by Kassadee_Marie, HSM team writer

Guten tag!

Modern Germany (officially the Federal Republic of Germany) is, according to Wikipedia, “one of the major political and economic powers of the European continent and a historic leader in many theoretical and technical fields.” In addition, Wikipedia also has this to say about Germany: “The country has developed a very high standard of living and features a comprehensive system of social security, which includes the world’s oldest universal health care system.” Germany is known for its productive cultural history with music composers, such as Ludwig van Beethoven; writers, such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe; philosophers, such as Immanuel Kant; scientists, such as Albert Einstein and Max Plank; and inventors, such as Johannes Gutenberg. So let’s take a little budget-wise trip to Germany while we’re on Home. Gehen sie mit einem etat deutschen? Ja!

A small part of Germany is located in or near the Alps, and a lot of it is located in the Central German Uplands, which also has a mountainous climate, so for a German-themed personal space, I think   Sony’s Winter Vacation Villa for $4.99 would be perfect. This estate is located high in the mountains with wonderful winter views all around. There is even a little Bavarian village in the valley below — I think it’s Bavarian, anyway — which can be viewed from the large wood deck, which has an inset hot tub for you and your guests to enjoy. In addition to the deck, there are wooden walkways all around the dwelling on both levels of this two-story dwelling. Inside, the second floor has a bedroom loft with built-in bed, and there is a complete galley-style kitchen on the first floor. You’ll also enjoy the reflecting mirror in the dining area and the fire burning merrily away in fireplace in the living room.

Since the bed, hot tub, and kitchen appliances are built in, you’ll save quite a bit of money on furniture here. And you may own other appropriate furniture already, such as the leather furniture from Waterfall Terrace. If not, the matching furniture set is only $4.99 for sixteen pieces, including items for the deck, and that’s less than $.32 each. In addition, there are a lot of places here for picture frames (inside and outside), which you can use to set the style.

And don’t forget that decorations can help re-enforce the theme. Some of the ornaments that I suggest you display are the Toy Nutcracker Soldier and/or Gingerbread Man reward items from Winter Wonderland 2010, or the snow globes and stand from Winter 2011, if you have them. One of the active items from Juggernaut, such as the Gingerbread House or the Hot Chocolate Machine ($1.99 for either) would fit in well, and they only take up four furniture slots. The box of chocolates or any of the gnomes from the Lockwood gift machine would also go well with a German theme. By the way, the cone-shaped evergreen tree from nDreams’ potted tree bundle would look great at the corners of the deck. This bundle is only $1.99 for all three large trees.

Juggernaut also offers a golden Holiday Music Box for $1.99 that plays music from the Nutcracker Suite and would make a great musical addition in this space. (Yes, the ballet is Russian, but wooden nutcrackers were made popular in the 1800’s by German carvers, and this fits with a German winter theme.)

Obviously, in the non-virtual world, modern Germans usually wear clothes that would be worn in any developed country. For $.99 you could purchase the German football shirt from Threads in Sony’s Feva Area tab, for either gender and wear it with black kicks and jeans. If you have it, carry the stein that can be won at the casino for getting zero numbers in a Keno draw.

For fun with old-style Bavarian German clothing, the ladies should wear a dirndl and the guys should wear a lederhose. Lederhosen have a very distinctive look, and seem to always be worn with knee socks, which I could not find for guys on Home. They are available as ready-made costumes in the Digital Leisure store, but you can also create your own versions from other Home clothing items. The closest I could come to this look was the Freddie shorts in Costume Originals ($.25), the beige waistcoat with white shirt in Threads Originals jackets, ($.49), the Jaunty black hat, also in Costumes Originals, which has the virtue of being free, and  the Wooden Clogs from Codeglue ($.49), which are really Dutch, not German. If the ladies have the black, orange and white witch top (Halloween corset) they could pair it with the pilgrim skirt ($.25) for a similar look to a dirndl; just add simple flats, and one of the braided hairdo to complete the look.

However, if you saved some money elsewhere, such as on furniture, or have a bit of extra funds, I recommend that you purchase the Oktoberfest outfits from Digital Leisure for $2.99, which are available for both genders at that price. The female outfit is a bar maid, wearing braids and a traditional dirndl (though not in a traditional length) and the male outfit is lederhose and a Tyrolean hat. While not truly budget items, these are the only truly German-themed clothes, that I know of, that are offered in Home.

Digital Leisure also now has the perfect companion for a German theme — the German Shepherd dog, of course. This companion is offered for $1.99 at the Pet Shop. Walking with this large dog at your side will add the overall look of your outfit, too.

I hope you enjoy the idea of a winter vacation in the German Alps and have fun decorating your estate and dressing your avatar in this theme.

Auf Wiedersehen!

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