Back in 2007 my wife and I went to Berlin for their Silvester celebration. (New Year’s Eve)
We were by the Brandenburger Tor (gate) and it was packed, I mean concert packed.

<Below is a photo of a Silvester in Berlin.>

We bought a 2 foot bratwurst in a small 6 inch roll and sat down to eat it.

You couldn’t eat it walking as you had to eat up towards the roll which meant you had to hold the roll above your head to reach the bottom and as a consequence were looking up plus you had to take a bite out of each side otherwise it became unbalanced and would fall out of the roll, or Brötchen.

Walking and eating one in a Belin crowd = Impossible.

The above is the kind of length of the Bratwurst that we had.

So we sat by the base of a tree, there being no seats left and watched the people walk by whilst eating this huge ‘hotdog’. We were facing a large wide path in the Grosser Tiergarten and the people walking past us was like a river of humanity going nowhere.

Occasionally the crowd would very rapidly part to make a hole in the sea of people, a firework would crack off and the crowd would close the gap. Just like a tuna swimming through a shoal of small fish.

The Germans (back then at least) had firework guns and some men took great fun in shooting the firework at the pavement to bounce into the crowd of spectators. The crowd seemed to like it as well. Bangers were going off everywhere.

Everybody it seemed had a drink in their hands. Many had champagne bottles (probably German brand) and were drinking as they were walking along.

It was then that we saw The Most German Thing Ever.

When the Germans finished their booze they did not just drop the bottle, or throw it recklessly into the crowd - like my own nation would have done - but they walked out of the crowd to a lamppost or tree and placed, not dropped, but placed their empty bottle or can at the base.

On noticing this we looked around (with a mouthful of bratwurst und senf) and by every lamp and tree base was a small pile of bottles and cans. It was done so that the cleaners would have an easy time and so that their country would be kept clean.

Even in all this disorder, the Germans are orderly, clean and tidy.

The perfect depiction of a German on Silvester. Booze, fireworks, streamers and a happy face.