How well do you know Germany?

Do you perhaps know which beer is the best to order?

And do you know which kind of sausages Germans like to eat?

It doesn’t matter if you don’t know the answers to these questions.

For those who do know, great job!

We just wanted to give you something cheerful and fun to read and take your mind off more complex things.

So, take a little break and enjoy this article about German fun facts.

Fun Facts About Germany

The German culture includes many interesting facts, from special and unique customs to events, architecture, cuisine, language, sport, and so on.

While, on one hand, we can see that they are straightforward, precise, and rule followers, on the other, they tend to be cheerful, light and full of respect for their traditions and customs.

In the following lines, you will find 50 entertaining facts about Germany. By the end of the article, you will want to improve your German skills even more.

Entertaining Facts About The Country

1. Germany's population counts about 81 million people. With an area of almost 138,000 square miles, it is the seventh-largest country in the world and the largest one in the European Union.
2. One-third of the country is covered with forests and woodlands.
3. Germany consists of sixteen states, where each of them is mainly autonomous. Its largest state is Bavaria.
4. The capital city of Germany, Berlin, has the largest train station in Europe
5. Berlin is nine times bigger than Paris.
6. Berlin wasn’t always the capital city. Before this one, capital cities were Aachen, Bonn, Frankfurt-am-Main, Nuremberg, and Regensburg.
7. Berlin has more bridges than Venice.
8. Germany is well-known for its marvelous, middle-age castles. And not without a reason. In Germany, there are around 20. 000 castles, which are at least 100 years old. Today, some of them are turned into museums, restaurants, and even hotels. Many of them are for sale.
9. If you happen to drive in Germany, you should know that around 65% of the highway has no speed limit.
10. Many know that Germany was divided into East and West Germany. During the night a border can still be seen clearly. It is because of the different colors of the bulb lights.
11. The world’s narrowest street, which is 31cm long, is in the city of Reutlingen. It is called Spreuerhofstrasse and trucks can’t pass there.

Fun Facts About German Culture Food 

12. Germany produces more than 1.000 varieties of sausages.

Germans are worldwide known as sausage lovers. The most popular sausage meal is currywurst. Every year, over 800 million currywurst are eaten, of which 7 million are eaten only in Berlin.

13. Bread is the main part of German meals. Bakeries can be found every 300 meters. They make 300 different types of bread and around 1.200 different bread rolls and other goods.

There are also two bread museums, in Ulm and in Ebergötzen.

14. When you call someone for ‘kaffee,’ it includes not only drinking coffee with that person but also consists of a warm cup of tea and a piece of cake or various types of cookies.

Since in today’s world people are working a lot and they are busy during workdays, this custom usually happens on weekends or public holidays. 

15. Milbenkase or ‘mite cheese’ is produced in the village of Würchwitz. It is produced the way they left it in the wooden box with cheese mites for three months. Mites then eat the cheese. The liquid fro the mites ferments the cheese, which then can be consumed.
16. Germans don’t cheer with water. They believe that if you do this with water, it means that you wish for your drinking friend to die.
17. The famous Oktoberfest, the fest of beer and good fun, which is held in Munchen, takes place mainly in September and only a couple of days in October.
18. Germany is the second biggest worldwide country by drinking beer, right after the Irish. There are around 1.300.000 breweries in Germany that produce more than 5.000 different types of beer.
19. If you want to order a beer in Germany, especially on Octoberfest, there is a rule for that. To order a single beer, raise up your thumb. To order two beers, raise your first finger. 
20. During World War II, the USA stopped importing Coca Cola syrup to Germany. Then the head of Coca-Cola there got a brilliant idea to use leftover products like whey and apple pomace. As a result, Fanta was born.
21. How much Fanta became popular in Germany, shows the fact that they have Fanta cake or ‘Fantakuchen.’

‍

Interesting Facts About German Traditions And Culture 

22. Germany was the first country that implemented Daylight Saving time or so-called Summertime. This happend during World War I, in 1916, in order to save energy.

23. Germans don’t celebrate birthdays earlier, not even the day before. It is considered bad luck. They believe that if someone congratulates you earlier, then the birthday person will die before his date occurs.
24. As many people worldwide, Germans also adore dogs and consider them as people’s best friends. They believe that when your dog dies if you bury him under your doorstep, his spirit will guard your home.
25. Knocking on oak wood is considered good luck because the devil can’t touch this wood, which is considered as ‘holly.’
26. Unlike other Europeans, German values their privacy. They don’t kiss on the cheek or hig as French for example. An arm distance and shaking should be more than enough.
27. Germans do not like to hug or kiss but they do take care of each other, even when it comes to strangers. If someone loses a glove on the street, for example, it can be found hanging from a tree.
28. Except for church, everything is closed on Sunday. Germans love to spend time with their families, so Sunday is the best day for a family lunch or just enjoying your family’s company.
29. The Christmas tree comes from Germany. It was first decorated in the Renaissance. The original tree was decorated with apples, nuts, and other suitable food.
30. An open window is something many Germans are afraid of because you may get sick or get the flu. They open windows for the fresh air to come but they don’t sit near it.
31. Germans pay respect to the dead by visiting the family members of the dead three to four days after the funeral.

Fun Facts About The German Language

32. The German language takes third place as the most common language people learn.
33. Germans are very protective of their language. Every movie or sitcom is synchronized with local actors. This also means that many Germans have never heard the true voices of some worldwide-known actors.

34. In German, there is a word for anything, literally anything. It is something you don’t hear every day, especially in English. Perhaps that is the reason why we can found many German words in English.
35. German is divided into High German or ‘Hochdeutsch’ and Low German or ‘Plattdeutsch.’
36. With more than one million speakers, German is the most spoken native language in the EU. It is the only official language in three different counties, Germany, Austria, and Liechtenstein, ranks as the official language in Switzerland, Luxemburg, and Belgium, and has the status of a minority language in Poland, Hungary, Denmark, and Italy.
37. In Germany, around 95% of people speak German or some of its dialects. Besides German as the official language, there are four minority languages recognized: Danish, Lower Sorbian, Romani, and Frisian.
38. The German alphabet is mainly the same as English. However, there is one letter according to which anyone can recognize German. It is the so-called ‘sharp S’ letter, in German, ‘scharfes S’ or ß.
39. Unlike other languages, in German, every noun is capitalized without an exception. No matter if the noun is at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a sentence, it always starts with a big letter.
40. German and English languages share around 60% of their vocabulary.
41. In German, the word ‘danke,’ which is translated as ‘thanks’ actually means ‘no.’ The word ‘bitte’ or ‘please’ in English, is used in contexts in the meaning of ‘yes.’

Amusing Facts About German Art, Education, and Literature

42. Education in Germany is free, even for international students.
43. When kids start to go to school, the first day they get Schultüte, gifts that contain toys and sweets. Germans believe that these gifts will reduce stress and a ‘serious’ way of life that begins with school.
44. Not only Greece but Germany too is worldwide known by its philosophers as Nietzsche, Kant, Hegel, and Schopenhauer.
45. The revolutionary printing press, the Gutenberg press, was invented in Germany. They printed the first Bible.

Even today, Germany is among the first countries in publishing, with around 94.000 titles a year.

46. Everyone knows who are brothers Grimm. Brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, born in the town Hanau in Germany,  are fathers of amazing fairy tales. For centuries, children grew up with Snow White, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, and many more. 
47. Thanks to German inventors, today our lives would be pretty hard without diesel engines, paraffin, aspirin, the telephone, the x-ray machine, even the pregnancy test.
48. Legendary Albert Einstein was German. He was born in the city of Ulm. Thanks to him and many others, as Röntgen or Frank, Germany stands in third place in the world for Nobel prize winners.
49. Besides many scientists, inventors, and poets, Germany can be proud of many composers. Today, we can’t imagine classical music without Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. 
50. The fact that Germany goes along with time, at least when talking about music, shows the fact that this country is the host of some of the best music festivals such as Rock am Ring, Wacken Open Air., and Wave-Gotik-Treffen. 

Conclusion

Not every year, every day something amusing happens in Germany. Therefore, it’s no wonder that this country has such a rich history, customs, traditions, and unique way of life .

If you’re interested in becoming fluent in a new language, check out these top online learning resources: Kick off your learning with Babbel, where interactive, enjoyable lessons are designed to blend smoothly into your routine, fostering fast and effective language learning. For those aiming for an in-depth understanding, Udemy provides a broad spectrum of courses from basic to advanced levels. To enhance your speaking skills, Preply connects you with native speakers for personalized coaching, ensuring significant improvement. Take advantage of a 50% discount on your first lesson at Preply with this link.

‍

What is Germany most known for?

Germany is known for many things: World War I, World War II, Berlin Wall, German cars, Beer, German economy, German language...

Why is Germany important to the world?

Germany is one of the most powerful countries in the world. They have a great economy and outstanding lifestyle.

What is Germany's nickname?

Das Land der Dichter und Denker. The country of poets and thinkers.

‍