German Music

Nena

Her real name is Gabriele Suzanne Kerner. She was born on March 24th 1960 in Hagen in North Rhine-Westphalia.

She belonged to the New German Wave. This kind of music was popular in 1980s. She was the member of the band Nena which was called after her.

Nena became famous in Germany in 1983 with the song "99 Luftballons". In 1984 she re-recorded the song in English as "99 Red Balloons". The song came during a period of an escalating tension between the Sowiet Union and the U.S.A. The lyrics is a protestsong about potential nuclear war. The English version was Hit Nr. 1 in Great Britain for three weeks. Suprisingly in the U.S.A. became more succesful the German version. The song became Nr. 2 in the U.S.A. It became the first German-language record to reach the top ten on the US charts.

Since 1984 Nena has never had another hit single in any English speaking country therefore she is considered to be a very successful one-hit wonder singer in both the U.S. and the UK.

Her band continued to have success in several European countries in the following years. The band split in 1987, and Nena went solo thereafter.

In 1990s she realeased several albums, most of them are songs for children.

In 2002 she re-recorded her hits from 80s and released a new album. The remake of "Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime" as an English-German duet with Kim Wilde was a hit in several European countries. In the Netherland and Austria the song was Nr. 1 in the charts and Nr. 3 in Germany.

German Most Known Festival - Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest

What is Oktoberfest about? It is about mainly about beer. Although it is called Oktoberfest it starts in late September and finishes in early October. It lasts 16 days. Oktoberfest is the world largest fair that is visited by 6 million people every year. The first Oktoberfest was held in 1810.

Beer, Beer and Beer

In 2007 the consumption of beer reached appr. 6,940,600 litres during the whole Octoberfest. 126,900 litres of the beer were non-alcoholic.

Officially stated price ranges:
2005: €6.65–7.10
2006: €6.95–7.50
2007: €7.30–7.90
2008: €8.00–8.30
2009: €8.30–8.60

And beautiful women. Beer makes wonders.

Climate of Germany

Climate in Germany

Costal and Northwestern parts of Germany have a maritime climate with warm summer and mild winters.

Farther inland, the climate is continental with greater seasonal variations in temperature. Summers are warm and winters colder than in the North.

The Alpine region in the South has so-called moutains climate. This is characterized by lower temperatures because of higher altitudes and greater precipitation.

The best time to visit Germany

Coastal regions

July, August

Mountains

Hiking: May - September
Skiing: December - February

Cities

Spring and summer. In some cities there are beautiful Christmas markets - before Christmas.

Geography of Germany

Geography of Germany

In the North the country is flat. There are many lakes and pine woods there.

The central Germany is hilly. Some mountains reach the height about 1000 meters.

The south of Germany is covered by the Alps. The highest mountain is the Zugspitze 2962 meters.

Franz Kafka

Born 1883 in Prague in a Jewish family. His first language was German, also he was fluent in Czech. He belongs to the most important writers of the 20th century. He wrote short stories and novels.

Although he was Jewish from Prague, he belongs to the German writers, because all his writting is written in German.

Franka's works are filled with black humor and influences of existencialism and modernism.

He became renown posthumously when his three major works were published: The Trial in 1925, The Castle in 1926 and America 1927.

The Trial
is a story of a man who is arrested and prosecuted without knowing the merit of his crime. The novel describes his struggle with authority and bureaucracy.

The Castle
is about alienation of people in modern society. The whole novel is dark and surreal.

Survival Phrases in German

Hallo – hello/hi [hallo]
Bis bald – later [biz balt]
Tschüß – bye [tshuiss]
Auf Wiedersehen – good-bye (literally: until seeing each other again) [ouf veedahsehan]
Guten Morgen – good morning [gootan moahgan]
Guten Tag – good day, hello [gootan tahk]
Guten Abend – good evening [gootan ahbant]
Gute Nacht – good night [goota nakht]
Grüß Gott – good day, hello (used in Bavaria and Austria) [gruiz got]

Wie geht’s? – How are you? (neutral but casual) [vee gehtz]
Wie geht’s dir? – How are you? (informal) [vee gehtz deeah]
Wie geht’s Ihnen? – How are you? (formal) [vee gehtz eehnahn]
Gut. – Fine. [goot]
Und dir/Ihnen? – And you? (informal/formal) [oont deeah/eehnahn]
Ganz okay. – Quite okay. [gahnts goot]
Könnte besser sein. – Could be better. [kehntah bezah syn]
Es muss. – It has to be (okay). [ez mooz]
Schlecht. – Bad. [shlekht]
Danke – thanks [dankeh]
Danke schön – thank you [dankehshoin]
Bitte – please/you’re welcome [beettah]
Gern geschehen – no problem [geahn geshehn]
Schön, dich kennen zu lernen. – Nice to meet you. (informal) [shoin dikh kehnnan tsoo leahnan]
Sehr erfreut. – Nice to meet you. (formal) [seah eahfroit]
Guten Appetit! – Happy meal/enjoy! [gootan appeteet]
Gesundheit! – Bless you! (after someone sneezes) [gehsoondhyt]
Viel Glück! – Best of luck! [feel gluik]
Herzlichen Glückwunsch! – Congratulations! [heatsleehen gluikvoonsh]
Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag! – Happy Birthday! [heatsleehen gluikvoonsh tsoom gebootstahk]
Entschuldigung – excuse me/sorry [entshooldeegoonk]