German Culture Site
	Francine McKenna BellaOnline's German Culture Editor

Germany and its Turkish German Community
It was to be a short term ´home in a foreign country´, surrounded by an unfamiliar culture, a wary people with an unheard of fondness for keeping pets, a strange language, different religion and European toilets. But fifty years later, to many of the 2.4 million Turkish Germans, Germany is now just ´Home´.

Brothers Grimm
Once upon a time there were two very dissimilar brothers, whose combined talents produced European folk and fairy tales which were anything but sweet and gentle bedtime stories. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.

Chocolate Museum in Cologne, Germany
Cologne´s Imhoff-Schokoladenmuseum, the world´s largest and most comprehensive chocolate museum. A futuristic building, designed as a boat moored alongside the River Rhine, it is an inter-active museum where you can visit a mini sub-tropical forest with cocoa plants, learn about chocolate history, and watch as a chocolate bar begins life as cocoa beans and ends up ground, processed, molded and wrapped in silver foil.

East Berlin, a Pre-Unification Memory
Crossing to East Berlin through Checkpoint Charlie could be a rather complicated experience in pre-unified Germany, especially if there was only one person but two accompanying passports.

Fifty Years of the Berlin Wall
East Germany began building a wall across Berlin on August 13th 1961, and during its existence the Berlin Wall defined the cold war and the division of Europe. In November 1989 the exits were opened by government decree, and families who had been separated for decades were reunited.

Frederick the Great
Frederick II of Prussia is one of the most famous German Rulers, both for his military successes as a brilliant strategist, and for the ground breaking domestic reforms he introduced into his country.

German American Heritage
German immigrants to the USA made a huge contribution to the country's culture, economy and technology, from introducing Santa Claus, founding breweries, inventing ketchup, producing Presidents to establishing banking, industrial and philanthropic dynasties and designing the Brooklyn Bridge.

Germany and its Turkish German Community
There was no history of immigration in Germany when the first Turkish ‘guest workers’ arrived, cheap labor to fuel the country’s ‘Economic Miracle’. Not expected to stay, fifty years later Turkish Germans have powered German industry, settled in its cities and their influence is everywhere.

Germany's Garden Gnomes
Gartenzwerg, another of Germany's many 'inventions', the Gnomes who spend the summer months protecting German gardens. Kitsch, folklore, good luck symbols, characters from literature, and for a protector about as far from frightening as it is possible to be.

Germany's Lucky Chimney Sweeps
Traditions and superstitions about Chimney Sweeps are common throughout Europe, but in Germany both the practice and the customs of the country's Schornsteinfeger are rooted in the past.

Germany's Romantic Road
Germany’s Romantische Strasse, a spectacular journey into a world from the past, through picturesque scenery and historic medieval towns it is a showcase of culture in all its forms, from art and architecture to cuisine.

Germany, its Neighbours and a New Image
From its central position at the heart of today’s European Union Germany lives in peace and harmony with its neighbours, however this was not always the case. What image does modern Germany have in the eyes of its neighbours? A cross section of Europeans from eighteen countries were asked, with interesting results.

Groundhog Day, Hedgehogs and Candlemas
February 2nd is Groundhog Day, an annual tradition with roots which lie in a Christian festival, age old European and German superstitions about hedgehogs, the weather, and pagan celebrations bound to the cycles of nature.

Hedgehogs, Candlemas and Groundhog Day
February 2nd is Groundhog Day, an annual tradition with roots which lie in a Christian festival, age old European superstitions involving hedgehogs and the weather, and pagan celebrations bound to the cycles of nature.

My Father´s Keeper - Book Review
My Father´s Keeper:Children of Nazi Leaders - ´An Intimate History of Damage and Denial´, follows the lives of children, many of whom are still alive, who were left the unenviable legacy of being born to ‘war criminals’, senior members of the Third Reich. With a background of post war life under the Allies and their place in modern Germany, it isn´t a difficult read but it is a thought provoking one.

Oberammergau Passion Play
The wind of change has blown through the Bavarian village of Oberammergau’s centuries old and unique Passion Play, although Jesus’ entrance to Jerusalem, his crucifixion and resurrection remain the focal points.

Ostalgie and Nostalgic East German Recipes
In the days of communist East Germany meals were planned around what was available that day, the queues were long and legendary, and a banana was seen on television but not in a shop. Appetizing and healthy food was served nevertheless, and here are some favourite recipes from the time.

Prehistoric Solar Observatory, Goseck
The Solstice was celebrated as an important seasonal midpoint by the pre-history agricultural civilisation which created Germany’s Goseck Circle. And from Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa to Midsummer and Litha, festivities of many faiths and cultures are still held near winter and summer solstices.

Rabbit A La Berlin, Film Review
Original title Mauerhase - A hare that lives by a wall. This 2010 Oscar nominated film, uses the viewpoint of Berlin's death zone rabbits as a parable for the lives of many East German and USSR citizens, to give a different perspective on socialism, the fall of the wall and the end of communism.

Ruhrgebiet - Germany's Ruhr Valley
Germany's revitalized Ruhr Valley, with its 750 years of industrial history, was a 2010 European Capital of Culture. A tribute awarded more for the way a city honors and emphasizes European cultures, and the links that combine them, than for the size or influence of the city itself.

Sophie Scholl and The White Rose
Sophie Scholl was 21, a leader of The White Rose, a non-violent resistance group of Munich University students, and one of many Germans who did not support the Nazi regime, when in February 1943 she was executed for treason, together with her brother Hans and their friend Christoph Probst.

Summer Solstice and Midsummer Eve
Many of Germany's festivities for Sommer-Sonnenwende, summer solstice, and Johannisnacht, midsummer eve, can be traced back to pagan and pre-Christian days. The triumph of sun and light over cold and darkness is still celebrated by huge bonfires throughout the country.

Summer Solstice and Midsummer Eve in Germany
Many of Germany´s festivities for Sommer-Sonnenwende, summer solstice, and Johannisnacht, midsummer eve, can be traced back to pagan and pre-Christian days. The triumph of sun and light over cold and darkness is still celebrated by huge bonfires throughout the country.

The Berlin Diaries, 1940-1945, Book Review
Life, revolutions and war changed Marie (Missie) Vassiltchikov’s predestined comfortable and privileged future, that of a beautiful and spirited ‘White Russian’ princess in Tsarist Russia.

The Birth of the Modern Car
Bertha Benz believed in her husband Carl and his vision of a 'Horseless Carriage'. When he wanted to give up his dream she made the first ever long distance journey with a vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine, and the modern automobile was born.

The Brothers Grimm
Once upon a time there were two very dissimilar brothers, whose combined talents produced European folk and fairy tales which were anything but sweet and gentle bedtime stories. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

The German American Experience
Perhaps because German Americans stem from a mixed community that settled in the USA over a wide span of time, they assimilated quickly into their new homeland, and using their skills, discipline and different talents, household names or unknown, they had an enormous influence on American society.

Truemmerfrauen, Germany's Post War Heroines
The foundations for a 'New Germany' were laid by 'Truemmerfrauen', Rubble Women, who, aged from 15 to 50 and often half starved, were the heroines of post war Germany. With bare hands, and sheer hard work, they cleared the rubble from the streets and buildings of their war torn cities.

Walpurgisnacht, Maibaum, May Day in Germany
May 1st, May Day Celebrations, in many parts of Germany are filled with Maypoles, Mayhem and Fun, chasing away the winter and marking the beginning of summer. It is a long way from May Day parades with soldiers, rifles and tanks in former communist countries, including what was 'East Germany'.