The drivers of this nation, which loves its cars so much, are forced to accept rising petrol prices.

What do Germans think about the high petrol prices?

Record prices on the international oil market have driven up prices throughout Europe. A litre of regular petrol currently costs an average of €1.43 per litre.

The high petrol prices are hitting people where it hurts, in their wallets.

Many people are dependent on their vehicle. They work at least 20 kilometres from their home and have no way of getting to work by public transport.
At the petrol station, you can see people filling up with a precisely calculated minimum amount of petrol or diesel in the hope of a price reduction.
The bus often doesn't save any money either, with many people complaining that tickets are too expensive in their region. They therefore prefer to continue taking the car and make sure they don't spill a drop when refuelling.
At the weekends, vehicles with large tanks make a pilgrimage to neighbouring countries because petrol is much cheaper there and the long journey is worthwhile if you fill up with enough fuel.
Friends and families have formed a network and inform each other when they spot a cheaper petrol station.
You can search for the cheapest petrol station in your area on websites such as www.clever-tanken.de.

Despite the high petrol prices, Germans remain loyal to their motorways. Petrol stations report that sales continue to be good and are even increasing every year. Even though everyone is complaining about the high petrol prices, most people are not cutting back on driving. They save money elsewhere so that they can afford the petrol. Germans love their cars too much for that.

In fact, registrations for new vehicles have risen by 25% compared to the previous year. Car manufacturers are experiencing an upswing with Europe's largest vehicle manufacturer Volkswagen leading the way with sales of more than 89,000 new vehicles in the first two months of 2008. Last year, a total of 3.5 million new cars were sold in Germany.

Car manufacturers BMW and Mercedes-Benz, known for heavy and elegant cars with relatively high fuel consumption, are supporting the trend towards fuel-efficient models with alternative technologies. At the recent Geneva International Motor Show, 17 out of 94 vehicle models were equipped with engines that run on alternative fuels.

According to Volkswagen's announcement, the new Golf generation will also be available with a hybrid engine by 2009.

The question remains whether Germans will pay more for more environmentally friendly cars?

According to a survey of consumers, most Germans are not prepared to pay more for environmentally friendly technologies in their vehicles as long as there are no tax reductions to make a low-emission vehicle more attractive.

The survey also showed that European drivers have hardly changed their driving behaviour despite climate change. But after all, work is always being done on the further development of low-emission vehicles and a 'clean future'.

However, the number of gas-powered vehicles in Europe has increased significantly in the last few years. In Germany alone, there are now 200,000 of these environmentally friendly vehicles on the roads and more than 3,500 gas filling stations have been upgraded with gas pumps.

For some years now, there have also been courses where you can learn how to save petrol while driving. The rule of thumb is to change gears early, keep the car running at lower revs and switch off the engine when stopped for long periods at level crossings or traffic lights.

In addition to the Bavarian metropolis, Oktoberfest is celebrated in cities all over the world.

Here's how it all began and some interesting statistics.

The first Oktoberfest in Munich took place in 1810, when Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. The wedding was to be duly celebrated with horse races and culinary delights. The citizens of Munich were invited to the festivities in the fields in front of the city gate. These fields were renamed Theresienwiesen. These culinary delights, especially beer, were much more popular than the wedding or the horse races.

Since then, the Munich beer festival has been repeated almost every year. Only during major crises, such as in times of war or epidemics, could the people of Munich be prevented from gathering at the "Wies'n".

Although it is called Oktoberfest, the festivities begin in September, as autumn in Bavaria can be unpredictable and bring early cold snaps with snowfall.

Today, Oktoberfest is the world's largest festival. Every year, visitors come from all over the world to celebrate the typical Bavarian beer festival. But the Oktoberfest has other attractions to offer besides beer tents, such as roller coasters, circuses, parades and live bands. The first merry-go-rounds were set up at the Oktoberfest in 1818.

The opening ceremony is at exactly 12 noon. The mayor appears in a festively decorated carriage followed by a beer cart pulled by horses. Guests, employees and musicians all wear the traditional costume (lederhosen and dirndl). At the end of the parade, the mayor taps the first pint of beer with the words: "o'zapft is!"

You need good nerves and a strong stomach to survive the 16 days of intense partying and beer drinking. But the Oktoberfest is a huge international success: not only do many foreign visitors travel to each festival, but the name 'Oktoberfest' has also been exported all over the world.

Of course there is only one true Oktoberfest, the original.

Facts about the Oktoberfest:

• In 1997, more than 5 ½ million litres of beer, 45,000 litres of wine and 165,000 litres of non-alcoholic drinks were consumed.
• The colloquial name "Wies'n," is short for Theresienwiese, where the first Oktoberfest was held.
• The festival halls in Munich have space for 94,000 people.
• The beer that the Munich breweries Löwenbräu, Spaten, Augustiner, Hofbräu, Paulaner and Hacker-Pschorr produce especially for the Oktoberfest has 4.5% alcohol.
• Cincinnati, Ohio, where the largest Oktoberfest in the USA is held, has around 500,000 visitors.
• The Munich Oktoberfest has around 6,000,000 visitors every year.
• Oktoberfest records: In 1985 there were 7.1 million visitors.
• In 2006, 6.9 million litres of beer were tapped.
• A pint of beer cost €7.50 last year
• 30% of Munich's annual beer production is consumed during the 2 weeks of Oktoberfest.
• 12000 people are employed at the Oktoberfest, 1600 of them waitresses.
• Around 220000 sausages and 460000 roast chickens are consumed.

Here is an overview of nuclear reactors currently (2023) in operation in Germany, as well as German guidelines on nuclear energy in Germany.

Germany was once a leader in nuclear research, but has been dismantling its nuclear power plants for several years. The increasing demand for clean energy and pressure to reduce carbon dioxide emissions could force the German government to rethink.

Nuclear power plants still in operation (2023) :

In January 2023, only three nuclear power plants will still be active in Germany, which will be shut down by 15 April 2023 at the latest in accordance with the Atomic Energy Act.

Isar 2 (KKI 2) - Bavaria
Gross output: 1485 MWe
Commissioning: 15.01.1988
Commercial operation: 09.04.1988

Emsland (KKE) - Lower Saxony
Gross output: 1400 MWe
Commissioning: 14.04.1988
Commercial operation: 20/06/1988

Neckarwestheim 2 (GKN 2) - Baden-Württemberg
Gross output: 1400 MWe
Commissioning: 29.12.1988
Commercial operation: 15.04.1989

Nuclear power plants that were still in operation in 2008 :

The reactors operating in 2008 produced almost a third of the energy required for Germany.
Below are the 17 nuclear power plants with their net capacity in megawatts of electricity (MWe), the year of commissioning and the year of planned decommissioning.

Boiling water reactors (SWR)
Boiling water reactors, explanation in brief
No heat exchanger
the water from the nuclear reactor goes to the turbines
Simpler design and greater risk of contamination

Current reactors in operation:
Brunsbüttel: 771 MWe, 1977 - 2009
Gundremmingen-B: 1.284 MWe, 1984 - 2016
Gundremmingen-C: 1.288 MWe, 1985 - 2016
Isar-1: 878 MWe, 1979 - 2011
Krümmel: 1,260 MWe, 1984 - 2016
Philippsburg-1: 890 MWe, 1980 - 2012

Pressurised water reactors (PWR)
Pressurised water reactors, explanation in brief
uses heat exchangers
the water that passes through the nuclear reactor remains in the closed control loop
the vapour in the turbines does not come into contact with the fuel lines

Reactors in operation (2008) :

Biblis-A: 1.167 MWe, 1975 - 2008
Biblis-B: 1,240 MWe, 1977 - 2009/2011
Brokdorf: 1, 370 MWe, 1986 - 2019
Emsland: 1.329 MWe, 1988 - 2021
Grafenrheinfeld: 1.275 MWe, 1982 - 2014
Grohnde: 1,360 MWe, 1985 - 2017
Philippsburg-2): 1, 392 MWe, 1985 - 2018
Instructor: 1,345 MWe, 1979 - 2012
Neckarwestheim-1: 785 MWe, 1976 - 2009
Neckarwestheim-2: 1.305 MWe, 1989 - 2022
Isar-2: 1,400 MWe, 1988 - 2020

Guidelines for nuclear energy in Germany:

Originally in favour of nuclear energy in Germany, the SPD submitted a resolution after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 to abolish nuclear energy within the next 10 years. In 1998, the red-green coalition (SPD and The Greens) decided to amend this resolution to the effect that the production of nuclear energy in Germany should be gradually phased out.

In 2001, the government and several energy companies agreed to limit the operating life of existing nuclear power plants to an average of 32 years and called for the decommissioning of the least economical plants in Stade and Obrigheim in 2003 and 2005 respectively.
The immediate result of these decisions was the termination of research and development of new reactors after 30 years of promising work.

The utilities currently want to extend the operating life of the 17 nuclear power plants to 40 years, in some cases even to 60 years. Similar guidelines currently apply in the USA.

Nuclear fuel and nuclear waste disposal:

Germany imports all of its uranium requirements from Canada, Russia and other countries. Thirteen of the seventeen nuclear power plants are also equipped to use mixed oxygen fuel. Enrichment is carried out by the Urenco plant in Gronau, calibration is provided by Russia and the fuel is mainly produced by Siemens in Lingen.

Between 1946 and 1990, the former GDR mined its own uranium in Saxony and eastern Thuringia, causing considerable environmental damage. In West Germany, a small uranium mine was operated in Ellweiler between 1960 and 1989.

Nuclear waste is currently partly stored in the facility in Ahaus. A further facility, in which up to 300,000 cubic metres of nuclear waste can be stored, is to be built in Konrad after years of legal disputes. The Konrad facility was authorised in January 2008 and is scheduled to go into operation by 2013.

In Gorleben in Lower Saxony, the construction of a further nuclear waste storage facility is planned for the future and could be operational by 2025.

Dependence on coal energy:

German coal mines are subsidised by the government and provide 55% of Germany's electricity. Deutsche Bank and the International Energy Agency issued warnings in 2007 that dismantling nuclear power plants would limit Germany's capacity to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, cause more blackouts and increase dependence on gas imports from Russia.

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