| Information about country |
Germany The Federal Republic of Germany covers an area or approx. 357,000 km2. The North is bordered by the North and Baltic seas, the South by the Alps, Lake Constance and the Rhine, which also forms a border in the Southwest of Germany.
Important rivers are the Rhine, the Danube, the Elbe, Weser, Oder, Main and Mosel. Germany is bordered in the West by Poland and the Czech Republic, in the South by Austria and Switzerland, in the West by France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands, in the North by Denmark.
Important mountains in the Federal Republic of Germany are the Alps, the Thuringian Forest, the Harz Mountains, Ore Mountains and the Black Forest. The highest point in the Alps is Zugspitze at 2,963m.
Main cities are: Aachen, Annaberg-Buchholz, Ansbach, Arnsberg, Aschaffenburg, Augsburg, Bad Doberan, Bad Ems, Bad Godesberg, Bad Reichenhall, Bad Schandau,Bad Wimpfen, Baden-Baden,Bamberg, Bautzen, Bayreuth, Berchtesgaden, Berlin, Bernkastel-Kues, Bielefeld, Bingen, Bochum, Bonn, ,Bottrop,Bruhl, Brandenburg , Braunschweig, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Celle, Chemnitz, Cologne, Cottbus, Cuxhaven
Duren, Dusseldorf, Dachau, Darmstadt, Dessau, Detmold, Dinkelsbuhl, Dortmund, Dresden, Duisburg, Eichstatt, Eisenach, Emden, Erfurt, Erlangen, Essen, Esslingen, Furth, Flensburg, Frankfurt, Freiberg, Freiburg, Freising, Friedrichshafen, Fulda, Gorlitz, Gottingen, Gustrow, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Gelsenkirchen,Gera, Giessen, Goslar, Gotha, Greifswald, Hagen, Halberstadt, Halle, Hamburg, Hameln, Hamm, Hanau, Hannover, Heidelberg, Heilbronn, Herne, Hildesheim, ,Husum, Idar-Oberstein, Ingolstadt, Iserlohn, Jena, Kaiserslautern, Karlsruhe, Kassel, Kiel, Kleve, Koblenz, Konstanz, Krefeld, Lubeck, Luneburg, Lunen, Landsberg, Landshut, Leipzig, Lemgo, Leverkusen,Limburg an der Lahn,Lindau, Ludwigsburg, Ludwigshafen, Monchengladbach, Mulheim an der Ruhr, Munster, Magdeburg, Mainz, Mannheim, Marburg an der Lahn, Meissen, Minden, Munich, Nordlingen, Nurnberg, Naumburg, Neubrandenburg, Nordhausen, Oberhausen, Offenbach, Osnabruck, Paderborn, Passau, Pforzheim, Potsdam, Quedlinburg,Rastatt, Ravensburg, Recklinghausen, Regensburg, Remagen, Remscheid, ,Rostock, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Rottweil, Saarbrucken, Salzgitter, Schleswig, Schwabisch Gmund, Siegen, Solingen, Spandau,Speyer, Stralsund, Stuttgart, Tubingen, Tangermunde, Trier, Ulm, Viersen, Wurzburg, Weimar, Westerland, Wiesbaden, Wilhelmshaven, Wismar, Wittenberg,Wolfenbuttel,Wolfsburg |
| Holidays, culture, etc. |
Neujahr - 1 January, or the New Year, is a public holiday in Germany.
During the week before Catholic Lent, Carnival?called Fastnacht or Fasching?is celebrated in some regions, where people have fancy balls, parades, and other celebrations. In the Rhineland region of western Germany, the first of the five days of Carnival is Weiberfastnacht, or ?Women?s Carnival.? The tradition is said to have started in the town of Beuel in the early 19th century, when the laundry women grew tired of watching their husbands celebrating Carnival without them?and, even worse, with the money they earned washing clothes. In protest the women themselves began to celebrate with song and dance. Now this celebration is known for its carefree nature and often bizarre events.
The week before Easter is known in Germany as Karwoche??Still Week? or ?Silent Week??and Holy Thursday is called Green Thursday. This comes from the tradition of giving a green branch to penitents after they have finished their penance. Easter Sunday and Monday are both observed, with worship services on Sunday and family gatherings on Monday.
Walpurgisnacht (?Walpurgis Night?) is celebrated on 30 April. On this date in the 8th century, the remains of Saint Walburga were moved to Eichstatt. After that time, according to legend, oil was found on the rocks at Eichstatt that had the power to cure, so a shrine to Saint Walburga was established. She is revered as the saint who protects against magic. People once believed that on Walpurgisnacht, witches rode across the sky over the Harz Mountains of Germany. In an effort to ward off the witches, people banged pots and pans and lit torches. This day is still celebrated with bonfires and other activities
New Year 1st January.
Good Friday (Karfreitag) 10th April, variable.
Easter Monday 13t of April, variable.
May Bank Holiday 1st May.
Ascension Day (Christi Himmelfahrt) 21st May, variable.
Whitsun (Pfingstmontag) 1th June, variable.
Day of the Reunification of Germany 3rd October.
Christmas Day 25th December.
Boxing Day (2. Weihnachtstag) 26th December.
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