GERMANY

COAT OF ARMS

One of the oldest state symbols in Europe, the coat

of arms of Germany seems to have originated in the
late eleventh century. The coat of arms portrays a
black eagle on a yellow shield. The eagle stands as
the symbol of the bird of the god named Odin, as per
a Germanic tribe. The eagle also appears on the
German one Euro and two Euro coins. The eagle
designs were first made by artists from the Weimar
period and the position of the wings and the shape
has differed since then and has gone through several
changes. The present coat of arms is a re-
introduction of the Weimar Republic that was in use
till 1935. The current design was adopted on May
23, 1949.
 NATIONAL FLAG

The German flag is a tricolor

consisting of horizontal stripes of
three colors- black, red, and gold. The
flag was first designed in 1832. The
black, red and gold color combination
is a rendition of the uniform that the
soldiers wore during the Napoleonic
Wars.
 NATIONAL TREE

Oak is the national tree of Germany.

The oak tree is generally found in the
northern hemisphere. The tree as the
national symbol stands for strength
and endurance.
 NATIONAL
ANTHEM

The "Das Lied der Deutschen" or "The Song of

the Germans" is the national anthem of Germany.
Written by the German linguist and poet August
Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben in 1841, the
song was adopted as the anthem of Germany in
1922. However, the music had been composed
early in 1797 by Joseph Haydn as an anthem for
the birthday of the Austrian Emperor Francis II of
the Holy Roman Empire. In 1990, when Germany
was reunified, the government decided to adopt
only the third stanza as the national anthem.
Brandenburg Gate

One of the important cultural symbol of

Germany, Brandenburg Gate is an
important German landmark. It is located
in Berlin. A former city gate, it was
commissioned by King Frederick William
II of Prussia and built by Carl Gotthard
Langhans from 1788 to 1791. The
monument suffered great damage in the
Second World War, but was restored from
2000 to 2002 by the Berlin Monument
Conservation Foundation.
 MOTTO

"Einigkeit und Recht und

Freiheit." "Unity and Justice and
Freedom."
 As a historically Christian country,
many cultural symbols have emerged
from religion. This includes obvious
symbols such as the crucifix and
indirect symbols such as the shape of
a pretzel (said to represent the Holy
Trinity). With a large Muslim
population, the Moon and Star of
Islam is now also considered an
important culture symbol in Germany.
Other symbols of German culture are
famous names from the arts, politics,
and philosophy such as Goethe,
Beethoven, Klee, Kant and Marx (and
David Hasselhoff probably belongs
on this list, too – quite seriously).
Modern culture symbols include both
the German flag and the flag of the
European Union.
GERMANY IS KNOWN
FOR

Beer
Football
Bread & Sausages
Palaces & Castles
Cathedrals & Monuments
Festivals & Carnivals
Cars
Free Education
Nuremberg Christmas Market
LANGUAGE
German is the most widely taught
third language across the world.

German remains the language with

the most native speakers in Europe.
Donaudampfschifffahrtselektrizitäten
hauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtenge
sellschaft is the longest word to be
published. It is 79 letters long.

There are thirty-five dialects of the

German language.
 Hallo! Hello!

Guten Morgen! Good morning!

Guten Tag! Good day!

Grüß Gott! Good day!

(Used mostly in southern Germany and Austria)

Guten Abend! Good evening!

Auf Wiedersehen! Goodbye! (formal)

Tschüss! Goodbye! (informal)

https://www.thegermanproject.com/german-
lessons/greetings-and-essentials
VALUES
In Germany there’s no punishment for
a prisoner who tries to escape from
jail, because it is a basic human
instinct to be free.

Holocaust denial is either implicitly

or explicitly a crime in 17 countries,
including Germany and Austria.
 To get ONE beer in Germany, you
show your thumb. To show your first
finger means that you want 2 beers:
one with the thumb, and one with the
finger.

Smoking is banned in public places

but drinking alcohol is still legal.
65% of the highways in Germany
(Autobahn) have no speed limit.
 Although Germans are highly
individualized; they still consider the
family as the fundamental
importance. For almost 90 percent of
the population the family comes first
in their list of personal priorities (Fact
about Germany, 2012). Moreover, 72
of the young people are of the opinion
that being happy is dependent on
having a family.
A key concept in German life is order,
thus the phase “Ordnung Muss Sein”
means the order “must be”. German
people beliefs that everything must go
in order and systematic. For any
disorder is deeply unsetting for them,
and therefore they seek to re-establish
order when they come across
difficulties (German Culture, n.d.).
 Germans are always serious in
whatever they are doing. As they like
to see things going in order,
punctuality is the key to the must be
procedure. Extending the dead line or
any sudden changes are not very
expectable.
Since German people are over open
minded and straight forward, they
have a strict adherence to truth and
exactness (Typically German, n.d.).
They are very unfamiliar with the
indirectness as they want to know
exactly what you want to say or
mean. Moreover, they expect they
duty by the “Mean what you say.”
 German people have a clear cutting
line between work and personal life.
In work, they are competitive, and
they strive to be the best in anything
they do. Thus they beliefs that respect
earns through hard work and
outstanding performances, not the
number.
NORMS
Schultüte on the first day of school

The Schultüte is a tradition that was

established during the 19th century. A
Schultüte is a paper or plastic bag in the
shape of a large cone. They are given by
parents to their children on their very first
day of school (after Kindergarten) to help
them overcome the anxiety that is normally
associated with this milestone. Schultüten are
usually filled with various small gifts ranging
from candy to items of clothing and teddy
bears.
Fireworks on New Year’s Eve

“But there are fireworks everywhere on New Year’s

Eve,” you might be thinking. However, be assured
that German people take their NYE Fireworks very
seriously. Come December 31 (or even a few days
earlier), 90% of the German population aged 5-95
seem to have turned into experienced pyrotechnists
and start setting off fireworks in every direction and
at any time of the day or night. This is especially
scary once the clock strikes midnight, but doesn’t
seem to cause major hazards and this tradition is still
going strong!
 Reinfeiern

In Germany, celebrating birthdays is taken very

seriously. A German tradition regarding this is
described by the verb “reinfeiern”, which literally
means “party into” and is used in the phrase “in den
Geburtstag reinfeiern”. It refers to the act of
celebrating one’s birthday the evening before,
considering that the person’s birthday will start as
soon as the clock strikes midnight. That way, the
Geburtstagkind (literally ‘birthday kid’) is
surrounded by his or her loved ones for the first few
minutes or hours of his or her birthday.
 Tanz in den Mai

Tanz in den Mai, literally “dance into May” is the name of

most parties taking place every year on April 30. This
celebration originates from Walpurgisnacht (or Hexennacht,
meaning Witches Night), which was the night to get rid of
evil spirits and celebrate the arrival of spring. Nowadays,
most clubs and bars host special parties and people also often
dance around bonfires in parks. May 1 is also highly
celebrated in Germany as it is Labor Day. In Berlin, for
example, several demonstrations take place and the
neighborhood of Kreuzberg turns into a big street festival
with open-air stages hosting free concerts.
 Tatort

As a foreigner living in Germany, you can consider

yourself truly integrated the first time a friend invites
you over to watch Tatort. This crime TV series has
been airing since the 1970s and is the biggest Sunday
evening tradition in Germany. The show is based on
stories happening to different police units in different
cities (each episode takes place in one of around 20
German, Swiss and Austrian cities and revolves
around a single crime). Public screenings of the show
are often held in bars and people also like to gather at
home to watch the weekly episode.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_symbols_of_
Germany
2. "England's National Symbols". england.org.za.
Archived from the original on 2012-10-24. Retrieved
19 September 2012. National symbols are defined as
the symbols or icons of a national community (such
as England), used to represent that community in a
way that unites its people.
3. "National Symbols of Germany: Flag of Germany,
Deutschlandlied, Eagle, Brandenburg Gate, Coat of
Arms of Germany". amazon.it. Retrieved 19
September 2012.
4. https://www.studying-in-germany.org/interesting-
facts-about-germany/
5. https://www.mapsofworld.com/germany/about/symbo
ls.html