Tag Archives: Germany

Around the World in 80 Days – Germany

GERMANY

Western Europe
Capital: Berlin
Languages: German
Predominant Religion(s): Christianity
(Roman Catholic/Protestant)

COMMON CHARACTERISTICS:

  • Germans are often seen as open-minded, ambitious, polite, responsible and reliable.
  • Germans are interested in world affairs and/or cultural exchange.

FUN FACTS:

  • Germans generally have a strong passion for soccer and are very proud of being the World Champions in 2014!
  • Even though the country is not that large (357,168.94 square km), you will find many different accents and dialects by traveling from north to south, and from east to west.
  • One of the best known quotes that shows the closeness of the United States and Germany is the one by John F. Kennedy: “Ich bin ein Berliner” (1963), with which he expressed U.S. support in the reconstruction of Germany.

 USEFUL PHRASES:

  • How are you?:    Wie gehts dir?
  • Fine, thanks.:     Gut, danke!
  • My name is…:     Ich heiße…
  • Nice to meet you.:    Schön, dich kennen zu lernen!
  • Thank you:      Danke!

Photo by: Stewart {flickr}

Around the World in 80 Days – Germany

Did you know that Germany has more bakeries and Germany eat more varieties of bread than most other countries (probably even with France for number of bakeries though)?
Many au pairs struggle initially with American bread as it is quite different for them. For example, American breads are sweet in comparison. For more discussion on the variety of favorite breads in Germany, visit  German Foods
“According to the bread register of the German Institute for Bread (of course there is such a thing), there are now more than 3,200 officially recognized types of bread in the country. And German bread culture was officially added by UNESCO to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2015.”
For the history of bread in Germany and its cultural relevance visit CNN Travel’s link for the full article.
Photo by Jim Rhodes {flickr}

Around the World in 80 Days – German Potato Pancakes

German Potato Pancakes (Kartoffelpuffer) Recipe: 

Ingredients: 

  • 5-6 potatoes 
  • 3 eggs 
  • 1 small onion (grated) 
  • 1 teaspoon of salt 
  • 4 teaspoon of flour 
  • butter or oil 

Instructions: 

  1. Grate potatoes. Be sure to remove any excess moisture by squeezing grated potatoes in a dish towel. 
  2. Place all ingredients into bowl (except butter) and mix.
  3. Put enough butter/oil for frying into a pan. Pour about ½ cup of batter into pan and fry about 3-4 minutes on each side. Repeat until batter is gone. Add butter/oil when needed. 
  4. Eat plain or with apple sauce or jam! 

Photo by: Krista {flickr}

Around the World in 80 Days – Famous People from Germany

Johannes Gutenberg was born in Germany in 1400. His invention led to the first printing press. Learn more from the seasonal calendar.

Grimm’s Fairy tales, originally written in German, have been translated into 160 languages. To find out more about Jacob Grimm, visit the seasonal calendar.

Born in 1875 in Germany, Albert Schweitzer studied music, science and religion. He won the Nobel Peace Prize and is probably best remembered for bringing modern health care to Africa  in the early 1900s. He said something that you might want to think about: “Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.” To learn more about Albert Schweitzer, visit our seasonal calendar.

Albert Einstein, born in Germany in 1879, lived in Italy, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, the  Netherlands and Israel before becoming a US citizen. As a child he loved to build houses out of playing cards. He is best known for his scientific theories, but he also worked to support the United Nations, nuclear disarmament, and civil liberties. To learn more, visit our seasonal calendar.

Around the World in 80 Days – Germany

GERMANY

Western Europe
Capital: Berlin
Languages: German
Predominant Religion(s): Christianity
(Roman Catholic/Protestant)

COMMON CHARACTERISTICS:

  • Germans are often seen as open-minded, ambitious, polite, responsible and reliable.
  • Germans are interested in world affairs and/or cultural exchange.

FUN FACTS:

  • Germans generally have a strong passion for soccer and are very proud of being the World Champions in 2014!
  • Even though the country is not that large (357,168.94 square km), you will find many different accents and dialects by traveling from north to south, and from east to west.
  • One of the best known quotes that shows the closeness of the United States and Germany is the one by John F. Kennedy: “Ich bin ein Berliner” (1963), with which he expressed U.S. support in the reconstruction of Germany.

 USEFUL PHRASES:

  • How are you?:    Wie gehts dir?
  • Fine, thanks.:     Gut, danke!
  • My name is…:     Ich heiße…
  • Nice to meet you.:    Schön, dich kennen zu lernen!
  • Thank you:      Danke!

Photo by: Stewart {flickr}

Around the World in 80 Days – German Coffee

German Coffee (Rüdesheimer Kaffee) Recipe: 

Ingredients: 

  • 3 sugar cubes 
  • 3 T (44 ml) Asbach Uralt brandy, very warm 
  • 5 oz (148 ml) coffee 

Garnish: 

  • Sweetened whipped cream 
  • Dark chocolate shavings  

Instructions: 

  1. Place sugar cubes in a coffee cup, pour brandy over the cube and light with a long match.
  2. Stir until all the sugar has melted.
  3. Allow to burn for 1 minute, then pour hot coffee into the cup and top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.  

Photo by: Akiko Yanagawa {flickr}

Around the World in 80 Days – Famous People from Germany

Johannes Gutenberg was born in Germany in 1400. His invention led to the first printing press. Learn more from the seasonal calendar.

Grimm’s Fairy tales, originally written in German, have been translated into 160 languages. To find out more about Jacob Grimm, visit the seasonal calendar.

Born in 1875 in Germany, Albert Schweitzer studied music, science and religion. He won the Nobel Peace Prize and is probably best remembered for bringing modern health care to Africa  in the early 1900s. He said something that you might want to think about: “Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.” To learn more about Albert Schweitzer, visit our seasonal calendar.

Albert Einstein, born in Germany in 1879, lived in Italy, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, the  Netherlands and Israel before becoming a US citizen. As a child he loved to build houses out of playing cards. He is best known for his scientific theories, but he also worked to support the United Nations, nuclear disarmament, and civil liberties. To learn more, visit our seasonal calendar.

Around the World in 80 Days – Germany

GERMANY

Western Europe
Capital: Berlin
Languages: German
Predominant Religion(s): Christianity
(Roman Catholic/Protestant)

COMMON CHARACTERISTICS:

  • Germans are often seen as open-minded, ambitious, polite, responsible and reliable.
  • Germans are interested in world affairs and/or cultural exchange.

FUN FACTS:

  • Germans generally have a strong passion for soccer and are very proud of being the World Champions in 2014!
  • Even though the country is not that large (357,168.94 square km), you will find many different accents and dialects by traveling from north to south, and from east to west.
  • One of the best known quotes that shows the closeness of the United States and Germany is the one by John F. Kennedy: “Ich bin ein Berliner” (1963), with which he expressed U.S. support in the reconstruction of Germany.

 USEFUL PHRASES:

  • How are you?:    Wie gehts dir?
  • Fine, thanks.:     Gut, danke!
  • My name is…:     Ich heiße…
  • Nice to meet you.:    Schön, dich kennen zu lernen!
  • Thank you:      Danke!

Photo by: Stewart {flickr}