Exploring a country: Germany | 6/16

This is part 6 of 16 of a journey through my home country: Germany.

I invite everyone to take a closer look at what I call home. I will show you sides of today-Germany you didn't know of - especially when you are not German.
A lot of "foreigners" (actually I don't really like this word) connect Germany with beer, cars, lederhosen and sauerkraut. I admit these are parts of Germany and important ones too (especially the beer and the cars), but they by far are not everything!

This article serie will show you the 16 countries of Germany, some quite similar to each other, some totally different. Sure, this serie will mainly feature photography, but perhaps I will link to other styles of art like modern German music or so.

Our journey leads us through (click the ones in italic to see that article):

_{Bavaria
Saxony
Brandenburg
Berlin
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Schleswig-Holstein
Hamburg
Lower Saxony
Saxony-Anhalt
Thuringia
Hesse
Baden-Wuerttemberg
Rhineland-Palatinate
Saarland
North Rhine-Westphalia
Bremen}

Please, come and see...



So people, here we go again...
After Mecklenburg-Vorpommern two weeks ago and a one week pause (hope you all had some happy Easter?!), let's now move a little north and visit Germany's northernmost state: Schleswig-Holstein.



Schleswig-Holstein is a tiny state, it is the second smallest German state that is not at the same time a pure city (a socalled "Stadtstaat" like Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen are). Nevertheless, this small state adds 3.2% to the whole European coastline, and this is because of Schleswig-Holsteins location between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.

Schleswig-Holstein is a very nordic and sometimes even a little Scandinavian state. The reason for this is the rule of Denmark over Schleswig-Holstein for almost 400 years.
In 1864, shortly before the creation of the German Reich, the two duchys Schleswig and Holstein were conquered back. They were united to one state in 1946, after the Second World War.

Since then, the capital of Schlewsig-Hostein has been Kiel. The city is located at the baltic side of Schlewsig-Holstein and is one important harbour for ferrys and transport vessels on the Blatic Sea.
Even if it's rather small, it is world famous among sailors for the Kieler Woche (Kiel Week), the world's largest sailing event and North Europe's largest summer festival. Kiel is the home for the well known Gorch Fock, the German Navy's training vessel.



One city nobody visiting Germany should miss is Lübeck.
Not only is it the place Thomas Mann wrote his famous Buddenbrooks, it also once was the mightiest city in North and Middle Europe - you can still see that today every now and then, when visiting Lübeck. The city was called "The Queen of the Hanseatic League", a trading alliance that ruled trade in the Baltic Sea and parts of the North Sea for over 300 years and made it's member cities rich, powerfull and free. Hence, it was called one of the five "Glories of the Empire" by the Holy Roman Emperor in 1375 - as only non-Italian city.



Another city in Schleswig-Holstein is Flensburg. Germans have a quite ambivalent relationship with this city: One the one hand, it is a true beauty and one of the best German beers is made here (even Colin Powell loves the original Flensburger), on the other hand, Flensburg holds the register for traffic credits! For what? Every time you misbehave in road traffic (driving too fast, drinking, telephoning, sex...) and get caught doing so, you get charged. You'll have to pay some money and get some credits into this register. You'll lose your license once you've got more than 14 credits.
Flensburg is one of the northermost cities in Germany - it's almost Denmark! It is the biggest town in an area called Angeln, the origin of the Angles, part of the Anglo-Saxons. It's also home of one of Germany's most successfull handball-teams.



Well, that's the cities. As Schleswig-Holstein itself is very, very flat, as most of northern Germany is, and you've seen a lot of flat land in my previous articles (and will see more in my next ones!), let's just move on to the islands of Schleswig-Holstein, which are very different - and very beautiful.

The only major baltic island of Schleswig-Holstein is Fehmarn. It is the most important harbour when you want to travel from Germany to Denmarks various islands. In the next years, a brige will be built to cross the belt to Denmark: the Fehmarn Belt bridge.



On the other side of Schleswig-Holstein, in the North Sea, lies Helgoland. It is the only German offshore island - and has been under Danish and British law in it's history. GB even tried to blow it after WWII, because it was seen as a potential future threat. Yet, it still stands and is a major tourist destination. Unfortunately, I found no pics of it's tiny houses here on dA, what is quite a pity!



Next island is Sylt, Germany's northernmost island and a place where the high-society meets in summer. The island is a beauty, but these celebs and wannebees are a little disturbing, to say the truth! Therefore, only the calm and relaxing sides of Sylt here:



Now, there are still Föhr and Amrum, two rather large and well populated German islands. These islands are, like almost all German islands, heavily influenced by tourism - and could never survive without it. Yet, they kept a pure look, especially outside the villages.



Unfortunately, as you can see, people seem to shoot beaches and sunsets rather than the villages. So, I can't show you much of that - but they are worth a visits every time. German island's villages are all tiny and cute with a very charming population.
Yet, there are settlements even smaller than these - on islands that small, they sometimes are completely underwater with only the houses looking out a little. Often, there is only one house and a lighthouse on such an island - we call these pieces of earth Halligen and they are wonders of nature - and a wonder of human's will to overpower nature. They are stunning - and shot way to seldom:



As a coastal state, it's clear that Schleswig-Holstein is full of lighthouses - lighthouses with a typical German flair. Let me show you some great ones, among which you will find the lighthouse Westerhever Sand, one of Germanys most famous lighthouses. It is frequently used in commercials, traveling brochures, movies etc...



Yes, that's it. Enough told... Or: almost!
When travelling to Schleswig-Holstein, and knowing a little German, you will hear the people talk in a quite different tongue. Not only the accents is different from "normal" German (actually, there is only a very, very small region in Germany that speaks the kind of German every foreigner would learn in school - and as I was born in this region, I have my problems with some accents), Schleswig-Holstein is also part of the Plattdeutsch-speaking area in North Germany. Plattdeutsch (Low German) is the only official language in Germany besides Standard German - and as such, even Germany's patent office in Munich, Bavaria (about 750km away) has to deal with Low German patent applications - sure they can't do so without a translation!
Most North Germans (not only in Schleswig-Holstein) are fond of their Low German - yet, it is slowly dying out. I personally find that a pity, even if I myself don't either speak or understand it really.

Now, this was only a very, very short trip through Schleswig-Holstein and I know I missed a lot (if not almost everything). But this is supposed to be a short, informative journal and not a travel guide. I hope you like the pictures - if you do, please give the artists a visit and/or a fav, they really deserve it.

If you have any questions about this station of our trip or Germany as a whole: please ask, I'll try to answer as quick as possible.
And if you have any suggestions about how to make this trip any better, please don't hesitate to write me, either.





Looking forward for your comments - and the next station of this trip...

PS: This journal can alson be read and faved as a news article!






_{... since 2008/09/16}