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Germany
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{{infobox Country
|country = Germany
|map = <map lat='51.39920565355378' lng='9.9755859375' zoom='5' view='0' height='320' width='260' float='left' country='Germany' />
|language = German
|capital = [[Berlin]]
|pop = 82,314,900
|currency = Euro (€)
|hitch = <good>
|BW = DE
}}
[[File:2003 Hitch-hiking in Germany.jpg|thumb|left|250px|[[User:Sigurdas|Sigurdas]] thumbing towards Nürnberg, 2003.]]
'''Germany''' is a member state of the [[European Union]] as well as the [[Schengen Agreement]]. It is a great country for [[hitchhiking]], both on motorways (via [[on-ramp]]s, [[rest area|service stations]], more seldom - parking lots) and local roads. Germans are a little bit suspicious, but nice if you get to know them. Thumbing makes it easier for them to say "no", because they do not even have to look at you. Those who will stop are often people who hitchhiked themselves when they were younger. Many of them have families, jobs and fast cars now.
Because of the absence of speed limits on many motorways it's a good country to hitchhike long distances in short time.
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==Eat==Try to avoid eating on service stations on Getting onto the motorways. They are very expensive (you even have to pay for the toilets) and the food is usually very bad.autobahn ====At some service stations with a ''Sanifair'' system you get a EUR 0,50 bill for the toilet. You can buy things for EUR 0,50 with it at the petrol station shop and at the restaurant.You can drink water from the tap nearly everywhere in Germany[[File:Zeichen 330.svg|thumb|right|100px|The on-ramp sign of an autobahn]]
==Cities= Federal ''Bundesstraße'' roads ===*[[Aachen]], [[Augsburg]]*[[Berlin]], [[Bielefeld]], [[Bonn]], [[Bremen]]*[[Darmstadt]], [[Dortmund]], [[Dresden]], [[Düsseldorf]]*[[Essen]]*[[Frankfurt am Main]], [[Freiburg im Breisgau]]*[[Gießen]], [[Göttingen]]*[[Hamburg]], [[Hannover]]*[[Karlsruhe]], [[Kassel]], [[Kehl]], [[Köln]], [[Konstanz]]*[[Leipzig]]*[[Magdeburg]], [[Mönchengladbach]], [[München]], [[Münster]]*[[Nürnberg]]*[[Osnabrück]]*[[Potsdam]], [[Puttgarden]]*[[Ravensburg]], [[Reutlingen]], [[Rostock]]*[[Sigmaringen]], [[Stuttgart]]*[[Trier]]*[[Ulm]]*[[Weingarten]], [[Wuppertal]], [[Würzburg]]
[[CategoryFile:GermanyBundesstraße 42 number.svg|See all citiesthumb|right|150px|A traffic sign indicating Bundesstraße B42]]The federal ''Bundesstraße'' roads are indicated by yellow signs and carry numbers like ''B6'' or ''B49''. Like in the case of the autobahn the ''B'' is not written on traffic signs, but federal roads can be distinguished by the yellow colour of the sign. As they are smaller and carry more local traffic they should only be used to get from and to the autobahn, though there are a few exceptions to the rule.
[[File:Zeichen 331.1 - Kraftfahrstraße, StVO 2013.svg|thumb|right|150px|A fraffic sign indicating the beginning of a ''Kraftfahrstraße'']]To make it more complicated some of the ''Bundesstraßen'' are a so called ''Kraftfahrstraße''. For them most of the ''Autobahn''-rules apply (e.g. no pedestrians and bikes allowed). You can recognise a ''Kraftfahrstraße'' by the sign of a white car in front of a blue backround. ==Practical = Smaller federal ''Landstraße'' roads === These roads are not numbered on traffic signs and usually connect minor towns. As most of them have lower speed limits thumbing is likely to work. As they might not have a lot of traffic coming through they should only be used for getting from and to you final destination. == The Ruhr area warning == When hitch hiking towards and from Belgium, be carreful passing the Ruhr area (Dortmund, Essen, Duisburg). Once you get in, it's difficult to get out. Raststättes are rare and passing traffic avoids this region. We tried on several places and had to take the train to pass this area (lost 5 hours). There are sufficient work arounds to avoid this area. See also the hitchwiki page of the [[Ruhr Area]]. == Legal stuff ==Hitchhiking in general is legal in Germany. It is only forbidden to hitchhike on the Autobahn itself, meaning you standing on the autobahn or its emergency lane. It is also forbidden to walk on a ''Kraftfahrstraße''. You are perfectly fine stopping at service stations and asking the people but keep in mind that service stations are private property / leases. It occasionally happened that owners try to get rid of hichthikers at "their" service station. If that happens, just move to the parking space and hitchhike there.If you want to start hitching at the on-ramps, make sure you stand before the rectangular blue sign indicating the start of the autobahn. Just like other people, police may or may not be friendly towards hitchhikers. It is said that police controls are more frequent in the southern states of [[Bavaria]] and [[Baden-Württemberg]]. As a foreigner you have to carry your passport at all times; a national ID card is sufficient if you are from another EU country. If you are being checked, be friendly, show it to them and they will leave you alone. === Car registration/number plates ===You can determine where a car is registered by its number plates. While tehre are certain plates on rented cars. (Europcar has „HH“ (Hamburg), Avis – „EU“ (Euskirchen), Sixt – „M“ (Munich), Hertz „DN-H“ (Düren)), other plates are associated with areas [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Kfz-Kennzeichen_in_Deutschland - DE], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_Germany EN]. The first letter is usually the district where it is registered. In addition, there is a little patch beside the number which tells you what state that number plate belongs to, which is useful if you do not know the district letters. == License plates ==There are between one and three letters on a license plate which show the city or region where the car is registered. For example, look for license plates starting with '''B''' if you're hitching to [[Berlin]]. Have a look at the articles on Wikipedia for more information: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_car_number_plates German car number plates] (in English) and [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Kfz-Kennzeichen_in_Deutschland Liste der Kfz-Kennzeichen in Deutschland] (in German). Note that it is no longer required to change plates if you move, so a HH (Hamburg) car may very well belong to someone living in München (M). At the moment this is not yet a big problem, but in due course it may lead to the situation that license plates become as useless as those in many other countries for determining the direction a car might be going... == Maps ==[[File:IMG 5392.JPG|thumb|250px|right|[[Tiziano]] hitching from [[Berlin]] to [[Munich]]]]Recommended maps for Germany are listed in [[Maps#Germany|this article]]. You can easily hitch through Germany with just a map that has all service stations along the Autobahn on it. There are maps at many service stations in a little free booklet which are quite misleading, they do '''not''' contain all service stations, just the ones belonging to one of the big companies running them. For more information look here: [http://www.tank.rast.de/standorte/servicenetz/index.php tank.rast.de]. For a good map to print out and bring with you that has all the service stations on it have a look here: [http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/684/rastekarte.jpg/ Rastekarte]. This is the same one you will find at the service stations as big overview maps, more often than not those can be nicked very easily as well. On the website: www.autobahnatlas-online.de you can find detailed listings of all Autobahnen, with all drive-ups, interchanges, all types of rest stops, tunnels, and bridges along their ways, with exact kilometer allegations. This comes along handy when hopping from station to station. On a longer journey with several route options, [https://www.diercke.de/content/deutschland-stra%C3%9Fenverkehr-978-3-14-100800-5-64-1-1 this map] showing the traffic volume of the different highways might help you deciding which could be faster due to more traffic. For those using mobile app MAPS.ME, you may download a .kml file with all the service plazas for viewing on your map offline. Considering Germany is extremely well mapped on [https://openstreetmap.org OpenStreetMap], these locations can be assumed to be very accurate and up-to-date. You can view the [https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/MGq data extract here] and click Export > Download as KML and then open the .kml file on your phone to be loaded in MAPS.ME == Language ==Despite German being the major language, (with over 95% of the population speaking it as a first language [http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/european_languages/countries/germany.shtml]) you will find that many Germans speak English or French as a second language. Other common languages in the country are Turkish, Russian and Arabic. === Learning to speak German ===The basic hitchhiker needs can be satisfied by a look at the phrasebook [[western Europe phrasebook|here]]. When asking your drivers for help it pays off to know that the German word ''Straße'' for street contains the weird letter ''ß'' which looks a bit like a B. If you pronounce it like an ''s'' Germans will understand you. Contrary to popular belief the diacritics on Ä, ä, Ö, ö, Ü and ü are not metal umlauts and thus they do affect pronunciation. If in doubt try to pronounce the word as if the diacritics didn't exist. For instance, if you pronounce the city ''Würzburg'' as ''Wurzburg'' you will probably be understood. == Useful links== * [https://warmroads.de/en/hitchhiking-in-17-germany/ Comprehensive guide about hitchhiking in Germany] by [[User:Korn|Korn]] on https://warmroads.de
* [http://deu.anarchopedia.org/index.php/Deutschland:Trampstellen Hitchhiking spots in Germany], in German, on a GFDL wiki
{{nomadwiki}} <!--* [http://www.linksundrechts.com/karten/u_oesterreich.gif Autobahnübersicht Österreich]* [http://www.autostrade.de/ Autobahnübersicht Italien]* [http://stuenings-nt.stuenings.de/LuR/karten/01519.gif Autobahnübersicht Italien] * [http://www.bibione.com/index_de.html Bibione - Offizielle HP]<BR>* [http://www.bibione.com/vetrina/images/mappa_dintorni.jpg Bibione Übersichts Karte]<BR>* [http://www.bibione.com/upload//sito_bibione/162sito_bibione.jpg Bibione Strand]
-->
{{Hitchbase_countryHighways DE}}{{Template:Cities Germany}}{{States Germany}}{{Template:Europe/countries}} {{IsIn|73Western Europe}}
[[de:Deutschland]]
[[es:Alemania]]
[[fi:Saksa]]
[[fr:Allemagne]]
[[pl:Niemcy]]
[[ru:Германия]]
[[tr:Almanya]]