And now, the moment you have been waiting for, for two weeks: the answers to the questions about the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Going from north to south the Files is providing readers with a guessing quiz on each of the German states as part of the series on Germany at 25. For the northernmost state in Germany, the area is rich in culture and history, which after looking at the answers to the guessing quiz, you will be motivated enough to spend a few weeks up there.
The answer key is only a complement to the guessing quiz which you can access here and print out for you to try on your own, as well as test your family and friends, especially those originally from the region who might need a refersher. However, you are also free to comment on the answers to the guessing quiz, either in the comment section or directly via e-mail, using the contact info available under About the Flensburg Files header page.
So without further ado, here are the answers to the quiz on Schleswig-Holstein:
ANSWERS FROM THE MÄÄHTRIX EXERCISE:
- What’s the capital of the state of Schleswig-Holstein
Answer: Kiel
- Which of these communities is NOT a community but an island?
Answer: Sylt
Interesting Fact: The Island of Fehmarn is also considered an island featuring several small villages plus the towns of Burg, Burgstaaken and Puttgarden. Yet since 2003, all the communities consolidated to form an Island-Community or City Island. Sylt still remains an island with many small communities run locally by their own governments.
- List the communities in order from largest to smallest in terms of population.
Kiel (242,000)
Lübeck (210,000)
Flensburg (89,300)
Neumünster (77,000)
Itzehoe (32,700)
Bad Oldesloe (24,100)
Husum (22,200)
Sylt (21,000)
Heide (20,800)
Quickborn (20,200)
Eutin (17,300)
Bad Seegeberg (15,900)
Fehmarn (13,000)
Plön (12,800)
Friedrichstadt (2,400)
- Which community has the highest concentration of Danish people in Germany?
Answer: Flensburg. Of the ca. 90,000 inhabitants that live in this city, 30% are of Danish descent. No wonder that the city has several Danish schools and stores, mostly in the north and west of Nordermarkt.
- Which community was established by the Dutch?
Answer: Friedrichstadt. The town was founded by Dutch Protestants in 1643 and is characterized by its houses, canals and even bridges, including its signature double-bascule draw bridge. More on the city’s bridges can be found here through the Bridgehunter’s Chronicles.
- Which community is famous for its chalk hills and is the site of Karl May’s Cowboys and Indians Show (a.k.a. Winnetou)?
Answer: Bad Seegeberg. Every summer in July, Winnetou and his Native American friends make a stop here to challenge the likes of Buffalo Bill and Kit Carson, just to name a few.
- You’ll never be a full-fledged international tourist unless you visit this community with its historic city center (a UNESCO site, BTW) and try the world famous marzipan candy. Name this town in Schleswig-Holstein.
Answer: Lübeck. More on why you should visit this city to come in the Files. But if you don’t visit this city, you’re touristic criminal. 😉
- “Moinson!” German actor Axel Prahl, who plays Thiel in the ARD mystery series “Tatort” (Crime Scene in EN) is originally a Schleswig-Holsteiner, originating from which community? (Note: It has a fine castle).
Answer: Eutin, located between Kiel and Lübeck. If you’re not convinced he uses this greeting profusely or if you want to know what he looks like, enjoy this Tatort film below:
Correction: The greeting is spelled “Moins En,” according to local sources.
- Which two communities have a premere league handball team and what are their official team names? (Hint: The Files has profiled them in many occasions since its inception in 2010)
Answer: Flensburg and Kiel. The official name for Flensburg’s team is the SG Flensburg-Handewitt, featuring the acing albatrosses from two Flensburg handball teams and one from neighboring Handewitt that merged to be one team in 1990. The zebras of THW Kiel have been in the handball business for over 100 years (since 1904) and have been kings of the German and international leagues for over 50 years.
- Which community is famous for its “Kornschnapps” (EN: grain schnaps)?
Answer: Bad Oldesloe, located between Hamburg and Lübeck.
ANSWERS TO HYBRID QUESTIONS:
- Which river in Schleswig-Holstein is the longest?
a. Trave b. Treene c. Träne d. Tine e. Schwentine f. Eider
Answer: The Trave. At 124 km in length, the river flows through the eastern part of the state before emptying in the Baltic Sea at Travemünde near Lübeck.
Note: The Eider River would have been the right answer had it not been for the construction of the Baltic-North Sea Canal. Originally, the river sliced through the state from Tönning to Kiel, thus creating first the border between the Danish and Prussian Kingdoms then later the kingdoms of Schleswig and Holstein. It was 188 km long, however today’s river starts at Rendsburg and continues its route to Tönning, with the total length being cut down to 100 km.
- How many castles does Schleswig-Holstein have, and can you name two of them? (Hint: Eutin has one so it does not count)
Answer: seven. They include ones at Eutin, Ploehn (Plön), Salzau, Gottdorf (near Schleswig), Husum, Ahrendsburg and Glücksburg.
- The last of the coal-fired steamboat exists in Germany and is still in operation in Flensburg. What’s the name of the ship?
a. Alexandra b. Bertha c. Clara d. Dora e. Euphremia f. Flora
g. Greta h. Helena i. Illonka j. Johanna
Answer: a. Alexandra. This ship was built in 1908 and still provides tours in the region between Flensburg, Holnis and Kappeln. Rumor has it though that this ship is expected to retire soon.
- The Kiel Canal (a.k.a. Grand Canal) is a waterway built in 1895 connecting which two cities and their two seas? Schleswig-Holstein is bordered by these two seas.
Answer: The Baltic Sea and the North Sea. Hence the name Baltic-North Sea Canal or in German: Nordostseekanal (NOK)
- The Grand Canal replaced the canal that followed the Treene River. True or False?
Answer: False. The Grand Canal replaced the Alte Eider Canal, which ran parallel to today’s canal between Kiel and Rendsburg as a canal and as the river Eider from Rendsburg to the mouth of the North Sea at Tönning
- Name two of ten bridges over the Grand Canal. One of whom has received many accolades for its engineering wonder. (Hint: Sister column The Bridgehunter’s Chronicles did a report on this theme)
Click here to get the answers. The Rendsburg Bridge is one of the bridges that received several accolades on the national and international level because of its unique bridge design. More on that here.
17. Uwe Barschel, a Social Democrat, resigned from his post as prime minister amid a scandal on October 2, 1987. Nine days later, his body was found at a luxury hotel in which city?
a. Munich b. Berlin c. Amsterdam d. Berne e. Geneva f. Vienna
g. Budapest h. Paris i. Prague j. New York
Answer: e. Geneva Correction: Barschel was a Christian Democrat, not a Social Democrat, according to locals and the history books.
- The 1972 Summer Olympics took place in Kiel. True, False, or Naja?
Answer: Naja. While the majority of the events took place in Munich, the yachting portion of the events took place in Kiel.
- Which German cartoon character originated from Schleswig-Holstein?
- Die Wilde Kerle (The Wild Boys)
- Werner
- Wallace and Gromit
Answer: b. Werner the wild motorbiker. Interestingly enough, Rötger Hoffmann, the creator of this cartoon character, just recently celebrated his 65th birthday. He founded the series in 1982.
- Which annual festival in Schleswig-Holstein does NOT exist?
- Apple Festival in Glücksburg (near Flensburg)
- The International Yacht Festival in Kiel
- International Kite-flying Festival in Travemünde (near Lübeck)
- Crocus Flower Pagent in Husum
- Tulip Festival in Friedrichstadt
Answer: e. The Tulip Festival does NOT exist in Friedrichstadt, BUT there is a similar festival some 6,000km away in another Dutch city, Pella (Iowa) in the US.
- You’re not a true Schleswig-Holsteiner unless you try one of the two local specialties (a.) and a good (b.) beer.
Answer:
a. Sauerfleisch with broiled potatoes OR any delicacies with fish
b. Flensburger beer
- Fehmarn Island is the flattest island in Germany. True or False?
Answer: False, but the island is the largest in Germany.
- The Fehmarn Bridge, built in 1963, was the first bridge in the world to use this design?
Answer: The basket handle tied arch bridge. Since then, many engineers have embraced this design, and another bridge in Schleswig-Holstein will be built at the Levansau crossing using this design.
- St. Peter-Ording is a popular health span resort namely because of of the discovery of which mineral in a geyser discovered in 1953?
- Salt Petroleum c. Sulphur d. Nitrate e. Hydrogen
Answer: c. sulphur
- How many universities and colleges exist in Schleswig-Holstein? Can you name two of them?
Answer: 12
They are: The University of Kiel
The University of Applied Sciences of Kiel
The Muthesius Academy of Fine Arts in Kiel
The Europe University of Flensburg
The Flensburg University of Applied Sciences
The Lübeck Academy of Music
The University of Lübeck
The Lübeck University of Applied Sciences
The University of Applied Sciences in Wedel
The Pinneberg AKAD
The Nordakademie of Elmshorn
The Westkuste University of Applied Sciences of Heide
And now after getting acquainted with the first of 16 states in Germany, we will now move on to the second state going south. This is one of three city-states and one that was on the news most recently: Hamburg. More in the next article….
THE FLENSBURG FILES 