American reacts to 'Western Germany: Meet the Germans Road Trip Part 4/4'

[@BennoWitter]

The border between France and Germany is more than 278 miles (448 Km) long. People who live near a border usually share certain cultural things with their neighbors from the other side and are more likely to speak their language.

[@alicemilne1444]

The French-German border is only 418 km long. That's about 250 miles.

[@t.a.yeah.]

Oui, oui, je sais parler français un peu, c'est vrai.

[@GuyHeadbanger]

Well, I live not too far from the German-Polish border - no Polish spoken here (except by Polish immigrants, that is).

[@thehun1234]

@@GuyHeadbanger Don't forget, the current Polish-German border was well within Germany until the end of WWII when Stalin insisted on keeping part of Poland and simply shifted Poland to the west and expelled more than 10 million Germans.

[@jenspeters8187]

That's right. Near Aachen, we only smoke the dutch

[@peterdrieen6852]

I'm from Northrine-Westfalia and we had to learn all 50 US states including their capitals in school (our teacher had no clue what to teach us apparently). German state names are so long because almost all of them were formed by merging former principalities. Oh that upside down train is the "Wuppertaler Schwebebahn" it's actually from 1901 when apparently someone thought that was the future. And about the time when such cathedrals were built, the cathedral in cologne was built from 1248 to 1880, with a few short breaks inbetween...

[@FreeOfFantasy]

Wuppertaler Schwebebahn is that way because there wasn't any space, so they build it above the river and put a leg on each side. Suspending the train keeps the stations lower down without having the supports be too flat to support the weight.

[@karlert5979]

As a person that lives in Saarland, I´m very glad that someone from America knows that Saarland exists

[@Blubbii]

Dito 😊

[@larsfelixmuhlbock2009]

Love it me too🤩

[@Al69BfR]

1:50 Fun fact: Due to finances it took more than 600 years to complete the Cologne Cathedral in 1880. So do you want to live in 1880 Germany or back in the Holy Roman Empire in 1248? 🙂 12:50 Since Techno was invented about 40 years ago, everybody who was involved in that is now in their 60s and even older. And probably many of them are looking like that guy. 🙂 17:10 When you go back in history there were different tribes that settled all over Europe and gave those regions their names. France is call Frankreich in German which means Reich of the Franks. And as you heard in the episode of this series about the South of Germany, there are Franks still living in Bavaria. And Saxons are also living in the East and West of Germany and gave the Anglosaxons part of their name. It‘s all connected. Even after World War 2 you can still hear people speaking German in the most Eastern parts of France bordered to Germany. Parts which changed between French and German multiple times.

[@SilvanaDil]

He's a dummy. His mouth outpaces his "brain."

[@arnewengertsmann9111]

I take the whole building period to live in. a bit more than 600 years to live, sounds pretty good.^^

[@deinauge7894]

The Franks in northern Bavaria are where Karl the Great was from. And his Empire was therefore called the Frankenreich. France kept this name, but they are not connected at "tribe level".

[@Al69BfR]

@@deinauge7894 The history of the Franks began long before Charlemagne. And as far as I understand, the Franken in Northern Bavaria belonged to the most Eastern part of the area where Franks lived. And Franks were a conglomerate of many different tribes themselves. So probably yes and no. But to my understanding the Franks in Franken are a remnant of the once greater area controlled by the Franks. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franks So it‘s imho probably vice versa that the Franken kept the name from their conquerers.

[@Cornu341]

@@arnewengertsmann9111 Do you want to be immortal or invulnerable to achieve that? :D Might be a little bit depressing when everyone is withering away before your own eyes.

[@Kiyuja]

French and German culture is heavily intertwined due to historical reasons, not only are they neighbours but both nations tried to expand in the past and there were many leftovers. Back in the day high and mighty royal families spoke French in their castles and whatnot, especially to other important figures. Speaking French was a sign of class, education, intelligence and highly regarded

[@Kordanor]

I recently moved to the Elsass/Alsace Region, which I guess is the "opposite" of the Saarland, a French region, where especially in the north lots of people actually speak German. Also got a very interesting history. And speaking of castles: Just go west to the Vosges (Vogesen) and you got castles(ruins) all over the place, which...like many of the towns here, got German Names: Hohenburg, Fleckenstein, Lichtenberg...

[@Kivas_Fajo]

Speaking French and the reasons you mentioned aren't from the middle ages. It was introduced by one man only when he finally was the sole emperor with nobody looking over him - Louis 14. - That was in 1661, so way past the middle ages and the Renaissance...

[@jan-gabrielruthmann745]

Also both countries originated from the Frankish kingdom in the early Middle Ages. They were in a way both part of the same country in the early 9th century. Charlemagne is in fact a famous figure in German as well as French history.

[@Kivas_Fajo]

@@jan-gabrielruthmann745 Are you a Vulcan or why are you stating the obvious? ;-)

[@silkwesir1444]

@@Kivas_Fajo Just because it's obvious to you does not mean it's obvious to everyone. Also, what do you have against Vulcans? I think the world would be a lot better if everyone would be a little more Vulcan than they are now, don't you? (Well, that now is something seeming obvious to me, but maybe not to others.)

[@docadhoc1702]

Being from Cologne, it always surprises me, what people from other countries like about our cities, nature, traditions, the people, food, drinks and so on. This reminds me that we live in a blessed country!

[@kermit634]

It's so much fun watching your videos. As a person who has lived in Germany all his life, you sometimes forget how unique the country you live in is. Your videos remind me of that, thank you very much. 😉🤙 Greets from Cologne

[@conbertbenneck49]

Koelle Allaf du jecke!

[@KreativesBasteln]

Some how, your videos make me more to be proud living in Germany. I the last 4 years I was more thinking about escaping from this sh...ty place.

[@roschue]

Man könnte auch sagen, du gehst zu wenig in Urlaub in andere Kontinente.

[@Tommy42109]

The suspension railway in the beginning of the video its in my home town "Wuppertal". It's for public transportation and absolutely unique worldwide! Most of the time, the "Schwebebahn" (suspension railway) runs over our river here, the Wupper !

[@koaschten]

Also once an elephant fell out of it.

[@giogee6662]

Good for an another reaction video. 😊 pls

[@antjeprivat1010]

@@koaschten Tuffi!

[@gutsyjasmin4592]

I was gonna comment the same thing. The one that was shown in the video was the Kaiserwagen.

[@Astr0_42]

I love this thing

[@smugb]

I was born and raised in Nordrhein-Westfalen, and it is the best place I've ever lived. Even though I'm Scottish and love Scotland, I'd move back to Germany in a heartbeat.

[@xLittleulipx]

I'm from Switzerland (the German speaking part of it) but I still really enjoy this series. I do really like Germany. 😊

[@ldubt4494]

Same here, but i consider the entirety of europe my home so i enjoy every such Video.

[@nataliaromanova2470]

I am from Germany, but fascinated every time how beautiful and historical the country is. Then I see the people and think well sh...

[@LuthienneF]

I actually spent my childhood in those roman buildings and ruins in Trier, as both my parents worked for the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in Rheinland-Pfalz. We even lived in a small house right in the middle of a roman thermal bath. My dad was a mason and responsible for the maintenance of the Porta Nigra, Amphitheater, Kaiserthermen und Barbarathermen, so those places literally used to be my playground.

[@majordisorder73]

Mardi Gras = Fat Tuesday. That’s the day before Ash-wednesday, the day of the start of Lent. That means that people eat, drink and party before fasting. Karneval is the equivalent, celebrated in West-Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands. I’m not sure, but I think it’s in Catholic regions.

[@Plan73]

Yes, same in Italy (Carnevale). There are parades in almost every city (most famous in Venice and Viareggio).

[@susannefri6862]

Yes, Carneval is definitely more "at home" in Catholic areas. Protestant areas in Germany didn't used to celebrate it much at all; all the drinking and wild life was more or less frowned upon by protestants. Nowadays Carneval is everywhere in Germany, though it takes different forms here in Baden-Württemberg than in the Rhineland. - But the Catholic influence is the reason why it became a tradition in Louisiana (New Orleans) which used to belong to France until the Louisiana purchase in 1806(??? I'm not quite sure of the year, but thereabouts). I grew up in the Saarland. We started studying French in 5th grade (age 11). There are plenty of French words that made it into our dialect. If you go shopping in Saarbrücken you'll be surrounded by French shoppers from Lorraine. At least that used to be the case.

[@ronselgrath1235]

If my memory is correct, Louis XIV conquered the western Saar and incorporated it into Lorraine. When my family emigrated from St Wendel they had French passports or papers and some of the names were French. About 1810.

[@ronselgrath1235]

@@susannefri6862. Catholics take partying more serious than Prussians. Lol

[@Ray_Vun]

the original stories of the classic disney movies are hella horrific. cinderalla lost her shoe because the prince ordered the servers poured tar down the stairs to stop her. when they were looking for the right fit, her step sisters literally mutilated their feet so it'd fit in the shoe. sleeping beauty was molested in her sleep by a king, and the reason she woke up wasn't because of true love's kiss but because that molestation got her pregnant, and the babies were born while she was still under the sleeping curse, and then one of the babies was hungry and crawled to feed and started sucking on her finger, which removed the needle point that was keeping her asleep and that's how she woke up. in snow white, the queen wanted to eat snow's heart to become immortal. after the huntsman failed to do that, the queen used several different things to try and kill snow, the apple was the last thing she used, true loves kiss didn't save her either. the price was passing by, the dwarves tell him her story, he takes her to his kingdom to give her a proper burial, in the journey, the people carrying the coffin trip and the movement causes the apple to dislodge from her throat and bring her back to life. when the queen finds out she tries to kill snow again, but the prince stops her and as punishment the queen has to wear iron shoes that are fresh out the fire and wear them until she drops dead. hansel and gretel is probably the one story of theirs that remained gruesome and wasn't edited for kids. the little mermaid is also really gruesome, but that's not theirs, that one's by a danish author called hans anderson. but it also has blood and death. the story is based off him being in love with another man and it not being reciprocated

[@KeesBoons]

They are not horrific, just not sugar coated. A lot of the traditional folk tales were more like that, and to be honoust I prefer them.

[@Ray_Vun]

@@KeesBoons they're filled with death and gore, that classifies them as horror. that's why so many of them are sugar coated, because if not, the only movies made about them would be for adults, because it'd just be a horror movie

[@stef987]

As far as I know, German "fairytales" originated from stories adults told each other. These stories weren't meant as "good night stories" for children.

[@leDespicable]

@@stef987 And in many cases they were told to children to make them scared of things like going into the woods alone.

[@stef987]

​@@leDespicableyes, probably, as German "pedagogy" was (and probably often sadly still is) quite much about inducing fear/implement obedience. Still, I once learnt that many of the stories the Grimm Brothers collected were full of "adult" metaphors and references and just not originally created for children, but made up by adults for adults.

[@PeterBuwen]

I live in Saarbrücken, Saarland. At 15:26 you asked if this is a court yard. No, it's the castle of Saarbrücken. Today it is the seat of the regional administration, formerly the residence of the Counts of Saarbrücken. The castle has been structurally changed again and again over the centuries, most recently in the 1990s with the mttelrislith with a glass front. My wife works here. Saarland was always a region disputed between France and Germany and belonged sometimes to the one or the other country. We are proud having got both cultures, the french and the german. We are french and german. ;-)

[@Flohtute]

I'm living in the Ruhrpott. We have some relatives who live in East Germany in very small villages with a population of under 100 people. They always thought the Ruhrpott is completely grey and smokey, but when they visited us they where surprised and said its more green here than where they live.

[@Praecantetia]

I guess that's because disturbed soil is very nice for plants

[@jodis6983]

For such a large "city" as the ruhr area, who is in a structural change for just a few decades we made great accomplishments. We have way to go, but I´m proud of my home and love the people living in the "Pott" and their open and grounded mentality.

[@jodis6983]

@@Praecantetia such a lovely comment ^^ just like your personality? XD

[@reginabauer6870]

The Ruhrpott used to be grey. I studied there in the early 90s and a lot of houses were grey from the coal dust. This was however the time when things changed. It was finally worthwhile to paint your house again, because the air started to be much clearer

[@NaturalDutchSpirit]

In Dutch too, 'cloud scratcher' => wolkenkrabber

[@ezraabbadon5082]

On the flipside to saarland, there's the elsass region in France that's very german. Buildings, city names, etc. The region went back and forth between Germany and France a few times

[@rhysodunloe2463]

11:04 Yes, Boten Anna was also very popular in Germany when it came out. Even though many Germans don't understand Swedish. Or maybe it could only become popular because they couldn't understand a song about a chat bot. There's also a German version of this song - Dicke Anna by Kid Bob - about an overweight girl sitting in a boat. 😅

[@ni5287]

And we already told you. - Some of us, got excited as you started singing Boten Ana somewhen in a video randomly 😂

[@Auvas_Damask]

The Ruhr area is also quite friendly, visit us here in Dortmund

[@MM-tz2bs]

I live in Luxembourg, so I have visited this part of Germany a lot, as well as France. And there is a lot of mix between German and France in this area.

[@scherzkeks7524]

The Saarbrücken Castle on the thumbnail? Had to click on it! People from Saarland get excited when their region gets some sort of media attention😂

[@KahoriFutunaka]

I am from Hesse, studying in Frankfurt. But I was raised and still live about 20 km north in the "Taunus", a mountainside with lots of forest and sometimes it really is like living in a fairytale. I personally enjoy going on an evening walk in the forests around Halloween when it gets misty - really gets you into the mood for the Grimm stories. Because yes, the versions written down in 1812 are rather spooky and gory, but to be fair, they weren't EXACTLY meant to charm children, even though they were published as "children and house fairytales". They usually have some kind of morale (Don't do that or it will end HORRIBLY!!!), so by listening to the stories children learnt the dangers of life like "If you go with strangers you will die and probably be tortured before that". But the fairytales were usually told in the evenings when the whole household would sit together and work on things before going to bed, so adults also repeated the lessons for themselves. And well, when the children had dozed off the adults liked to tell the really scary ones ;) (Also, the nice lady was not summoning a demon, she was reading the first few sentences of "Cinderella" or "Aschenputtel" as it is called here)

[@nina-thi]

Nice to find some locals here! I’m from the Taunus too (don’t live there anymore, I moved away for uni). I miss the Ebbelwoi, can’t buy that in the north

[@KahoriFutunaka]

@@nina-thi Yeah, Ebbelwoi is not something that can be bougth elsewhere. I don't drink myself, but I always bring some to friends in Wien when I'm visiting. They really like it :) My favourites are the Bethmännchen

[@Cornu341]

@@nina-thi Raised in the Vogelsberg and living in Frankfurt now. We are everywhere in reaction videos to German topics.

[@agamemnonpadar5706]

@@nina-thi Only drunk it when I visited Frankfurt each year for the book fair. Loved it.

[@jtinz74]

The Grimm's version of the fairy tales was already cleaned up from the folk lore. For example in the older versions of sleeping beauty, she doesn't wake up from a kiss. She only wakes up when she gives birth to the child of the prince, who kept his visits to her secret.

[@dreasbn]

yep West-Germany here, Bonn grown and the Rhine and Mosel aerea are splendid. On top it's close to the Netherland, Belgium, Luxemburg and France... so exploring different countries is easy and broadens your mind... Carneval is a serious fun thing here and indeed people are bit more loose and relaxed than in many other parts of Germany. The diversity of the West is huge but the identity is more with it's cities than with the federal state itself, unlike Bavaria for instance, those federal states were built manly because of WW2. Nordhein-Westfalen is composed of the northern part of the prussian prewar Rheinprovinz and Westfalen. Both regions are very different, different food, different dialect etc. Same goes for Rheinland-Pfalz which constists of the southern part of the former Rheinprovinz and the long under bavarian rule being Pfalz. Again, different dialect and food etc. Saarland belonged to the Rheinprovinz but because France wanted to exploit and incorporate the region into France it stayed some sort of indenpendet after WW2, but France failed to persuade the Saarländer to become French... But all end of Germany have a lot to offer. Beaches in North, Berlin in the East, Mountains in the South, Rhine and Mosel in the west... nothing wrong with liking all of them... but home is where the heart is..... Bonn

[@XboxMaster1980]

01:38 My Hometown 😁 Cologne (Köln)!

[@namenlos3679]

4:22 This is the "Wuppertaler Schwebebahn", the "Wuppertal Suspension Railway System". Because i´m from Wuppertal i know it really well, it´s basically a line of those rails through or valley. It was actually build around 1900 and is more or less active since then. And it´s actually the most safest way of transport, even more safe than planes or elevators. It´s worldwide one of a kind and you should definetely watch a video about it. If you want i can search for a good video and send it to you :)

[@Auvas_Damask]

I don't know if this is actually still up to date, but the last time I checked Dortmund, my home, was the fifth greenest city in the world.

[@dafonk1973]

😂"Saar-Franzoos" (Saar-French) - I often identify myself as that to be honest. I'm from Saarland and I've got both the French and German nationality. In fact, my family history is strongly influenced by the political changes throughout the past 100 years. Also nice to hear " le Platt Lorrain" (a German-French dialect) - it reminds me of my French grandmum who spoke it and switched from German to French within one sentence. - Loads of cultural mixture in this region of Germany.

[@lumina9995]

I lived in the Saarland in the fifties and I remember people mixing German and French. To the point that children sometimes didn't understand what their mum was saying: "Bischt mied?" (Are you tired?) Child looks puzzled. "Bischt fatigue?" Child nods. I found this very interesting at the time.

[@nadinebeck2069]

I feel as if Germans and French are brothers. They grew up together and sometimes they were very close, adored each other and sometime they were really badass. Like brothers. They both seem to be grown up and became responsible adults who will never argue or fight again

[@dafonk1973]

@@nadinebeck2069 Very much so, indeed! That's quite a good comparison. In fact it's a miracle that all european countries faced countless wars for centuries and became respectful friends after WWII. Let's hope this peaceful status quo will also remain in future.

[@Gladiator911]

im living in the most western part of germany, straight at the border to the netherlands and belgium )) Here is also much nature, woods etc, especially the so called "Eifel", which is also a big national park.

[@danielmcbriel1192]

Oh Eifel. Your hills, your forests. Oh Eifel. Where cousins ​​marry their cousins.

[@namenlos3679]

@@danielmcbriel1192 No idea wtf you talking about And dont forget the "Hohes Venn" ^^

[@stevenvanhulle7242]

@@namenlos3679 Yes, but isn't the "Hohes Venn" (Dutch: "Hoge Venen", French "Hautes Fagnes") in Belgium? Or is part of it in Germany?

[@christin0978]

I'm living in Duisburg near the Landschaftspark that was showing in the video. Very cool. 😁

[@leDespicable]

The time period when the cologne cathedral was built spans about 800 years, it took a long time to complete. So you'd have to choose which year to travel to :P 04:11: That's the Wuppertal suspended monorail, the oldest still-running monorail system in the world (opened in 1901), and an integral part of the city's public transportation system. There's a few videos on youtube dedicated to it, it might be worth reacting to if it already amazed you just seeing it here. And since it's a regular public transit system, you absolutely can ride it in a circle if you want to.

[@Ugramosch]

Would like to see a reaction video about the Schwebebahn. Btw: Full distance from start to finish is 13,3 km. There are 20 stations on route and, depending on the time of the day, trains coming in every 3-5 minutes ( early morning 10, late evening 15 )

[@silkwesir1444]

Everyone needs to know the story with the Elephant. It's one of those stories you won't believe it is true, but it is.

[@namenlos3679]

@@silkwesir1444 I´m from Wuppertal and quite many still don´t believe it :D

[@michaelschuckart2217]

The "Kölner Dom" was finished in 1880 after 632 years of building (with long gaps in between).

[@whisped8145]

2:40 "The 11th 11th" (Eleventh day of the eleventh month) Cologne Carnival is weird. It's their thing. Rest of us just gives them an odd sideglance and pretends it isn't happening. Except people in Braunschweig, who for inexpliccable reasons also celebrate it.

[@Luxbecca]

North Rhine-Westphalia is a pretty large state. The Rhineland and Ruhrpott always kind of dominate videos about it, which I can't blame the creators for. I come from the very north of NRW (Münsterland) and just have to mention the Dutch influence and our friendship with Lower Saxony. I feel more at home with them than I would when venturing to the Rhineland for example. (love you guys tho

[@demonmurasame733]

That is true, the Münsterland is often overlooked in such videos. Even though it is just as beautiful and captivating as the Rhineland/Ruhrpott. And that is comming from a Ruhrpottler myself :D I always find it fascinating that Münsteraner Platt (Lower german from the Münsterland) can be quite different from Rheinische Platt (Lower german from the Rhineland) or the Ruhrdeutsch (Lower german from the Ruhrpott). I can understand Rheinisch Platt and Ruhrdeutsch quite well but one time when I was on a trip and heard Münsteraner Platt... I did not understand a single word :D

[@Luxbecca]

@@demonmurasame733 Much love to the Ruhrpott! I live a little closer to it now and had more chance to get in touch with that region. I totally agree with the Platt, though unfortunately I can't speak our regional Platt myself. But a few words did sneak into the daily vocabulary. Language & dialects are fascinating!

[@ChristophS]

And don't forget Ostwestfalen

[@viomouse]

@@ChristophS Was about to say, Weserbergland, Teuto, and Sauerland (which is not OWL)

[@ronselgrath1235]

Yes please the Sauerland.

[@eisenbahnkasselundco]

13:34 I live in the really near of Kassel. It is really beautiful here

[@Kath-Erina]

Hey Ryan, you seem a little absent today and kind of missed a lot of points, I just noticed you were maybe somewhere else with your thoughts, I hope everything is good over there, I send some love for your family and probably some well needed sleep, I know how it can be sometimes with a baby ❤ All the best to you & your family! Hope you get to rest and recharge to be back to your bubbly self soon😊

[@stevenvanhulle7242]

In Belgium it's also called "wolkenkrabber" = "cloud scratcher"

[@marchurnik]

If you want to travel to Germany, you should go to the Rhineland between Duisburg and Frankfurt. Also make sidesteps to the direct neighbour regions. You will sample the most diversity of history, culture, food, landscape and people in short distance around Cologne (100-200km). I myself travel since childhood mostly Western Germany and every time i will find something new, amazing or spectacular. I guarantee you

[@pit-fz4wi]

A video about the german-french historical relationship would be very interesting. Its very important for the german history and a better understanding of europe in a whole.

[@Sventastic_78]

4:11 is the " Wuppertaler Schwebebahn" was opened to public in 1901. If you want to take a ride on that one you have to visit the city Wuppertal. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuppertal_Schwebebahn

[@gonzokryllake4587]

4:10 That's the Wuppertaler Schwebebahn a monorail train that exists since 1901. It winds throught the city of Wuppertal along the river Wupper.

[@PhilipSchwartz83]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuppertal_Schwebebahn

[@LythaWausW]

It's not a monorail please don't undersell it. Also "along the river" is misleading - it's above it. : )

[@buster2256]

As for the number of words in the german language: about 23 million; all base forms (no conjugation or declination counted). There's so many because german has compound words. You can just combine two or more other words to form a new word. The basic german vocabulary only consists of around 75,000 words for comparison. And a german adult knows around 12,000 - 16,000 of those on average.

[@eugenvonderkipe6031]

had to laugh so hard wenn ryan started singing the basshunter song because i used to listen to the german version, back when I was in school

[@strenter]

11:00 Frankfurt is also famous for the "Sound of Frankfurt" - Jazz. Furthermore, it has some really amazing subculture, local small bands often getting featured in radio broadcasts at a local radio station, also small festivals like the Sommerwerft.

[@SilverScroll]

Wow, throwback to me listening to Boten Anna non-stop back in school xD So yes, Basshunter is known here

[@we73]

14:50 This was filmed with a drone and the film has been speed up a little bit, thats why the Scooter is driving so fast. Actually those scooters drive at 25km/h.

[@IshavedChewbacca]

Nowadays it´s true, France and Germany seem like polar opposites. But don´t forget the French are descended from the Franks, a Germanic nation originally from Franconia (yes, the one from the Southern Germany video). Also there are these buffer zones between the two countries, Saarland from the German side, and Alsace-Lorraine from the French side, a land between Germany and France with German-sounding cities like Metz, Strasbourg (Strassburg) and Mulhouse (Mühlhausen) that has been disputed since the time of Charlemagne´s grandkids. People over there are very much French, but you can still feel the strong German influence

[@wolsch3435]

The old Franks, like the old Saxons, have very little to do with what we in Germany today call and understand as Franks and Saxons. The old Franks under Clovis (Chlodwig) the First, who conquered northern Gaul in 486/487 AD, did not come from the Main, but from the south of what is now the Netherlands, from the north of what is now Belgium, and from the Lower Rhine. At that time, Cologne was a Franconian city! The areas on the Main that we now call Franconia came up with this name later, but kept it, in contrast to the original Franconia.

[@goufackkentsaleandrinlebel8826]

@@wolsch3435 exactly. Plus French are not only the descendants of Germanic tribes but mostly of Celts and other colonizers who came from the roman empire and settled in French Gaul, to a small extent from northern Germanic tribes (Normand French) who later will conquer Britain.

[@SilverSmrfr]

Yeah a lot of older people near the border speak the other language pretty good.

[@silkwesir1444]

Polar opposite only from a very limited perspective though. Compare with some other regions in the world, which are far away and have a very different culture. If you do that, France and Germany even seem hard to tell apart.

[@rafunzel3980]

im from central hessen (45 minutes north from frankfurt) and we litterally only drink cider on parties, mostly mixed with cola called (Äppler Cola), a few years ago multiple companies started selling it mixed in cans/bottles already under names like "bembel with care", "Uhl", "Gude Stoff" or "Äppler", Bembel got so popular that you can now find it all over germany

[@Moleman0815]

I'm original from Frankfurt, left several years ago, but i still think, that Äppler with Cola is heresy. :D

[@rafunzel3980]

@@Moleman0815 its so good tho...

[@logo_sus5160]

teacher: what do u know about Germany? me: yes!

[@mickypescatore9656]

Hi, Ryan! Once I tried to tell you about the cologne Karneval and tried to give you some tips for a visit (with your little child beside you), and said, it probably could be better than visit the Oktoberfest in Munich. Then I got into a bit of trouble with a bavarian person, obviously! 😂I wrote about free candys/ sweets being thrown into the crowds by the Karvenals-Monday procession ("Rosenmontagszug"). But certainly you can get also more than enough beer in Cologne at carnival, if you want to. It`s a big world famous fun time. Greetings! 🤗 One more (in cologne): ...a rye bread roll with middle-old Gouda-cheese and Onion-rings! (She forgot the onion-rings)😆

[@mh-hu-human]

Nordrhine-Westfalia, especially the Ruhrpott has become my home area since I first got here 20 years ago. The people are the friendliest in the whole country. Neighbours helping each other out no matter what, you can literally make friends by just walking down the road. Growing up in the much more conservative south it instantly felt like "coming home". My daughter now works in sothern germany and even she drives hours upon hours just to come here for a day or two. In fact my whole family up to the grandparents moved here over the last two decades and found a place to stay.

[@kaito-shi2670]

Basshunter - Now You're Gone

[@linus6168]

He laughs about Wolkenkratzer but doesnt realize that skyscaper has pretty much the same meaning xD

[@AFNacapella]

regarding the cathedral: if you ever visit cologne, there are many tours (up the tower to see the giant bells, roof tour, treasury, crypt...) but the most impressive is the foundation tour. they dug out the foundations to assess the stability (it's 10/10) and found so much old stuff they made it an archaeological excavation. they even dug out the over 2000 years old roman magistrates house and found intact pigments on the wall providing a window into the past. they stopped digging because it's just too much to preserve and analyse right now, they tour the excavation and many pieces are in the museum right next to the Dom. totally worth it, especially on a rainy day. (on sunny days admire the windows from the inside)

[@techmed-rainer]

Danke!

[@rhysodunloe2463]

19:09 Southern West Germany got introduced to wine very early because it was part of the Roman Empire. The climate along the rivers Rhine and Moselle is great for growing grapes. And also tobacco. Since the late 16th century there are tobacco farms in Rheinland-Pfalz. In the South of Rheinland-Pfalz you can also hear a lot of French terms in the local dialect. Like vis-a-vis, trottoir or baggage (which is used as an insult). It's not as much French as they talk in the Saarland, where they even use the greeting "Salut", but still a decent amount.

[@V0r4xiz]

*Literally calls tall buildings skyscraper as in scraping the sky* *Chuckles at cloud scraper* Never change, Ryan Wuzer, never change

[@winterlinde5395]

For me that’s a chuckle thing, too. Because it’s similar concepts but the two languages are not quite the same. Now we can guess why the US calls her big buildings skyscrapers but the German only reach the clouds. I say because we are more realistic.

[@silkwesir1444]

@@winterlinde5395 It's more specific. Sky can mean anything, one could say it starts above our heads and it ends in space. Clouds are something more concrete to point to.

[@winterlinde5395]

@@silkwesir1444 Ah! I didn’t know that. Thank you!! 🌸 We have only one word for sky or heaven. I don’t know where it begins, but clearly above the clouds… but clouds are at the sky. They also cover the sky…🤔

[@StellaTZH]

Blood sausage is delicious. Especially Grützwurst with potatoes and pickled cucumber.

[@bettina_w]

Saarland refers to itself as the most beautiful Bundesland in the world ;) The connection to France is definitely apparent. We have the most Gourmet-Restaurants per capita in Germany. I live close to the border (well - more or less everyone here does) and I frequently go there to buy my favorite coffee (10 miles drive)

[@rizzo170980]

Das Saarland ist ja auch das schönste Bundesland der Welt💪💪💪. (Güdingen lässt grüßen). Aber warum fährst Du für Kaffee rüber. Unser ist meiner Meinung nach viel besser.🙂

[@bettina_w]

@@rizzo170980 ist halt Geschmacksache mit dem Kaffee - ich mag französisch schwarzgebrannt lieber.... weniger Säure. Grüße aus Heusweiler

[@MHBTNO]

@@bettina_w Hi Nachbarin! 👋🏻

[@maxi_goldi]

grüße aus Ludweiler

[@silkwesir1444]

@@rizzo170980 das Land mag schön sein, aber die Leute... 😝

[@michamcv.1846]

The hanging train in Wuppertal was build as WE still Had an emperor 😂😂😂

[@hansmeiser32]

4:36 Looks like the Bergbau-Museum in my hometown Bochum.

[@andreasheyer6891]

Youre a funny guy . I like that a lot . I enjoy your Videos . Pretty Fanny. My Name is Andreas from Hamburg Germany ❤

[@koaschten]

14:18 the German „Duden“ has about 145.000 Words listed. The standard vocabulary is about 70.000 words. Todays research says there are about 5 Million words.

[@ParaSpite]

4:20 Ah yes, the Wuppertaler Schwebebahn. A unique suspended railway that was built because of the cramped local terrain conditions, squeezed between mountains (small ones) on the left and right of the Wupper river. Is the Wupper even a river? It's so tiny!

[@Graviti809]

Please react more to the "Ruhrpott" (Ruhr area). Because of all the industy, it has the highest population density in whole Europe and much interesting History. A good video would be by Tom Scott: "If these pumps ever stop, part of Germany floods."

[@TimideToon]

The upside down train is called "Schwebebahn" . It's in my home town

[@SmockingSpaaceWizzard]

Greetings from germanys Wine-region

[@Sylphenar]

A little bit if historic inside to the french-german relationship: both go back to the descendants of charlamange (or Karl in german). Basicly his family couldnt decide on an heir and his former empire fractured. Ever since the relationship between the 2 regions was that of arguing siblings, always ready to get at each others throat but BOY do they stick together if both are threatened from the outside. The franko-german friendship we have today is a rather recent phenomenon, but its the cornerstone of west/central european stability.

[@Terra_Incognita201]

hilarious how Ryan freezes when he reads the english translation for “Schwenker” (BBQ”… swingers. A Saarland BBQ party might be the “swingers club”, lol

[@Pilotkosinus]

Every third german is an expert in techno. We live and love our techno in germany. Whether from Bavaria or North Rhine-Westphalia.

[@christianbernstein]

I always love your videos! They are so entertaining ^^. Greetings from Frankfurt.

[@mariofrey-ritter7096]

Wonderful Video Bro, i am a German 1961er born, i think you will never forget a wonderful Trip to Germany. The Influence of France is also nearby my Hometown in the Southwestern Region of Baden Wuerttemberg. Just have a trip to Germany and many Questions will be answered. Good Luck und Willkommen in Deutschland. Greetings Mario

[@schaerfentiefe1967]

I immediately recognized the "Saarbrücker Schloss" (Saarbrücken castle) on the preview image of this video! Saarbrücken is my hometown 😇

[@seorsamaclately4294]

Mine as well. Best choice for a thumbnail.

[@Cahrdek]

11:20 ye i think many know Basshunter xD he even made songs in german

[@Terra_Incognita201]

In these days in the late 80s, starting 90s, the Dorian Grey in Frankfurt was one of my favourite clubs

[@conbertbenneck49]

Ryan, The Romans were moving northward via the Rhine Valley. They had strongholds all along the way. Koeln is 2000 years old, and was founded by Agrippena, the daughter of one of the Caesars who gave her that area for a new Roman Colony. The name of Koeln comes from the Latin Colonia. if you dig anywhere inside the City walls, you hit Roman ruins. Next to the Koeln Cathedral is a very large Roman Museum. The Roman expansion northward on the European Continent was stopped by German tribes at the Teuteburgerwald who trapped and massacred two Roman Legions in this forest. The Romans had settled in England, but never tried to subjugate the German tribes after their hugh losses. Koelner Karneval is the largest (and best) Karneval in the world. It officially starts November 11th at 11:00 / 11:00 but the final Karneval Days start on a Thursday at 12:00 - the week before Ash Wednesday. All the girls / ladies / women dress as old women - long black dresses with long sleeves / gloves / a hat with a veil; and with a pair of scissors hanging from their belt. If they ask you for a kiss, do it, or if you don't kiss her, she will take her scissors and cut off your tie. You, as a man, are supposed to go out on the streets and find your wife or girlfriend. During Karneval everyone wears a Karneval costume; from Friday till Tuesday. The climax of Karneval is on Rosenmontag. There is a parade with lots of floats - mainly political themes, that lasts for about 4 hours. For an idea of what this is like go to KZbin, and enter Koeln Rosenmontagzug; open a beer and join the Karneval crowd.

[@blondkatze3547]

When I was young in the eighties very good music was produced in Frankfurt. So it doesn`t surprise me that the techno scene there was so big. That`s where the snap group of music producers came from. Oh did you party and dance to this music in the clubs. You had a lot of fun. It was a great time. 😍🎉

[@Auvas_Damask]

We have these Schwebebahnen(hover rails), as I think we call them, in Dortmund Dorstfeld.

[@pollykieckdat]

How could you not finish playing the Video!! 😱 Now i have to search for it to watch the last few seconds 😂

[@Kath2378]

I'm a simple person, I see Saarbrücken in the thumbnail I click the video, lol. Greetings from the state "that exists"

[@ChrisBVetter]

Fun Fact, because you asked: German consists of roughly about 5.3 million words.

[@spaspieler5687]

Ist immer schwierig zu zählen, weil wir ja das Kompositum haben. Also ist Donaudampfschifffahrtgesellschaftskapitän ein eigenes Wort? Sollbruchstellenverursacher? Oder zählen da nur jeweils die einzelnen Wörter? Ansonsten gibt es fast unendlich viele Kombinationen. Auch mit Suffixen und Präfixen ist es schwierig: sind "einpacken", "auspacken", "entpacken" drei Wörter? Oder zählt da nur "packen"? Wird "umfahren" als ein Wort gezählt oder als zwei? (Umfahren = jemanden über den Haufen fahren und um jemanden herum fahren) Die Anzahl der Wörter im Deutschen ist also kaum zählbar...

[@bennymuller3379]

Germany and France are very intertwined. We even basically were all united at some point in the Frankish Empire, which spanned over most of France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium and the North of Italy. Sadly one of the Rules had three sons, so the whole thing got split into 3 parts and later the now known nations formed out of those.

[@Eurograph]

Ryan, for you as an US-American it might be exciting to know that some areas in West Germany are very US-American. In Rhineland-Palatinate there is the "Ramstein Air Base". This is the main base of the "Allied Air Command". About 57,000 US-Americans live in the "Kaiserslautern Military Community". A German-American culture has developed around the base and the infrastructure in some areas is designed for the US Americans. Nuclear weapons were also stored on the base until 2005 and combat drones are controlled from here.

[@TinyTeaKettle]

As an addition. Ramstein Airbase is the largest US base outside the USA, the major strategic relay point for US operations in the middle east (which has been critisized). Also it's like driving to little America when you're close to the airbase. Friend of mine lives in that region. American car dealers, American / German driving schools, or some random police patrol car refueling at a German gas station, lots of military equipment that gets transported on the Autobahn 6.

[@MrTiti]

@Ryan Wass The Building time of the Dome of cologne, where you wanted to go back to "when it was built" was taking about 500years. so you would need to eat heathy and so. :) some countries are even not 500years old.

[@F_Karnstein]

As a Hessian I can tell you you WILL find a kind of apple wine you like 😅 People mix it with juices or cola these days, and some variations are just so damn good 🤤 And I know so many people who went to the Dorian Gray at Frankfurt airport... must have been a phenomenal club for techno and related genres. I just happen to have been too young at the time...

[@n_whocares11]

Yes, the wine hike, the whole village and the vineyards are a big party and tourists are coming . just good vibes. lots of beatyful people, nice weather, good vine 😁 it reminded me of the love parade. Greetings go out to the USA🌻

[@truckeronprivatetour4730]

The hanging train drives in Wuppertal. I live in Oberhausen, it is in the Pott too.😂

[@Ray_Vun]

yeah so mardi gras is basically what in europe we call carnaval. it's usually in february and it's done as a way to "let loose" before the period of lent that leads to easter. it's on a tuesday, the brits call it pancake day, it's before ash wednesday, and people dress up in silly costumes. that last part is probably taken from the pagan ritual of saturnalia, which happened in december, where social roles were reversed, poor people and slaves dressed as the rich and the rich dressed as the poor, and they all partied like crazy

[@UnnormaI]

That upside down dangling train is the Wuppertals Schwebebahn and the train shown here is the special Kaiserwagen in which Emperor Wilhelm II rode on. Today it's only used for special events.

[@silkwesir1444]

Also once an elephant jumped out of it into the river - and survived. True story.

[@jn-qy3hq]

We LOVE Basshunter „Now you’re gone“!!!!😌

[@whisped8145]

14:20 That depends a lot on how you count, due to various dialects, loan-words and so on. Pi times thumb you could say roughly probably maybe about half a million words, plus minus a few hundred thousand. The common thesaurus contains about 80.000 words.

[@thomasd5]

The upside-down train you saw is the "Wuppertaler Schwebebahn" (translated as top-suspended aerial tramway of Wuppertal). Wuppertal is a city built in a valley of the river "Wupper", so the city is not shaped round like most cities, but more narrow but lengthy around the river with 358,876 residents. The Schwebebahn started its service on the 1st of March 1901 and the railway track was built over the river bed in some areas. The Schwebebahn is the backbone of public transport in Wuppertal transporting around 85,000 people a day. It has a smaller modern brother which is called "Sky Train" and drives automatically without a driver connecting Düsseldorf Airport Terminal to Düsseldorf Airport train station.

[@birchermuesli3009]

And Germany likes you, Ryan! Greetings from Dusseldorf😄👍🏼

[@NOkamii]

15:16 the building in the backround is the "Saarbrücker Schloss" the castle of Saarbrücken. And the following interviws are taken in the Saarbrücker city center. You can't walk throu there without hearing french. Right behind Saarbrücken is ghe French boarder.

[@kuchtatoni5650]

11:11 menas in German Karneval, and IT IS Like Halloween. IT scars was the gost of Winter to go

[@swiesimone477]

I'm from the Ruhrpott and yes, I love it here. There is so much nature, so much culture and it is always about 20 kilometers from one bigger city to the next in the Ruhr area, which is really practical. The people here are very honest and direct, which is why the actual friendliness is not played. I personally have the feeling that the friendliness of the people in the Rhineland is rather fake. But maybe it's just a feeling because of the cultural differences (yes these differences exist, even if we are only a few kilometers apart 😅) 

[@swanpride]

20 kilometers? There are streets in the Ruhr area where the left side of the road is one city and the right side another city. But I love living here too. The only thing which could make it even better would be proper public transport.

[@swiesimone477]

@@swanpride If you see a map and always begin in the middle of one city and go to the middle of the next city and so on it is always ca 20 kilometers. Yes, the public transportation really could be better. A friend of mine lives in Cologne and there is no comparison. But have you ever tried to use public transportation in the Sauerland? 😂

[@swanpride]

@@swiesimone477 Nope, but I compare with what is better, not with what is worse. I live in Cologne for a while, and I was travelling with bike and public transport everywhere (though biking was pretty risky in the traffic, admittingly). Now I am back in the ruhr area, and back to depending on my car, despite living pretty central in general.

[@JohnDoe-us5rq]

They are not friendlier, they are just obnoxious talkative 😉

[@ACEsParkJunheeWreckedMeHard]

I live in NRW my whole live and my most favourite city is Münster, even tho I didn't lived there but I grew up very close to it and have some family from this city. It's one of the prettiest cities. When you walk trought the streets you see tons of bikes since it's the bike-capital of German with up to 3x more bikes than citizen and there is also a joke based on the bikes. "Why does every citizen of Münster got 3 bikes?" - Because 1) they forgot where they had parked it 2) the other one was robbed and 3) to have a bike they can ride on. Münster also has a very pretty lake called Aasee, a lot nice nature you can walk around at and wherever you walk inside the city you will find smaller buildings who look like tiny castles and it's just pretty. I also love the christmas markets they have every year, the zoo, the unique looking architecture of many buildings in the part where the most shops are and so on. I saw a lot cities so far but non is as pretty as Münster for me.

[@seaeagle15]

I agree Münster and the Münsterland in general are very cool places to live. The bike culture here is insane and I am so happy to live here. Münster is without a doubt the nicest city for studying in Germany and the other cities in the Münsterland Region are good to live too. You have a good taste, have a nice day.

[@Kolenya90]

There is a German cover from the song from basshunter (Ich hab nen boot), so yes, the song is known here in germany

[@PEdulis]

"Is this a courtyard?" Yes, it is the courtyard of the "Saarbrücker Schloss", the castle of Saarbrücken. Interestingly, it contains an "invisible memorial" since 2146 of the cobblestones have the name of German Jewish cemeteries engraved on them - but facing downwards. Regarding the difference between Germans and French: The Saarland shows the perfect mixture of both countries. The effective working attitude of Germany combined with the relaxed French way of "savoir vivre" (to know how to live") which is called Saarvoir vivre here and the love for good food. The local dialect is still a mixture of French and German although that is fading because Germany as well as France both push to use the respective official language instead of using dialects. There is a pushback against that as well and having the majority of the population being bilingual French and German is a goal of government of the Saarland.

[@MtheHell]

I'm living in a now medium sized (former large city with >100.000 residents) near Dortmund. It is a "bordertown" of the Ruhrpott (Ruhr Area) and the "Sauerland". It's funny, because you can see the influence of both very different regions "colliding" around here. It's only a matter of a few kilometers, if you feel more like "in the Pott" or enjoy the more rural atmosphere with cows, fields and forested hills. I personally am more the "city type" of guy, but I enjoy once or twice a year a few days stay in the nearby "Hochsauerland" to relax.