Oktoberfest - an autumn festival that involves merrymaking and drinking beer

Blenheim - the First Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy defeated the French in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession

Battle of Jena, Jena - the battle in 1806 in which Napoleon decisively defeated the Prussians

battle of Lutzen, Lutzen - a battle in the Thirty Years' War (1632); Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus defeated the Imperialists under Wallenstein; Gustavus was killed

battle of Minden, Minden - a battle in the Seven Years' War (1759) in which the English forces and their allies defeated the French

battle of Rossbach, Rossbach - a battle in the Seven Years' War (1757); Prussian forces under Frederick the Great defeated the armies of France and Austria

battle of Teutoburger Wald, Teutoburger Wald - a battle in 9 AD in which the Germans under Arminius annihilated three Roman legions

Dachau - a concentration camp for Jews created by the Nazis near Munich in southern Germany

panzer - an armored vehicle or tank

Hakenkreuz, swastika - the official emblem of the Nazi Party and the Third Reich; a cross with the arms bent at right angles in a clockwise direction

German language, High German, German - the standard German language; developed historically from West Germanic

Schadenfreude - delight in another person's misfortune

Weissbier, wheat beer, white beer - a general name for beers made from wheat by top fermentation; usually very pale and cloudy and effervescent

liebfraumilch - a sweetened Rhenish wine (especially one from Hesse in western Germany)

Norse mythology - the mythology of Scandinavia (shared in part by Britain and Germany) until the establishment of Christianity

Al Tawhid, al-Tawhid, Divine Unity - an Islamic terrorist cell that originated in Jordan but operates in Germany; goal is to attack Europe and Russia with chemical weapons

Baader Meinhof Gang - a radical left-wing revolutionary terrorist group active in Germany from 1968 until 1977

Association of Islamic Groups and Communities, Caliphate State, Kaplan Group - a Turkish terrorist group of fundamentalist Muslims with ties to al-Qaeda that operates in Germany; seeks the violent overthrow of the Turkish government and the establishment of an Islamic nation modeled on Iran

Red Army Faction, RAF - a Marxist and Maoist terrorist organization in Germany; a network of underground guerillas who committed acts of violence in the service of the class struggle; a successor to the Baader-Meinhof Gang; became one of Europe's most feared terrorist groups; disbanded in 1998

Common Market, EC, EEC, European Community, European Economic Community, European Union, EU, Europe - an international organization of European countries formed after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members; "he took Britain into Europe"

NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization - an international organization created in 1949 by the North Atlantic Treaty for purposes of collective security

Pietism - 17th and 18th-century German movement in the Lutheran Church stressing personal piety and devotion

European country, European nation - countries occupying the European continent

Rheinland, Rhineland - a picturesque region of Germany around the Rhine river

Lower Saxony - a state in northwestern Germany

Aachen, Aix-la-Chapelle, Aken - a city in western Germany near the Dutch and Belgian borders; formerly it was Charlemagne's northern capital

Berlin, German capital - capital of Germany located in eastern Germany

Dresden - a city in southeastern Germany on the Elbe River; it was almost totally destroyed by British air raids in 1945

Leipzig - a city in southeastern Germany famous for fairs; formerly a music and publishing center

Solingen - a city in west central Germany noted for cutlery

Weimar - a German city near Leipzig; scene of the adoption in 1919 of the constitution of the Weimar Republic that lasted until 1933

Bavaria - a state in southwestern Germany famous for its beer; site of an automobile factory

Bonn - a city in western Germany on the Rhine River; was the capital of West Germany between 1949 and 1989