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  • Alright!

  • Lederhosen, schnitzel, beer,

  • bratwurst, order, bread and beer,

  • complicated history, beer,

  • no humor, EDM,

  • and gummy bears that will kind of like

  • give you diarrhea but it's like worth it.

  • Ugh! Those are such horrible stereotypes that every

  • German is so sick and tired of hearing.

  • Want a gummy bear?

  • ♫♫♫

  • It's time to learn Geography! NOW!!! ♫

  • Hey everyone, I'm your host Barby.

  • So we've conquered Belgium's castle,

  • jumped through Denmark's lagoon

  • danced to France's force

  • and now we've made it to the final boss of the EU,

  • Kingpin Germany!

  • Level one! Begin!

  • Political Geography

  • Ha, you know why I'm smiling!

  • Yep, Germany has a lot of territorial anomalies.

  • We'll get into that in a little bit but first,

  • Germany is located in central Western Europe

  • bordered by nine other countries,

  • (Don't forget little Luxembourg!)

  • with small coasts on the North and Baltic Seas

  • which they own about 50 small islands.

  • Now Germany like, the US, is a

  • Federal Republic which has 16 smaller states

  • or Bundesländer,

  • each with its own constitution,

  • three of which are cities,

  • the capital Berlin, Hamburg and

  • Bremen which is actually kind of like

  • two cities including Bremerhaven

  • on the coast but they kind of act like one entity.

  • Pfffhhh!

  • Fun side note: Lower Saxony is

  • actually geographically situated further

  • north than regular Saxony.

  • Now let's jump into the fun stuff.

  • Now we already discussed the Jungholz quadripoint

  • and the Vennbahn railway enclaves with Belgium and Austria.

  • However, there's a few more.

  • The entire town ofsingen am Hochrhein is surrounded by Switzerland

  • where a part of Konstanz is cut off by the Rhine river

  • and surrounded by Switzerland,

  • however immediately across the river,

  • a small patch of empty land

  • on the German side actually belongs to Switzerland.

  • Finally they split the island of Usedom

  • with Poland in the north.

  • Germany is interesting because every

  • state in the country has its own

  • distinct culture, dialect, history, food,

  • and traditions. I mean Bavarians will be

  • quite drastically different from Schleswig-Holsteiners,

  • Mecklenburg-Vorpommern will be different from Saarland.

  • This all has to do with ancient and recent history.

  • Basically, in the quickest way I can summarize this,

  • Germanic tribes, Roman Wars,

  • Charlemagne, three kingdoms,

  • this guy marries an Italian, creating a whole new mess

  • called the Holy Roman Empire

  • made of about 300 smaller separate kingdoms,

  • states and dukedoms which had nothing to do with Romans,

  • Teutonic knights,

  • Brandenburgs became Prussia,

  • Habsburgs became Austrians,

  • Lithuanians and Poles made their own thing,

  • whereas the Hungarians join the Austrians.

  • Wars, wars, battles, battles,

  • Napoleon comes over and messes everything up,

  • and finally German nationalism surges

  • and in 1871, Otto von Bismarck

  • creates the first proto-German unified state,

  • and they're all like; "Oh dang, we came late to this game,

  • we gotta scramble for some colonies," and that's

  • how all of these countries at one point

  • spoke German. Oh and also keep in mind

  • like 300 years before this, a German

  • banking company obtained colonial rights

  • to Venezuela for like 20 years. They were

  • looking for the lost city of El Dorado.

  • So technically, you can kind of see

  • Germans colonized the Americas, but it

  • wasn't like a nationalized conquest thing.

  • Fast foward even more and then

  • you get World War I, the monarchy ends,

  • Treaty of Versailles, they lose land,

  • Nazis come in, World War II, Germany splits in two

  • for about 40 years, and then finally...

  • we get the Germany we have today.

  • East Germany consisting of these states is today

  • still quite different from the rest of

  • Germany as it was first occupied

  • and influenced by the Soviet Union. They are

  • generally not as well off economically

  • as a rest of the country as you can

  • still see the blocky Soviet-style

  • buildings brought throughout the regions.

  • In fact, the city of Berlin was split in

  • half and the west side was actually

  • an enclave of West Germany only accessible

  • by train and highway. You can even see

  • from a satellite image to divide.

  • East Berlin still uses the yellowish tinted

  • sulfur vapor lightbulbs, whereas the West

  • still uses fluorescent and Mercury arc

  • white tinted light bulbs. And the funny

  • thing is, although Berlin is the largest

  • city in Germany, the busiest airports are

  • actually Frankfurt, Munich, Düsseldorf,

  • with Berlin-Tegel ranking at number four.

  • Otherwise, some top notable landmarks and

  • spots would be the Brandenburg Gate,

  • the Valhalla, Cologne Cathedral, the Ulm Minster Church,

  • the tallest in the world, the Berlin Victory Column, and hundreds and

  • hundreds of castles all over. The most

  • notable one probably being Neuschwanstein,

  • the concept behind Disney's Cinderella Castle. Germany also has over

  • 400 zoos, more than any other country in

  • the world, and of course, everybody knows

  • about the autobahn, the highway system in

  • which if you see this sign, it means there's

  • no speed limit, and it's like that for a

  • huge portion of the roadway. And no

  • wonder, considering how fast and wide those

  • cultivated countrysides can get.

  • Time for level two!

  • Physical Geography

  • Okay think of it this way, in Germany, the

  • more down you go, the more up you move.

  • Basically, Germany lies on the Atlantic

  • shelf in the North that starts with the

  • mudflats in the North Sea. Seriously this

  • island right here is accessible only for

  • a few hours by foot until the tide comes in

  • and floods everything. Then everything

  • just kind of creeps up into the Alps

  • and the south by Bavaria and

  • Baden-Württemberg, with the highest

  • mountain, Zugspitze, located right

  • along the border with Austria. Kinda like

  • France, Germany is filled with a vast

  • irrigating network of rivers like

  • the Spree, Elbe, Wesel, Rhine and

  • of course the mighty Danube that starts

  • here. About a third of the land is arable

  • and another third is woodland, and after

  • a millennia of civilization, Germans have

  • cultivated the crap out of their

  • country! Most agriculture of course

  • happens in the north flat plains and the

  • central regions of the country, which is

  • by the way kind of like Europe's tornado alley,

  • due to its position sandwich between

  • the Arctic blasts of Scandinavia and

  • the moist warm jet streams of the

  • Mediterranean below, Germany can be an

  • atmosphere at war zone in the summer.

  • There are more tornadoes on average in

  • Germany than any other country in Europe.

  • Speaking of flat farmland, Germany is the

  • world's largest rye and hop producer.

  • Germans abso-freaking-lutely love their

  • bread! There are over 300 different kinds

  • of bread in the country more types than

  • any other country in the world and

  • almost every meal incorporate some kind

  • of slice or small bun or Brötchen of bread.

  • "Bist du gluten-free?"

  • "Nein!"

  • Germans are heavy meat eaters, specifically in pork,

  • they basically know every possible way

  • to cook a pig. Over 50 different types of

  • sausage exist, alongside Schnitzels, Rouladen,

  • Sauerbraten, Schweinshaxe, and a big

  • party, you might find Spanferkel.

  • Beer reign supreme

  • all over, as the third largest consumers

  • of beer after the Czech Republic,

  • (Even their president has no problem with public intoxication)

  • and Austria. Germany is world- renowned for their beer which

  • by the way, follows the Reinheitsgebot rule

  • in which they're only allowed to

  • use water, hops, malt, and sometimes yeast.

  • Nonetheless, about 1,300 breweries exist

  • pumping out over 5,000 brands. The oldest

  • continuously existing brewery in the

  • world started by Benedictine monks in

  • 1040 AD can be found here. Germany takes the

  • environment very seriously and for the

  • past two decades, has been going on a

  • major Green Revolution. As of today they

  • have the largest installed solar power

  • capacity and green infrastructure

  • practices like home installed turbines

  • and solar panels. I've seen a huge

  • surgeons in the past 10 years. Forests

  • dominate the southern regions where the

  • landscape gets hillier and mountainous,

  • the most famous one being the Black Forest

  • or the Schwarzwald in Baden-Württemberg.

  • Deer, bears, boar, foxes, badgers and the

  • national animal the eagle can be found

  • thriving in these parts. Nonetheless,

  • economically, Germany is known mostly for

  • their exceptional engineering and

  • industry production. Companies we've all

  • heard of like Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz,

  • Porsche, Audi, Telekom, Nivea, DHL, Bosch.

  • "Adidas!"

  • "Puma!"

  • "ADIDAS!"

  • "PUMA!"

  • Yeah, it's kind of like the whole "Biscoto/Bolacha"-thing

  • from Brazil. Remember? Well we

  • have mudflats, tornadoes, pork, beer,

  • mountains. All that's missing is people!

  • Level 3!

  • Demographics

  • Fun little side note: In Germany,

  • this is three, not this. Now, if the EU

  • was a family, Germany would kind of be

  • like the dad who got out of rehab,

  • reconciled with his wife and kids, and

  • taking his new life very seriously as

  • he's haunted by the demons of his past every day.

  • First of all, the country has about

  • 82 million people and is the most populated

  • in the EU, second-most in Europe after

  • Russia and has the fourth largest

  • nominal GDP in the world. About 80 %

  • of the country identifies as

  • ethnically German, 12 % other Europeans,

  • mostly Polish, Italian, Dutch, and so on,

  • Turks make up about 3.5 %,

  • Asian at 2 %, and the rest are made

  • up of other groups like Africans and

  • Americans. Also they use the euro, they use the

  • C&F type outlets and they drive on the

  • right side of the road. Germany is

  • without a doubt a global powerhouse.

  • It is the strongest economy in the EU and

  • makes up about sixteen percent of the

  • union's population. It's the third largest

  • exporter and importer of goods in the

  • world, and after the United States, Germany is

  • also the second most popular global

  • migration destination. Germany

  • experiences a high standard of living,

  • tuition free universities, (If you can

  • accept that is) a mostly

  • government-subsidized universal

  • healthcare system. About a quarter is to

  • privatize and state pension for

  • retirement at age 65. Now when it comes

  • to language, things get a little tricky.

  • Each state kind of has their own type of

  • German, however to get by most Germans

  • learn how to speak "Hochdeutsch" or

  • "High German" which is the standard dialect.

  • The European Charter however protects the

  • minority languages of Frisian, Danish,

  • Romani, Sorbian, which is like a Slavic

  • base language used along the Czech-

  • Polish border, and Plattdeutsch, or

  • "Low German" which has similarities to Dutch

  • and typically used by the Amish and

  • Mennonite communities across the world.

  • In terms of regional distinction, though,

  • Germany is kind of divided into five

  • cultural areas. Rhineland, East and Middle Germany,

  • North Germany, Baden-Württemberg

  • and Bavaria. Rhineland is on the west

  • side and has a culture somewhat more

  • influenced by France, more Catholic,

  • carnival celebrations are huge out here.

  • East and Middle Germany was the part that used to be

  • its own country for 40 years as it was

  • influenced by the Soviets. (Sorbians can

  • also be found here too.) Northern Germany

  • has a coastal sea culture that

  • identifies closer with Denmark and the

  • Netherlands. They're also known for being

  • kind of quiet and reserved.

  • Baden-Württemberg has an interesting Swabian culture

  • where they speak a dialect so thick

  • that only about 40 % of it is

  • intelligible to other Germans. And then

  • you have Bavaria, which is where the

  • Americanized perpetuated stereotypes

  • about Germany came from with lederhosen,

  • dirndls, half-timber beer houses, and

  • cuckoo clocks. For the record, Germans are

  • sick of those stereotypes, it's like

  • saying all Americans are cowboys with

  • guns and horses. Speaking of stereotypes, some

  • of the stereotypes in Germany include

  • things like Saxons being very indecisive,

  • Berliners are always bragging about themselves,

  • Swabians are stingy,

  • Bavarians drink too much, Hessians talk too much

  • Holsteiners don't talk enough, and so on.

  • Words differ from regions to. For

  • For example, in High German you would say "Auf Wiedersehen!"

  • But in Bavarian, you would say "Pfiat di Gott."

  • Inlsch, you would say "Tschüss."

  • And in Rhineland, you might say "Adjus."

  • And there's so many compound words to get

  • really long and complicated like --

  • Ughhhh!

  • This is because many words are "mehrdeutig" or ambiguous

  • words that are kind of elongated to give

  • up an extensive meaning. Germans have

  • very vivid imaginations and make up

  • words for everything. Like my favorite word:

  • "Backpfeifengesicht". Not this time!

  • By the way, for the record, this letter

  • makes a double S sound, however spelling

  • reformers have tried to decrease the

  • usage of this letter in recent years

  • which has led to some protests. Germans

  • also love dubbing everything from

  • foreign media into German. Some like this,

  • some don't, but either way, it's here to stay.

  • About 60 % of the country identified at least nominally as

  • "Christians" split between Protestants and

  • Catholics. Germany with even the

  • birthplace of the Protestant Reformation, split from the Catholic Church

  • by Martin Luther. Otherwise, the rest are mostly

  • agnostic or irreligious with

  • a noticeable community of Muslims, mostly

  • from the huge Turkish and Middle Eastern

  • communities at about 5 %,

  • as well as a few Jews, Buddhists, and Hindus

  • rounding up the remainder 1 %. To kinda get a

  • feel of what it's like to be German,

  • you kinda have to understand where they've come from.

  • After World War II, they've kind of had a

  • LOT of work to do.

  • However it wasn't until the mid fifties

  • and early sixties that the "Wirtschaftswunder" or

  • economic wonder happened to which almost

  • everybody got to work. Basically, this guy

  • envisioned and implemented a social

  • market economy combined with free market

  • capitalism alongside socialist policies

  • that established fair competition

  • in a welfare state. GDP increased

  • by 80 %, investment by 120 %,

  • labor forces were utilized to the maximum. Things started to

  • get better. In Germany, all children are

  • corralled into general public schools

  • until age 10 when they are given the

  • option to enroll in three different

  • types of middle schools.

  • Gymnasium, geared towards focusing on higher

  • linguistic, mathematic and science

  • fields for universities. Realschule, a middle

  • ground type of school. And Hauptschule,

  • a school that is geared towards helping

  • kids that seem to show promise in

  • specific vocation or trades. Germany also

  • has the largest music market in the EU

  • and the third in the world after the

  • U.S. and Japan. They love preserving

  • their heritage and culture through music

  • and art. In fact, there around

  • a 130 national orchestras, mostly

  • supported by public money, and artists

  • get up 50 % reduction in health

  • insurance through a special type of

  • offer in the legal system. One thing that

  • still kind of supposedly maintained

  • itself in Germany is the mindset of

  • "Vergangenheitsbewältigung"

  • Totally butchered that!

  • Which kind of translates

  • to a lingering sense of guilt from the

  • past. Germans have reportedly some of the

  • lowest levels of national pride and

  • unless if you're at a soccer game, chances

  • are, you almost never see anyone

  • holding a German flag or waiting it in any

  • kind of like patriotic setting.

  • It's weird, but it's kind of how things are.

  • "YOU MONSTER!"

  • They've made great strides to move on

  • from the past. Nazi flags and "Mein Kampf"

  • are incredibly illegal items to own in

  • Germany. They even have a rule. The Volksverhetzung, which basically says:

  • you cannot talk trash by denying the past

  • atrocities. Some people say this

  • infringes on free speech.

  • Others say it's good because it

  • solidified truths. Otherwise, some

  • notable Germans throughout history

  • includes Charlemagne, although he was a

  • Frank, but eh- I guess it kinda counts.

  • Albrechtrer, Caspar David Friedrich, Gutenberg,

  • Bach, Beethoven, Carl Benz, Albert Einstein,

  • although Americans like to claim that he

  • moved to the US and became an American,

  • Johannes Kepler, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,

  • Friedrich Schiller, Michael Schumacher,

  • Alexander von Humboldt, and

  • of course, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels,

  • co-founded Marxism...

  • *cough cough*

  • But one thing Germans do best

  • would have to be diplomacy.

  • To this day, the German passport holds the

  • most visa-free nations out of any other

  • country in the world just beating Sweden.

  • Therefore, you can kinda conclude that

  • Germany kind of knows how to relate to

  • people. Let's find out how in the final round!

  • Level four!

  • Friend Zone

  • Germany knows how to make friends.

  • They have over 220 diplomatic missions abroad

  • and over 350 honorary councils and have

  • an incredibly high position of authority

  • in the EU. The closest African friend

  • would probably Namibia. As a former German

  • colony way back in the 19th century,

  • Namibia held on relations and to this day,

  • German is still a recognized language in Namibia.

  • Germans have been supporting and

  • sharing ties both economically and

  • ideology for over a century.

  • India and South Korea are really close friends in

  • Asia. India supported both East and West

  • Germany during the Cold War and after

  • reunification they were like "Woohoo! Even better!"

  • And Germany is to South Korea

  • what Japan is to France. They love to

  • piggy-back off each other's ideas and

  • cultures, especially in the automotive

  • industry. Many South Koreans were sent to

  • Germany after the Korean War to work

  • abroad and study and Germans have been

  • growing fascination with visiting South Korea.

  • The U.S. is probably the closest

  • ally outside of the EU. About 30 %

  • of Americans claim German

  • heritage and after World War II, the

  • Marshall Plan allow the U.S. to give

  • post-war aid to Germany, which helped

  • kick-start the economic recovery.

  • Germany was a key figure in the formation of the

  • State of Israel after World War II

  • which after the Holocaust, left an

  • obligation to invest in the building up

  • of a Jewish community. Turkey is probably

  • the closest Middle-Eastern ally as the

  • Turks make up the largest Asian

  • demographic in Germany, although many of

  • them may or may not also identify as

  • Kurds, but since Kurds don't have a

  • state of their own they usually go into

  • Turkish passports when immigrating and are

  • documented as such. They're best friends

  • however would probably be... literally all

  • their neighbors! The thing is, think Germany is

  • kinda like Bosnia and Herzegovina in which

  • by default, they kind of get friends

  • based off of the regional alliances.

  • Bavarians get along with Austrians,

  • Baden-Württembergs get along with Switzerland,

  • East Germany had good relations with the Slavic countries,

  • the Rhine states love Belgium, Luxembourg and

  • France, and the northside loves

  • the Netherlands and Denmark. France, though, is

  • kinda like the trophy wife of Germany, as

  • the two have had an angry start, but then

  • eventually fell in love and work

  • together beautifully. France is like the

  • beautiful flashy spokesperson for the EU

  • that stands in the spotlight as Germany

  • stand in the background managing all the

  • money and logistical work.

  • In conclusion, although Germanic people have existed

  • for thousands of years and actually

  • unified German state didn't appear until

  • kinda recently, and the brief time that

  • they've been around, they've kind of gone

  • through some of the most intense world

  • revolutionizing historical events

  • possibly imagine, yet they come out

  • working hard and building the way up to

  • become a world superpower.

  • You got to give it to them. There's

  • something about the Germans. And with that,

  • final boss level complete! Stay tuned!

  • Another African state Germany has ties to,

  • Ghana is coming up next!

Alright!

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