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talkpoliticsNo matter how hard they try (and they might not be trying that hard, mind you), the Germans are still unable to erase some stereotypes about themselves. It's a fact that there are traits and characteristics that are widely deemed very typical for them, and are being readily sticked onto them like knee-jerk labels. The question is how many of those are real and valid for most Germans, and how stupid it is to generalize like that. The question could be extended beyond Germans of course, but let's use them as one of the more emblematic examples.
Their neighbors call them cabbage heads, eternal grousers and know-it-alls. Also, robotic. But above all, it seems, the one word that is most often used to characterize Germans is "lowbrow". Somehow, narrow-mindedness is always among the top-5 traits that other people associate with Germans. For example take the book All We Need To Know About Germans. It lumps all Germans into an "average" model which looks like this...
Here he is, the average German: he doesn't believe in flying saucers, he smokes 4 cigarettes a day on average, he phones his mother once a week and he believes unfaithfulness is just another normal thing, as long as it's designed as a revenge on a spouse. The Germans are said to be gladly ready to have sex twice a week (as they'd themselves claim), and they'd gladly quit using daylight saving time if they had the choice.
Further, the Average German Guy(TM) is named Thomas, or maybe Hans - dark blonde, tall (1.78 m), and he speaks 12,000 words a day on average. Meanwhile, the average German lady utters about 23,000 words before she goes to bed. The ladies weigh 67.5 kilos, they have 1.34 kids (no kidding?), they drive a silver VW Golf, and they don't cook too much. They have a tree-shaped refresher hanging at their car's windscreen - preferably with a vanilla scent. The German is most irritated by gastronomic TV shows, he spends about a million euros throughout his entire life, out of which 34,000 on Christmas gifts alone.
Antje Steinhäuser, one of the three authors of this ridiculous book, says that "This kind of trivia will surely be absent from the history schoolbooks a 100 years' time from now". Well, each of us can make their own conclusions, I guess. All of this is just subject to personal perception - what may appear as boring to one, might be considered the usual level of amusement by another. Like the proverbial coldness, closeness and introversion of Germans. Those people who are famed for barely knowing their next-door neighbors and whose only exchange with them is the occasional "Guten Tag". There's a certain story behind every behavioral pattern though, and this shouldn't be overlooked because otherwise the picture is incomplete.
For instance, the reason for this may vary in the small towns and the bigger cities. In rural areas and small towns, people are in closer relations than in the city. And apart from all that, Germans, like many of their neighbors actually, are ready to lend help to their neighbor in need more often than not (and to a complete stranger too). They'd receive your mail or a parcel delivery for you if need be, they'd water your garden when you're on vacations abroad, they'd help you with food products if you've run out of them and the shops are closed. They'd look after your pets or even your livestock if you're sick. And if you're lost in a unfamiliar place, they'll stop by to help you with directions. Or drive you to the nearest gas station if your car has run out of fuel.
These are things which, believe me because I've experienced it, some other peoples who are presumably famous for being "warm" and "cordial", would hesitate before doing. And that would be a cultural thing too, which would warrant some more investigation before passing judgments. So, before we hasten to draw general conclusions, we better think a bit deeper and realize that what may seem pretty clear on the surface might not be what the actual reality is like. And I'm saying this as a Nordic person, one who's supposed to be reticent, quiet, calculating and pragmatic, if we're to adhere to the above mentioned national stereotypes. Which, I'm sure you realize, is utter bollocks. ;)
Their neighbors call them cabbage heads, eternal grousers and know-it-alls. Also, robotic. But above all, it seems, the one word that is most often used to characterize Germans is "lowbrow". Somehow, narrow-mindedness is always among the top-5 traits that other people associate with Germans. For example take the book All We Need To Know About Germans. It lumps all Germans into an "average" model which looks like this...
Here he is, the average German: he doesn't believe in flying saucers, he smokes 4 cigarettes a day on average, he phones his mother once a week and he believes unfaithfulness is just another normal thing, as long as it's designed as a revenge on a spouse. The Germans are said to be gladly ready to have sex twice a week (as they'd themselves claim), and they'd gladly quit using daylight saving time if they had the choice.
Further, the Average German Guy(TM) is named Thomas, or maybe Hans - dark blonde, tall (1.78 m), and he speaks 12,000 words a day on average. Meanwhile, the average German lady utters about 23,000 words before she goes to bed. The ladies weigh 67.5 kilos, they have 1.34 kids (no kidding?), they drive a silver VW Golf, and they don't cook too much. They have a tree-shaped refresher hanging at their car's windscreen - preferably with a vanilla scent. The German is most irritated by gastronomic TV shows, he spends about a million euros throughout his entire life, out of which 34,000 on Christmas gifts alone.
Antje Steinhäuser, one of the three authors of this ridiculous book, says that "This kind of trivia will surely be absent from the history schoolbooks a 100 years' time from now". Well, each of us can make their own conclusions, I guess. All of this is just subject to personal perception - what may appear as boring to one, might be considered the usual level of amusement by another. Like the proverbial coldness, closeness and introversion of Germans. Those people who are famed for barely knowing their next-door neighbors and whose only exchange with them is the occasional "Guten Tag". There's a certain story behind every behavioral pattern though, and this shouldn't be overlooked because otherwise the picture is incomplete.
For instance, the reason for this may vary in the small towns and the bigger cities. In rural areas and small towns, people are in closer relations than in the city. And apart from all that, Germans, like many of their neighbors actually, are ready to lend help to their neighbor in need more often than not (and to a complete stranger too). They'd receive your mail or a parcel delivery for you if need be, they'd water your garden when you're on vacations abroad, they'd help you with food products if you've run out of them and the shops are closed. They'd look after your pets or even your livestock if you're sick. And if you're lost in a unfamiliar place, they'll stop by to help you with directions. Or drive you to the nearest gas station if your car has run out of fuel.
These are things which, believe me because I've experienced it, some other peoples who are presumably famous for being "warm" and "cordial", would hesitate before doing. And that would be a cultural thing too, which would warrant some more investigation before passing judgments. So, before we hasten to draw general conclusions, we better think a bit deeper and realize that what may seem pretty clear on the surface might not be what the actual reality is like. And I'm saying this as a Nordic person, one who's supposed to be reticent, quiet, calculating and pragmatic, if we're to adhere to the above mentioned national stereotypes. Which, I'm sure you realize, is utter bollocks. ;)
(no subject)
Date: 6/12/11 15:04 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 6/12/11 15:06 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 6/12/11 22:56 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 6/12/11 22:59 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 6/12/11 15:09 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 6/12/11 15:13 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 6/12/11 15:27 (UTC)I have no idea what this means.
(no subject)
Date: 6/12/11 15:33 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 6/12/11 21:21 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 6/12/11 15:37 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 6/12/11 16:22 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 6/12/11 18:19 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 6/12/11 19:17 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 6/12/11 20:11 (UTC)And I like the Patricia Kaass songs "D'Almangne" and "Une fille de l'Est" where Germany and the Germans are characterized.
(no subject)
Date: 6/12/11 20:58 (UTC)from a pictorial in der spiegel, about a german photographer taking shots in england, in the sixties:
Unloved Germans: Bundeswehr soldiers on their way to a training exercise on the training ground of the Royal Tank Regiment at Castlemartin near Pembroke Welsh. As photographer Schadeberg snapped the two men, the Second World War was only 20 years ago. The native population met the German military maneuvers with great hostility.
(no subject)
Date: 6/12/11 21:42 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 6/12/11 21:46 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 6/12/11 23:00 (UTC)There are lands filled with such folk? I have found my paradise!
(no subject)
Date: 6/12/11 23:24 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 7/12/11 05:21 (UTC)As a descendant of Prussians,
Date: 7/12/11 05:12 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 7/12/11 16:20 (UTC)