Fun Facts About Germany

What is Germany famous for?

Countries are known for interesting things.

From vanishing potatoes to blue cheese, underground cities to coloured rivers, every country has something that uniquely stands out.

When it comes to Germany, we are not all about efficiency and time-keeping. We also have a fun side, and we like to think of people as people.

Look at the first item for instance:

The jailbreak is not a crime

If you break out of prison in Germany, you will not be punished (Selbstbefreiung).

Isn’t it crazy?

This means that theoretically every prisoner can break out of prison as often as he wants and can’t get a higher sentence.

So, by recognizing that it is part of the human instinct to be free, Germany is pretty liberal. However, the broken-out prisoners don’t stay in freedom for long.

Most are caught again after a short time.

Of course the ‘getting-caught-again’ part is not exciting, so if you don’t like bad endings like me, how about we cheer ourselves with an adrenaline rush?

Speed rush on German highways

On German highways, there are many routes where there are no speed limits.

That means you can drive as fast as you want, but of course you have to be extra careful. This is because the faster you drive your car, the longer the braking distance.

For example:

If you drive 100km/h (kilometres per hour), your braking distance is 50 meters.

If you drive 200km/h (kilometres per hour), your braking distance is 200 meters.

The braking distance is therefore not doubled, but quadruples (four times as much). 

Many people love this rush of speed and are even addicted to it, and if you want to be driven instead of driving, tour operators offer special German Autobahn Travel Tours. 

These are trips in Germany which can be taken in many cars including sports cars, so that you can have the ultimate experience of speed on German highways.

And what do we do after a good speed rush?

We toast to it!

Beer consumption in Germany (fun fact about Germany)

In Germany, beer consumption is really, really high – I’m sure you already knew that. In fact, we have about 1500 breweries! 

However, did you know that beer in Bavaria is considered as basic food (staple food)?

No kidding! 

This was established in the “Purity Law“, the oldest food law in the world, and beer is also often referred to as liquid bread because it is made from grain and yeast. 

And that leads us to the next point:

The German bread

Poland is known for the bagel, which is a type of round bread covered in dried seeds.

When it comes to the tail part of bread, however, we have far more names than any other country. In fact, there are over 200 of them!

Here are just a few examples:

• Kanten
• Endstück
• Ecke
• Rand
• Käntle
• Kruste
• Krüstchen
• Knorke
• Ärschl

Of course, you don’t have to know every word. It’s enough if you know the word Kanten.

And lastly, let’s look at some inventions that make us really proud.

Inventions from Germany (interesting facts about Germany)

Did you know that we invented the gummy bears? Yeah right!

But they were not always called ‘gummy bears’. They were originally known as ‘dancing bears treat’, and this name was inspired by a ‘live bears show’.

Today, the HARIBO company produces so many gummy bears in a year that if you placed them continuously head to toe they could circle the planet four times over.

If you don’t like eating plain ‘gummys’, however, you could also soak them in vodka for an extra punch or make them into cookies! 

Okay, enough about gummy bears. Here are a few more things that were invented in Germany:

• decorated Christmas trees
• Diesel and gasoline engines
• calculators
• kindergartens
• LCD screens
• insulin
• coffee filters
• contact lenses

Did you like my small selection of fun facts about Germany?

If there is anything interesting that you feel I have left out, let me know. I have left out some on purpose, so I want to see which ones you can find out by yourself or you already know.

Have fun!