Germany was a founding member of the European Community and is a highly industrialized country. By European standards, it is an extremely prosperous nation. The German people are hard-working but fun-loving, and hold more holidays and festivals than the people of any other nation.

The most popular sightseeing attraction in Germany is the crumbling Berlin Wall, pieces of which are collected by enterprising vendors and sold as souvenirs. Haus am Checkpoint Charlie is a museum near the site of the famous border crossing patrolled by American allies.

Berlin is built along a system of rivers and canals and has more bridges than Venice. Sprawling over 341 square miles, the city has a large number of parks, including two entire forests. Leisure travelers can visit the Opera, the Egyptian Art Museum, Symphony Hall, Charlotteburg Castle, Olympic Stadium, built by Adolph Hitler, and the Berlin Zoo. Sightseeing bus tours are inexpensive and enlightening. The city has several tranquil parks, including Grunewald on the western edge.

Schloss Charlottenburg, built in 1695 as a summer home for the royal family, is an elaborate mansion surrounded by pristine gardens. Escorted tours of the royal apartments are available. The Tiergarten, the site of the Berlin zoo, was once the hunting ground for German monarchs. The Pergamon Museum has one of the best art collections in Europe. Other important museums in Berlin include the Egyptian Museum, Altes Museum, National Gallery, and Bode Museum. Most feature German paintings, Byzantine sculpture, and Egyptian artifacts.

Frankfurt, also called Frankfort on the Main (pronounced "mine"), once was a center of medieval architecture and culture. Most of the city's historical monuments were destroyed during World War II. Frankfurt is now a vibrant, modern city known for its stock market, high-rise skyline, and active night life. Frankfurt has the largest airport, hotel, and trade show--the Frankfurter International Trade Fair--on the European mainland. Frankfurt is also the financial center of Germany, with the most important stock exchange in Europe and more than 200 foreign banks. German stock traders can be observed in action from the visitor's gallery at Borse, the country's busiest stock exchange.

Sightseeing opportunities include Goethehaus, the birthplace and home of the German poet Wolfgang von Goethe, the Carmelite Monastery, and Frankfurt Aoo, a rebuilt medieval city center. On the south bank of the River Main is the medieval town of Sachenhausen, whose winding streets are now lined with restaurants and boutiques. Lush gardens and tropical greenhouses are found in Palmengarten und Botanischer Garten.

Heidelberg, south of Frankfurt, is a romantic university town in the Neckar Valley. The centerpiece of the city is a Gothic church. Heidelberg Castle and the Heidelberg Museum, housed in a baroque palace, are noteworthy attractions.

Munich, the capital of Bavaria, is the cultural and high- technology center of Germany. It is also a major media center where 12,000 book titles are published each year. Munich is the headquarters of the European Patent Office, which is staffed by British, French, and Italians as well as Germans. The city has many important museums and galleries, including the German Museum, the National Museum of Bavaria, and the German Brewery Museum. The German Museum is the largest science museum in Europe, with 12 miles of corridors and exhibits tracing German scientific progress. The Leopoldstrasse, a busy thoroughfare lined with sidewalk cafes, boutiques, and ice cream parlors, leads to a bustling open-air market. Schloss Nymphenburg, the baroque summer palace of Bavarian kings, is open to visitors in the summer. Colorful Viktaulienmarkt is filled with vendors selling flowers, vegetables, fruit, and wine.

Dusseldorf is dotted with scenic lakes and attractive gardens. The tower of a thirteenth-century castle is found in Old Town, overlooking the Rhine river. Cologne is noted for its Roman and Gothic architecture, medieval sculptures, and Eau de Cologne. The nearyby village of Achen is the site of hot springs frequented by European travelers since pre-Roman times.

Bonn is a tranquil university town that was the seat of government between the end of World War II and the reunification of Germany. The birthplace of Beethoven at Bonngasse 20 has been converted to a small museum. A Beethoven festival is held in the city each year. The Museum Alexander Konig has an interesting collection of animal exhibits. Poppelsdorfer Schloss Gardens is a botanical garden cultivated along the moat of an eighteenth- century palace. In nearby Cologne is Kolner Donn, the largest Gothic cathedral in Germany. Roman artifacts can be viewed in the Roman-German Museum.

Stuttgart is the gateway to a picturesque countryside dotted with spas, museums, castles, and villages. In the scenic Black Forest, which extends 60 miles west of Stuttgart, is a famous spa resort, Baden-Baden.

Hamburg, situated on the banks of the Elbe river, is a city of canals, with more bridges than Venice and Amsterdam. More than 80 percent of the city is covered by water. Boat trips, sailing, and canoeing are popular leisure pastimes. The Aussenalster is a wide canal that offers fine views of the city's historical builings.

The German Alps are the site of castles, palaces, and ski resorts and extends 150 miles from Lake Constance in the west to Berchtesgaden, known as "Hitler's eagle's nest," near the Austrian border. Rail and cable systems transport visitors to high-mountain villages and ski resorts. Zugspitze, near Garmisch, is nearly 10,000 feet high.