916, in the midst of WWI.
  • Germany has the highest population of the EU with more than 81 million residents, with 3.4 million residents living in Berlin. This is prior to the movement of refugees into Europe. 
  • Germany has one of Europe's lowest birth rates with women, on average, giving birth to their first child at the age of 29. Child care facilities are also in short supply in Germany. 
  • Germany is Europe's second greatest beer consumer. At present there are more than 1,200 breweries producing over 5,000 brands of beer. Drinking in public is legal, however smoking is not.
  • Germany publishes around 94,000 book titles every year making it one of the leading book countries in the world.
  • Prostitution is legal in Germany, however these laws are currently being relooked at and reconsidered.
  • Many shops closed up on Sunday which is considered to be a "quiet day". 
  • In WWII, Nazi Germany established more than 20,000 concentration camps. These camps were used for a range of purposes including forced-labor camps, transit camps (which served as temporary way stations), and killing centers built primarily or exclusively for mass genocide. Early on in WWII prisoners in these camps were primarily German Communists, Socialists, Social Democrats. Roma (Gypsies), Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals, and persons accused of "asocial" or socially deviant behavior.
  • Dachau was the first concentration camp built and was used, early on, to hold political prisoners. Later on it was used to train SS soldiers. Dachau was also home to many medical experiments. Dachau was built as a model for future concentration camps to come. For more information see Day 8 of the blog.