Germans Das Land der Dichter und Denker

Culture Many notable German philosophers have helped shape Western philosophy since the Middle Ages eg. The establishment of classical German idealism; the formulation of Communist theory & the social theories. Germany has the largest television market in Europe, with 34 million TV households & 90% of the population has cable or satellite TV. Germany has been named the world’s most valued nation among 50 countries in A majority of 61% have a positive view of the country, with 15% having a negative view. German is the official spoken language of Germany, one of 23 spoken languages. Christianity is the largest religious denomination in Germany (63% of the population).

Traditions Germans like everything they buy to be top quality & are perpetual bargain hunters. Germans hate anything artificial in their food such as vitamins & preservatives. Germans are very big on cars & most men love their cars more than anything. Germans love their jobs & a German without a profession is virtually nobody. They are worry warts & women excel in this, with worrying being almost a second job. Real Germans & their antics Germans like everything pre-planned & organised to a timetable. Germans have an unsympathetic sense of humour, described by the word ‘Schadensfreude’ which translates literally to ‘joy for another’s misfortune’. They are also cleanliness fanatics, wishing everything to be spotless & neat. Germans love big vacations & consider a holiday a given right. They spend their holidays away in the Himalayas, Mediterranean, Cambodia or the Australian Outback. Real Germans are big on education & consider it extremely vital.

Holidays Germans love to celebrate holidays & have many traditions surrounding these holidays. Christmas is widely celebrated in Germany. The Christmas tree originated in Germany & the trimming of a Christmas tree has been a tradition for Germans since pre-Christian Germany; the tree representing the Garden of Eden. Saint Nicholas comes during the night & leaves lollies, cakes, cookies etc in the children’s boot or shoe that is left by the fireplace. The Love Parade is another big celebration throughout Germany, held annually on the second weekend of July. People from all over the world unite in Berlin to dance & establish peace on Earth. Techno music is hugely appreciated at the Love Parade. It attracts around 1.5 million visitors every year. Oktoberfest is the beer drinking festival held in Munich every year running from late September to early October, attracting some 6 million people every year.

Germans visiting Australia Germans are important visitors to Australia as they tend to spend more, stay for longer & see more of Australia than the average international visitor. Tourist numbers from Germany have increased by 18.4% between & this equates to close to a billion dollars spent by German tourists. German language consumer brochures have been issued, which include imagery & content on marine, outback, adventure, food, wine, people & lifestyle facts to promote German tourism to Australia, due to their high numbers of travel to Australia & high spending in Australia. Public relations activities & a media familiarisation program are key to ensure every bit of promotion of German tourism is provided. German language studies are held around the country, as Germans contribute to the Australian economy greatly. Germans made up (4.9%) of the population in the 2006 census.