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In Germany education for pupils between 6 and 18 years old is free and compulsory.

Almost every German adult is able to read and write.

At four years old, German student begin their education at a primary school (Grundschule) until age 10. The course of the rest of their education is determined by the results obtaineule) until age 10. The course of the rest of their education is determined by the results obtained from the tests given after that primary phase. Almost half of the students go on to an upper-level school (Hauptschule) for an additional 5 years. Once this level of education is completed they go on to occupational training for an additional 3 years (Berufsschule). Besides the classroom training, the students will have practical, onsite training also.

Another group of students who completed their primary education will obtain classroom training (Realschule) during six years related to commerce and administration. Upon completion, they can further their training at a higher level professional training school (Fachoberschule).

Students wishing to gain entrance to a university will obtain rigorous education for 9 years (Gymnasium) after which the must pass difficult tests to obtain the diploma Abitur.

Germany is well known for the high quality of their education.

Heidelberg University is among the oldest in Europe and founded in 1386. Other well-known German universities are located in Berlin, Bonn, Erlangen, Frankfurt, Friburgo, Gotinga, Hamburgo, Leipzig, Marburg ander Lahn, Munich and Tubinga.

Germany also has many excellent schools of Music, Fine Arts, Cinema and Photography. like....SOTA in singapore!

info from: http://www.spainexchange.com/guide/DE-education.htm

Germany is a land full of culinary delights. Located in the middle of Western Europe, it’s at the same latitude as Newfoundland, which means the summer nights are long and inviting while wintertime is cold and snowy. The Christian calendar is a map for German social events and there is always a celebration happening somewhere, with food specialties, presents and homemade entertainment. Cozy gatherings with food and drink are the essence of German Gemuetlichkeit (comfort and coziness).

German cuisine has often been labeled as stodgy and fatty(wahhh~~ awesome!!), which can be attributed to the lack of variety in the rural German countryside until the last 200 years. But Germany has benefited from a close association with Italy and France and adopted many of their spices and cooking methods, always with a German twist.

Regional cuisines vary according to the geography (mountains, plains and seas are all represented) and their proximity to waterways, where transportation and trade historically took place. Left over from earlier times, preservation of foodstuffs through salting, smoking, curing or pickling is still a common way of preparing fish, meats and vegetables. Just look at the popular dishes of Matjes (pickled herring), Sauerbraten (roast beef cured in vinegar and wine), or Sauerkraut, and you will find ancient cooking methods still in use today.

In prehistoric times German fare was likely bland. Unlike the Mediterranean countries, the growing season limited them to early forms of wheat, barley and pasture land for livestock. Sheep, cows and goats were used for milk, butter and cheese and occasionally meat products, which were served most often during feasts.

The earliest spices were parsley, celery and dill, which you still see used today. The Romans introduced fruit tree cultivation and grapevines. Oats and rye were also added into cultivation, as agricultural methods became more sophisticated. The areas around Cologne were especially rich in exotic spices and food due to its powerhouse status as a trading city.

Today, Germans still fall back on their rich heritage, serving wild game, lamb, pork and beef with old and new ways of preparing them and their side dishes. Popular spices are mustard, horseradish and juniper berries, which are found, for instance, in the Luneburger Heath. Still, modern German chefs have started to create newer, lighter fare, incorporating traditional foods into their menus.

info from: http://germanfood.about.com/od/introtogermanfood/a/introtoger.htm

Germans tend to eat heavy and hearty meals that include ample portions of meat and bread. Potatoes are the staple food, and each region has its own favorite ways of preparing them. Some Germans eat potatoes with pears, bacon, and beans.

Others prepare a special stew called the Pichelsteiner, made with three kinds of meat and potatoes. Germans from the capital city of Berlin eat potatoes with bacon and spicy sausage.

Sauerbraten is a large roast made of pork, beef, or veal that is popular throughout Germany, and is flavored in different ways depending on the region. In the Rhine River area, it is flavored with raisins, but is usually cooked with a variety of savory spices and vinegar. Fruit (instead of vegetables) is often combined with meat dishes to add a sweet and sour taste to the meal. Throughout Germany desserts made with apples are very popular.

Knödel, or dumplings, accompany many meals, especially in the north. In the south, a tiny version called spätzle is more common. Knödel may be made either of mashed potatoes or bread (or a mixture of both), and are either boiled or fried. Germans enjoy bread with every meal, with rye, pumpernickel, and sourdough breads more common than white bread. Soft pretzels can be found almost anywhere. Spargel (asparagus) served with a sauce or in soup is popular in the spring.

Oktoberfest is the German festival of October. It is held, not in October but during the last week of September in Munich. In late summer or early fall in the United States, many cities stage Oktoberfests to celebrate German culture, especially German beer. At German Oktoberfests, beer is traditionally drunk from a large, decorated stone mug called a Bier Stein (beer stein). Germany has more than 1,200 breweries, making over 5,000 different kinds of beer.

For Christmas, cut-out honey cakes called Lebkuchen are baked in squares, hearts, semicircles, or little bear shapes, iced, and decorated with tiny cutouts of cherubs (angels) and bells. One large or five to seven small cakes are then tied together with a bright ribbon and presented by a young lady to a young man of her choice on Christmas Day.

Springerle (cookies), marzipan candies, and Stollen (a type of coffeecake with candied and dried fruit) are also popular Christmas desserts. To accompany the cookies, Germans drink Glühwein, a type of mulled wine. A favorite drink with teenagers is Apfelschörle, a sparkling fruit juice. A traditional Christmas dinner is roast goose with vegetables and Kartoffelknödeln (potato dumplings).

• The Rhine in Flames festival in Germany is a wonderful festival of fireworks in Germany that takes place during the months of May till September and is also one of the most popular events in the region of Rhine.

• Most of the well known carnival in Germany are held in the cities of Aachen, Mainz, Dusseldorf and Bonn. Among these the Koln Carnival in Germany starts from the 11th of November right at the 11:11 am and stretches up to a span of three months.
• The Schleswig Holstein Music Festival in Germany, also known as the Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival, is basically a classical festival of music that takes place during the months of summer.
  

• Berlin Film Festival in Germany is one of the biggest festivals of the world after the film festivals of Cannes and Venice.

• Berlin Marathon, a part of the World Marathon Majors, occurs every year in Germany since the year of 1974 and is organized by Gunter Hallas, who is also the beginner of the event.

• The Walpurgis Night, literally meaning the “Witches' Night”, is celebrated in the country of Germany from 30th April till the 1st of May and marks the victory of the spring season over winter.

• Hanse Sail is one of the largest maritime festivals celebrated in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern that has more than two hundred varieties of ships visiting the port of Rostock each year.

Walpurgis Night (in German folklore) the night of April 30 (May Day's eve), when witches meet on the Brocken mountain and hold revels with their gods..."

Brocken is the highest of the Harz Mountains of north central Germany. It is noted for the phenomenon of the Brocken spectre and for witches' revels which reputedly took place there on Walpurgis night.

The Brocken Spectre is a magnified shadow of an observer, typically surrounded by rainbow-like bands, thrown onto a bank of cloud in high mountain areas when the sun is low. The phenomenon was first reported on the Brocken.

—Oxford Phrase & Fable.

A scene in Goethe's Faust Part One is called "Walpurgisnacht", and one in Faust Part Two is called "Classical Walpurgisnacht". The last chapter of book five in Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain is also called "Walpurgisnacht".

In some parts of northern coastal regions of Germany, the custom of lighting huge Beltane fires is still kept alive, to celebrate the coming of May, while most parts of Germany have a derived Christianized custom around Easter called "Easter fires".

In rural parts of southern Germany it is part of popular youth culture to play pranks on Walpurgisnacht, e.g. tampering with neighbors' gardens, hiding possessions, or spraying graffiti on private property. These pranks occasionally result in serious damage to property or bodily injury.

In Berlin traditional leftist Mayday riots usually start at Walpurgis Night in the Mauerpark in Prenzlauer Berg. There is a similar tradition in the Schanzenviertel district of Hamburg. Though in both cases the situation has significantly calmed down in the past few years.

Adolf Hitler, with several members of his staff (including Joseph Goebbels), committed suicideWalpurgisnacht, April 30 – May 1, 1945. At the time of his suicide, the Russians had already closed in about several hundred meters on his bunker and Hitler did not want to be captured alive. However, the coincidence of the day has been used to argue for an occult initiation of Hitler. on

info from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walpurgis_Night

The Seven Swabians

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

Once seven Swabians were together. The first was Herr Schulz, the second Jackli, the third Marli, the fourth Jergli, the fifth Michal, the sixth Hans, and the seventh Veitli.

All seven had decided to travel throughout the world seeking adventure and performing great deeds. In order to arm themselves and assure their safety, they thought it would be a good thing to have a single, but very strong and very long spear made for them. Together all seven of them took hold of this spear. The bravest and most manly of them was in front, and that had to be Herr Schulz. The others followed in order, with Veitli bringing up the rear.

Now one day in the month of July, when they had walked a long way but still had a good piece to go before reaching the village where they were going to spend the night, it happened that they were in a meadow just as it was getting dark, and a large beetle or hornet flew by them from behind a bush, buzzing in a threatening manner.

Herr Schulz was so frightened that he almost let go of the spear, and a cold sweat broke out over his whole body. "Listen, listen," he shouted to his comrades. "Good heaven, I hear a drum!"

Jackli, who was holding the spear behind him, and who had just smelled I don't know what, said, "Something is here for sure. I can smell the powder and the fuses."

Hearing these words, Herr Schulz began to run away, and he quickly jumped over a fence, landing right on the teeth of a rake that had been left lying there from haymaking. The handle hit him in the face with a tremendous blow.

"Oh dear, oh dear," screamed Master Schulz. "Take me prisoner! I surrender! I surrender!"

The other six all jumped toward him, one over the other, screaming, "If you surrender, I surrender too. If you surrender, I surrender too."

But no enemy was there to bind them and take them away, so they finally saw that they had been deceived. To keep the story from getting out and causing them to look foolish and to be ridiculed, they all swore to one another that they would say nothing about it until one of them should open his mouth by mistake.

Then they traveled onward.

The second danger that they experienced cannot be compared to the first one. A few days later their path led them across an unplowed field where a hare was sitting asleep in the sun. Its ears were standing straight up, and its large glassy eyes were wide open.

All of them were frightened at the sight of this terrible wild beast, and they discussed with one another what would be the least dangerous thing to do. If they were to run away, they feared that the monster would pursue them and devour them all, even their skin and hair.

So they said, "We will have to fight a great and dangerous battle. Well begun is half done!"

Then all seven took hold of the spear, Herr Schulz in front and Veitli at the rear. Herr Schulz was always trying to hold the spear back, but at the rear Veitli had become quite brave, and wanted to break loose. He shouted:

Strike out, in every Swabian's name,
Or else I wish that you be lame.

But Hans knew how to answer this, and he said:

Thunder and lightning, you're one to brag,
But at dragon hunting you always lag.

Michal shouted:

Nothing is missing, not even a hair.
The devil himself is the one who is there.

Then it was Jergli's turn, and he said:

If he's not the one, it is his mother,
Or else it is the devil's stepbrother.

Then Marli had a good idea, and he said to Veitli:

Forward, Veitli, go first, I say.
I'm behind you all the way.

Veitli, however, did not obey, and Jackli said:

Let Herr Schulz be number one,
That's an honor he has won.

Then Herrr Schulz took courage, and said:

Boldly then, we go to war.
Then all will know how brave we are.

Then all together they attacked the dragon. Herr Schulz crossed himself and prayed to God for assistance, but none of this helped, so, approaching the enemy, he screamed in great fear, "Oh, oh, oh, oh!"

This awakened the hare, and the frightened animal darted swiftly away. When Herr Schulz saw it thus fleeing from the battlefield, he shouted out joyfully:

Quick, Veitli, look there,
The monster is a hare."

Then the band of Swabians went in search of further adventure, and they came to the Mosel, a mossy, still, deep river. There are only a few bridges over it, and in many places people have to cross it by boat. The seven Swabians did not know this, so they shouted to a man who was working on the opposite side of the river, and asked him how to get across.

Because of the distance and their language, the man did not understand what they wanted, and he asked, in the dialect of Trier, "Wat? Wat?"

Herr Schulz thought he was saying, "Wade. Wade through the water," and because he was in front, he set forth and began walking into the Mosel. Before long he sank into the mud and into the deep waves that were driving against him. However, the wind blew his hat to the opposite shore. A frog sat down beside it, and croaked, "wat, wat, wat."

The other six heard this from the other side and said, "Aha, our comrade Herr Schulz is calling us. If he can wade across, then why can't we?"

So in a rush and all together they jumped into the water and drowned.

Thus one frog took the lives of all six of them, and not one of the band of Swabians ever came home again.

story from: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm119.html