If you could only use a maximum of ten words to describe Germany(whether speaking from experience or simply from what you've read or heard) how would you describe it?

Scenic
Architectural contrasts
Fattening food
Beer
Speedy autobahns
Relaxing
Jovial

Zuverlässigkeit

Gorgeous scenery, at least So. Germany and very nice people.

Beautiful, Cold, Green, Great food, quaint, historic,Great wine, traditional!

Clea, too bad we couldn't use 11 words so you could add "white" to great wine. I'm a red wine drinker and I once told a waiter in Germany that I wanted a nice German red wine. With a straight face he looked at me and said, "there is no such thing." After years of research, I'd have to agree with him. But the whites can be amazing.

Patrick, there is such a thing as German red wine--mostly for export but it is execellant. I have the bottle and will try to find it for you. It has a monkey wrapped around the neck. I got it first at a restaurant in Dallas and then at Black Forest Bakery. Also, I found another red at Central Market (part of HEB grocery chain) also in Dallas.

From experience: friendly intelligent people, great food & wine, cultural, scenic, historical & interesting

20 years ago we were in Mannheim Germany in a local pub. The owner wanted to close up at 11:00 pm but those of us at our table wanted to continue. There were 12 people at our table, half tourists and half locals. One of the natives, a doctor, invited us back to his house for more partying. At his house he brought out a red german wine. It turns out that his brother had recently started producing it at his winery. The wine was bottled in clear bottles.
He tried to give us a case to take home, unfortunately customs regulations made that impossible. So yes, there is red wine in Germany.

The small town of Assmanshausen on the Rhine makes a delicious red wine from the pinot noir grape. Unfortunately, it is not exported. Be sure to try it if the opportunity presents itself!

Linda W, I think you mis-read my post. I didn't say there was no such thing as German red wine. I know there is lots of it. What I said and got the support of several experts is that there is no GOOD German red wine.

Patrick, I agree that there is no red wine in Germany comparable to the class of the best French and Italian, but there is *good* red wine. At least I have some in my cellar ... Especially some Pinot Noir from Freiburg and surrounding (but surprisingly also one from my home region around Dresden/Meissen).

quebec,

Kindly allow me the luxury ten times two:

Captivating, highly cultivated, forward-looking, but be forever mindful of the horrors of the first half of the 20th century.

LindaW: The monkey-wrapped wine is called "Affentaler" of South Germany.

"Die Affen" is " the Monkeys"; "das Tal" is "the valley". I don't exactly know where the Affental is however, nor why there might be monkeys in this particular valley.

Does anybody know?

DavidD, The German decision makers of what happened in the first half of the 20th century are all dead. I think their decendents have received enough guilt trips.

jor,

It's hard, if not impossible, to be moved by the so-called "guilt trips", as it pales in comparison to the reality of the Holocaust.

Yes, the decision makers are long since dead, yet the same can't be said for their twisted ideals (witness today's neo-Nazis and WW II revisionist thinkers, some of whom deny the Holacaust). Granted, these persons represent a very small minority, but that doesn't mean the critically important admonition "Never forget" should be dismissed.