Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Contents
Getting Out - Ausgehen .......................................................................................................................... 3
At the caf/restaurant - Im Caf/Restaurant...................................................................................... 3
Mealtimes Mahlzeiten ................................................................................................................. 3
German 'pubs' Kneipen ................................................................................................................ 3
Tipping Trinkgeld .......................................................................................................................... 3
Foreign food - Auslndisches Essen ................................................................................................ 3
Types of beer Biersorten .............................................................................................................. 4
Dner Kebab ................................................................................................................................... 4
German cuisine - Deutsche Kche .................................................................................................. 4
Buying food - Lebensmittel einkaufen ................................................................................................ 6
Bread - Brot ..................................................................................................................................... 6
Vegetarians - Vegetarier ................................................................................................................. 6
Drinking water - Trinkwasser .......................................................................................................... 6
Organic food - Bio-Lebensmittel ..................................................................................................... 7
German wines - Deutsche Weine ................................................................................................... 7
Curry flavoured sausage - ............................................................................................................... 7
Shopping Einkaufen ......................................................................................................................... 8
Pedestrian precinct - Fugngerzonen ........................................................................................... 8
Presents - Geschenke ...................................................................................................................... 8
Health- Gesundheit ......................................................................................................................... 8
Health insurance - Krankenversicherung ........................................................................................ 8
On the move - Unterwegs ....................................................................................................................... 9
Travelling - Reisen ............................................................................................................................... 9
ICE trains - ICE-Zge ........................................................................................................................ 9
German Railways - Deutsche Bahn AG ........................................................................................... 9
Tourism in Germany - Tourismus in Deutschland ......................................................................... 10
Industrial Fairs and Exhibitions - Industriemessen und -ausstellungen ....................................... 10
Motorways - Autobahnen ............................................................................................................. 10
Reporting an incident and making a complaint- Einen Vorfall melden und eine Beschwerde
vorbringen......................................................................................................................................... 12
The German Police - Die Polizei in Deutschland ........................................................................... 12
Emergency numbers - Notrufe...................................................................................................... 12
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German Culture
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German Culture
Tipping Trinkgeld
The German for tip is das Trinkgeld. The service is normally included in German restaurants.
In a caf it is common to round up your bill to the nearest Euro, possibly adding 50 cents or another
Euro on top.
Others have grown familiar with food from an area in which they have chosen to spend a vacation.
Italian, Greek, Spanish and Turkish food is particularly well represented in the restaurants of German
towns and cities. More recently these have been joined by Thai, Indian and Chinese restaurants.
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German Culture
Every year in Germany more than 127 litres of beer are consumed per capita of the population. This
is exceeded only by the Czechs. Within Germany the Bavarians drink the most and the North
Germans drink the least, Bavaria has the most breweries and the most beer festivals. Best known is
the Oktoberfest which, despite its name, takes place in Munich in September.
Most German beer is still brewed according to strict traditional guidelines, even though the ancient
Reinheitsgebot (Purity Law) was lifted by the European Court of Justice in 1987.
Dner Kebab
The Dner kebab, literally "rotating roast", first made its appearance in Germany in 1971. Its
inventor was Mehmet Aygn who, in his uncle's restaurant in Berlin, had the idea of packing the
crispy pieces of lamb together with vegetables and sauce into a white bread roll.
Although sceptical at first, the Germans got used to Turkish food and throughout the 70s and 80s the
rotary spit dominated the West German snack market. After unification the Dner Kebab became
just as successful in the former East.
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German Culture
Regional cuisine is also very important for Germany's top chefs. In 2008 the Michelin Guide awarded
more than 200 German restaurants one or more of its coveted stars. The highest concentration of
Michelin stars is in the Black forest community of Baiersbronn.
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German Culture
Vegetarians - Vegetarier
Traditionally meat has played a very important role in the German diet, and although the German
League of Vegetarians was founded well over a century ago, vegetarians were until relatively
recently few and far between. In the 1980s British students who were vegetarians and wished to
spend their year abroad in the then German Democratic Republic (Deutsche Demokratische
Republik) had to take food supplies with them, because it would have been impossible to remain
healthy on an East German diet with the meat
removed.
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German Culture
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German Culture
Shopping Einkaufen
Presents - Geschenke
In Germany it is common practice for sales assistants to enquire whether
purchases are intended as presents (Geschenke) or for customers to
indicate that this is so; the item is then gift-wrapped at no additional
cost.
Health- Gesundheit
Germans are, on the whole, very health-conscious. There is very good
provision for dealing with illnesses both by conventional medicine
(Schulmedizin) and by alternative medicine (Alternativmedizin). The
latter has gained increasing recognition in recent years, to the extent
that many treatments and remedies are now available through the
health insurance schemes (Krankenkassen). There is a long tradition of
herbal remedies in Germany. Some, such as the treatment of depression
by St. John's Wort (Johanniskraut), have gained recognition by
conventional medicine. Every small town has its herbal remedy and
health food store.
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German Culture
IC trains are InterCity trains without the Express but are still pretty fast, while ECtrains, or EuroCity
trains, connect main cities to neighbouring European countries
PKW and LKW - PKW und LKWPKW is the abbreviation for Personenkraftwagen and means 'private
car'. LKW stands for Lastkraftwagen and refers to a heavy goods vehicle. Both are rarely used in
spoken language and are mainly found on public notices such as car parking signs.
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German Culture
At the local level attractive services have been introduced to induce motorists to switch over to
public transport. Light rail transit networks have been linked with underground, tram and bus
systems to form 'transport grids' in nearly all conurbations. Passengers may switch from one system
to the other using the same ticket.
There are nearly 100 'tourist routes', such as the 'German fairy-tale route', the 'Romanesque route'
or the 'German wine route'. There are countless regional and town fairs, wine festivals and other
traditional festivals.
Accommodation available for the visitor ranges from inexpensive rooms on a family farm, in a
private home or in a guesthouse to luxury holiday parks and top-class international hotels. Germany
is a cyclist friendly country with many specially constructed bicycle paths. Hiking and walking is also
well catered for in Germany.
Nuremberg and Stuttgart. Several of the world's largest fairs are held in Germany. Here are just
three of them: The CeBIT fair in Hanover is the largest and most influential of all IT and
telecommunications trade fairs. The world's largest travel fair, the ITB, is held in Berlin each year,
and the Frankfurt International Book Fair is the world's largest trade fair for books.
Motorways - Autobahnen
The German Autobahn (motorway) is known throughout the world for its sophisticated engineering
and for being fast with sections having no speed limits. Unlike in many other countries the German
Autobahns are also completely toll-free.
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German Culture
The first ever motorway was built in 1929, between Cologne and Bonn. During the opening
ceremony in 1932, Konrad Adenauer, then mayor of Cologne, proclaimed: "This is how the roads of
the future will look". Adenauer supported the autobahn project partly as a way to create jobs during
hard economic times. Today the Autobahn network is approximately 12,500kms long.
Autobahns have names that consist of an 'A' followed by up to three digits. As a rule of thumb, even-
numbered roads connect East to West destinations, whereas odd numbers indicate mainly a North
to South direction. Road signs on the Autobahn are similar to those in the UK with blue and white
text signs. On the other hand 'B' roads, referring to Bundesstrassen, have orange and black text
signs.
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German Culture
Reporting an incident and making a complaint- Einen Vorfall melden und eine
Beschwerde vorbringen
In case of a road accident the police must always be called regardless of whether injuries have
occurred or not.
The number to call for the fire service or an ambulance/emergency doctor is 112
throughout Germany.
The ADAC operates a large fleet of mobile mechanics in yellow cars that assist motorists in trouble.
In addition to this, it provides helicopters for urgent medical rescues in Germany and air ambulance
jets are used by the ADAC to rescue their members with a "PLUS" membership or customers who
own an ADAC international travel insurance from any location worldwide in the case of accident or
extreme sickness.
Breakdown services are also offered by the AvD (Automobilclub von Deutschland) and the ACE (Auto
Club Europa).
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German Culture
Relaxing - Erholung
Leisure time - Freizeit
Favorite sports in Germany - Lieblingssportarten in Deutschland
Football is Germany's no. 1 sport with more than 6.5 million people in 26,000 clubs (Fuballvereine).
The DFB, the German Football Association, is the world's largest sports association. And it is
especially young people who are active: more than 2.3 million boys and girls play football in the 21
state federations. The best-loved leisure time sports are, other than
football, gymnastics, tennis, shooting, athletics, and handball. More than 40
percent of all Germans regularly play a sport, and sport is one of their
preferred hobbies. Among the favourite sports played that do not involve
clubs are cycling, jogging, swimming, fitness training and Nordic walking.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games the German team was placed 5th
among the more than 200 nations taking part. Over 800 leading German athletes are currently
enjoying government support and benefiting from professional training conditions, for example in
one of the country's 20 special Olympic training centres.
Film Festival in Berlin (2006) Das Leben der Anderen (The Life of Others)
In 2007, Fatih Akin won the prize for best filmscript at the International Film Festival in Cannes and
the European Parliament's LUX film prize for his film "The Edge of Heaven".
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German Culture
There are nine regional public stations: They are structured by state and all come under the aegis of
the ARD, the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Rundfunkanstalten in Deutschland. Together, they are
responsible for programming by das Erste Deutsche Fernsehen (Das Erste), but also broadcast their
own TV and radio programs. ZDF, das Zweite Deutsche Fernsehen, is the second public German TV
company. It has its own nationwide channel and it also operates either individually or with partners
a number of TV channels, such as arte, 3sat and KIKA, the children's channel. The Deutschlandfunk
radio station and Deutsche Welle TV station broadcast worldwide.
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German Culture
Berliner Ensemble
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German Culture
Before you travel on public transport in Germany, buy your ticket either from a machine, labelled
Fahrausweise, or from a ticket desk - der Fahrkartenschalter, to avoid incurring a heavy fine. Your
ticket is only valid if you have stamped it before you start your journey. The stamping machine is
called der Entwerter.
Taxis are usually cream-coloured and plentiful and can be hailed in the street or hired at one of the
many taxi ranks - der Taxistand; a tip of 10% is normally given on top of the fare.
Fasching in South Germany or Karneval in North Germany was originally a religious festival and a
celebration before the beginning of Lent, traditionally the period of fasting for Christians.
On Rose Monday or Shrove Tuesday, the two days before Ash Wednesday (which is 46 days before
Easter Sunday), processions are held in which the participants wear fancy dress costumes and masks.
Although Easter is an important date in the Christian calendar it is also closely associated with the
beginning of Spring. For this reason shop windows are decorated with Easter flowers, Easter eggs
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German Culture
and baby chicks. At home people often make an Osterbaum (Easter tree) out of sprouting twigs and
decorate it with 12 brightly painted eggs which some say represent the 12 Apostles and others the
12 months of the year.
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