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- Category: German culture and food
Since you're here, you probably don't need much convincing to visit a German-speaking country. However, you might enjoy being aware of what you'll run into on a deeper level. After all, since you're here, you're probably a seasoned traveler (and not an obnoxious tourist).
1. Experience the opposite of urban sprawl:
Germany is about the size of the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin together and they have a population of around 82 million people. To contrast, in the US we have about 300 million on a huuuge plot of land, so it’s much more densely populated. Germany is growing in diversity, so you will likely run into folks of many different backgrounds.
2. Speak with your hands and feet.
Most Germans, in particular in big cities like Hamburg, Bremen, Stuttgart, Munich, and Berlin speak some amount of English. So whatever German you speak will help when you travel outside those areas. The Germans have a saying, "sich mit Händen und Füßen verständigen." Meaning: you can do a lot [gesturing] with your hands and your feet to communicate. Feel free to contact the Office of Tourism in places you would like to visit and have them send you some maps and other information before you go. There are lots of opportunities to have city tours in English, too.
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ALDI is a world-wide discount supermarket store from Germany and they offer a limited amount of offerings for very low prices. Every week they have a different special on special purchase items, so check their weekly ad to find out what the specials are.
From what I've been able to discover, ALDI has German Week four times a year, so once a quarter. One of these times it's Oktoberfest - products imported from Germany to help you celebrate on this side of the big pond.
ALDI has their own brands and labels for their products and the German products sold in the US are sold under the name "Deutsche Küche," German kitchen.
Here are 3 highlights of the German foods during their Oktoberfest week:
1. Erdnussflips - Peanut Puffs. A puffed snack covered in peanut butter (like a peanut-version of cheese puffs). Delicious and dangerously addictive. It's probably a good thing these are only available a couple of times a year.
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The brothers Albrecht founded the discount chain Aldi in Germany after World War II. Now, four years after his brother Theo, Karl Albrecht has passed away, signaling the end of the first generation at Aldi.
The brand Aldi has grown to become a world-wide chain of discount stores, with their own Aldi-branded products and efficient store layouts, with weekly specials on special purchases--a different theme every week.
One of the things the brothers Albrecht were best known for was their incredibly high level of privacy and lack of publicity. There is only one famous picture available of them (left), partially because they were not interested in fame, but in running their business, but also because Theo Albrecht, who died in 2010, was kidnapped in 1971 and returned after 17 days and a ransom of 7 million Marks was paid.
Aldi is significant in German culture and the German economy, as anybody and everybody shops at Aldi--their products are frequently top-shelf, but with bottom-shelf pricing.
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Schlager is a form of music unique to German--it's its own genre. Comprised mainly of catchy tunes (that lead to ear worms), straight-forward forms and uncomplicated texts, you can hear Schlager at Oktoberfest, pretty much any Karneval celebration anywhere in Germany, and of course on German television.
You can easily dance to it and it's a good bet that you can dance with your kids to it and not worry about the texts.
A lot of Schlager shows are shown on TV in the evenings and are recorded performances in front of live studio audiences; and frequently, the singing is not live, it's lip-synced in-studio. I don't know why this is, but it happens all the time--even Nelly Furtado lip-synced one of her songs live on a German show.
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Not far from the German Settlement in St. Croix County and the bake house/smoke house that is still used for bread baking demonstrations is the German Settlement Cemetery. Be sure to visit it if you have time on your way through Hudson, Wisconsin sometime. It's set beautifully and is a peaceful reminder of where so many of us have come from (another place) and connects you with another time.
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