One of President Ronald Reagan’s most famous lines was spoken on June 12, 1987, when he demanded, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” That line was preceded by a lesser-remembered demand: “Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate!” The speech was delivered in Berlin, West Germany, in front of the iconic Brandenburg Gate.

Ideas about how to create a contact lens date back at least to the time of Leonardo da Vinci. French philosopher René Descartes later came up with a workable design, except for one small flaw — it didn’t allow the person using it to blink. The first usable contact lens that resembles our modern version was eventually designed by German ophthalmologist Adolf Gaston Eugen Flick in 1888.

It’s no surprise that Chancellor Angela Merkel was an accomplished academic, but you may be surprised to learn that she earned a doctorate in quantum chemistry after studying at Karl Marx University in Leipzig and the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin. After leaving school, she worked as a research scientist for several years, and began her political career shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

In 2002, Legoland Deutschland Resort opened in the city of Gunzberg. One of Germany’s four largest amusement parks, the park features over 57 million Lego pieces and 68 themed attractions. The Miniland section of the park features Lego recreations of German monuments, cities, and landscapes. The park also features the world’s largest Lego building: a 1.5-ton replica of Munich’s Allianz Arena.

Before the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963, Germany’s soccer league was split into five regional tiers, with the top two in each tier advancing to a tournament. Today, the Bundesliga is recognized as one of the elite soccer leagues in Europe, with four teams advancing to the European Champions League each year. Bayern Munich has been the most successful club of the modern era, winning each league title between 2013 and 2022.

Historians credit Germany for starting the modern indoor Christmas tree tradition as early as the 16th century, when devout Christians began cutting down trees, decorating them, and bringing them into their homes. Protestant reformer Martin Luther was believed to be the first to add lighted candles to the tree, and German settlers in Pennsylvania brought the tradition to the U.S.

Soccer may be the most popular sport among German fans, but the sport in which the country has had the most international success is canoeing and kayaking. Germany has racked up 38 Olympic gold medals and 88 total medals in the event. One of the country’s most decorated champions, Birgit Fisher, won eight gold medals across six different Olympics.

Germany was the birthplace of a significant number of the world’s most famous classical composers. Beethoven, Bach, Strauss, Brahms, Mendelssohn, and Handel are all from parts of modern-day Germany. Mozart’s birthplace was Salzburg, Austria, located just across the German border.

King Ludwig II, who reigned over Bavaria from 1864 to 1886, was also known as “The Fairy Tale King,” and his Neuschwanstein Castle inspired another legendary fan of fairy tales. Walt Disney visited the grand hilltop castle in the German Alps in 1955, and he was inspired to create Disneyland’s castle for Sleeping Beauty. The real German castle has a stunning interior covered with Ludwig’s favorite art and poetry.

On average, Germans consume a little over 90 liters of beer per person annually. By far the most popular type of beer in Germany is pilsner, nicknamed “pils.” The light gold beer is named after the Czech town of Pilsen, where a Bavarian brewmaster named Josef Groll opened a brewery in the mid-19th century.

While standing in front of the Berlin Wall in West Germany in 1963, President John F. Kennedy famously uttered the German phrase, “Ich bin ein Berliner,” which translates to “I am a Berliner.” The phrase was used to symbolically declare Kennedy a citizen of Berlin — and as a defense of democracy and self-government in the Cold War era.

Found in the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, the German city of Freiburg is commonly called “the Jewel of the Black Forest.” Freiburg is a picturesque university town, home to Albert Ludwig University, and its moderate, warm year-round climate makes it a popular spot for wineries. The city also provides easy access to the neighboring French and Swiss borders.

Germany is made up of 16 states. Bavaria is the largest by physical size, but with approximately 18 million residents (as of the 2020 census) North Rhine-Westphalia is the largest by population. The state’s capital is Düsseldorf, and its largest city is Cologne — though it’s only the fourth-most populous in the country, after Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich.

German-born brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm became known as the Brothers Grimm after publishing a number of legendary fairy tales together. Three of those tales — “Rapunzel,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and “Hansel and Gretel” — were inspired by and set in Germany’s Black Forest. The forest is known for its conifers that block out light, and it contains a number of castles that are similar to those described in the fairytales.

While printing existed in Asia prior to its invention, the Gutenberg printing press — invented by Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz, Germany — brought mass printing to Europe for the first time. The first production was the Gutenberg Bible, and two of the world’s remaining 48 copies of the bible can be found in the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz. Historians think Gutenberg produced about 180 copies, but no two were identical.

Of these rivers, the Danube is the longest, flowing for 1,770 total miles, but only 363 of those miles fall within German borders. The Rhine may only be 760 miles in total, but its 540 miles in Germany make it the longest river in Germany. The river begins in the Swiss Alps and flows through the German cities of Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Duisburg, before emptying into the North Sea in the Netherlands.

World-famous Oktoberfest is a two-week beer festival held annually in Munich. The festival ends on the first Sunday in October — which means that when the Mayor of Munich kicks things off by tapping the first keg, it’s actually still September. The festival originated in 1810 as a celebration of the marriage between King Louis I and Princess Therese.

The Chancellor is elected by the German federal parliament, which is called the Bundestag. The Chancellor cannot be selected without an absolute majority in parliament, which elects via secret vote, with no prior debate. In the last century, the longest serving Chancellors of Germany were Helmut Kohl, from 1982 to 1998, and Angela Merkel, who served from 2005 to 2021.

The “autobahn,” Germany’s federally controlled highway system, is a choose-your-own-speed adventure for motorists. While some sections do indeed have a posted speed limit, there is no nationwide limit — though a maximum speed of 130 kph, roughly 80 mph, is recommended to drivers. In 2019, the Green Party in Germany attempted to set a limit of 80 mph on the autobahn, but they were voted down.

Bordering nine countries, Germany is one of the best hubs from which to travel around Europe. Germany borders France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Belgium, and the Czech Republic. To make travel easier, Germany also has Europe’s largest train station, which opened in Berlin in 2006.