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The
Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland), is
the major industrialized nation in central Europe, a federal
union of 16 states. Germany has a long, complex history and rich
culture, but it did not become a unified nation until 1871. Before
that time, Germany had been a confederacy (1815-1867) and, before
1806, a collection of separate and quite different principalities.
Germany
is the seventh largest country in Europe, with a total area of
356,970 sq km (137,827 sq mi). The country has a varied terrain
that ranges from low-lying coastal flats along the North and
Baltic seas, to a central area of rolling hills and river valleys,
to heavily forested mountains and snow-covered Alps in the south.
Several major rivers and canals traverse the country and have
helped make it a transportation center.
The national
currency was the German Mark (DM) until the beginning of 2002,
now it is the Euro. Twelve Member States of the European Union
are participating in the common currency. They are: Belgium,
Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The
Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland. To know more about
it, visit Euro.
Berlin
is the capital and largest city, although Bonn, which was the
provisional capital of West Germany, is still home to some government
offices. |
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In Köln, before
going back to Belgium. |
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That's
me playing a piano at Oxford Strasse, in Bonn. |
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Stopping
for a beer in a café in Bonn. |
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The Münsterbasilika
at Münsterplatz, in Bonn. |
Münsterbasilika |
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The statue
of Beethoven at Münsterplatz, in Bonn, where he was born
in December, 1770. I waited a long time for that pigeon to get
off his head, so I could take a picture, but it didn't want to
fly away. |
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Here
is the statue without the pigeon on his head. :o) |
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Me at
the entrance of Beethoven's birth house, which is now a museum.
The museum is made up of two buildings which were originally
unconnected. His parents lived in the rear building (see the
picture below), from the time of their marriage, in 1767. It
was there that Beethoven was born on December, 16 or 17, 1770
(the exact date is uncertain). The family remained in the house
for only a few years. This house is only one of Beethoven's residences
in Bonn to have survived along the time. |
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In 1888,
when the complex was threatened with demolition, twelve citizens
of Bonn founded the Verein Beethoven-Haus. They bought the two
buildings and had them renovated and established a Beethoven
memorial.
That's
me in the rear building, where Beethoven was born (on the last
floor of the three-floor building). |
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In the garden of his house.
Beethoven
is one of my favorite composers and being inside the house where
he was born more than 230 years ago is something, undescribable.
I love Beethoven. |
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