All that sausage and beer has left many a German with a portly figure. If you fear you’re going native, maybe it’s time to start looking for some help. Germans have their own ideas about how best to go about losing weight and one of the most popular is Trennkost, which focuses meals on specific food groups. Fans would never, for example, consume carbohydrates and meat in one sitting: it confuses the body, they say. But there are plenty of other methods, including Weight Watchers groups (www.weightwatchers.de) and fitness centres.

If you have more serious digestive problems or are dangerously overweight, Berlin’s über-hospital Charite has an entire ward dedicated to your problems at the Virchow campus in Wedding.