On the 9th November 1989, the Berlin Wall came down. You may remember the pictures of that day and the news when it happened, and if you can’t remember it, google it and you’ll find lots of pictures of that day. But how much do you know about the wall and how it was built? … Read more
Last year I wrote about Halloween and how we didn’t celebrate it in Germany as, at the time, it was almost unheard of. And yet, the 31st October was a public holiday for us, not for all of Germany, but for the Protestants and areas where the population was largely protestant. The 31st October is Reformation … Read more
When I moved to England in 1982, I used to miss a lot of food things that I could buy in Germany, so whenever I had the chance to go back I used to stock up on those things.Gradually, over the years I was able to buy more and more German food items and since … Read more
Mein erster Schultag This is a picture of me on my first day at school with my brand new school bag (Schultasche) and my ‘Schultüte’ (roughly translated as school cone). My school bag had my first lot of exercise books, text books and a pencil case, but what was in the school cone? All German … Read more
Are you a man travelling around Germany on Thursday? If you are – beware! This Thursday is the beginning of the end of the carnival season in Germany. The German carnival season starts on the 11th of November at 11.11 am. For most of the season (which is also called ‘the fifth season’ in Germany) … Read more
This is me ( a few years ago!) ‘reading’ one of my favourite books! Many of you will have heard about the Struwwelpeter, or the shock-headed Peter, as he is also known – a very famous children’s book written by German doctor Heinrich Hoffman in 1844. He was looking for a picture book Christmas … Read more
When you’re driving through Germany and you need to fill up with petrol, you may come across an aditional pump at the petrol station, as it is now possible to get a biofuel with 10 percent ethanol called Super E10. It is not available at every petrol station yet as it will take months to adjust … Read more
When I took my driving test many years ago in Germany we had to be 18 before we could drive, but there have been changes in the last few years. Lower-Saxony started it seven years ago and since January 2011 is has become law in all of Germany: the possibility of driving at 17! However, … Read more
All day today I have either read on blogs, heard on the radio, seen on TV or spoken to some of my students about Armistice Day and it made me realise that apart from my post about St Martin’s Day there should be another blog today: about living with guilt. You see, as a German living in … Read more
In many areas of Germany children will go out tonight with their lanterns and sing this song. But why? The 11 November is St Martin’s Day (Martinstag). Martin was a Roman soldier who was always very kind and helpful. One legend tells the story of Martin meeting a beggar in a snowstorm. Martin cut his … Read more
This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. more information
The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.