Germany is a
country in Central Europe with sixteen states. These states range from states
like Bavaria which is comparable to Texas to Berlin which is the capital and
Berlin is comparable to Washington D.C. Germany has some coast line on the
North and Baltic Seas. Its terrain ranges from flat grass lands to forests to
high mountains in the Bavarian Alps. Germany is also a country with several
different cultures including the traditional German culture, Turkish, Danish,
some French and some of the other cultures from other countries it boarders
such as Switzerland, Austria, France, Poland and Denmark.
The Turkish culture
has really influenced Germany because of the massive immigration from Turkey to
Germany. With them they brought their foods, traditions etc. Denmark has brought
things along the same lines in the northern part of Germany such as food architecture
and some traditions. The French have even influenced the German language. There
are some words the Germanys and the French share or some Germany words are
derived from French.
Now Germany’s
traditional culture has been influenced from its history and current events.
WWI and WWII were and still are a big influence today. These wars have sparked
many works of literature for example All Quiet on the Western Front which
is about a WWI German solider Paul Brummer and his friends. Paul and his
friends were all young and they had a long life ahead of them but sadly war
took that away as it has taken many lives that could have changed this world
for the better. This novel really illustrates that war effects that war has on
both sides and that the average foot soldiers on both sides are pretty much the
same. The vast majority of them have kids, wives, brothers, sisters, mother’s
fathers back at home and a place where they are wanted. There are other effects
these wars have left on the culture as well. Because of WWII Germany was split
up into two different countries, East and West Germany. East Germany was governed
by the Soviets until the late 1980’s when the country re-unified. West Germany
was governed by the Allied powers of WWII and was not a communist state. West
Germany also served as a bridge between the United States during the Vietnam
War by letting the United States build military bases on its boarders. This for
the most part was accepted but a few people who did not support the war took
actions against the West German government by bombing government buildings and
even killing United States soldiers. The people who did these acts of violence
were known as the RAF. The RAF was a very left wing militant group that
strongly opposed the government. But not all of Germany is like this.
Another
aspect of German culture is its business and industries. Just like any other
country Germany has its imports and exports and other industries. Germany for
instance it’s a leading importer of prescription drugs and even things like aspirin.
Bayer is a Germany company founded before WWII and started making aspirin and
other drugs. Sadly though Bayer also helped test and develop chemical warfare
and the chemicals used in the gas chambers of the concentration camps. Besides pharmaceuticals
Germany is a leading exporter of agricultural goods such as potatoes, turnips
etc…
As far as
politics Germany has many different parties vying for control of parliament.
These parties include the Christian Democrats which is like the Republicans of
the United States, the Social Democrats which is like the Democratic party of
the United States. There are also a few oddball parties such as the Pirate
party which wants anything on the internet to be open to copying and no
copyright laws and a transparent government. The Pirate party has had its ups
and downs in the past with a climb in members but its popularity has lost popularity though due to a lack of vision
for the future and fighting amongst its own party members instead of the other
parties. Germany also has the Green Party which is more liberal minded and very
focused on the environment.
Food is also
a huge part of German culture. Foods range from many different types of
sausages like Currywurst, Kochwurst, blutwurst etc.. to sweets like fruit cakes
which are only eaten around Christmas time and black forest cake which is a
chocolate cake with frosting and cherries on top. The kabap is a very popular
food in Germany today. The kabap is a Turkish wrap with lamb and vegies and
various sauces. The kabap is fast food in Germany like the Hamburger is in the
United States.
Germany is
one of the leading countries today. It is full of history and a diverse
culture. Germanys history has greatly been effected by war and its people that
have been there for many years and the ones that immigrated bringing in new
things. It has a vast amount of literature and food making it a place to visit.
