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7 unmissable events in Germany this June

The sun is shining, so this month there are lots of outdoor festivities to help you make the most of the glorious weather.

Published: 2 June 2017 16:46 CEST
Updated: 6 June 2017 08:46 CEST

7 unmissable events in Germany this June

The Carnival of Cultures in Berlin. Photo: DPA.

1. Carnival of Cultures, Berlin, June 2nd – 5th

A lady taking part in the 2016 Carnival of Cultures street parade, holding a sign which reads “peace for the world”. Photo: DPA

This colourful four-day carnival celebrates diversity and cultural identity in Germany’s capital city. The event takes place at Blücherplatz in Kreuzberg and is open to everyone.

According to the website, the event developed not only due to Berlin becoming increasingly international, but also as a reaction to increasing racism in the 1990s in Germany. Hence the carnival has been aiming to make minorities more visible in the public sphere since 1996.

Music and dance groups of both professional and amateur level and of all age groups take part in the parade, which will take place on June 4th, through Kreuzberg. The carnival also features live music and street food. This year stilt-walkers, acrobats and magicians are expected to wow visitors.

2. Munich Town Foundation Festival, Munich, June 17th-18th

Traditional dancers perform at the Town Foundation Festival in Munich. Photo: DPA

Over one weekend in mid-June, Munich will celebrate its 859th anniversary with music and dance performances as well as a craftsman’s market.

Though the city can actually trace its origins back around 1,000 years ago, the official founding day of Munich is June 14th 1158. In 1156 Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, built a toll bridge to what was then a small settlement called “Munichen”.

The settlement grew, and on June 14th 1158, Munich’s right to collect tolls, have a marketplace and mint money was officially confirmed. Hence, June 14th is considered the foundation day of the town.

3. Luther’s Wedding, Wittenberg, Saxony-Anhalt, June 9th-11th

The actors who will pay Martin Luther and Katherina von Borain at the 2017 celebration of Luther's Wedding. They are pictured in front of the St. Marien Church in Wittenberg. Photo: DPA

The town of Wittenberg comes together to celebrate the marriage of Martin Luther – who 500 years ago kick-started the Protestant Reformation – to Katherina von Bora. The event took place on June 13th 1525, and has been commemorated annually for the past 23 years.

The event promises dancing, music, a middle ages-themed market and of course plenty of period costume.

4. Elbhangfest, Dresden, June 23rd-25th

The crowd enjoys a musical performance at the Elbhangfest in Loschwitz. Photo: Elbhangfest

Continuing with the Luther theme, this year’s Elbhangfest (Elbe riverside festival) in Dresden also focuses on the Reformation, celebrating 500 years since it took place.

Fifteen stages are set to bring spectators musical performances of many genres, and the historical aspect of the festival is to include exhibitions such as “Women of the Reformation”.

The three-day event takes place over a seven-kilometre stretch of the river Elbe, involving five villages between Loschwitz and Pillnitz.

5. Forest Day Festival, Frankfurt am Main, June 3rd -6th

Previous years' visitors to the Forest Day Festival enjoy a cool beer by the ferris wheel. Photo: DPA

Taking place in the city forest, this fun-fair, described by the Frankfurt tourist information office as Frankfurt’s “national holiday”, has been taking place for hundreds of years to mark the high point of the Whitsun holiday.

6. Palace festival, Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, June 16th – 19th

Actors playing the Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II and his spouse Sophie von Schwarzenburg-Rudolstadt in front of the palace at Schwerin during the 2009 Palace Festival. Photo: DPA

If you fancy a trip back to 1857, then this is the event for you. A festival is to take place to commemorate the day the prince of the region moved into his newly-built palace, a building which now serves as the seat of the local parliament in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Guests are encouraged to come in period costume to the event, where you can watch courtly dances, be honoured by an audience with the Grand Duke in the palace, as well as enjoy a craft market.

Bouncing back to the 21st century, the evenings on Friday and Saturday are expected to dazzle visitors with a laser light display accompanied by music, which beautifully lights up the palace. On the Sunday you can enjoy the parliament’s open day to learn about the local government.

7. Bachfest, Leipzig, June 9th-18th

Programme booklets for the 2013 Bachfest. Photo: DPA

If you’re a fan of baroque music, you’ll want to make your way to Leipzig this June, where the music of Johann Sebastian Bach will be playing in churches, concert halls and even in the open air of the market place.

The festival has taken place in various forms since 1904, but only became a regular, annual event in 1999. It includes tours of the Bach museum and is a mixture of ticketed and free events.

Nine hip-hop tracks that will help you learn German

In fact, it’s a truth universally acknowledged that listening to hip-hop in German will boost your German language abilities tenfold.

Ok, so while that might not technically be entirely (read: at all) true, we reckon Jane Austen would have appreciated many German rappers’ way with words.

And with most clearly enunciating their words, and the rhythmic delivery helping with phrasing, the genre is a gift for language learners: it can help you get to grips with new words, sentence patterns and pronunciation, as well as gain an understanding of current phenomena.

We’ve chosen a selection of German hip-hop tracks – including some old-school gems – that are reasonable easy to understand, as well as a couple for more advanced learners who want to get to grips with the finer nuances of the language and word play.

Here are some songs to get you started.

Die Fantastischen Vier – Die Da

You can’t have an article about German hip hop without mentioning Die Fantastischen Vier (The Fantastic Four, often known as Die Fanta’ 4). Germany’s answer to the Beastie Boys, this Stuttgart band basically kicked off the German hip-hop scene in the late 80s and they’re still going today.

The catchy Die Da!? (Her over there!?) was a tongue-in-cheek hit in 1992 and we love it because the band’s clear articulation makes it easy to understand. Yes, it’s a bit silly – it’s about women the band are interested in, but spoiler: it ends up being the same woman – but it’s packed full of useful German slang.

Want to test your knowledge of German abbreviations? Check out their mfg (Mit freundlichen Grüssen, With best wishes)

Fettes Brot – Jein

Still on an old-school hip-hop vibe, Fettes Brot were a big part of the Hamburg scene.

‘Jein’ – a pleasing amalgamation of Ja and Nein was a big hit in the early 90s. Again, the delivery is clear, they rap slowly and the text is pretty straightforward. Here’s the chorus, for example:

Soll ich’s wirklich machen oder lass ich’s lieber sein / Jein / Ja, ja, oder nein /
Shall I really do it or would it be better to leave it / Jein / Yes, yes, or no

Perfect for the indecisive.

And for a taster of Hamburg dialect, have a listen to Nordisch by Nature.

One of the founder members Der Tobi later got together with another big name on the Hamburg scene – das Bo – and together with marcnesium and DJ Coolmann, they formed cheeky band Fünf Sterne Deluxe. Check out ‘Willst du mit mir geh’n‘ (Do you want to be my boyfriend/girlfriend?)

Mudi – Kind sein

The German rapper with Turkish and Lebanese roots is known for his storytelling that touches on key cultural issues. There’s less wordplay here and he raps slowly and clearly so, even for less confident German learners, the text is quite easy to understand (although some of his songs have a bit of Arabic, Turkish and Kurdish in them).

In 2016’s ‘Kind sein’ (being a child), he raps about feeling nostalgic for his childhood and the context makes it a breeze to put any new vocab into context.

He raps about missing the days when he was klein und so sorgenlos (small and so carefree) in contrast to now where heute sind die Sorgen gross / Krieg, der in den Herzen tobt (today the worries are great / war that rages in our hearts).

Cro – Ein Teil

Arguably more pop than rap (Cro himself calls the mixture raop), Cro is a pretty big deal in Germany.

‘Ein Teil’ is a great starter song as the lyrics are straightforward and it’s quite repetitive, helping with understanding and pronunciation. And while Cro mumbles a bit on some of his other tracks (he tends to eat some of his word endings), he’s quite clear on this track.

(And if you see him live, his penchant for wearing a panda mask on stage doesn’t necessarily help matters). Here’s a section of the refrain that’s repeated throughout:

Du bist und bleibst für immer ein Teil von mir

You are and will always be a part of me

Freundeskreis – A-N-N-A

More known for their socially conscious lyrics, the 90s/00s Stuttgart group had a hit with this slightly soppy but very catchy track.

Immer wenn es regnet / muss ich an dich denken / wie wir uns begegnet sind / und kann mich nicht ablenken

Whenever it rains / I have to think of you / How we met / I can’t stop thinking about it

Group member Max Herre also went on to have success as a solo artist and that’s also worth a listen. Try 1ste Liebe.

S. Castro – Krieger

For something with a more aggressive flow, try S. Castro.

His strong rhythmic delivery in this 2012 battle rap (Krieger means warrior) makes the lyrics fairly easy to understand.

The politically conscious rapper with Kurdish roots uses his raps to expose oppressive aspects of society and the system so there’s plenty of cultural insights to be gained too.

Deichkind – Leider Geil

This one – which translates as ‘unfortunately cool’ – really took off in the noughties with people describing everything as ‘leider geil’ for a while. It’s a really easy one to understand, too as it’s all in the present tense and the Hamburg group rap slowly and clearly.

Here’s a sample:

Es tut mir leid, doch ich muss leider gestehen / Es gibt Dinge auf der Welt, die sind (leider geil) / Autos machen Dreck, Umwelt geht kaputt / Doch ‘ne fette neue Karre ist (leider geil)

I’m sorry, but I’ve got to admit it, unfortunately / There are things in the world that are (unfortunately cool) / Cars are dirty, the environment’s going to hell / But getting an awesome new ride is (unfortunately cool)

Sabrina Setlur – Du liebst mich nicht

Setlur started out in the 90s and was one of the first German female rappers to achieve commercial success – this song went to number one.

Combining hard rap with a sung chorus, ‘You don’t love me’ is a heartfelt attack against a partner who doesn’t love her any more. Perfect for anyone who wants to improve their heartbreak vocab in German.

For a time her rap success was overshadowed by her then-relationship with Boris Becker, but her songs stand the test of time.

This one has since been covered by Ado Kojo featuring Hamburg-based rapper Shirin David.

Bodo Wartke – Barbaras Rhabarberbar

And we couldn’t not include this one. Rapper and cabaret performer Bodo Wartke achieved viral TikTok fame with this tongue-twister that tells the increasingly ludicrous tale of Barbara and her rhubarb bar.

As well as inspiring a dance, the catchy rap also sparked a huge interest in learning German which can never be a bad thing.

Wartke and friend and rapper Matti Fischer both have super-clear pronunciation. Plus it’s a great track for learning how easy it is to make compound nouns in German.

This is obviously just a selection, there are plenty more great hip-hop songs to help you with your German. Have we missed any of your favourites – let us know in the comments!

And if you want to see the lyrics while you listen to the songs, most texts are available on Genius.com and Songtexte.com.

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