50 Amazing Facts about Germany ( Part 2) | Amazing Facts 4U
History
- Neanderthal man was named after the Neander Valley near Dusseldorf.
- The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation was founded by Charlemagne in Aachen in 800 C.E. It lasted over a thousand years.
- In 1806 Napoleon dissolved the Holy Roman Empire.
- The oldest sun observatory currently known in Europe is the so-called Goseck circle in Saxony-Anhalt. It was built some 7,000 years ago.
- The Protestant Reformation would cause the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) throughout the Holy Roman Empire, and resulted among others in the independence of Switzerland and of the United Provinces of the Netherlands.
- The University of Marburg in Hesse, was founded in 1527 as the world’s first Protestant university.
- The world’s oldest savings bank was established in Oldenburg (Lower Saxony) in 1786.
- The world’s first electric tram line was the Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway opened in Berlin suburb of Lichterfelde in 1881. It was built by the Siemens & Halske company, which would later become part of Siemens AG.
- The Berlin Wall fell in 1989 reuniting West and East Germany
Places / Architecture
- Fact is Germany is one of the most historically rich countries in the world there are over 150 historical castles located in Germany. Some of the castles offer daily tours to visitor.
- There are over 60 beer gardens in Munich.
- Berlin has the largest train station in Europe.
- Amazingly Germany has over 400 zoos, the most in the world. They have devoted a lot of time and effort into making each of their zoos identical to the native habitats of its animals.
- Berlin’s Zoologischer Garten is the largest zoo in the world, both in terms of number of species (1,500) and animal population (14,000).
- The Cologne Cathedral took amazing 632 years to build. It is immense, over 500 feet long and more than 200 feet wide and can hold 40,000 people.
- Ulm Cathedral is the tallest church in the world. Its height is 161.53 meters.
- The world’s narrowest street is in Reutlingen. It is called Spreuerhofstrasse and is 31 cm (one foot) wide at its narrowest point.
- The Fairy Grottoes (Feengrotten) in Saalfeld, Thuringia, are the world’s most colourful caves, according to the Guinness Book of Records.
- Drachenfels (Siebengebirge), in North Rhine-Westphalia, became the world’s first nature reserve in 1836.
- There are about 5,800 museums in Germany (about as many as Italy and the United Kingdom combined).
- The world’s two biggest cuckoo clocks are both located in Schonach im Schwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg. One of the cuckoos measures nearly five meters and weighs 150 kg.
- The largest department store in continental Europe is the KaDeWe in Berlin, with over 60,000 square metres.
Economy & Corporates
- Germany is the world’s second largest exporter of goods after China accounting for nearly 10 % of the world exports.
- Germany is the world’s second largest producer of cars.
- Bavaria has also the oldest Brewery of Germany amazingly still in operation, founded in 1040 by the Benedictine monks in Freising, the Weihenstephan Brewery. It is possibly the oldest still in operation in the world!
- There are 1,300 beer breweries in Germany, making some 5,000 kinds of beer.
- Fact is Germany is the world’s second largest exporter of goods after China. The country provides more than 10% of world exports.
- BASF is the socond largest chemical company in the world.
- Fact is Germany has some very prestigious companies which include BMW, Adidas, SAP, Mercedes-Benz, Nivea, Audi, Bayer, Volkswagen and Siemens.
- Germany is in the process of phasing out nuclear power plants.
- Adidas was founded by the Bavarian, Adolf “Adi”Dassler. His other brother, Rudolf Dassler founded Puma.
- Germans are among the most avid recyclers. Germany has the third highest recycling rate (48% of waste recycled), only just surpassed by its Swiss and Austrian neighbours.
- Germany produces about 35% of the world’s wind energy. There are over 20,000 wind turbines off the coast of northern Germany, the largest of which reaches 200 meters height.
- Germany has been ranked No. 1 in patent and copyright protection.
- Frankfurt International Airport serves the most international destinations. The Lufthansa, based in Frankfurt, is the world’s largest airline in terms of international passengers carried.
- DELAG, translating as “German Airship Transport Corporation”) was the world’s first airline. It was founded on 16 November 1909 in Frankfurt.
Inventions
- The cuckoo clock is invented in Germany in the 17th century. It soon became world famous for the small bird that comes out every hour to let you know the time.
- Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, originally used for printing the Bible. The world’s first Bible was printed in Mainz in 1456. It allowed ordinary people to possess a copy of the holy book, previously reserved to the clergy and nobility.
- In 1886 Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz developed simultaneously the first motor-driven vehicles. The firm Benz founded with his partner still exists today as Mercedes Benz.
- Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen discovered the X-rays in 1895.
- Notable German inventions include: Insulin, the pocket watch , the automated calculator , the light bulb, the telephone, petrol & diesel engine, differential gears , jet engine , aspirin , pregnancy test and fluorescent lamp, LCD Screen and walkman.
- The Christmas tree (Tannenbaum) tradition came from Germany.
- Robert Koch discovered and isolated the Tuberculosis bacillus in 1882. He is considered to be one of the founders of microbiology.
- Amazingly over 100 Germans have been awarded the Nobel prize in their field, including Albert Einstein, who was born in Germany.
- The “TV station Paul Nipkov” was a station Berlin that began the first television broadcast on 22.3.1935. Although only 250 televisions existed around Berlin, this was the first regular televison service in the world.
Literature
- Germany played a central role in the Reformation of Christianity. Johannes Gutenberg (1400-1468) printed the world’s very first Bible in Mainz in 1456 in German. The King James Version of the bible was finally available to the world.
Sport
- Germany is one of the world’s leading soccer teams every year. Soccer is the official sport of Germany.
- Germany is the winner of 2014 FIFA world cup held in Brazil.
- There are more soccer fan clubs in Germany than anywhere else in the world.
- German athletes have won a total of 1662 Olympic medals (summer and winter combined from 1896 to 2012), i.e. more than any other country in the world except the USA.
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