When most Americans think of Germany, they automatically think of Adolf Hitler, World War II, the Holocaust, and the brutal Nazi regime which gave rise to all of these things. While certainly these things have shaped modern German society, most people forget how they changed German society. This was finally the great social trauma that induced democracy into the German mindset, that finally countered strict Prussian militarism, and that forever made Germany a proponent of peace in almost every corner of the globe.
Myth: Germans are an incredibly war-like and highly disciplined people.
Fact: Yes, the trains run on time in Germany, but that certainly doesn't mean Germany is ready to march on Warsaw again anytime soon. In fact, go to any German university and you'll discover just how relaxed the system is. If the syllabus says the course is from 10:00-12:00, expect your professor to arrive at least 15 minutes late. Also, Germans are not always the perfectly punctual Prussian-drilled soldiers we always spoof them as. In fact, Germans have kind of an annoying habit sometimes of trickling into big social events, often times arriving well after something has already started. In fact, most of the people who arrive early are the foreigners. Although Germans are sticklers for making plans ahead of time, I will give them that.
Myth: Germans are very aggressive.
Fact: Are you kidding me? I haven't seen this many pacifists in one place since I went to a meeting of blind, deaf, paralyzed from the neck-down members of PETA who all applied for conscientious objector status during every armed American conflict since WWII! With the exception of soccer games, Germans very rarely fight and are usually very polite to most everybody.
Myth: Germans are racists.
Fact: Yes, SOME Germans are racists, but then again, so are SOME Americans/British/Frenchmen/Russians/Japanese etc. The vast majority of Germans though are incredibly accepting and even if they do have racists thoughts, they keep them to themselves and don't say things to hurt or degrade others based on their race, religion, gender, orientation, or ethnicity. The big exception to this is in the former DDR (East Germany) where conditions are so poor that many people feel rather desperate and have developed strong racists attitudes towards successful Gastarbeiter (Guest workers) in the West. The biggest minority in Germany is almost certainly the Turks.
Myth: German is an ugly language.
Fact: When spoken by Hitler and the metal group Rammstein, yes it is. But then again, I've heard more than enough native-English speakers who talk like nails on a chaulkboard to have ample proof for why English is an ugly language. German is incredibly elegant when spoken correctly, and in fact is usually much softer and less harsh than English. It is nowhere near as melodious as French or Italian, but it still beats the pants off of English. All those "ch" sounds (like "loch" in Scottish-English) aren't as harsh as most Americans pronounce them and several German consonants are actually much weaker than their English counterparts ("v," "r,").
If anyone has anything else positive to add here, please feel free to do so. And hey, if you got beef with the Germans over something, I'll try to do my best to present the other side as well.
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Darf Ich Meine Bleischtift spitzen in deinen mutter?
I couldn't agree more. Germans are very accepting people. How else could you explain David Hasselhoff's success in Germany? In all seriousness, I have a German foreign exchange student at my school. He is one of the nicest, and down to earth people i've ever met.
Just kidding on the last comment. Who had a beef with Germany? They are MUCH more tolerant now than lots of countries. And every country has a handfull of jack@sses who make a bad name for any group. Look at the people running America!
Mann, ich kann ja schon sehr gut Deutsch, aber was du vorher angedeutetest, kapierte ich überhaupt nicht. Soll das irgendein Idiom denn sein, oder was meintest du denn damit? Wenn es die gleiche Bedeutung hat, wie ich mir schon vorstellte, dass er mit sich brachte, dann bitte, wie du meinst, aber erklär mir niew, warum du so ein Lust auf alte hässlichen Frauen hast,
Hahaha! I have to get a dictionary for that one, but something about lusting after an ugly chick? hahaha! Wundebar! And they say Germans have no sense of humor! Hahaha!
Well "Darf Ich Meine Bleischtift spitzen in deinen mutter?" translates to "Can i point my Pencil inside your mother". I am not positiv about "to point a pencil" but i would not say this in public.
Nice article by the way :)
Greetings from Hamburg, Germany
Tim
Entschuldigung
andeudetest
Odd. When I think of Germany, I think of Beethoven.
When I think of Germany I think about BMW and Benz.
But that's what you get when living with a brother obsessed with cars. :)
I totally agree that Hitler does not represent Germany - just like Mao does not represent China; Stalin with Russia.
German's are awesome. They pulled themselves up so quickly after WWII, and they're now the 2nd/3rd largest economy in the world.
That's awesome.
Hitler is facinating, but not awesome. Leaders do not equal the people.
I agree. This perspective though, is one Germany is earnestly trying to rid. Thus, I don't believe it will persist. Especially considering our generation less equates Hitler to Germany. We mostly think BMW-Germany or something like that.
Really? When I think of Germany, I remember with shame the time I had to go to a beer garden and order water because I was with an American Girl Scout troop and under 21.
... I'm so embarrassed by that.
But I really wish people would stop equating German with Hitler, yes. When I tell people I'm a small bit German (less than 10%, probably), they always get the slighty-horrified-yet-somewhat-smug look on their faces. Currently an 18 year old, I DEFINITELY was a part of the Nazi regime during WWII, right? They think so, at least.
Your myth-busting is pretty darn accurate, as far as I can tell from my own experiences in Germany (and being the annoying American who could only say very basic phrases in the language, of which I am not proud). Thanks for spreading the word.