Презентация по страноведению "Germany"

• Germany (Federal Republic of Germany)- a country in Central and Western Europe, lying between the Baltic and North Seas to the north and the Alps, Lake Constance and the High Rhine to the south. It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, France to the southwest, and Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands to the west.

Etymology

• The English word  Germany  derives from the Latin  Germania , which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. The German term  Deutschland , originally  diutisciu land  ("the German lands") is derived from  deutsch  (compare  Dutch ), descended from Old High German  diutisc  "popular" (i.e. belonging to the  diot  or  diota  "people"), originally used to distinguish the language of the common people from Latin and its Romance descendants.

Climate

• Most of Germany has a temperate seasonal climate dominated by humid westerly winds. The country is situated in between the oceanic Western European and the continental Eastern European climate. The climate is moderated by the North Atlantic Drift, the northern extension of the Gulf Stream. This warmer water affects the areas bordering the North Sea; consequently in the northwest and the north the climate is oceanic. Germany gets an average of 789 mm (31 in) of precipitation per year; there is no consistent dry season. Winters are cool and summers tend to be warm: temperatures can exceed 30 °C (86 °F).

Languages

• German is the official and predominant spoken language in Germany.
• Recognised native minority languages in Germany are Danish, Low German, Low Rhenish, Sorbian, Romany, North Frisian and Saterland Frisian.
• The Goethe-Institut is a non-profit German cultural association operational worldwide with 159 institutes. It is offering the study of the German language and encouraging global cultural exchange.

Culture

• Germany is well known for such folk festival traditions as Oktoberfest and Christmas customs, which include Advent wreaths, Christmas pageants, Christmas trees, Stollen cakes, and other practices. As of 2016 UNESCO inscribed 41 properties in Germany on the World Heritage List.There are a number of public holidays in Germany determined by each state; 3 October has been a national day of Germany since 1990, celebrated as the  Tag der Deutschen Einheit  (German Unity Day). Prior to reunification, the day was celebrated on 17 June, in honour of the Uprising of 1953 in East Germany which was brutally suppressed on that date.

Oktoberfest

Dresden

Berlin

Symbols of Germany

Bradenburg Gate

Flag

Coat of arms of Germany

Oak

Deutschlandlied

Symbols

Music

• Germany has also been  proving ground  for foreign rock musicians, from the  Beatles  apprenticeship in clubs along Hamburg’s  Reeperbahn  in the early 1960s to fellow Englishman  David Bowie ’s landmark  recordings in Berlin  and the collaborations of Italian producer Giorgio Moroder and American disco diva  Donna Summer  in Munich’s  Musicland Studios  in the 1970s. German performers have also left their mark on  rock , not least the influential groups Can,  Faust , and Tangerine Dream, whose innovative music emerged in the early 1970s and was dubbed “Krautrock” by Anglo-American critics. 

• Dance also has been an important part of German cultural life. In the 18th century the  waltz , a  ballroom dance  for couples, developed from regional social dances of southern Germany and  Austria , such as the  Dreher ,  Ländler , and  Deutscher . 
• Modern dance was embraced in Germany, where it was known as  Ausdruckstanz  (“expressionistic dance”). Early  modern dance  pioneers such as  Mary Wigman ,  Kurt Jooss , and  Hanya Holm  had a broad influence on dance practice, particularly in the United States.

Kurt Jooss

Mary Wigman