- Germany is officially known as the Federal Republic of Germany
- With 82 Million inhabitants, Germany has the largest population of the European Union.
- Germanic peoples began inhabiting the land that is now Germany in 100 AD
- Germany did not obtain its current boarders until the Cold War ended in 1990
- it has 16 states
- Martin Luther (who started the Lutheran church) was German
- Germany adopted the Euro currency in 1999
- the average German family has 1.4 children as opposed to the USA's 2.4
- 30% of the German population is Catholic
- Pope Benedict XVI (our current pope) was born in Bavaria
- Germany (unlike the USA) has an official language; German (who knew?)
- German industry is ranked highest in the world in renewable resources
- the term Volkswagen is literally translated "peoples car" and was a program started by Hitler in WWII to help German citizens own their own vehicle
- companies like Mercedes, Adidas, Siemens, Bayer, Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, and BMW are all German companies
- the Germans are GENIUSES when it comes to physics and chemistry (hence the 2nd major)
- Albert Einstein, Max Planck, and Werner Heisenberg were all German
- Kindergarten ("children garden") is a German concept, but is optional in the German school system
- attending a University in Germany is FREE to citizens
- 18% of all books published throughout the world are German
- English is a Germanic language
- soccer is the most popular sport in Germany and it causes hundreds of riots every year
- Germany has hosted the summer Olympics twice--in Berlin in 1936 and in Munich in 1972
- there are more than 300 types of bread in German bakeries
- Germans get 6 weeks of paid vacation and oftentimes, families will take the entire month of August off work and go on a family vacations
- the colors of the German flag are in alphabetical order (black, red, yellow)
- the average life expectancy is about 80
- July 20th (Monday) will the 65th anniversary of Valkyrie
- Neuschwanstein is the famous castle in Fussen, Germany on which Cinderella's castle in Disney World is based
I hope you enjoyed those little tid-bits and learned something new! :)
