What Does Germany Have To Offer Other Than Beer And Sausages?
Planning a trip to Germany? While you should be ready to drink lots of beer and eat lots of sausages, you should also get ready to feast your eyes on Germany's beautiful parks, cathedrals, and historical landscapes.
We made a list to make sure that you don't miss out on any of the best that Germany has to offer!
Okay, Yes, There Is A Lot Of Beer
We might as well get this one over with, because yes, Germany has a lot of beer. Germans are the second-largest beer consumers in Europe, after the Czechs. Fun fact: it is estimated that the average German consumes around 140 liters of beer per year.
And There's Bread To Go With The Sausage
Bread is considered a main food in many German dishes. It comes in many different varieties and differs by region with loaves and rolls, plain and seeded, sweet and soft. They go really well with sausage, called "wurst" in Germany.
Football
Germany has won a total of four World Cups (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014) so far. Football is enjoyed by the whole family, and whenever the German national team plays, restaurants and even some municipalities put big screens up for everyone to watch.
Berlin Wall
The Berlin wall was first built in 1949 to divide the communist part of divided Germany from the more prosperous West Germany. Today, it serves as a landmark, covered in graffiti and attracting millions of visitors.
Erholungspark Marzahn Public Park
The German authorities built this public park in 1987. It looks like a tranquil oasis. The Chinese garden is the largest garden of its kind outside China. It was all created by local landscape architects and artisans to hold ponds, pavilions, watercourses, and traditional architecture.
Aachen Cathedral
Also known as the Imperial Cathedral, it is the oldest cathedral in all of northern Europe. It saw the coronation of 30 German kings and 12 German queens between 936 and 1531. Its architecture was inspired by churches in the Eastern Holy Roman Empire.
Berchtesgaden National Park
The Berchtesgaden National Park's goal is to protect nature from human disturbance by preserving forests, lakes, meadows, and little villages. The park holds hiking trails with beautiful scenery ideal for cycling and hiking.
The Cologne Carnivals
This carnival takes place 11 minutes past 11 on the 11th day of the 11th month in Cologne's streets. Carnival-goers enjoy stage shows, parades, and balls, and they themselves wear masks and costumes according to the theme. People can be found dancing and singing in the streets to celebrate, with beer in hand.
Museumsinsel (Museum Island)
This is considered the world's monumental museum complexes as it holds a mix of 19th-century buildings in a neoclassical style on an island in the Spree river. There are five museums, with collections of ethnological and historical works as well as art pieces.
Cologne Cathedral
The cathedral was under construction for around 600 years, which shows in its intricate architecture. It is located where a Roman temple used to be in the 4th century and features three golden-crowned skulls which are thought to be from the Three Magi.
Brandenburg Gate
Located in the capital of Germany, Berlin, the landmark was built as a symbol of peace by a Prussian king in the 18th century. It was built in a neoclassical style, modeled after the Acropolis in Athens. When the Berlin Wall was built, the Brandenburg Gate became a part of it, and it was then seen as a symbol of division.
Oktoberfest
This is the world's largest and one of the oldest beer and travel funfair festivals. It dates back to the beginning of the 19th century and is now celebrated for 16 days from September–October in the Bavarian city of Munich. The festival is all about beer and parades of restaurateurs on carriages. People often attend it in costumes.
Home To The Most Popular Cars
Germany is home to the most popular car manufacturers such as Audi, Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz. Naturally, car fans can visit their many car museums and factory tours. Germany also maintains its roads really well, which makes driving a better experience.
Neuschwanstein Castle
This is the castle that the castle in Disney's Sleeping Beauty was based on. This is thanks to the beauty of its Romanesque revival style and its gorgeous view of the Bavarian countryside. The castle was built in 1869 by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. It attracts more than 1.3 million tourists yearly, making it the most visited castle in all of Germany.
Upper Middle Rhine Valley
This valley facilitated cultural transactions between the north and the Mediterranean for centuries, as one of the most significant routes for transport in Europe. Its 40-mile stretch offers beautiful scenery of vineyards, historic towns, and castles.
Würzburg Residence
Archbishop Johann von Schönborn demanded specific requirements to achieve the beauty of the Würzburg Residence's Baroque style. He summoned some of the most distinguished architects of their time from Germany, France, and Austria to design the 300 rooms in a U-shape.
Old Town Of Quedlinburg
The town has been preserved since the 9th century. Originally, it was nothing more than a regular, small village, but today, the tiny village is lined by cobblestone streets that go around decorative, colorful houses with small gardens and aesthetically pleasing temples that hold historical value.
Cochem Castle
This Hogwarts look-alike is a thousand years old. The castle has many towers, one of which is called the Witches' Tower because, during the 17th-century witch hunt, it is believed that women accused of witchcraft were thrown out of the tower to see if they survive.
Schloss Herrenchiemsee (New Palace)
King Ludwig II of Bavaria planned to create a Royal Palace in the middle of Bavaria's largest lake in 1873, hence the alternate name for Schloss Herrenchiemsee, Neues Schloss, which translates to "New Palace." It was modeled on Versailles, with gold to represent luxury and overabundance. This was the king’s final and biggest project as it cost more effort and money than either of his other two castles.
Burg Eltz Castle
This castle is often considered to be the most beautiful out of all the ones in Germany. Its look represents typical historical courtyard romanticism with some gothic ornamentation. The castle is among the very few medieval fortresses in Europe to have remained completely intact.
