What's a good bank that does money transfers from the US to Germany?

Planning to move to Germany next year for good,but I don't know what to do with my bank account here in the US.Should I leave it open until I open a new account in Europe and THEN close it from there or how does that work? Can I even do that from over there and how? How much money can I take with me on the plane and in what form (cash or check)? What are the requirements for that? Do I have to declare that money at the german airport? What I wanna do is take some travel money with me and then transfer the rest over once I have an account in Germany.Should I put my money into an international bank here in the US first before I transfer it to Germany or does that even matter? Anyone know some good,trustworthy banks over there that do business with the US? I'm sure there are plenty,but which ones have like the lowest transfer fees,etc (NO Western Union and places like that,please)? Any useful information regarding international money transfers would be appreciated.Thank you.