German culture, customs and clarity

A big part of a successful stay anywhere is simply enjoying the country and its people. A big step towards achieving this in Germany is to get to know German culture and customs. When we talk about German ‘culture’, we don’t just mean opera, concerts, serious novels and deep-thinking philosophers. We’re using the term broadly to include things like food and drink, sport, holidays and just chilling out and having fun.

Germans are understandably proud of their achievements in the arts, and you will find no shortage of “highbrow culture” in the Frankfurt Rhine-Main region. While lovers of ‘serious’ music should keep an eye out for the fantastic Rheingau Musik Festival, which takes place every year in late summer, here we want to focus on the broader picture. What better place to start than by asking what makes Germany uniquely German? This can be a difficult question to answer these days, as Germany itself is a melting pot and has absorbed the influences of many other cultures over the last half century. However, there are still elements that make life in Germany different from what you’ll find in most other places.

Forget the old prejudice that Germans don’t know how to have a good time. The fact is that Germans love to have fun - at the right time and in the right place. Germans believe strongly in the saying that there’s a time and a place for everything. When they work, they work hard. When it is time to play, they play hard. And as you’ll soon learn, if you haven’t already, there are plenty of opportunities to do so in Germany. After all, standard employment contracts here include 25-30 days of paid holiday, which can be split or taken all at once - it’s up to you.

A popular strategy is to maximise the number of consecutive days off by scheduling holidays around weekends and the many public holidays. For example, May and June - when there are a number of public holidays - are the most popular times for Germans to go on holiday.