Language

Over 95% of the residents of Germany speak the German language, whether it is the standard German or any of its dialects. However, the German state has recognized four minority languages, which are the Upper and Lower Sorbian, Romani, Danish as well as North and Saterland Frisian.

Because of the high number of immigration, there are also languages spoken by a sizable number of communities, as Turkish, Kurdish, Russian, Greek. Albanian, Polish etc.

Clothing

Today, the average German dress is typically western. Both men and women wear dark simple suits and shirts in business context. However, each region of the country have their own traditional costumes, which differ a bit from one another. For example, in the state of Bavaria, the traditional costume for men is leather trousers that end just above the knee, while for women it is a dress that incorporates a bodice, blouse, full skirt and an apron. You can see people wearing these costumes, especially during carnivals or festivals.

Religion

In Germany a percentage of 65 to 70 of people recognize themselves as Christians, 29% of which as Catholics. There is also a Muslim minority of 4.4%. A number as high as 36% do not identify themselves as having any religion or belong to another than Christianity or Muslim.

Symbolism

The German symbols have changed through different phases in history alongside the events that have shaped its culture and traditions. The eagle was part of the Holy Roman Empire, which after Prussia’s victory over Austria in 1886 has been shared by two different states. Martin Luther and luminaries as Immanuel Kant, Johann Gottfried von Herder and Johann Wolfgang Goethe are also important figures and very contentious symbols. Today the most known symbol of the country is its black, red and gold flag

Literature

Germany is one of the leading nations when it comes to reading, too. The German publishers, publish around 94 thousand new books each year, and the International Frankfurt Book Fair, which is the most important book event in the world, is held in Germany. Many don’t know, but the first known book was printed in German, just as the first ever known magazine.

According to a research conducted by Allensbach Media Market Analysis, 44.6% of the German population read a book at least once a week, while 58.3% of Germans buy at least one book per year.

Cuisine

german food

Germans drink a lot of beer, eat sausages and make bread of different taste. That is not only a stereotype, but a true fact. It is estimated that the average German consumes around 140 liters of beer per year. Only in 2012 alone, Germans drank 2.25 gallons of beer, which is actually the lowest level since the fall of the Berlin wall in 1990. They are the second largest beer consumers in Europe, after the Czech.

Wurst, which means sausages in German, are an important part of the German cuisine, which are made of pork, beef or veal and flavored differently. As for bread, there is a long tradition of bread-baking of which Germans take pride in. There are breads with different shapes, black and white, with different tastes and names, sweet, soft, plain with all types of seeds you could think of.

The German cuisine is also rich with different types of delicious traditional foods, as well as vegetarian and vegan. You may be a picky eater, but in Germany you will always have a lot of choices on what to eat and drink.

Music

World’s most renowned classical composers, as Bach and Beethoven, who have marked the transition of music between the classical and romantic to western classical music, are Germans, who were born and died in Germany. Other famous composers from Germany are Brahms, Schubert, Handel, Telemann, Orff etc.

Nowadays, Germany is home to many music festivals, starting from electronic music to hip-hop and rock & roll. The largest music festival in Germany, which is also one of the largest in the world, is the Rock am Ring festival which gathers artists and performers, as well as music fans from all over the world.

Germany also has many opera houses, which also serve as a tourist attraction for foreign visitors.