Germans on the Web
From deutsche Städte to Expo 2000 to Spargel!
The Germans have taken to the Internet in a big way. Despite having to pay by the minute for online access, they lead most of their European neighbors in online surfing. Worldwide, only the Americans and the Japanese have a higher rate of online usage. The current top three in the WWW: the USA, Japan and Germany.
This article takes a look at today's German Web and features links to some of the more interesting German-language sites. We'll also guide you to some of our earlier features on using the Web for learning German. Even beginners can do it!
A recent survey by the German news magazine Focus ranked 100 German cities by Internet/Web usage ("100 Städte in Internet-Test"). Cities from Aachen (14) to Zwickau (99) were judged and ranked in various Web categories. The top city overall, Munich, placed first in the category of high-tech/Internet firms located there, second in company usage, fourth in the private user category and 27th in public Internet support. Last on the list was the town of Salzgitter (pop. 114,104). The German capital, Berlin, came in at number ten.
Here is eine Rangliste of the top 15 wired cities in Germany according to Focus (20. März 2000):
| Rang | Stadt City | Einwohner Population |
| 1 | München Munich | 1 188 897 |
| 2 | Darmstadt | 137 511 |
| 3 | Erlangen | 100 775 |
| 4 | Karlsruhe | 276 536 |
| 5 | Düsseldorf | 568 440 |
| 6 | Stuttgart | 581 961 |
| 7 | Frankfurt am Main | 643 857 |
| 8 | Bonn | 304 639 |
| 9 | Heilbronn | 120 012 |
| 10 | Berlin | 3 398 822 |
| 11 | Nürnberg | 487 145 |
| 12 | Köln Cologne | 962 580 |
| 13 | Freiburg i.B. | 200 980 |
| 14 | Aachen | 244 429 |
| 15 | Hannover | 516 157 |
Large German cities (pop. 400,000+) not in the top 15 include: Hamburg (17), Bremen (22), Dortmund (24), Essen (33), Dresden (34), Leipzig (43) and Duisburg (68). When ranked by local government Net access for citizens (städtische Nutzung), Bremen placed first, with Berlin and Erlangen second and third. Munich was fourth in this category.
The Bremen/Bremerhaven site was praised for its use of the Web to help its citizens and quick responses to email inquiries. (I also like the site slogan: "Die Bremer Stadtinformanten" - a nice play on "Bremer Stadtmusikanten"!) Among other things, bremen.online features an events calendar (Veranstaltungskalender), government forms (Formulare) and even a Web-Kamera to send Live-Bilder (pictures) of civil ceremony weddings to out-of-town relatives from the Standesamt. In other German cities the locals can send complaints to city hall (das Rathaus) via email, and Hamburg plans to provide free Internet-Zugang (access) to all of its inhabitants. In Cologne you can order books or CDs online from the municipal library (Stadtbibliothek).
The German city with the highest percentage of private Internet users (private Nutzer) was Heilbronn, followed by Aachen, Erlangen, Munich and Bonn. All except Heilbronn are cities with a high percentage of university students. Everyone was at a loss to explain why the medium-sized city of Heilbronn (pop. 120,000) in Baden-Württemberg was first in private Internet use and ninth overall.
You can find most German cities online with this URL formula: www.stadtname.de, where you replace "stadtname" with the name of the city you want. (Use ue for ü and other umlauted characters, as in "muenchen" for München.) For more about Germany and the Internet, see Focus online (in German only).
From Expo 2000 to Spargel: more Germany on the Web on the next page.
GERMANY & WEB > Page 1, 2
Also From Your Guide
Stern - An In-depth Look
Stern is one of Germany's leading weekly illustrated magazines. We examine the periodical's multifacted online version from a language-learning perspective.
Techniques for Using Authentic Language Sources
Tips and suggestions for using the Web to your advantage. Even beginners can do it!
Using the Web to Learn German
A guide to finding good uses on the World Wide Web.
Webhunt 1: Introduction
An online Schnitzeljagd (scavenger hunt).
German Chat
Visit Our German Forum!
Current Hot Topics