Culture of Germany

Traditional Bavarian peasant costumes illustrated by Louis Prang (19th Century)
Emil Doepler's depiction of the Second Merseburg Charm, one of the only known examples of Continental Germanic paganism preserved in Old High German

The culture of Germany has been shaped by major intellectual and popular currents in Europe, both religious and secular. German culture originated with the Germanic tribes, the earliest evidence of Germanic culture dates to the Jastorf culture in Northern Germany and Denmark. Contact with Germanic tribes were described by various Greco-Roman authors. The first extensive writing done on Germanic culture can be seen during the Roman Imperial Period with Germania by Tacitus.