Fascinating Facts
Focus on Culture - Fascinating Facts
Serious and Fun Facts
German is the most widely spoken first language in Europe and the second most learnt second language (after English) in Europe.
125 million speak German in Europe as their first language.
15 million of 82 million in Germany have a migrant background making Germany, a multicultural community just like Australia.
- Deutschland.de - Information about Germany
German is a language of global significance and being learnt throughout the world in schools, at university and at cultural centres like the Goethe-Institut
Did you know that?
- Deutsche Stars - Just some of the German inventions we use everyday (PDF file)
See more at Focus on Culture: Ideas and Innovation
Facts about German and Australia (2006 Census)
- German-speaking migrants have been arriving in Australia since 1838
- 110,400 German-born residents in Australia (2006 census)
- 30,000+ live in Victoria
- 160,000+ German tourists to Australia each year
See also Focus on Culture: German in Australia
European History
- 962-1806 - Holy Roman Empire
- 1358 - Hanseatic League - a global trading community
- 1618-1648 - the Thirty Years' War
- 1273-1918 - the length of reign of the House of Hapsburg with origins in the Holy Roman Empire
- 1517 - October 31 - Luther nails his 95 Theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg
- 1640-1918 - the length of reign of the House of Hohenzollern
- 1635-1918 - the the House of Hannover (included Great Britain and Ireland until 1901)
- 1871 - German Empire - when Germany first became Germany
- 1919-1933 - the Weimar Republic
- 1933-1945 - the Third Reich (drittes reicht!)
- 1945 - Bombing of Dresden
- 86a - article in the Strafgesetzbuch of post-WWII outlawing "use of symbols of unconstitutional organisations", including Nazi symbolism and greetings
- 1958 - West Germany a founding member of the European Union
- History of German - an overview
More Recent Moments in History
- Berlin Airlift - 1948
- Berlin Wall - built on 13th August 1961, this video was made in 1962
- Life Behind the Wall - Phtographer Thomas Hoepker spent 40 years chronicling life in the DDR
- Checkpoint Charlie - famous border crossing between East and West Berlin
- Westpaket- West Germans sent packages of goodies to East Germans
- J F Kennedy - Ich bin ein Berliner speech 1963
- Protests of 1968 - student movement
- Ronald Reagan - Tear Down This Wall speech 1987
- Tagesschau 9 November 1989 - DDR - East Germany
- Tagesschau 9 November 1989 - BRD - Wet German
- Mauerfall - Hansiauland - looking back
- 1.07.2011 - adjournment of conscription (Wehrpflicht) and Zivildienst
- 28.04.2011 - Offer of Bundesfreiwilligendienst (Bufdis) to replace support social service through Zivildienst
- 28% of the population in Hamburg has a migrant background
- Berlin Today - a cultural diverse city
Names
- Favourite First Names
- Familiennamen - Map showing distribution of family names in Germany
Have you heard of these people?
- Martin Luther - initiated the Protestant reformation including translating the bible from Latin into the language of the people
- Alexander von Humboldt - Charles Darwin considered him the greatest traveling scientist that ever lived!
- Ferdinand von Mueller - famous German-Australian botanist who contributed much to conservation in Victoria
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - the namesake of the Goethe-Institut - the German Shakespeare - but so much more!
- Levi Strauss - creator of denim jeans
- Erich Maria Remarque - author of the anti-war novel All Quiet on the Western Front, book published in 1929 selling 2.5 million copies when printed in 1929 in twenty-five languages in its first eighteen months in print
- Clara Zetkin - political activist for the rights of women
- Marlene Dietrich - she sang Lili Marleen in German and English
- Venus von Willendorf - an historical icon
Other Famous German-Speaking Women
- Famous German Women - a series of stamps, includes links
- Women from Austria, Germany and Switzerland - there are many of them
- Simone Young - Australian now conducting the Hamburg Philharmonic and General Manager of the Hamburg State Opera
Ostalgie
- What is Ostalgie?
- Rettet die Ampelmännchen - A website dedicated to a public action to save the former East German icon for pedestrian crossings after the reunification of Germany, as a form of preserving the identity of the country. The irony being it is now a thriving business!
- Trabant - now a cult object of the former DDR
- Ostpaket - memories of times past
- DDR Museum - Dresden
- Before and after the wall - photos and information
- Damals im Ostern - a look back at life in the DDR from MDR
Euromaxx: The Truth About Germany
Australian Rules Football in Europe
Australians are bringing Aussie Rules football to the German-speaking world
- Australian Football League Germany - teams throughout Germany
- Austrian Australian Football Club
Australia and Austria are often confused
Miscellaneous
- 600 main types of breads and 1,200 different types of pastries and rolls are produced in about 17,000 bakeries and another 10,000 in-shop bakeries
- 6500 public and private museums in Germany
- Christmas Markets in German - a magical time for young and old
- Christmas Tree - a German-speaking origin
- Silent Night - read about its Austrian origin
- Gingerbread - this tasty treat has a German heritage
- Winnetou - Wild West hero German-style
- German-Hollywood Connection - so many surprises
- Traditional Journeymen - experience counts
- The Red Baron - WWI famous flying ace
- Muesli - of Swiss origin in 1900
- How the Kayak was Introduced to Australia - a true story of Oskar Speck
- Famous Germans, Austrians and Swiss
- Elvis Presley first met Priscilla in Wiesbaden, Germany. READ MORE
- Paul the Octopus - predicting results of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in Germany
- Statistics on topics - find about the facts about Germans
- Sorting your rubbish - it is serious business in Germany
The last word on facts goes to Facts about Germany in a choice of 19 languages.
Rettet die Ampelmännchen
First Australians