Sports
Many Germans love sports. In fact, every third German is a member of a sport club. It is therefore no wonder that Germany has been so sucessful in international sports. Popular disciplines include football (soccer), athletics and cycling. Germany has hosted many major sports events in the past, like the Football World Cup in 2006, the World Championships in Athletics in 2009, the 2010 Hockey World Championships and the 2011 Women's World Cup.
German sports stars known all over the world include tennis players Steffi Graf and Boris Becker, soccer player Franz Beckenbauer, F1 racer Michael Schumacher, basketball star Dirk Nowitzki and pool players Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann.
Hiking is in. Around 34 million Germans go hiking in their free time. And that is no coincidence, because Germany has an excellent infrastructure for hiking with just less than 200,000 km of fully-developed paths leading through many kinds of landscapes, some of them quite spectacular.
Hiking in Germany
"Wasserwandern" is the German term for touring by water, traveling by canoe or a kayak along the designated waterways of multiple connected lakes or rivers. Rest areas, campgrounds and even restaurants are sometimes scattered along the route.
Wasserwandern
Despite its lingering celebrity sport aura, golf is today increasingly popular with all sections of German society. More and more people enjoy a game that tests both concentration and sporting prowess. The eternal quest for the perfect stroke has become an enthralling pastime.
Golf in Germany
