| 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.
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| Find out more information on Germany by
clicking on the following links: |
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Germany Tourist Office http://www.germany-tourism.de
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