Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Forum administrators, Interface administrators, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
116,957
edits
m (Mass update links) |
Looney Toons (talk | contribs) (trope->useful notes) |
||
(3 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{
'''Die Autobahnen'''
Despite what some people in and outside of Germany still claim and believe, they were NOT a brainchild of [[Adolf Hitler]]. As a matter of fact, the democratic government of the [[Weimar Republic]] had planned several of them (the first one between Cologne and Bonn was finished in 1932). However, after [[The Great Depression]] they were practically broke, so Hitler could claim they were his idea when he had them built (as preparation for [[World War Two]], of course). Nowadays nobody in Germany wants to start a war in Europe, but people still like their Autobahn very much. There's mostly no speed limit on them, which was unique in the world for quite some time. People who wanted to change this (like the green party) faced too much resistance and gave up on the issue. "Freie Fahrt für freie Bürger!" (Free driving for free citizens!) is a slogan used by car lobbyists and enthusiasts alike. But there are speed limits on the more dangerous parts, and a list of other rules are in place to allow as smooth travel as possible. One of these is that every vehicle has to be able to drive at least 60
'''Der deutsche Michel'''
[[Nations
'''Das Reinheitsgebot'''
Foreigners used to put all kinds of stuff into their beer, a practice that Germans seem to find simply disgusting. The ''Reinheitsgebot'' ('purity law') was an old Bavarian law stating that beer has to be made of clear water, barley (malted or otherwise), and hops. Otherwise, it could not be sold as beer in Bavaria. The law first appeared in medieval times, as many brewers were prone to putting hallucinogenic or downright poisonous stuff into their
'''Our first national hero: Arminius'''
Line 16:
Arminius, son of Segimer, was a Germanic man from the tribe of the Cherusci. At the time he lived (around the beginning of our chronology), most of today's Germany (everything west of the Elbe river, to be precise) was part of [[The Roman Empire]]. Originally, he served as a ''ductor popularium'', a leader of Germanic auxiliaries, in [[The Glory That Was Rome|the Roman army]]. During this time, he acquired useful military skills, learned Latin, became a Roman citizen and even member of the knight class. For unknown reasons though, one day [[Defector From Decadence|he had enough of civilization]], it seems. Around 8 AD, Arminius had become one of the tribal leaders. At the same time, a Publius Quinctilius Varus was the Roman legate in the area where the Cherusci lived. If Arminius feared for his power, or whatever his reason was, he didn't show it, but instead kept the contact with Varus - hence knowing exactly what Varus was up to, while the Roman didn't suspect a thing. In 9 AD, a Germanic uprising happened, and Varus took the legions XVII, XVIII and XIX to quell it. He got some warnings (by Arminius' father-in-law Segestes!), [[What an Idiot!|but decided not to care about them.]] At the area of Teutoburg forest [[Where the Hell Is Springfield?|(it still isn't completely clear where that was)]], the three legions were [[Curb Stomp Battle|defeated and utterly annihilated]] by the Germanics lead by Arminius. [[Redemption Equals Death|Varus took his own life after losing the battle.]] Emperor Augustus would shout his famous "Varus, Varus, redde legiones!" (Varus, Varus, give me back my legions) when the message came to Rome. The German uprising spread, and the Romans had to give up the whole area between Rhine and Elbe.
Roman historian Tacitus called Arminius "the liberator of Germania". And indeed, the Romans would never conquer Germania again, and some centuries after, the Germanics even went on to destroy the empire, founding their own states instead. Ironically, Arminius was almost completely forgotten at that time. Only in the 15th century, with the growing German nationalism, opposition to Roman Primacy and the Reformation he was rediscovered, and many texts written about "Hermann", who even got a honourable metioning by Martin Luther (as he was called now, although this wasn't his Germanic name, which is in fact unknown) and Thusnelda (his wife, who'd later inspire the term "Tussi", meaning roughly "broad" in German). Some people even speculated that Arminius was identical to the better-known [[Nibelungenlied
'''Nation without identity?'''
Line 24:
'''Das Wunder von Bern'''
The most favorite sports in Germany are: [[The Beautiful Game|Football]], [[The World Cup|football]], [[Euro Footy|football]],<ref>what Americans call "soccer"</ref>
Despite Germany now playing with the main team, Hungary got a 2-0 lead only eight minutes into the game. Still, the Germans fought back and leveled the score in the next ten minutes. After this, the Hungarians attacked several times, but German keeper Toni Turek pulled off several fine saves. The decision came in the 84th minute: German striker Helmut Rahn, nicknamed "The Boss", reached the ball on a speculative German attack 20 yards in front of the Hungarian goal, deceived the Hungarian defender by shooting with his weaker left foot, and scored Germany's third goal. Germany was the new world champion, for the first but not for the last time.
Line 32:
'''Made in Germany'''
In 1887, the [[United Kingdom]] passed the ''Merchandise Marks Act 1887'', which states that imported products must be labeled with their country of origin. The purpose was of course for British costumers to be able to distinguish British-made products from the "inferior" stuff produced on the continent, and buy accordingly patriotic, for the benefit of Britain's own economy. [[Hoist
Today, the worldwide export of its products is one of the most important pillars of the German economy. The stigma turned cachet ''Made in Germany'' can arguably seen as significant factor which contributed to this development.
Line 47:
[[Category:Useful Notes/Germany]]
[[Category:German Peculiarities]]
|