Deutschland has Europe’s largest population—about 82 million people. It is the economic capital of Europe and the third-largest exporter in the world. But aside from the city infrastructure, Germany also has a thriving and beautiful country life.
I grew up in a small village, Biesingen, in the Bundesland Saarland. My family and I lived in a huge house with 14 rooms and had a little country garden where we grew fruit trees and vegetables. On our farm, we raised chickens, geese, ducks, sheep and goats. To the rear of our house, we had a small forest and a river that cut through the hilly terrain. It was an ideal place to be raised. But of course, one could not spend all his days out enjoying the beautiful countryside—school was a must!
Based on grades from elementary school, youth in Germany can attend one of three class-ranked secondary schools. There is the top-flight Gymnasium for the highest-achieving students. If your grades are not satisfactory for Gymnasium, you can attend the middle-class Realschule as I did. After completing Realschule, there is the option of either going back and retaking Gymnasium or starting an apprenticeship. If you really struggle with grades, there is the lower-class Hauptschule. Whichever route of study a student takes, secondary schooling will last about five or six years.
A lot of teenagers in Germany enjoy soccer. It is a favorite national pastime, and there is a club in virtually every town. Another common extracurricular youth activity, which I participated in, is volunteering for the fire brigade. We learned about the specific pieces of fire engine machinery and equipment, and how to extinguish fires.
It is common knowledge that we Germans are big fans of our beer. Germans are the world’s second biggest consumers of beer, after the Czechs. Most popular is the Oktoberfest, a Munich-based beer festival (and the largest fair in the world!). In 2007, nearly 1,850,000 gallons of beer were served during the 16-day festival! Germans are also mad about pork—if there is a way to get pig meat into something, it will be done! Unclean meats are one big thing to watch out for when traveling to Germany.
The German language is well known for making single words look like sentences. The word Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz (63 letters), or “law delegating beef label monitoring,” is no exception. These extremely long, compounded words are known in Germany as tapeworm words, though the longest of them are rarely ever used. “I never knew before what eternity was made for,” Mark Twain said. “It is to give some of us a chance to learn German.”
In total, there are more than 25,000 castles in Germany today—some only in ruins, but many well preserved and converted into modern facilities that help garner a large amount of tourism for Germany. Large, overtly extravagant buildings are perched around the countryside—perhaps the most impressive of which is the Neuschwanstein Castle, which was used as the inspiration for the castle in Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. Neuschwanstein was built by Ludwig ii of Bavaria, who became known as “the Fairytale King” and “Ludwig the Mad” due to his grandiose construction ideas and eccentricity.
Germany is home to the world’s narrowest street, the Spreuerhofstraße—only 12.2 inches at its narrowest point! It is also home to the Berlin Zoological Garden, containing the largest collection of zoo animals in the world (17,000 animals of 1,500 different species).
Germany was indeed a remarkable place to grow up. But it could also be difficult. I came into the Philadelphia Church of God when I was about 10, and my two brothers and I were the only teens in the Church. With no local congregation, we kept the Sabbath at home, reading what few pieces of Church literature had been translated to German. We would always look forward to the Feast of Tabernacles—a chance to spend time with other young people of like mind.
The language barrier made things difficult until I started dedicating myself to learning English around the age of 18. This made the Church material that much more accessible and enabled me to finally apply and be accepted as the first German student at Herbet W. Armstrong College! It is my hope that I might one day be able to work in the translation department, making the literature more readily available to my fellow countrymen.
I do miss my homeland—using my native language, enjoying the German food and living on our beautiful rural property. Germany is a fine country, and the people are friendly (and very efficient!). Most speak at least a little English, making things somewhat easier for tourists. Take advantage of any chance you have to visit—it will be a great experience in a very historic country!