Beliefs

Stories, churches, and the many ways families believe.

Woods and rivers

Old stories grew up beside woods and rivers. People told them at night, and later writers wrote some of them down.

The Lorelei is a story place on the Rhine. A tale says a woman sang from the rock. The rock is real. The singer is a story. See die Lorelei.

The Pied Piper is a story from Hameln. In the tale, a piper leads the rats away, and then the children. People in Hameln still tell it. It is a story.

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm wrote down old tales in their own way. Other people had told those tales first. The Grimm tales are stories.

Churches and the year

Churches and chapels stand in towns and on hills. Christmas and Easter are customs many families keep, with lights, eggs, songs, and shared meals.

Arguments in Luther's time split churches. Some people stayed with the older church. Some followed the reform.

Jewish life

Jewish people have been part of life in these towns for many centuries.

In Berlin, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is a place to remember Jewish people who were murdered. See the memorial.

Very old graves

We are not sure what people at very old graves believed.

Today

Many families in Germany today are Muslim, Christian, Jewish, or of no religion.