The first major vacation destination for German tourists in the postwar period was Italy, which became popular in the 1950s. The drive south over the Alps in one’s very own car – often the first – was exotic, and it also meant finally indulging oneself after all the hard work involved in rebuilding the country after the war and the realization of the “economic miracle.” As can be seen below, Italian innkeepers were ready for their “new” clientele: the sign on the left reads, “German Spoken Here” [“Man spricht Deutsch”]. This photograph shows a family arriving at an inn on Lake Garda in their VW Beetle.