Hello everybody!

Since Princess Moon already covered the main things about Germany last year, I want to give you a short and general overview over the German occupation.

For a general Timeline click here!
For general information about the BRD and the DDR click here!

If you are interested and you have any questions you can ask them in this thread. I am looking forward to answering your questions! ^_^

Also everyone who asked a question can feel free to take this Stamp:

Can I ask a question not related to the 1945-1990 timeline?

I want to know what some national/ traditional foods are in Germany if thats ok.

Hikari-chan wrote:

Can I ask a question not related to the 1945-1990 timeline?

I want to know what some national/ traditional foods are in Germany if thats ok.

Since I'm half german, I can recommend some very german/tasty food as well

Very very very german is "Bratwurst" (Saussage), mostly with Kartoffeln aka Potatoes. We also eat "Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte" a lot, which is a cherry-créme-choco-filled cake (super tastyyy).

When having breakfast, we mostly eat bread/toast with honey, jam, nutella XD etc. or well something more simple, compared to for example the American Breakfast lol.

What are the traditional holidays?

We actually don't have many "Traditional German Holidays". Most of them are Christian Holidays other countries celebrate as well.

One very important Holiday is October 3rd, where we celebrate the German Unification!

We also celebrate Christmas and Easter. Other than most countries the most important Christmas Holiday to us is December 24th what we call "Heiligabend" / Holy Evening, where we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
The Friday before Easter is also a very important Holiday, especially to the Christian Protestants. Before it we celebrate a so called 5th season beginning on November 11th, with a carneval. The end of it happens on monday and Tuesday, six weeks before Easter, where we have a big carneval again. The Wednesday after it is called "Aschermittwoch" / "Ash Wednesday", where we have a period of fasting until Karfreitag, where we remember the death of Jesus. What we fast about depends on everybody themselves, but for Karfreitag it is an old tradition, to not eat any sort of meat.

Other than that, we celebrate the Ascension of Christ, the Thursday 40 days after Easter, as well as Pentecost, 50 days after Easter. While some parts of Germany have school holidays for one week at Pentecost, most of the time it is just the Sunday + the Monday afterwards.

On May 1st we celebrate the "Tag der Arbeit" / "Day of Work", where actually nobody works. It is a day where families gather and do something together, or for the younger generation to gather with friends and do something together.

Instead of Halloween we celebrate the Reformation Day on October 31st. The Christian Protestants celebrate the Day Martin Luther hammered his 95 theses onto the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.

We also have "Frohenleichnam" / "Corpsus Christi" as well as "Allerheiligen" / "All Saints Day", where we remember the ones who left us.

On January 6th we celebrate "Heilige 3 Könige", "The Day of the Holy 3 Kings", where Kids dress up as the Holy 3 Kings, go from door to door, bless homes and collect money for the poor.

Another Holiday we used to have was "Buß- und Bettag" / "Day of Prayer and Repentance". But in almost all parts of Germany, this isn't a holiday anymore.

Last but not least we celebrate is New Year's Eve and the New Year, with fireworks as well. The fireworks have the purpose to scare away evil spirits and hinder them from crossing over into the new year.

What are some popular German desserts? ^-^

Batgirl wrote:

What are some popular German desserts? ^-^

Hm.. as I already mentioned the "Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte" which is a chocolate-kind of cake with cherries and well much créme and all that (its so difficult to explain lol). I also thought of Bratapfel (backed apples) mostly with cinnamon and creamy stuff all around. Rote Grütze (Red Groats) which is sweet and sour-like at the same time lol

What are the most popular non-German celebrations ?

*will actually ask question about the topic xD*

Is there any significant difference in life between the east and west Germany?

VenusLight wrote:

What are the most popular non-German celebrations ?

Halloween is getting more and more popular especially for the younger generations. With Halloween Parties and everything, I think it's the most popular non German celebration.

Sailor Mercury wrote:

*will actually ask question about the topic xD*

Is there any significant difference in life between the east and west Germany?

During 1949-1990 the most significant difference was that East Germany was a communistic Country, while West Germany was a capitalistic country. After the unification, West Germany put a huge amount of funds into the eastern parts, to build them up again like it happened during the 50s in West Germany. Nowadays, there isn't any significant difference between East and West Germany anymore, other than the dialect.

German cryptids????

One of the most popular cryptids in Germany would be the "Lindwurm" / Dragon. The word Lindwurm has it's origins in the 9th Century and comes from the old German word "Lintwurm". It is the symbol on the coat of arms of many cities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Ooh, cool

Not sure if you're able to answer these, but I have two questions!

1. Was there a reason that Germany got divided from East to West instead of North to South? I can't remember anything I learned from high school history class. XD

2. Did any localized language differences (referring primarily to slang and jargon) result from the division into East and West?

1. Because the Occupation Zones were handled that way. The Soviet Union got the part of Germany that was next to them and that was East Germany.

2. Yes, East Germans pronounce things differently and have some different words for things other than West Germans do.