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Benjamin, you had mentioned that you are half British. What is your other parent's nationality of origin? Just curious. As you already know, I love your all your other presentations.

We recently traveled “east” as we we’re visiting Hansestic cities Lübeck and Lüneburg, as well as Erfurt, Gera,Dresden and Potsdam/Berlin. I can’t overstate how enjoyable our time was. Dresden, being the capital of Saxony is an absolute jewel; the Residenzschloss contained a wide range of medieval armaments as well as the remnants of 600 years of rule; Potsdam, as a launchpoint for vorays to Berlin, was brilliant, with the Sans Souci palace as well as evidence of having been a divided city during the Berlin Wall era. Lübeck, with its twin-tiered main gate and charming Rathaus, hosts the Hanseatic Museum, which was an informative presentation. Lüneburg, sitting on a foundation of salt, which was mined and converted to wealth during Hanseatic times, charmed with its city center; Also, the city of Erfurt, with is stunning cathedral and charming Altstadt region was a delightful surprise. In short, after so many trips to southern Germany and the Rhineland, we were gratified to find a broad sampling of the historical as well as current living conditions that begged our return. Did I mention Berlin? I never made it west of Brandenberg gate. So much to explore and enjoy in this modern Germany.

I went to Wismar recently and I agree, it was a lovely city and way nicer than I was expecting.

Berlin, Düsseldorf oder Frankfurt Zentrum sind nicht wirklich Deutschland 😅

It would be totally fine for me if we step by step would get rid of the german language here in germany and switch to english. It would take some time (100 years ?), but in the end it's better for everybody. Maybe we just could keep the german accent.

"Des schaff I a noch" sounds swabian. Did you learn your German in the south west of Bavaria?

To be blunt and direct is just more efficient than beating around the bush.

I am glad you like this part of Germany but on the other hand it’s astounding that a contemporary, presumably well educated, middle class Brit would be clueless about the geographical origins of the German culture. Still stuck in Cold War cliches? Thirty some years after the unification? Wow

well-researched, fair opinions, and beautiful photography. Thanks! Not to critique what you are saying, but I'd be really interested in knowing how your travels in Thüringen had worked out if your were black or Muslim-looking. All bets are off.

It is true that in the East we have always earned a lot less than in the West. At first, it could be somehow justified by the lower prices we had to pay for food and rent. However, those prices are now comparable with those in the West and yet, our salaries have not caught up.

No such thing as german stereotypes , so many different and varied cultures and Germany has only been one nation since 1871-1945 and from 1993 . West Germany is home to many ideas and cultures, but the former DDR is an issue with the rise of AfD , as this former part of Germany only had democracy from 1919-1932 and from the 1990s.

East Germany is in no way still socialistic or anti capitalist.

Beautiful, thank you ✨️🙏✨️

I assume you’re from Portsmouth? Some great shots of southsea.

Benjamin, that was very informative on German life and culture. I totally agree that one of the very first things one should do in any foreign country is to learn the language. I live in Los Angeles and am often amazed at how many people only speak Spanish. Though I have never visited Germany, I had always heard how well-organized and structured things could be. I would like that. I have subscribed, liked and will be looking out for your other videos. Very soothing and attractive voice.

Fun fact about Thüringen: at the end of WWII it was liberated by western allies in the first place and later "exchanged" for parts of Berlin to russia

Well, geographically, Thuringia is the green heart of Germany. Central Germany. East begins after river Elbe.

From 1714 to 1901, the kings and queens of Great Britain came from the House of Hanover. Since then from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (the "Windsors"). Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha popularised the Christmas tree in the UK. And they are also Saxons (Anglo-Saxons, Old Saxons, you understand). Incidentally, Edgitha of England, granddaughter of Alfred the Great, Queen consort of Germany and wife of Otto the Great, is buried in Magdeburg Cathedral. She popularised St Oswald in Germany. So there are certain connections between Great Britain and Germany.😉 BTW, I grew up not only with Grimm fairy tales, but also with the stories of the Nibelungs, the saga of King Arthur and Merlin, with stories like Ivanhoe, Robin Hood, King Richard the Lionheart, or the tales of Francis Drake. Later, J.R.R. Tolkien (his family originally came from Germany, just like William Hershel) had a great influence. My favourite British TV series is "All Creatures Great and Small", which I also have as a DVD edition in the "Hillman Minx" packaging.😊 And, my grandmother told me many years ago that after the loss of the "Titanic", Germany was also in mourning, all black, white and red flags at "half-mast".

Thank you for this brilliant video of my region. ❤ maybe some people take a deeper dive into this now. Germany 🇩🇪 has so much more to offer than Munich, Oktoberfest and Berlin

At 3:40 you sound like you were speaking German. Interesting.

Last part of Western European that wasn’t colonized by „diversity“

Die Wiedervereinigung ist erst abgeschlossen, wenn der letzte Ostdeutsche aus den Grundbüchern gestrichen ist.

I am from Bavaria and Thüringen is my favourite holiday destination.

First of all it's full of Nazis.

East Germans should be grateful to Poland. Country where Communism was dynamited in Europe.. There was no desire for freedom in GDR. In Poland Hungary Czechoslovakia was !

Frankfurt is an absolut hellhole these days..dirty, drugs and crime rife, insane housing market, crumbling economy,

I dont know Frankfurt is incredibly dull and boring! The sights You will have Seen in 2 hours! Also drugs and homelessness is rife, also crime! For a city that size incredibly boring and superficial! The Best things Are the Airport and its Location! No way I would recommend moving here! Compare it to Valencia, Amsterdam, Kopenhagen of Simular size Frankfurt cant compare!

Thank you so much for making this video. I am an American with deep Eisenach/Erfurt/ Weimar roots. I have been to all 3 cities ( multiple times) with Erfurt as not only my favorite but one day I would want to live in one day. I felt that the people were very friendly and welcoming but I dealt mostly with those who speak english in the hospitality or retail business. You bring up very interesting points about their attitude toward foreigners and would I be seen as a foreigner or would I be viewed as a one of their own? Perhaps the former based on your assessement which has given me reason to research it more before I make such a large move.

I just saw your video on a Brit's site who reacted to your video. I come from Pößneck, about 57 km southeast of Weimar. Your video is really great and I was particularly pleased that you liked our towns and the countryside so much. There is so much to discover in the whole of Thuringia and believe me, the friendliness of my Thuringians is no exception, even if politicians like to claim the opposite. Thuringia is the green heart of Germany and the Thuringians have their hearts in the right place.

Although I like East Germany I've met quite a few Ossies who are weirdly nostalgic for the DDR. One I met at the Voelkerschlachtdenkmal in Leipzig said 'Wir waren eine Gemeinschaft' with a tone of nostalgic regret. Another one I met told me that 'it wasn't that bad'! I think these people were completely brainwashed and it is extremely sad to see. Western society is far from perfect but it is still infinitely preferable to the cluster**** that is Marxist-Leninism. Communism was such a bad system that it made even the Germans inefficient.

The East-West divide goes back to the 10th century when Otto I. brutally subjugated the Saxons, a Scandinavian and Slavic people, and forced them into the German federation. Most East Germans in the DDR were happy that they finally have their own state again, independent from Germany after 900 years. The problem was really only with the Stasi. The DDR had a Scandinavian culture like Denmark (to whom the Saxons are closer related than to the Germans), and sharing and commonly owning everything came naturally. That's why Helmut Kohl rushed the unification because he knew that once communism falls, then the East Germans might vote to remain independent anyway, and then he can't blame communism anymore for the two Germanies. Kohl was fully aware of the past.

Thüringen is Not east Germany. East Germany is in Poland and Russia

At 5:21 you show local money printed during the hyper inflation year of 1923 ( probably, facsimiles. Has nothing to do with what you talk about.

The last 10 years really has brought out the nasty side in a lot of Germans. Anyone who spends a lot of time in Germany and observes their media will have noticed that Britain-hating sentiment is very common, including a lot of authentic hatred, not just tongue-in-cheek complaints. As somebody who is half-Swedish, half-English, it kinda puts me off. I cannot demand that they like us, because of obvious historical reasons, but you're denying the extent of anti-English feeling in Germany, which there is rarely any pushback against within Germany itself. Please try to be more honest about this topic. It's not all down to English people being ignorant or stuck in the past. There are faults on the German side too.

Social media and smartphones basically changed everything. Before widespread use of the internet and smartphones, most areas within the country were generally contained, so local culture and social views tended to be uncontested and the norm. Now, everyones mentality is being pulled in all different directions because of the constant bombardment of information. Tribalism has become a problem, not just in the UK but most of the western world. People with personal, usually subjective, beliefs now band together across social media channels and use it as a soap box for social change. This upsets the conventional social norms that have been in place for decades, and a lot of people are having a hard time adjusting because society is changing too quickly. A lot of people who were born in the 70s and early 80s (like myself) are having a harder time adjusting to this rapid change than the younger generation, simply because people adapt to certain values and beliefs of their time, whereas the young are not indoctrinated with those beliefs and values. The definition of conservative is the preservation of characteristics. The problem is that because social norms have been turned upside down, the younger generation is socially and culturally everywhere. So I think you are very correct about UK experiencing an identity crisis. Unfortunately, there isn't any clear solution to this problem. Some conservatives are pushing for a religious angle, saying that the abandonment of christianity is the problem. Whereas, as an athiest, I'm not so sure considering any wisdom found in religion is a derivative of human experience. I still believe that social media and smartphones are the problem and should be heavily regulated. And yes, the irony of using RUclips to make that statement is not lost on me. Basically, social media and smartphones have radically accelerated social change and its making people feel disjointed in society. It's also killing the human spirit, but thats a whole other conversation.