Verein

A Verein is an association where Germans meet for the pursuit of a common interest. Even the smallest village can offer at least 10 different "V". The purpose ranges from social (neigborhood V.), moral (virtue V.), religious (CVJM - like YMCA), economic (stock V.), ecologic (protection of nature V.), leisure (sports, theater, model making, breeding of long-aired rabitts) to other aims like any imaginable topic on earth. Just tell something which could be interesting for a couple of people and they will found a "Verein". This is a highly official activity which requires a lot of paper work. Then there is an election for the executive committee, the treasurer, the responsible for the kids, the responsible for the adults, choose any function you like. The crucial thing is to think up as many functions as possible in order for every person to have a certain responsibility and to feel really important. The members of the association have to pay a minor fee every year which is usually under 100 Euro, sometimes it can be much higher for a hobby like horse riding or golf. Since there are many other duties which have to be carried out, every member has to work a certain amount of hours for the association. These working hours could result in lawn mowing, cooking for all the members or other necessary actions. Since every Verein needs some extra money, there is the possibility to organize a festivity once a year and to keep all the profit for the association. This usually looks like this: a picture from this website: www.dcc-lv-wuerttemberg.de

a picture from another website: www.musikverein-adelhausen.de
The members build up a large tent and sell their specialties, mainly sausage, grilled chicken, sandwiches, different kind of soft drinks and - of course - beer. For other explications just have a look at the English Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voluntary_association
If you want to dig deeper, have a look at this:
http://www.kordt-law.com/download/SR_10.pdf