Freizeit!

German teenagers enjoy a wide variety of activities in their free time. Whether they attend a Hauptschule, a Realschule, or a Gymnasium, many of them join clubs. Unlike American clubs, the clubs for German high school students are usually not organized in or by the school. For example, sports are popular in Germany the same way they are in the United States, but German schools do not have any teams or athletic departments. Instead, after school ends, students leave the school building and go to a Sportverein - a sports club - which has teams and where they practice.

Different words are used for the clubs - Sportverein, Sportgemeinde, Fußballklub, or Sportgemeinschaft - but teenagers from different schools can, and do, belong to the same club. A club may have several teams for the same sport if there are enough people who want to play. There's no connection to grades, so students don't worry about whether their scores are good enough to make them eligible to play. Because the clubs are privately organized, and not part of the school system, money is no problem - the clubs are always on the lookout for a good player, even if she or he can't afford the membership fee.

Other activities are organized in a similar way. Most schools don't have a band, an orchestra, or a choir. After school, students will go to a Musikverein or a Gesangverein to practice and prepare for concerts. Being part of a musical group is popular among German teenagers and among American teenagers - but in Germany, these music groups aren't part of the school.

Drama clubs and theater groups are likewise organized outside of school. Plays and musicals are performed in local theaters, not at the schools.

This means that the typical German high school is pretty quiet after classes end. There are often no practice fields, swimming pools, or theaters in them. German high school students do the same types of free time activities that American students do, but they don't do them at school.

Outside of organized activities, of course, German teenagers spend their time playing computer games or video games, going to dances or movies, watching TV, or engaging in hobbies like photography, drawing, or painting. They do these activities on their own, or they can go to a Gemeinschaft or a Gesellschaftsklub which offers facilities for hobbies. Many Kirchen and Jugendorganisationen offer events for young people too.

Young people in Austria, Switzerland, and Germany tend to travel in groups, without parents or adults, on short trips of several days - maybe to go skiing or to see a major city. For such trips, Jugendherbergen are available at discount rates, so that teenagers have a safe and clean place to stay without paying too much.