Figure 1.--These German Scouts are having a campfire sing. We note a lot of similar images of German Scouts. These Scouts are wearing their uniform at camp. We note a lot of other of other camp scenes where the boys are not wearing their uniforms.

German Scouts enjoy the same activities as Scouts all around the world. There is a long tradition of hiking and camping in Germany dating back to the Wandfervogel--the first German uniformed youth group. Many images of German Scouts show the boys camping. Singing around the campfire was an especially popular activity. The Scouts here are wearing their uniform at camp (figure 1). We note a lot of other of other camp scenes where the boys are not wearing their uniforms. We have limited information at this time on activities pursued by German Scouts. This was in part by the time photography became common, Hitler seized power in Germany and banned Scouting (1930s). Hopefully our German readers will provide us some information about Scouting activities. Here we are not sure how these activities varied over time.

Camping

Many images of German Scouts show the boys camping. It was a major staple of Scouting around the world. Singing around the campfire was an especially popular activity. The Scouts here are wearing their uniform at camp (figure 1). We note a lot of other of other camp scenes where the boys are not wearing their uniforms.

Games

Games are of course a popular Scouting activity around the world. There are a wide range of such of such games, including both indoor and outdoor games. We do not know what specific games German Scouts played. Here there was some uniformity among countries because of the influence of Baden Powell and British scouting. We note a photograph of German boys from the 1920s playing a wide game, perhaps Capture the Flag or a similar game.

Hiking

There is a long tradition of hiking and camping in Germany dating back to the Wandervogel--the first German uniformed youth group.

Skills/Merit Badges

Parades

Boy Scouts around the world commonly participate in parades, especially those of a patriotic nature such as Independence Day (July 4) in America. We assume that this was also the case in Germany, although after World War I, Scoutng was a little suspect in Germany because of its British connections. Nor do we know if parading varied before and after World War II. Of course the Hitler Youth were a major participant in parades during the NAZI era. And there were many such parades of a patriotic nature. One type of parade we notice in Germany is the torch light parade. Now in America and we think in some other countries, the torch light parades are when the villagers rise up and attack the evil creatures like Count Dracula preying on women and children. We suspect that torch light parades have a different image in Germany. They were a fixture of the NAZI regime, particularly popular as part of book turnings. Although we are unsure how common they were before the NAZIs. We see one Scout group engaged in a torch-light parade, we think in the 1960s. We think this was not very common, perhaps because of NAZI/Hitler Youth associations. .

Singing