The Federal Republic of Germany is a democracy with a liberal free market economy, freedom of religion and freedom of the press. Germany is a member of the European Union (EU).



German is spoken as the first language by 99% of the German population. English is widely spoken in the main tourist areas.



Banking hours, in general, are from 8.30am to 1 pm and 2.30pm to 4pm. (on Thursdays to 6pm). Banks are closed on Saturdays and Sundays. There are no uniform business hours for the entire Federal Republic of Germany. Shops are generally open for business from 8am to 8pm from Monday to Friday and from 8am to 4pm on Saturdays.



German Rail (Deutsche Bahn AG) has a network of 40,000 km of line, 17000 km of which is electrified. There are over 33,000 train services each day in Germany (including 12,000 national services), transporting over 4 million passengers. ICE and IC trains link the major cities at hourly or two-hourly intervals, providing connections with the local services. Many airports, such as Frankfurt, are integrated with this system. The new AlRail Terminal at Frankfurt Airport offers direct connections between ICE and IC/EC connections in all directions every hour.



Germany has a typical four season climate, without extremes of temperature. Summer months are generally warm and seldom oppressively hot. The average summer temperature is 18°C.

The average winter temperature is 0°C, with snow falls in the highland areas throughout Germany from December to March. Germany is an attractive travel destination all year round.

New Year's Day	January 1
Epiphany	January 6
Good Friday	March 25
Easter Sunday & Monday	March 27, 28
Labour Day	May 1
Ascension Day	May 5
Whit Sunday (Pentecost)	May 15
Whit Monday	May 16
Corpus Christi Day	May 26
Unification Day	October 3
All Saints' Day	Novermber 1
Christmas	December 25, 26

Starts on the last weekend in March. Finishes on the last weekend in October.



Goods and services are subject to German VAT (MWSt), currently 16% and all prices in Germany are given inclusive of VAT as well as service charges. Extra tipping in Germany is therefore purely voluntary (up to 10% of the total bill) and expresses satisfaction with services received.



In the larger cities, post offices are usually open from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and until noon on Saturday. At major rail stations and airports, they often open longer and even on Sundays. Foreign money orders are paid out in Euros.



You can make local and long-distance calls from all post offices and public phone booths. Most phone booths take phone cards which are available at any post office for 6, 14, 25 and 56 EUR.



To call Germany: Dial the Country Code +49, then dial the area code omitting the 0, then dial the local number.

To call Australia: Dial the Country Code +61, then dial the area code omitting the 0, then dial the local number.

German Fire Brigade/Ambulance: 112
German Emergency/Police: 110



The power supply in Germany is currently being changed from 220V to 230V to comply with European standards. This has no effect whatsoever on the vast majority of 220-240V appliances. Plugs are of the 2-pin variety, so an adapter is required.



Level 10, 39-41 York Street Sydney NSW 2000
Email: gnto@germany.org.au
Internet: www.germany-tourism.de
Tel: (02) 8296 0488
Fax: (02) 8296 0487