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<h1 class="ChapterName">Germany Overview<br /></h1>
<div style="width: 250px; height:auto; border-style:solid; background:#F8F6E8; border-width:1px; margin-left:10px; padding:10px; float: right;">
<h5 style="margin:0;">Featured Traveler Videos</h5>
<a href="http://www.tripfilms.com/Tourism-l62401-Berlin-Travel_Videos.html" target="_blank">Berlin videos powered by Tripfilms</a>
<h5 style="margin:5;">The City of Berlin</h5>
<a href="../videos/131" title="IMG_0127 by tc1122, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2638/4013794635_33098c6439.jpg" border="0" alt="IMG_0127" width="240" height="180" /></a>
<div>
<h5 style="margin:5;">Other Berlin Videos</h5>
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<li style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="../videos/128">Eating in Mitte</a></li>
<li style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="../videos/126">Checkpoint Charlie</a></li>
<li style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="../videos/69831">EastSeven Berlin Hostel</a></li>
</ul>
<h5 style="margin:5;"><a href="http://stage.letsgo.com/178-germany-travel-guides-berlin-d/videos">SEE ALL BERLIN VIDEOS</a></h5>
</div>
</div>
<p>While there is no shortage of images that characterize Germany—Lederhosen and busty barmaids, ultra-modern skyscrapers, unconscionable
heaps of meat and potatoes—perhaps the most accurate explanation of this compelling country lies not in a preconception but
in a word: <em>Gestalt</em> . This German term, literally meaning “shape,” characterizes something that is distinctly more than the sum of its parts.
<em>Gestalt’</em> s evocative brand of holism speaks both to Germany’s geographical diversity, sweeping from the jagged snowy peaks of the Bavarian
Alps to the sprawling sandy beaches of the north, and to its historical legacy and ever-evolving sense of national identity.
A country split between Protestantism and Catholicism and forged from dozens of squabbling principalities, Germany has never
been homogeneous. Yet a new influx of non-German immigrants and the challenge of collective guilt has forced an entire nation—once
confident in its own ethnic heritage, if nothing else—to question what it means to be German in an ever-shrinking world and
a rapidly diversifying <em>Land</em> . Poised at the juncture of common tradition and forward-looking cosmopolitanism, and facing tremendous uncertainty coupled
with the uplifting potential of change, Germany is uniquely positioned to offer travelers culture, adventure, and the opportunity
to discover the phantasmic <em>Gestalt </em> of contemporary Germany.</p>
<div class="Highlights">
<h4>Facts And Figures</h4>
<ul>
<li><span class="Highlights-Run-in">Jan. 18, 1871:</span> The date of German unification, 95 years after the birth of the US. </li>
<li><span class="Highlights-Run-in">27:</span> The number of times Germany could fit inside the borders of the US. </li>
<li><span class="Highlights-Run-in">82.5 Million:</span> Germany’s population. </li>
<li><span class="Highlights-Run-in">107,000:</span> The size of Germany’s current Jewish community, the third largest in Western Europe. </li>
<li><span class="Highlights-Run-in">80:</span> The number of mosques in Berlin. </li>
<li><span class="Highlights-Run-in">2.7 Million:</span> The number of Turks living in Germany, of whom approximately one third have citizenship. </li>
<li><span class="Highlights-Run-in">500,000:</span> The estimated number of Berlin residents of Turkish descent, making it the third-largest Turkish city in the world. </li>
<li><span class="Highlights-Run-in">120:</span> The number of liters of beer consumed per German per year. </li>
<li><span class="Highlights-Run-in">66:</span> The percentage of German men who are overweight, making Germany the heaviest country in the EU. </li>
<li><span class="Highlights-Run-in">Infinity:</span> The speed limit on the Autobahn. (130km/hr. is recommended). </li>
<li><span class="Highlights-Run-in">4.3 Million:</span> The number of passenger vehicles Germany exports in a year. </li>
<li><span class="Highlights-Run-in">3:</span> Germany’s rank on a list of the world’s largest economies, after the US and Japan. </li>
<li><span class="Highlights-Run-in">1:</span> Germany’s rank as the world’s largest exporter, ahead of the US and China. </li>
<li><span class="Highlights-Run-in">14.2:</span> Percentage of Germany’s electricity made from renewable energy sources. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<p><!-- ESSENTIALS LISTING --></p>
<h3>Essentials</h3>
<ul class="listing">
<li><span>Passport Required: </span>Yes </li>
<li><span>Visa Required for Stay Less Than Three Months: </span>No </li>
<li><span>Tourism Office:</span><a href="http://www.germany-tourism.de/"></a>www.germany-tourism.de</li>
<li><span>Phone Numbers: </span>112 for emergencies; 11837 for domestic directory assistance </li>
<li><span>Currency: </span>Euro (EUR^) </li>
<li><span>Sales Tax: </span>16%, usually included in display price </li>
<li><span>Driving: </span>Right-hand side of the road; International Driving Permit (IDP) required
for six months with valid license from home country </li>
<li><span>Drinking Age: </span>18</li>
<li><span>Reinheitsgebot: </span>“Purity requirement” law guarantees that all beer produced in
Germany contains only water, hops, and barley malt</li>
</ul>
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