LONELY PLANET'S OFFICIAL GUIDEBOOK INFORMATION
Top Tens
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Must-See German Movies
Planning and dreaming about your trip to Germany is best done in a comfy living room with a bowl of popcorn in one hand and a remote in the other. Go for a classic or pick from among the great crop of recent made-in-Germany flicks.
Metropolis (1927) Director: Fritz Lang
Das Boot (1981) Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire, 1987) Director: Wim Wenders
Lola Rennt (Run Lola Run, 1998) Director: Tom Tykwer
Good Bye, Lenin! (2003) Director: Wolfgang Becker
Die Fetten Jahre Sind Vorbei (The Edukators, 2004) Director: Hans Weingartner
Gegen die Wand (Head-On, 2004) Director: Fatih Akin
Der Untergang (Downfall, 2004) Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Sophie Scholl – Die Letzten Tage (Sophie Scholl – The Final Days, 2005) Director: Marc Rothemund
Das Leben der Anderen (The Life of Others, 2006) Director: Florian von Donnersmarck
Top Reads
One of the best ways to learn about a country’s culture and grasp a sense of a people is to immerse yourself in a good book. The following Top 10 – from classics to contemporary works – have won kudos and critical acclaim in Germany and abroad.
Simplicissimus (The Adventures of a Simpleton, 1668) Hans Jacob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen
Der Prozess (The Trial, 1925) Franz Kafka
Berlin Alexanderplatz (1929) Alfred Döblin
Im Westen nichts Neues (All Quiet on the Western Front, 1929) Erich Maria Remarque
Die Blechtrommel (The Tin Drum, 1959) Günter Grass
Der Geteilte Himmel (Divided Heaven, 1963) Christa Wolf
Die Ausgewanderten (The Emigrants, 1997) WG Sebald
Russendisko (Russian Disco, 2000) Wladimir Kaminer
Der Vorleser (The Reader, 2002) Bernhard Schlink
Stasiland (2004) Anna Funder
Our Favourite Festivals & Events
As was amply demonstrated during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Germans really know how to let their hair down, and there’s almost always something interesting happening around the country. The following list is our Top 10.
Internationale Filmfestspiele (Berlin Film Festival, Berlin) February
Cannstatter Volkfest (Stuttgart) September/October
Carnival/Fasching (various regions) Cologne, Munich
Frankfurt Book Fair (Frankfurt-am-Main) September-October
Hamburger Dom (Hamburg) March
Kieler Woche (Kiel) June
Bach Festival (Leipzig) Around Ascension Day
Love Parade (Berlin) July
Munich Oktoberfest (Munich) September-October
Rhine in Flames (five locations in Rhineland-Palatinate) May-September
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