Religion

Germany is the home of the Reformation launched by Martin Luther in the early 16th century. Today, Protestants comprise about 33% of the population and Catholics also 33%. In total more than 55 million people officially belong to a Christian denomination. The third largest religious identity in Germany is that of non-religious people (including atheists and agnostics), who amount to a total of 28.5 % of the population (23.5 million).
Besides this there are several hundred thousand Orthodox Christians, 400,000 New Apostolic Christians, more than 150,000 Jehovah's Witnesses, and numerous other small groups.
Approximately 3.2 million Muslims live in Germany.
Today's Germany has Western Europe's third-largest Jewish population.

Climate

The greater part of Germany lies in the cool/temperate climatic zone in which humid westerly winds predominate.
In the north-west and the north the climate is oceanic and rain falls all the year round. Winters there are relatively mild and summers tend to be comparatively cool, even though temperatures can reach above 28°C for prolonged periods of time.
In the east the climate shows clear continental features; winters can be very cold for long periods, and summers can become very warm. Here, too, long dry periods are often recorded.
In the central part and the south there is a transitional climate which varies from moderately oceanic to continental, depending on the location.

Language

German is spoken by more than 120 million people in the world, in Germany, in Austria, in Switzerland, in Liechtenstein, in Luxemburg, in certain regions of Belgium, in northern Italy and Eastern France.

Various

Currency:
Since January 1st 2002 the currency is the EURO.

Electric current:
220 volt.

Travel documents:
A passport or ID is required. Please check the expiry date before your departure.

Useful Internet sites

Discover Germany:
www.deutschland.de

Train schedule:
www.bahn.de

Airline (low cost):
www.easyjet.com