The week between Christmas and the new year beginning is often a ‘no man’s land’. No one knows what day it is or what to do as normal service is out of sync. It’s not helped when you’re driving between different locations, unpacking one day and re-packing the next. That’s how our festive break went anyway. But during our pitstops across the UK, I was able to sit back and reflect on the past year of living in Germany, what I have learnt in the past twelve months and what I am still yet to understand about this country.

As much as there are many weird things I’ve discovered about Germany, there are many wonderful things too. Often when I’m explaining something to a family member when we’re back home or when a friend comes to visit I realise all the great and quirky things about living in Germany. Here are the five wonderful and five weird observations I have about living in Germany;

Die Käseglocke in Worpswede. PHOTO: Sarah E

Hidden gems across Germany

It seems like there are many hidden gems across Germany to be discovered, you just need to go off the beaten track to find them. Just last week we took a trip to Worpswede, a village in Lower Saxony, that is known for its artist community. On arriving we took a gamble on which direction to walk, headed through a forest clearing and stumbled across die Käseglocke, a quaint roundhouse that looks like its straight out of a Brothers Grimm fairytale. I was wrong to be sceptical about visiting Worpswede, and recommend a trip, or taking a gamble on visiting another small German hamlet, there are many to discover.

Brezel, Landbrot, Vollkornbrot…

Some people have new years resolutions to give up carbs. No way is that possible in Germany, the bread is just too good. There are over 300 varieties of dark and white breads, and over 1,200 different kinds of Brötchen & Kleingebäck (bread rolls and mini-breads). Brexit or no Brexit, I’m not sure I can go back to the UK with its lack of bread variety to offer. If you don’t know your Brötchen from your Rundstück, then you’re not sampling enough Brot and there’s no excuse when there is a bakery every few metres.

The number of castles to explore

Everyone knows about Schloss Neuschwanstein in Bavaria but there are many other stunning castles across Germany. How many is unknown but currently it’s estimated at 25,000, which is pretty impressive. Schloss Colditz is the last castle that I visited in 2018 during an autumnal trip to Leipzig. It doesn’t look like the fairytale castle that Schloss Neuschwanstein does, but it has a fascinating 1000 year history and well worth a trip to find out more about the place that ‘The Great Escape‘ film is based upon.

Cycling in the city

Last year I cycled more than ever. Cycled to the supermarket, cycled to the local lake at der Bürgerpark, cycled to the Weihnachtsmarkt. It’s great living in a cycling city like Bremen where you can peddle around safely. I barely drive in Bremen, the complete opposite to when I lived in the UK when I wouldn’t think twice about hopping in the car to drive a hundred or so metres to the supermarket. Unintentionally, I love how living in Germany has transformed my lifestyle and benefited my health and wellbeing.

The Deichbrand Festival in northern Germany. PHOTO: Sarah E

Festivals for all

There are so many festivals, particularly in spring and summer. Whether it’s a Bier (beer) festival, Eis (ice cream) festival or music festival, there’s probably something for everyone. After having a great time at Deichbrand, a music festival in northern Germany, I’ll be heading to Hurricane, near Hamburg, this year. Unlike other festivals I have been to, Deichbrand was well organised, took no time at all to access the campsite, there were plenty of toilet and washing facilities plus a variety of food at reasonable prices on offer. It made my summer and hope it will again.

Five things I don’t understand about the German culture

A firework frenzy on Silvester

I spent Silvester in Hamburg with friends. The plan was to watch the fireworks display following a nice civilised meal. However, civilised is not a word to describe a Germans attitude toward fireworks, more like crazy and unruly. I read much about this in the build-up but was quite astonished seeing people setting all kinds of fireworks off in the street, around people’s ankles. This wasn’t any organised fireworks display, it was chaos with people going back to un-exploded fireworks, cars continuing to drive through the street as people lit them in the middle of the road,  and generally taking a carefree attitude to lighting an explosive.  Unbelievable for a country with so many rules and regulations.

Crossing the road

The scowls you receive if you cross the road when the Ampelmännchen isn’t green. I find it such a contradiction that in one night my German friend was happy to light fireworks in the street but not so happy to cross the road without the green man. I’m pretty sure you’re more likely to get hurt from an explosive in your hand whilst intoxicated than crossing a road with no traffic approaching.

‘Dinner for One’ addiction

Every year the British comedy, ‘Dinner for one‘ is shown on Silvester in Germany, without fail. This tradition seems to be catching, and for the first time since it was filmed in the 1960’s, it was shown on British TV.  Although I find this weird, I do like how Germans have many traditions that they continue with.

Celebrating seasonal vegetables

Spargel (asparagus) season, Kohlfahrts (cabbage tours), squash in everything on the menu. When a vegetable is in season, the Germans really go for it. For the past few months, it has been pumpkin in every meal you could think of but in the north of Germany, it’s now time to move on to celebrating the cabbage. I’ll be taking part in my second Kohlfahrt in February. My British friends find it bizarre when I explain I’m going on a Kohlfahrt to play games, drink Schnapps and finish with a hearty dose of Kohl und Pinkel but when in Rome, or Germany, do as they do.

Milch madness

I had a real ‘duh’ moment recently. I realised that the Milch (milk) that I have been drinking is Ultrahocherhirtz (ultra high temperature ). There’s nothing wrong with that but I would never have bought UHT milk back in the UK, it not the milk I’ve grown up drinking. I guess on my first German supermarket trip I saw what looked like milk in the fridge and haven’t questioned it since. Now that I know I have been drinking UHT milk, everything makes sense. The lack of milk cartons in the fridge, the number of cartons on the shelf. I was at the cinema last week and noticed the milk sat on the counter along with the sugar and stirrers. No need to refrigerate it as it lasts roughly three months at room temperature. It doesn’t seem right to me so I’ll be going out of my way to find fresh milk now.

Don’t let my weird observations put you off moving to Germany through, the wonderful aspects certainly outweigh them, guaranteed.

-Sarah E