i live in hamburg which is a free city and which counts as a state
hamburg was originally a castle, fortress founded around the year 820, burg means castle,fortress

that is germany for me..much and very very interesting history
u can become master(u are called master) in certian jobs(our government took it away from several jobs)

and yes germany ,like other european countries, is being americanised( if u can call it that way..)it kills the german culture thats why i dont like it

the german hip hop is not mainly copied from US..for example Fanta Vier,Wir sind Helden and Bushido(! cause quite some songs are very deep going and come directly from the soul)
english languaged music is so popular cause it sounds attractiv yes( and yes if u translate them into german most would find them stupid)
german is a very demanding language that is why u need a good text or it sounds very stupid

after all i think most germans are good because they are away of many problems regarding their youth,future etc etc

when i think about americans i think they just praise everything without knowing alot about their own country
for example they praise their democracy but i really wonder if they even have a democracy
only 2 types,democrats and  repluclicants
money rules everything..everything...best example for law system is paris hilton stole her sex video from a shop and it got filmed by a camera but the judge said there werent enough proofs
a women burned herself with coffee from mac donalds and sued them with the reason that there was no sign that the coffee was hot(zuahahahaahahahah, as turkish people would write)
the terminator is gouvenor of florida(ummmmmm...)
an ex alcoholic is the president, how he become president? money money money
USA is no democracy for me, only a big big money business
human rights? where? i see many videos of the mobile electric shocker the american police now us
they wanna try them out:that means they go holding weapons to someone they wanna catch, the criminell helds his arms into the sky but the police men shoot him with the shocker..why i ask myself
i had to say it cause that is why many germans mistrust the USA and or dislike them(other reasons are added)and i want that the americans understand it a bit better.. i dont want that u think we just dont like americans cause of stupid reasons
there are way more reasons
i want to make u aware of it cause many many americans seems to be blind(ed)

im very sorry that my english got under your eyes.. i hope they wont be damaged

i forgot the Reinheitsgebot of beer(purity regulations,sounds not equal but my dictionary says it..)
only barley,hop and water are allowed in german beers..little exceptions included as u can read in wikipedia
the Reinheitsgebot was first time law at the 23 april by the bavarian duke Wilhelm IV. in Ingolstadt.

http://www.hermes-press.com/germany1930.htm

very interesting about the USA

Don't know if you all are still out there but I agree with you Skylight on every single point and then some.  I am an American but lived in Germany for about 8 years and I believe in many ways

there is no better place on earth.  Most Americans and probably most Brits just don't understand really the meaning of "Gemutlichkeit".  I too know that German products are absolutely superior

to just about anything you can buy in the States.  And yes I have flown on Lufthansa as well and the service is superior to anything I know of!!!  Food in Germany is excellent and even the German

equivalent of fast food blows away Macdonalds or Burger King.   Bakery items put to shame American products.   Oh, well you know how I stand on anything German and someday I will return

to retire in Germany.

Bis Bald,

Patrick Lee