Germany And The Germans

[Far Away]

Have you ever been to or lived in Germany if you have what did you think of the Germans i have known many people who have lived there and some said that they hated the Germans more said that the Germans ok ...what did you think of them ???

[eurocrat]

I lived in Germany for year. Didn't manage to meet all 83million of them so I will refrain from making general comment. I met some nice people and some not nice people. Much like any other country really.

[Riadach]

As regards fashion sense now, they never seemed to jump the hurdle of 1989.

[secularireland]

Have you ever been to or lived in Germany if you have what did you think of the Germans i have known many people who have lived there and some said that they hated the Germans more said that the Germans ok ...what did you think of them ???

Germans hate people who can't punctuate, I hear. Not using full stops is a criminal offence.

[eurocrat]

Not using full stops is a criminal offence.

Yes, the Bavarain Die Zeichensetzunggezetze of 1618 are held dear by the population to this day.

[madura]

Although generalisations are odious, I found the traits points below everywhere I went.

Negative:

-They talk in paragraphs (as opposed to short turns like the typical Irish person) and it can be difficult to get a word in edgeways.

-They’re inclined to be besserwisserlich.

-People you meet in an official capacity (in bus and train stations, immigration bureaux etc) are sour and unaccommodating.

-Infidelity to partners seems to be quite common.

Positive:

-They take things seriously and make a genuine effort to get to the bottom of anything under consideration.

-If they make a promise, they deliver on it.

Will add other positive traits as (if) they come to me.

[Riadach]

Ok I'll admit they don't all dress like they're from the 1980s, but while I was in Germany in 2002, I saw more than the average frequency of mullets, mohawks, bros-heads, spandex, leg warmers and leather boots. But you're right, no trackies hoodies or howyas.

[Thac0man]

I have distant (very distant) relatives who are not Irish and who have lived in Germeny for the past 30+ odd years. Both Husband and Wife held down very well paying jobs. He worked in a car body shop spary painting and she was an administrator in large multi national. House, kids born and raised in Germeny, the whole lot and very well integrated.

After the German reunification everything changed. After 30 years they were sudddenly outsiders. He was 'displaced' in his job by an East German and she suffered a simular fate in her career. From their first hand evidance there is no doubt in my mind that being German in the eyes of many Germans cannot be achieved by 'integration'. Since re-unification the family sirname continues to have its origin queried in every aspect of their day to day lives whereas before it was irrelivent.

On my travels I do get to watch a fair bit of German media output (subtitled into one of the languages I do understand) and it strikes me that the image protrayed by the media is at odds with deeply held sentiments in Germany about their identity and national self image.

I have no reason to doubt that my relatives experience is a common one in Germany and their continued tales of discrimination mean it is an ongoing situation. The fact they are not 'western' European may mean their situation and experiances in Germany may be very differant from those someone from Ireland might find while living/working in Germany.

[madura]

Further, there is a certain type of arrogance in Germany. Many Germans presume they are just better than everyone else. I put that down to the Big Country Syndrome. For example, I have never met a German who hasnt tried to convince me that the only reason the Irish economy is doing well is EU subsidies. WHen I point out that Ireland is now a net contributor, they dont believe me. It is as if Germans want to have a monopoly on well-run economies. Its hard for them to recognise that Germany is not doing as great as it was. Also, all the Germans I know in Ireland, just talk about when the boom will end.

Agreed. This notion also underpins their demand for Ireland to revise its corporation rates to suit them. There's a view that only the manufacture of big machines and the like constitutes real economic activity. They don't recognise the importance of services in the modern economy. The arguments against that view were well made by IBEC's Danny McCoy on RTÉ radio yesterday (News at One, I think).

[michael1965]

Although generalisations are odious, I found the traits points below everywhere I went.

Negative:

-They’re inclined to be besserwisserlich.

True. In much the same way that Irish people are sometimes the opposite :- falsely self-deprecating, and cagey about giving information away

-People you meet in an official capacity (in bus and train stations, immigration bureaux etc) are sour and unaccommodating.

Absolutely true. To the extent, that even Germans complain about them

-Infidelity to partners seems to be quite common.

Positive:

-They take things seriously and make a genuine effort to get to the bottom of anything under consideration.

-If they make a promise, they deliver on it.

Will add other positive traits as (if) they come to me.

True as well. I'd add that they know how to have fun, when they want to, and think the occasion is appropriate. But otherwise, spontaneous is not a word you'd use to describe them.