| Germany: |
In total contrast to Germany's intrinsic
fascination as the country which has played such a determining
role in the history of the twentieth century is its otherwise
predominantly romantic image. This is the land of fairy-tale
castles, of thick dark forests, of the legends collected
by the Brothers Grimm, of perfectly preserved timber-framed
medieval towns, and of jovial locals swilling from huge
foaming mugs of beer. As always, there is some truth in
these stereotypes, though most of them stem from the southern
part of the country, particularly Bavaria, which, as a
predominantly rural and Catholic area, stands apart from
the urbanized Protestant north which engineered the unity
of the nation last century and thereafter dominated its
affairs.
Regional characteristics, indeed, are a strong feature
of German life, and there are many hangovers from the
days when the country was a political patchwork, even
though some historical provinces have vanished from the
map and others have merged. Hamburg and Bremen, for example,
retain their age-old status as free cities. The imperial
capital, Berlin, also stands apart, as an island in the
midst of the erstwhile GDR where the liberalism of the
West was pushed to its extreme, sometimes decadent, always
exciting. In polar opposition to it, and as a corrective
to the normal view of the Germans as an essentially serious
race, is the Rhineland, where the great river's majestic
sweep has spawned a particularly rich fund of legends
and folklore, and where the locals are imbued with a Mediterranean-type
sense of fun.
The five new Länder which have supplanted the GDR,
and in particular the small towns and rural areas, are
in many ways the ones which best encapsulate the feel
and appearance of Germany as it was before the war and
the onset of foreign influences which were an inevitable
consequence of defeat. |
| Find out more information
on Germany by clicking on the following links: |
|
Germany Tourist Office http://www.germany-tourism.de
|
|
|
|
|
|
