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Germany Culture and traditions Germany

 
 
Area : 137838  sq.mi - Population 82000000 hab.
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Culture and traditions Germany

 Traditions and customs

Germans love celebrating, shown by the famous Schunkeln of the beer festivals, a rhythmic swaying, arms up, arms down, round a table full of beer-filled glasses. Christmas remains the most important festival. From the first Sunday in Advent, large sites are animated by Christmas markets (Weihnachtsmarkte), the most famous are those in Nuremberg, Munich and Heidelberg. Close to small wooden huts in which sweets, toys and Christmas decorations are sold, you can have Platzchen or Lebkuchen (Christmas specialties) or warm up with a hot drink. An enchanting atmosphere is guaranteed!
German carnivals are well known (Fastnacht). They start every Ash Wednesday. Activities vary from one region to the other. The most important carnival takes place in Cologne where over 7,000 people take part in the parade, distributing sweets and flowers to onlookers. The long Rosentag procession is the high point of the carnival, before Shrove Tuesday and the big ball that closes the festive week. In Mainz and Düsseldorf, carnivals are also times of spectacular festivities.

 To read, see, listen

guide
books
movies 'Mariage of Maria Braun' and 'The Despair of Veronika Voss and Lola', trilogy of Rainer Werner Fassbinder on Germany in the fifties.
'The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser', by Werner Herzog, film based on a true story of the apparition of an adult individual without any memory or language in a small German village in the XIXth century.
'Wings of Desire' by Wim Wenders about two angels looking over the inhabitants of Berlin.
music 'Berlin cabaret songs' by Ute Lemper, interpretation of works of Kurt Weill (Decca).
One of the several compilations of songs and music of beer festivals.