Germany Facts

 

1. Berlin has more bridges than Venice. There are 960 bridges in the German capital Berlin. Together with the neighboring state of Brandenburg, Berlin has the largest network of inland waterways in Europe.

However, the German city of Hamburg tops the list in terms of the number of bridges. According to various estimates, there are between 2,300 and 2,500 bridges on the Elbe River. According to this indicator, Hamburg 'exceeds' Venice, Amsterdam and London combined.

2. Germany has around 1,500 types of sausage, 300 types of bread and 5,000 types of beer. There are also many bread museums.

3. Germany has changed its capital seven times; since 1990 Berlin has been the capital again.

4. Aspirin is the brainchild of German scientists. This unique drug that fascinates the world was developed in 1897 in the chemical laboratory of the Bayer factory in Wuppertal.

5. Running out of fuel is a crime on the German autobahn. Stopping on the autobahn is only allowed in emergencies and only if the tank is empty. For such offenses, fines are imposed and the driver's license is suspended for up to six months.

6. In the bell tower of Cologne Cathedral is the world's largest bell, named Peter. It weighs 24 tons. By the way, Cologne Cathedral is the third largest Gothic cathedral in the world, although it lags behind its "brothers" like Milan and Seville.

7. Frankfurt am Main is one of the few cities in Europe with skyscrapers in its center. Today, Frankfurt has 30 buildings over 100 meters high, and in the ranking of the 100 tallest buildings in Germany, Frankfurt's skyscrapers occupy the entire top 10. For this reason, Frankfurt is often referred to as 'Manhattan on Main Street' or 'Chicago on Main Street'.

The tallest building in Frankfurt is the 337.5 m high TV tower Europatrum. Although the TV tower is 337.5 meters high, it is not considered a skyscraper because it has no office or residential floors.

8. Germany's oldest university, founded in 1386, is located in the city of Heidelberg. Therefore, the air around it is filled with the spirit of freedom and creativity. Heidelberg is also one of the few major German cities that was not destroyed during the Second World War, so all the buildings have been perfectly preserved over the past centuries. At the time of its foundation it was the fourth oldest university after the University of Bologna, the University of Paris and the University of Vienna.

9. The most beautiful theater in Germany is in Dresden. The Dresden State Opera House is considered one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. It is built in Baroque style and has three floors. On its façade there are statues of ancient Greek gods, Goethe, Moliere, Schiller, Shakespeare and Sophocles, and on the dome of the opera house there is a bronze quadriga with Dionysus and Ariadne by sculptor Johannes Schilling.

10. Germany was the first country in Europe to introduce daylight saving time to save energy. It was introduced on April 30, 1916, at the height of the First World War.