Germany today

The size of today´s Germany is smaller than California but its population is bigger than that of California, New York, Texas, and Florida together (almost 82 million folks in German). There is no population growth, on the contrary, population is declining, and will definitely, as a result of birth control, decline much stronger in the future. So, unlike the situation especially in the 19th century, when Germany was a strong country of emigration, it will develop to one of Europe´s major immigration country.

Eslohe around 1905

Sauerland

The Sauerland is a rural region which is located in the middle of western Germany, roughly between Dortmund and Kassel. Thus it is the southern part of Westfalen, which used to be a province of Prussia. It is traditionally an area with a very high percentage of Roman Catholics. The landscape is mountainious with a lot of woods on the mountains. The highest mountains are Langenberg and the Kahler Asten with almost 900 m above sea level. In the valleys there are little rivers flowing, and normally every 2 or 3 km there is another village along the river. In early 19th century there was almost no industrial production (besides a few iron- and copperworks), and life was dominated by farmwork. Today there is a rather strong industrial production, there are big famous breweries (due to the Sauerlanders´ preference for good "Pilsener"), and the region is much more prosperous than in the days of the emigrants. The small mountains are still wooded, deliver a lot of timber, and are suitable hiking area.