German food is more varied than its reputation suggests. The clichés — sausages, sauerkraut, potatoes — are real, but they represent one strand of a much broader cooking tradition that varies dramatically by region.
Bread and Breakfast
Germany is a bread country in a way that few others are. There are over 300 officially recognised varieties of German bread — dense ryes, seeded loaves, sourdoughs, soft rolls (Brötchen). A German breakfast with a proper Brötchen, cold cuts, cheese, and good butter is one of the great simple pleasures of travelling in the country. Bakeries (Bäckereien) are everywhere and consistently good.
Meat and Sausage
The Wurst (sausage) ranges from the pale, herby Weisswurst of Munich — eaten before midday with sweet mustard and a pretzel, ideally with a wheat beer — to the long, thin, garlicky Nürnberger grilled over beech wood, to the Currywurst: sliced pork sausage doused in curry ketchup, which was invented in Berlin and is still the city's favourite street food.
Sauerbraten (pot-roasted beef marinated in vinegar) and Schnitzel (breaded veal or pork cutlet) are standard across the country. In Bavaria, half a roast chicken (Hendl) or a pork knuckle (Schweinshaxe) are pub staples.
Regional Variations
Bavaria leans on hearty, meaty cooking, dumplings (Knödel), and everything that goes with beer. Baden-Württemberg has a more refined, French-influenced tradition and produces some of Germany's best restaurant cooking. The Rhineland has its own comfort food — Himmel un Ääd (black pudding with mashed potato and apple sauce), Reibekuchen (potato pancakes) — and the city of Cologne takes its Kölsch beer and its pub snacks (Halver Hahn, which confusingly involves no chicken) seriously. In Hesse, Grüne Sosse — a cold herb sauce made with seven specific herbs — accompanies everything from hard-boiled eggs to schnitzel, and Frankfurters take it as seriously as Bolognese take their ragù.
Eastern Germany (Saxony, Thuringia) is known for cakes and pastry — Dresden's Stollen at Christmas is the most famous. Thuringian sausages, spiced with caraway and marjoram, are distinctive and worth seeking out.
Beer
Germany has around 1,300 breweries. Each region has its own beer styles and loyalties. Bavaria produces lagers, wheat beers (Weizenbier), and the strong dark Märzenbier that dominates Oktoberfest. Cologne insists on its Kölsch — pale, slightly fruity, served in 20cl glasses. Düsseldorf has Altbier — darker and maltier. Berlin has its Berliner Weisse, a sour wheat beer traditionally drunk with a shot of raspberry or woodruff syrup.
The German Beer Purity Law (Reinheitsgebot), dating to 1516, limits beer ingredients to water, barley, hops, and yeast. It has produced consistent quality and also a certain conservatism — craft beer diversity came late to Germany, though it's catching up fast in Berlin and other cities.
Wine
Germany is seriously underrated as a wine country. The Riesling grown in the Mosel, Rheingau, and Nahe regions is among the world's best white wine — ranging from bone-dry to gloriously sweet, always with a steely acidity that makes it age well. Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) from Baden and the Ahr valley has improved enormously and is now respected internationally. Franconia (around Würzburg) produces distinctive dry whites in its distinctive flat flask bottles (Bocksbeutel).
Wine regions are excellent for slow travel — cycling along the Mosel between wine villages is one of Germany's better experiences.