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Facts about Germany

1. With 81 million people Germany has the largest population in the European Union.

2. Germany was the first country in the world to adopt Daylight saving time – DST,
also known as summer time. This occured in 1916 in the midst of WWI and was put in
place to conserve energy.

3. Germany is one of the world's leading book nations – publishing around 94,000 titles every
year. It's also where you'll find international book publishing's most import event, the
International Frankfurt Book Fair. The facts are perhaps not suprising, seeing the Gutenberg press
– a revolution in the printing world using movable type – was invented in Germany. Also, the
earliest known magazine to have been published was the Erbauliche Monaths-
Unterredungen, which was started by German poet and theologian Johann Rist.

4. Prison escape is not punishable by law in Germany – German law maintains that it’s a
basic human instinct to be free and therefore, prisoners have the right to escape jail.
Escapes, however, rarely go unpunished because prisoners are held liable if they cause
damage to property or inflict bodily harm against any individual upon their breakout.

5. It’s illegal to run out of fuel in the German Autobahn – although not forbidden,
motorists are only allowed to stop in the legendary highway for emergencies and having
an empty tank of gas is not. Drivers can be fined and also have their licenses suspended
for up to six months. Walking or running in the highway system is also illegal and is
punishable by a fine of around EUR 90.

6. Germany has legal say on what babies can be named – German law ban names that
don’t denote a gender or use a family name as a first name. In 2014, the most popular
children's names were Sophie/Sofie for a girl and Maximilian for a boy.

7. Fanta originated in Germany as a result of the Second World War – due to a trade
embargo that prevented importing Coca-Cola syrup into Germany, the head of Coca-Cola
in the country decided to create a domestic product for the market using available
‘leftover’ products like whey and apple pomace. It’s the second oldest brand of the Coca-
Cola Company and its second most popular drink outside of the United States. It’s
consumed 130 million times every day around the world.

8. College education in Germany is free even for internationals – tuition fees for
bachelor’s degrees in public universities was abolished in 2014 due to politicians thinking
that having to pay for higher education as ‘socially unjust’.
9. Over 800 million currywurst are eaten in Germany each year – currywurst is a
sausage served with a spicy sauce, and is a street food that has become a cult classic in
Germany. About 7 million currywurst are eated in Berlin alone. There's even a museum
in Berlin dedicated to the popular snack.

10.Germany is rated highly as a place to grow old – life expectancy in Germany is almost 81
years (one year higher than the OEDC average) – 83 for women and 78 for men – and just over
26 percent of the population is currently over 60. Germany is a good place to retire: it ranks
fourth (out of 96 countries) in the Global AgeWatch Index 2015 for wellbeing amongst the
elderly.

Source:

https://www.expatica.com/de/about/30-facts-about-Germany_108768.html

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