29 facts about why we learn french

1. Germans are the second largest beer consumers in the world, after the Irish.
2. Beer is officially considered a food in Bavaria.
3. Michael Ballack does not like beer.
4. Germany is Europe’s largest economy.
5. The most popular German surname (Nachname) is Müller.
6. Chancellor Angela Merkel has a Barbie doll made after her.
7. Historically, Germany was known as the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Weimar Republic.
8. 31% of the country has been kept with forests and woodlands, with Hesse having the most.
9. There are over 300 kinds of bread in Germany.
10. There are also bread museums.
11. There are 35 dialects of the German language.
12. The Wittelsbachs ruled Bavaria for 738 years.
13. Munich is further north than any major US city (excluding Alaska).
14. German is the official language of 5 countries: Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. It is also spoken in Northern Italy and the French provinces of Alsace and Lorraine.
15. Germany is the first country to adopt Daylight Saving Time (DST) in 1916.
16. 2% of Germans do not own mobile phones.
17. Gummy bears were invented by a German.
18. The balcony of the hotel Michael Jackson dangled his son over is in Berlin.
19. While it is called Oktoberfest, it actually starts in September.
20. The first Oktoberfest was a wedding celebration for Prince Ludwig of Bavaria.
21. 65% of the Autobahn (highway) has no speed limit.
22. The Cologne Cathedral took 632 years to build. (Bill Bryson in Neither Here Nor There (p. 88) wrote: “It is absolutely immense, over 500 feet long and more than 200 feet wide…It can hold 40,000 people. You can understand why it took 700 years to build – and that was with German workers. In Britain they would still be digging the foundations.”)
23. The first printed book was in German.
24. German is the third most commonly taught language worldwide.
25. When JFK visited Berlin, he infamously said “Ich bin ein Berliner,” which also translates to “I am a jelly donut.”
26. Hugo Boss designed the official uniforms for the Nazi Party and Hitler Youth. (I did an assignment on this for German class if anyone is interested in reading more about it)
27. To ask for a beer in a pub, you would use your thumb to indicate “one” rather than your index finger (watch Inglorious Basterds for improper examples of ordering beer)
28. Til Schweiger, sometimes known as the “German Brad Pitt,” is born one day after Pitt.
29. The longest word published in the German language is Donaudampfschifffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft (79 letters). Try saying that five times fast.