Your Guide around Germany

my travels trough Germany and German language and sometimes on other random things, as well as some nerdfighter stuff

[guide2germany]

(Sources 1, 2, 3, Photo)

[guide2germany]

Düsseldorf - Erstmals jüdischer Mottowagen im Karneval

Am Düsseldorfer Rosenmontagszug beteiligt sich in diesem Jahr zum ersten Mal eine jüdische Gemeinde mit einem Mottowagen. Er zeigt den Dichter Heinrich Heine mit einer Kippa und einem Gebetsschal. Auf einer Schriftrolle steht "Wir feiern den größten jüdischen Sohn unserer Stadt". Heinrich Heine war 1825 vom Judentum zum Protestantismus konvertiert. Die Jüdische Gemeinde Düsseldorf will nach den Worten ihres Verwaltungsdirektors Michael Szentei-Heise mit dem Wagen ein Zeichen gegen den wieder hoffähig werdenden Antisemitismus setzen. Die Juden seien Teil der Stadtgesellschaft. "Wir gehören dazu, und Antisemitismus hat hier nichts zu suchen", betonte er.

For the first time in history, a Jewish community will take part in one of the big carnival parades on Rosenmontag (lit: Rose Monday; Shrove Monday) in Germany.  The float (pictured above) commemorates the poet Heinrich Heine (1797–1856), Düsseldorf’s “greatest Jewish son” and will show Heine alongside the historic buildings of Schlossturm and Saint Lambertus church as well as the New Synagogue. Heine is shown writing “Den Himmel überlassen wir den Engeln und den Spatzen.” (a sentence from his famous work “Deutschland. Ein Wintermärchen”). The float also features a lion (the heraldic beast of Düsseldorf) inside a symbolic crip made of the European flag. 

Born in Düsseldorf to Jewish parents, Heine converted to Protestantism in 1825 hoping he could bypass the religious discrimination at the time and to benefit his academic career. He called the conversion “the ticket of admission into European culture”. As that didn’t help as hoped, he changed career paths and became a professional writer. He was a critical and political thinker of his time. As his works became more and more censored and even forbidden by German authorities, Heine left for France where he died in 1856.

At the carnical parades, it is custom to throw small gifts and candy from the floats, and the Jewish community’s float isn’t any different: The community has ordered a ton (a literal TON) of kosher candy from Israel which they will hand out as well as thousands of balloons and tissues with the slogan “Jemeend met Hähz” (Limburgish, lit: “Someone with heart”). This year’s Rosenmontag is on 12 February.  (Additional sources one, two and three)

[sosuperawesome]

City Map Lamps by Lamperei on Etsy

[guide2germany]

Cool city map lamps, e.g. Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, and Amsterdam.

This goes on my wishlist...

[thatswhywelovegermany]

The average German in 2017

consumed 233 eggs, 58 kg potatoes, 99 kg vegetables, 110 balls of ice cream, and 1 kg of christmas cookies

males consumed 103 kg of sausage, females 53 kg

drank 97 L beer, 21.9 L wine, 3.69 L sparkling wine and champaigne, and 2.18 L hard liquor

used 120 L water per day

slept 8 h and 23 min per day

had between 24 and 160 times sex (depending on who did the survey, condom makers or health experts)

went 17 times to the doctor

missed 15 days from work due to illness

looked 135 times per day on the smartphone

spent 7.58 hours per day for work

spent 4.2 hours per week for the household

lived on 44.6 m² of housing space

The average German spent per month

859 € for apartment or house

105 € for clothes and shoes

96 € for restaurants

20 € for newspapers and magazines

10 € for books

68 € for traveling

16 € for flowers

The average German household had a gross income of 4196 €. After all deductions, 2391 € remained as spending money.

Of all German households,

97 % had a TV

88.6 % had a computer with internet access

84.7 % had a coffee machine

80.7 % had a bicycle

69.8 % had a dishwasher

[mapsontheweb]

How to wish someone a happy new year in German.

Weiterlesen

[guide2germany]

2017 - a year I really could have lived without

To a much better 2018!

[guide2germany]

Me: "Hello

Supervisor: (with their back to me) "You shouldn't say 'Hello' to every person you see!"

Me: "I had to! It was a dog!"

[guide2germany]

Attention German learners! How’s your general knowledge about Germany? Are you ready to draw Germany’s borders better than others? The newspaper “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” has this fun challenge for you. Go and try it HERE. [Spoiler] Click on “read more” to see what I drew.

[photography-cnl]

[culturenlifestyle]

Germany’s 19th Century ‘Devil’s Bridge’ Reflection Draws a Perfect Bridge In The Water

Keep reading

[guide2germany]

Teufelsbrücke (Devil’s Bridge), officially called “Rackotzbrück” (Rackotz Bridge), in Görlitz, Saxony.  Unfortunately, the popular photo op is crumbling and thus is closed. Crossing and trespassing are prohibited as to not increase the damage any further. (source)

[guide2germany]

Damals jung, heute über 100 Jahre: So verändern sich Gesichter im Alter

Damals jung – heute über 100 Jahre alt. Die Porträts eines tschechischen Fotografen zeigen, wie schön Menschen altern.

How faces change with age – and what 100+ year olds wish for [German text]

[guide2germany]

I’ll go and try to post some of the most read / famous / popular German authors, modern as well as some classics.  The first author is often seen on Germany’s bestseller lists thanks to his captivating thrillers: Sebastian Fitzek, who – as weird as it might sound – has also just published his first children’s book “Pupsi & Stinki”.

[guide2germany]

In the middle of the Rhine

[guide2germany]

Fantastic view #goals

[guide2germany]

Dear Life, my question if you could possibly get any worse was purely rhetorical and not meant as a challenge. Sincerely, Me

[guide2germany]

Well, thanks, Amazon, for that wonderful translation.  Original English line: “She cannot be coached into it...”  Should be: “Dazu kann man sie nicht einfach coachen,...”

[guide2germany]

Me: *enters stage*

Me: *bows*

Me: *walks off stage*

[guide2germany]

"Please let it be photos of a man wearing women's clothing!" - my hopes for the new year indeed get more interesting (and weird) every day now.