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A yellow Labrador fetching a tennis ball in the Englischer Garden... with a glimpse of FKK.

Apart from the conventional,  “plain-vanilla” attractions that Munich has to offer (of which there is a slide show of pictures below), I had the opportunity to taste a couple more distinctly flavorful chestnuts of German culture this past weekend: Mitfahrgelegenheit and Freikörperkultur.

I’ll start with Mitfahrgelegenheit because it piggy-backs off my previous post on Germany’s ardent concern for the environment (at least as it manifests itself in the country’s waste management system). Mitfahrgelegenheit roughly translates to ‘giving someone a ride’, which is exactly the service that Nils Fahls provided me this past Saturday. Fourthy-eight years old, married with two daughters, and a complete-and-utter perfect stranger, Nils drove me back-and-forth from Bamberg to Munich in his tiny but cozy black Opel stationwagon.

Sound like hitchhiking? Well, the difference is that I paid him 24 Euros for the deal, and that the transaction was mediated through a very functional, Craig’sList-like, classifieds website (www.mitfahrgelegenheit.de).  Despite the obvious risks involved, filling your vacant backseat–or passenger seat, in my case–with strangers is a popular concept in Germany not only because it’s economical but also because it’s environmentally friendly.

FKK is Forbidden!

The other, Freikörperkultur, which translates to Free Body Culture, caught me off guard as I strolled through Munich’s sprawling Englischer Garten on Saturday afternoon. Sure, the first sighting of a nude sunbather struck my attention, but I quickly dismissed it as an outlier and certainly did not anticipate the throngs of nudists whom I would stumble upon only moments thereafter. Surprisingly, the nudists were not isolated in just one section but were scattered about the entire park, punctuated between groups of clothed Germans who were unphased by their bare-skin neighbors.  So, I took a seat on a grassy knoll and engaged with my new cultural surroundings without hesitation. Of course the thought of participating only crossed my mind for a brief millisecond.  After all, ‘ich bin Amerikaner’…and I am simply too shy to put on my birthday suit in public.

On a more serious note, FKK has a fascinating history that traces back to the late 1800’s. Despite these early origins, it is said by many that the movement proliferated in the 1960’s as a result of the conservative and oppressive cultural dictums of the Third Reich and the DDR. Below is a quote from Hermann Göring, the infamous Nazi leader who was designated as Hitler’s successor and was commander of the Luftwaffe (Air Force):

One of the greatest dangers for German culture and morality is the so-called nudity movement. Greatly as it is to be welcomed in the interest of the public health, that ever wider circles, especially of the metropolitan population, are striving to make the healing power of sun and air and water serviceable to their body, as greatly must the so-called nudity movement be disapproved of as a cultural error. Among women the nudity kills natural modesty; it takes from men their respect for women, and thereby destroys the prerequisite for any genuine culture. It is therefore expected of all police authorities that, in support of the spiritual powers developed through the national movement, they take all police measures to destroy the so-called nude culture.–1933 (Wikipedia, not the best source in the world)

Perhaps the German stereotype of excruciating self-discipline is best manifested in the country’s commitment to recycling. In fact, the German attitude toward recycling borders on obsessiveness: every little particle of waste falls into one of a variety of categories, each scrupulously definitive and of course mutually exclusive from the next. Sure, this might not seem too intrusive to an American. We have recycling bins, and we separate newspapers from the rest of our trash, right?

For Germans, recycling is a lifestyle; it quite literally informs almost every buying and/or eating decision you make in your day. So draconian are the plastic and glass collection practices that even discotheques engage in deposit-and-reimbursement for beer bottles purchased on the premises. Bought a Pils beer at 4 a.m. and want 20 cents for returning the empty bottle to the bar? No problem!

Let me first explain the normal trash disposal procedures for Germans, then offer a bit of history that may help to clarify their fastidiousness—which, by the way, I have now come to sincerely admire.

When it comes to German trash, there is absolutely no intermingling.

A 'Gelbe Sack'

In addition, nearly every German household has at least one blue and one green bin that sit at the edge of a driveway or curb (again, much like garbage cans in the US). However, the blue bin is for strict paper products and the green bin is for compost–it’s the “other” stuff, the biological waste that includes kitchen scraps, peels, leftover food, coffee filters, tea bags and garden waste.

Grüner Punkt

No joke, a considerable amount of time goes into planning for the disposal of garbage.

So why are Germans so painstakingly organized when it comes to sorting waste? Some say that it is less a moralistic imperative than it is a practical one. Germany is a densely populated country, and because nearly every city is perched atop a hill, there are few topographic vacancies for landfills (scandals involving the exportation of garbage to Africa have plagued Germany’s history). While this may be a compelling reason, a profound concern for the environment and its protection is almost as sacrosanct in Germany as life itself. German rivers, such as those in industrial areas along the Rhine or the Main, are teeming with life as a result. German elementary schools even teach the guiding principles about nature and human society so children can identify with the need for environmental preservation at a young age.

This collection of plastic might get me 1 Euro when returned to the store.

In recent years, the German government has issued increased environmental standards, much to the chagrine of manufacturing and business. But no matter: Germans prioritize ecology over economy.

Every region in Germany has its own traditions and conventions when it comes to drinking the national beverage. Bamberg–and the surrounding region of Franconia, a subdivision of greater Bavaria–is no different.

A 'Klug' full of unfiltered kellerbier

Düsseldorf and Colgone, beer producing cities along the Rhine, have a tradition of serving beer in small glasses (.2 to .3 l). In Munich and Bavaria, on the other hand, the 1 liter “Mass” is common, especially at festivals such as Oktoberfest. In Franconia there is a happy medium: if you just ask for a beer you generally will be served a .5 l glass or mug. This is sometimes called a Seidla, which either takes the form of a pint glass (for filtered beer) or earthenware porcelain (for unfiltered beer). The latter is referred to as a Krug and almost always contains the specialty Kellerbier of a particular local brewery.

In Franconia the term Bierkeller or Sommerkeller causes confusion to foreign or North German visitors. It is used not to describe a cellar bar under a pub, but the beer gardens that open on the hills outside towns in the summer months. It originates from the time when beer was brewed in the winter months and stored or lagered in cool cellar caves in the hills for summer consumption. The establishment of a pub with a tree-shaded garden to serve beer at the Keller was a natural development.

So, it’s a bit of a misnomer: while Franconians say they frequent beer cellars in the summer months, they are in reality enjoying their beer in the open air of a garden above or beside the cellar in which the beer was brewed.

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Probably most commonly associated with the post-WWII Nazi war criminals tribunal, Nuremberg is a city whose rich history actually predates the Renaissance by hundreds of years. In fact, that Nuremberg so aptly manifests the cultural heritage of Germany is precisely why the Allies designated it as the site of Nazi demise.

Nuremberg’s roots are quintessentially medieval; it was once considered a living, breathing relic of the Middle Ages and the ‘unofficial capital’ of the Holy Roman Empire. The pictures in my slideshow above belie the fact, however, that over 90% of that medieval organism was destroyed by the Allies in World War II. Just about every building you see in my photographs is a product of vast post-war rebuilding campaigns, which are by no means exclusive to the city of Nuremberg. Nearly every major city in Germany was decimated in the Second World War. And this is much more apparent to the eye than my pictures suggest: punctuating the historic ‘facsimiles’ are often modern structures that either subtly suggest the style of their predecessors, or brutally disregard them.

Self-Portrait (1500) by Albrecht Dürer

Nuremberg in 1493. This image comes from the Nuremberg Chronicle, an illustrated history of the world and one of the best documented early printed books.

The Last Supper, Rothenberg ob der Tauber

On the left is an image of a wood-sculpted altarpiece located in Rothenberg ob der Tauber; it is one of the hallmark pieces of Tilman Riemenschneider’s oeuvre. It also happens to be one of the many sites I hope to visit while in Germany over the next eight weeks. Below is a list of other prospective attractions in the region of Bavaria:

- Palace of Justice, Nuremberg

- Fortress Marienberg, Würzburg

- Rothenburg, The Romantic Road

- The Beers of Franconia

- Late Medieval German Sculpture