Germany

Germany has always been at the centre of events in Europe – from the tumults of the Reformation and the Thirty Years’ War to the Cold War division and onward into the era of EU expansion. In fact, Germany as a single nation has only existed for 89 years all told, and this means that few countries in Europe have regional identities as deeply-rooted. Bavarians, Rhinelanders, Berliners and Saxons all have very distinct cuisines, cultures, attitudes and accents. In this case, the cliché is true: Germany really is a land of contrasts – cities and countryside, mountains and lowlands, northerners and southerners, westerners and easterners, romantic medieval ruins and sobering modern remains.