In my home country using the German railways(DB) was synonymous with punctuality 😂
I’ve learned my lesson and I’ll spend hours of my life telling people how wildly inaccurate this is
I think the meme about the punctuality of German trains precedes the privatization of DB in the 90s. It's basically a lesson about how infrastructure is clearly a task for the government. Same with Internet btw.
Internet access is tragical in Germany. Even in the unlikely event if you luck out and have high speed access, it is crazy expensive. In Spain we have fiber in small villages, 90%+ access of all residential addresses. And it’s not a particularly small or plain country either.
Internet? No! I can remember how the Deutsche Post forbid using Modems and you had to use acoustic couplers. When it comes to technology the government is slow and dumb.
My dad was actually a criminal during the '80s because he used his knowledge as an electrician to split our phone line by splicing another cable into the phone cable in our house and install a second, non-standard phone on the other floor. Those were two crimes: Tampering with a communication line owned by the federal post ministry and operating unlicensed communications equipment. Back then you had to apply for a second phone, wait for the post office to process your request at glacial speed, wait for a post technician (a civil servant employed by the federal post ministry) to split the line and install an official, ministry-approved and -owned standard phone.
Today you can do this yourself and install any equipment you want, provided it adheres to all applicable standards, but back then the communication sector was one of the last bulwarks of the early, authoritarian republic.
I’m not against this stuff being a government service but other EU countries also had to privatize and some did it without everything going to shit. Am Dutch and live in NRW and keep repeating this to people. Our trains are punctual and privatized. It’s the non-investment and bureaucratic overhead that killed German rail.
In your defense, it [wasn’t nearly as bad not too long ago](https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/deutsche-bahn-puenktlichkeit-im-fernverkehr-sinkt-unter-60-prozent-a-10affb61-d6a3-4dac-931d-3d842701a7c6?sara_ref=re-so-app-sh). From ~90% punctual to under 60% within 4-5 years is an absurd drop. (Sadly paywalled, but I’m sure the graph/data can be found elsewhere.)
I think they also adjusted the definition of how late is being late in order to massage the numbers in the Bahn s favor. So old numbers may not be comparable as they are measured by more strict metrics of when late is late
Im german, my memory says its -5min late doesnt count. prime example why you dont privatize infrastructure and essentials. CDU tried to privatize the autobahn (thank god thats failed). famous Andi Scheuer installed maut stations but, to my knowlege, they stand without function, but the maut collecting firms got a huge payout due to missed gains.
>privatize infrastructure
Rail infrastructure and everything in the DB group is government-owned.
>Andi Scheuer installed maut stations
He didn't. [Toll Collect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toll_Collect?wprov=sfla1) was founded in 2002 and has been collecting highway tolls for cargo traffic in Germany since around 2004.
This was installed by SPD/Green government. And apart form birthing issues it seems to run rather smoothly.
That drop is horrible - especially when considering that the 90% was bs to start with. In their fine print the DB states that any cancelled train does not count as delayed. Which is obviously retarded but boosts their stats. Additionally the Bahn has something called the "Scheuer/Pofalla-Wende" (after the inventors of this method). Heavily delayed long distance trains just turn around at some point, causing a series of cancellations further down the line. We recall that these do not count as delayed any more. And since the train just turned around it is suddenly on time again. Magic. One can argue that there is a benefit to this as it keeps the delays from rippling through the greater network, but it is still shit af when you as a passenger get this little announcement.
There is a wonderful talk by David Kriesel about this (in German): [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rb9CfOvojk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rb9CfOvojk)
Can confirm, this is the first time I'm hearing about a Christmas pickle. I'm currently trying to figure out if I'm being trolled. it seems a bit absurd...
Yeah, they started to sell these at Christmas markets, too, because so many American tourists asked for an authentic German Christmas pickle to bring home.
For us it's just another fun ornament. I mean, there are burgers, sausages, milk shakes, cheese etc., too. It doesn't really confuse anyone why there would be a pickle on sale.
I thought it’s from a region in eastern Germany. Lausitz possibly? I don’t quite remember. But it’s from somewhere not too far from where I grew up, so that one winter we discovered a pickle stand at the christmas market (made from
glass like regular ornaments) and got one for shits and giggles. There was a little booklet in the package explaining the tradition. We ended up really liking it, it’s on my parents’ christmas tree every year now.
The biggest pickles tradition area in the Lausitz is Spreewald, but we don't have Christmas pickle decorations.
It might have been invented in Thüringen but never spread very far before landing in the US https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weihnachtsgurke
My wife bought some Christmas pickles after reading about them in American sources. But our tree usually also has burgers and birds and other fancy ornaments.
Weirdly, I've had a handful if Germans insist to me that it's an American tradition and ask me why we do it. After googling, apparently in some regions it *is* a thing, but I'd never heard of it until moving here.
I wonder if this is a relic from old World War II movies where they deliberately tried to make German sound more aggressive and harsh: in a lot of people's minds here that's just what the language sounds like (despite being inaccurate) so that probably still influences how it's used in movies and TV from the Anglosphere.
Definitely. They also not just tried to make it sound harsh but also to make it sound ridiculous. You can see it in movies and in video games, if there are german voice clips in the english version they almost always sound like the person yelling it has severe brain damage and/or is mocking germans (if it isnt just SCHMETTERLING to emphasize how harsh the language is supposed to be)
I recently watched Guy Ritchie's The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, which felt a bit like a off-brand Inglorious Basterds.
American/Mexican actors/actresses speaking German in that movie completely broke my immersion.
Even though it was only one or two lines, it was so far off from intelligible German...
I'm very disappointed, that producers often seem to not care at all - as a German, the quality of a movie immediately drops massively if people who are supposed to be speaking decent German, don't speak German at all.
Never trust google translate, that's how we get thos unintelligable messes. And that's only the writers.
You want something that makes sense? Hire professional translators and voice coaches for filming. Do you want those extra costs and more people running around set? For a few throwaway lines that the prime audience does not care for? Producer says no.
Atomic Blonde could have been such an amazing movie, but the German in it absolutely sucked balls. I'm fully bilingual German / English, and I wouldn't have known what was said without the subtitles.
I did that one time on Netflix with NGE, where the 'german talking girl' gets a call.
Their Original voices from the 90's are sooo on point. Then I checked ALL other languages available. Not only does the sentence differ to the point where it has a different meaning, it's hardly german.
I'm very curious to watch Im Westen nichts Neues with english voices. One rare opportunity to have the pov of a native speaker.
In thentv series "The Grimm" the character with german background used "Alles hat ein Ende nur die Wurst hat Zwei" as a saying after his brother died. Pretty sure the writers just looked up a german saying about hownthings end and take the first.
Also Blacklist claimed Germany has a mythology figure called "der Großman" this is a figure people in the internet came up as a Basis for Slenderman to make him Sound more real.
For anyone wondering why that saying isn't exactly a thing you would say when your brother dies. It's from a [carnival song](https://youtu.be/X5C9gkgrKPI?si=QsGOfCylJGwRHgTL) and means everything has an ending only the sausage has two.
There is a chocolate cake recipe circulating in the States that was invented by a guy named German. And 'Muricans being 'Muricans, after a few years they couldn't tell the name of a country and a guy apart anymore.
it's even better: the guy named german made chocolate, and a women then made a cake specifically for mr german's cholocolate, the "german's chocolate cake". over time the 's was dropped and people think it a german thing because it is called "german chocolate cake" lol
There are many youtube channels of the type "10 things Germans do" from random American vloggers that moved to Germany.
They all love to spread "facts" that they learned about Germany and consider the norm, but are often bullshit or only things that this one German they met dtold them.
For example: All Germans have a shelf in their toilet. All Germans wear house shoes at home. All Germans move with their kitchens.
While all of this does exist, it's certainly not universal, and sometimes vastly outdated.
Are you implying that user generated content might be wrong and maybe even just motivated by getting clicks? Do you realize how wrong that must be in a sane world?
I mostly agree with you BUT not having a kitchen in your apartment and having to move with your old one (or buying a new one)
Is definitely the norm for a lot of apartments in Germany
>All
It only is wrong when it's that kind of blanket statement. And the video I saw didn't phrase it as such an absolute.
It is legit to point out differences between the US and Germany. Apartments not being leased with a kitchen, ppl using loafers at home and toilet bowls with poop shelves are all true things that exist to varying degrees and are different from the US.
I recently stumbled over a post on r/fallout about the creatures in the game, and a comment was talking about how the devs took inspiration from different cultures for naming their creatures, like the yaoi guay is Chinese and the centaur is Greek, and the Snallygaster from Fallout 76 is German. I don't know of any creature similar to the description of a Snallygaster in German folklore and the word itself isn't German either, though it is an anglicized version of the German "schneller Geist". The Snallygaster is an American creature first reported by German immigrants, but it's not a creature from our folklore. (please, anybody correct me if I'm wrong lol)
Just looked it up:
The F### is that?
The nearest creature from german myth, that comes near to that, would be a Lindwurm, but even then...
This looks more like a Lovercraft creation
I think the Lindwurm is not origanaly from germany, but from austria. Not shure though.
Maby it is also a Baba yaga thing, who is originaly russian but also known in Poland, because they were the same Nation a few times
Yes, you're right.
If I remember correctly, the Lindwurm myth comes from Klagenfurth Austria, but to be fair, this was from the time, where the HRE stilp existed. So, there wasn't really that much of a difference.
As a non bavarian, everytime…
For singularities, everytime, what goddamn pickle? Thats a mc donalds marketingploy…
That blueeyed blonde dude with a mustache faking the acccent being invited to “edgy conservative us comedian podcasts is the worst offender, guess where he got his foot in the door, exactly, as a standup act in muinich bavaria…
What drove me nuts was all those people thinking that Germans drink out of steins all day. And even more, believing that stein is a German word that's used at all. I had to look it up myself the first time I heard it. Okay, it's probably derived from Steinkrug.
But these puppy eyes when they ask me about the steins we use in our family and if they are family heirlooms was just ridiculous.
I looked for that comment. Stein may be a dialect word but it is not widely known at all. It always makes me wonder which German immigrant wave brought it to America and where they were from.
We don’t wear Tracht. Even in Bavaria, you don’t wear Tracht all the time. Most areas have Trachtenvereine - a special interest club. It’s not a common thing to wear to celebrate.
Even the Dirndl at Octoberfest wasn’t too common until the early 2000 and probably started as a marketing thing.
And what they don't get told is Tracht is maily a made up stereotype that changes from region to region. A Murnauer Tracht is very different from a Munich Tracht or a Dachauer Tracht.
And when you look at the history of Tracht, you'd find that what many see as the basics of Tracht, you'll find out that Lederhosen have been worn all over the place, like France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, etc... as durable workwear. Imagine a fisherman in Lederhosen. Probably the worst choice.
And that those "glorifying" it as the working mans traditional clothing where first laughed at. They however convinced King Ludwig I about their "traditional bavarian inheritance" and he had the sterotype created. Later the Nazis jumped on that train too.
When I moved to Bavaria I started to see a lot more Tracht in my life. Random in the Biergarten, at celebrations, school graduation etc. I love that they wear them more often.
You're a Zuagroaßter, of course you like it.
But seriously, nowadays many natives see it as peacocking. Young men prancing in their "traditional" Tracht, that isn't even from their region, to find a mating partner, while collectively binge drinking.
My dad found the wedding picture of my grand grandmother recently. She was from the Schrobenhausen area and he was from the Dachau area. Their wedding attire has nothing in common with what is nowadays sold as "traditional" Tracht.
I often hear Americans say something like crazy German porn or that Germans like porn with feces.
I have yet to see these crazy German porn movies and I don't think the other thing is true either.
I actually tried to look into this a while ago.
As far as I understand, we consum *normal stuff* mostly from the US, but produce pretty fucked up stuff for other countries.
This is actually kind of true. Especially in the 70s or 80s, german had lax porn laws (i think, not too sure, picked some of this up years ago) while the rest of the world was still concerned over vanilla, so a lot of the really crazy stuff (like playing with feces and other "fun" stuff) came from germany.
Yeah I was about to say, the crazy German porn is an old stereotype. Used to be a pretty big stereotype about Germany here in Sweden too, especially in the days of VHS porn. The stereotype included – but was not limited to:
* Gay porn (usually kind of macho, with moustaches, muscles, and body hair)
* Military-ish paraphernalia: high riding boots, leather coats, military style leather caps.
* The colour black for apparel: leather and latex.
* Sado-masochism
I don't know how accurately this aligned with actual German porn back in the day, because I can definitely see how the stereotype has been significantly spiced with stereotypes about Germans in general, especially with the military paraphernalia stuff that of course also always tangent WW2 SS and tank corps aesthetics (even though much of the leather stuff in underground culture of those decades actually originally came from biker fashion which in turn took their fascination for leather from the gear of allied WW2 airmen who also often wore leather jackets and caps).
The stereotype of the macho German gay scene has also faded in the past 20 years, and I also have no idea how accurate that ever was. IIRC, Freddie Mercury did change his style to include leather, moustache, etc when Queen moved their music production to Munich, but I also just think that was a shift in the gay scene that was worldwide and originated from the US (didn't the village people allude to the macho gay ideal a lot with at least one member wearing biker stuff and their song "macho man"?)
That was a long tangent of unfiltered musings on underground fashion sense in the '80s and '90s. Sorry to everyone who read through all of this.
I'm wondering if what they are looking at is actually not German porn but porn made by Germans for Americans and what they're doing is they're just modeling it off of that audiences desires.
I used to work for a German porn site as a data analyst (incidentally one of the most professional companies I've ever worked for), and I would say that Germany and the UK are perhaps the European countries with a larger-than-average community for fetishes like urine and feces. It's just a niche regardless, and the cliche about Germans liking poop in their porn is vastly exaggerated and close to an urban myth.
Anything typically Bavarian gets conceived as typically german, especially by americans, but absolutely isn’t.
Almost noone eats Weißwurst north of the Weißwurstäquator, noone outside Bavaria wears Lederhosen or dirndl (and bavarians only do it on special 🍺 occasions), Neuschwanstein is not typically german but the feverdream of a demented bavarian king etc..
Bavaria is our Florida.
Well, Bavaria is more like German Texas. Rich, more Patriotic than the rest of the country and originating many of the stereotypes foreigners assume about the whole country.
That's because Bavaria was the main occupation zone for the US after WW II. They never ventured out of their zone and so took the only images that they knew of Germany back to the states. And Hollywood did the rest.
I am not German but I think so many people get so much wrong about Germans and Germany.
For example somebody from India asked me how common is naked men wrestling in the park ( bruh wtf ). I told him NEVER and he was shocked that not only there is no brazen nudity in public ( only controlled settings ) but German folks are not even big on wrestling leaving alone public exhibitions. They are more of football , camping and fishing folks than doing violent sports in front of public . Machismo bravado is also not that brazen here and many get confused when they hear and see this. This is not an insult to anyone’s masculinity but in my opinion most german guys are sweet, shy and gentle and even the rougher ones are still less loudmouths and more like silent stoic types who don’t disturb other ( individual exceptions exist of course) . Turns out he was watching too much gay porn and apparently this is a theme where two burly Prussian aesthetic daddies with the worst imitation of german accent wrestle each other completely naked ( I am actually concerned that this aesthetic is popular) .
I do think people overestimate the prevalence of public nudity wayyy too much in general. Like no I am not greeted by a naked grandpa proudly swinging with his coffee when I go for a morning walk. In fact he will get arrested or have the police called upon him at least if he does that.
People also think that Germans very logical , objective and completely unbiased by default and I myself had to learn the hard way that it’s actually not the case. I find German folks overtly sentimental and can be hardasses about it.
Oh and this most fun. Almost everyone including my own parents believe that Germany has the BEST and Most PUNCTUAL railway system in the world. I have to sink in shame 🥴.
I had a massive reverse culture shock coming back from Japan and having to use the Frankfurt Fernbahnhof after a 15-hour flight.
That train station is one of the most modern and well-connected train stations in Germany, and yet, there were only a few mediocre food choices with ridiculous prices. You can't understand almost any of the enouncements, and yet they tried to inform about several delays in the 30+ minute range, every 30 seconds. No employee was around, so you couldn't ask what the best alternative route home was. After we waited 40 minutes, we took an alternative train. Then we got yelled at by the train coducter because we took too long boarding the train. That train was also 60 minutes late already. I couldn't understand where the sudden haste came from. The icing of the cake was that this train (also an ICE) was on a slower route than the one we planned to take.
Never had a more sobering experience coming home.
To be fair I haven’t been here too long to witness DB in its full glory ( never really used long distance trains until 2 years ago and 5 years back I stuck to just short distance NWB trains ) but there is very very clear decay of main station facilities and services in this span of 5 years I have been here and it’s fucking sad.
Meanwhile my parents are posting about how awesome this new speed rail which travelled 4000 km through the harsh terrain of Indian geography trip was 🫣.
At this rate all developing countries will have better rail services than Germany 😪😪😪
Too many, esp in this sub. Typically its an expat/tourist seeing something exactly once and directly assuming it has to be a german thing. Like "I saw this guy doing his toe nails in public transport, as a non-german I was grossed out" or "my flat mate eats pickles with Nutella. What are some other typical german food combinations?".
Generally speaking theres a lot of shit about Germans online. It starts with language jokes in which the german language is always shouted in a very aggressive manner because "hahah german sounds soo harsh!!" when in reality german doesnt really sound harsh. It only does if you aggressively yell at somebody and at that point its kind of normal for every language.
Then theres this whole Lederhosen, Bretzeln and Bierkrug thing. When foreigners think of Germany, they typically think of Bavaria, not realizing that most of the "typical german" things they know are almost exclusive to Bavaria, one of the 16 states in Germany. Some even think of Austrian stuff because of "the sound of music".
Kind of drifting off topic here, but those many many regional differences are one of the reasons why this situation occurs so often. Because there might be traditions in one part of the country that people from other parts of the country may have never heard of before. Many people, ime especially Americans, tend to forget how different Germany can be and how much cultural variety we have, despite being such a small country in comparison.
To me, it was about punctuality.
I was told Germans are very particular about time and one should never be even a minute late to meetings or anywhere but hey, the world never shattered when situations weren't that kind to me. People wait for as much as 5 minutes without getting annoyed.
I realized the truth of German punctuality when we met for beers with our Italian and Spanish colleagues. Everyone was there at 20:00, some Germans at 19:55, some at 20:05, the Mediterraneans came at 21:00.
That was me when moving from Berlin to Madrid...
...I just adjusted to it and either also arrived 45 minutes late or scheduled meeting people for 45 minutes early...I can wait 15 minutes, no Biggie.
Exactly, I don't think its a german thing to be punctual, rather than Italians, Spaniards, Greeks being always late.
I am Slovak by birth and the Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Hungarians all tend to be punctual (or they will let you know that they will be late in advance with apologies) when meeting up with my Italian friend means waiting for him between 30-60 every single fucking time for no reason whatsoever
Learned that when I got a job that required international video conferences. Almost everyone from Germany is either there at most 2 minutes after the starting time or sent a chat message like "Sorry, I can't make it on time. I'll be about \[estimate\] late/unable to attend." by that time.
With people from other countries I've had them randomly join like half an hour late, needing to be brought up to speed and not saying a word of apology or even offering any explanation for why they're late.
Of course we aren't the only punctual nation, not everyone from "unpunctual" countries is like this, and the example is on the extreme side of what I've witnessed.
But yeah I can clearly see where the stereotype comes from.
Punctuality IS a thing! It is not? Everyone I know, everyone at work knows the mantra my grandmother and my mother told me: „Pünktlich ist 5 Minuten zu spät!“ „If you are on time, you are 5 Minutes late.“ this is so deep in my mind, I am regularly half an hour too early for appointments, so I am often walking awkwardly around buildings to be right 5 Minutes early.
Well, its more about respecting each others time. Nobody is gonna get mad about a couple minutes usually, we all know that sometimes things just happen, as easy as traffic etc.
But we do expect people to tell us if things are getting much later, like 30+ minutes. We might not say anything - especially in a buisness setting - but Germans do tend to get annoyed if they feel their time isnt being respected by others.
But its not like, a 100% strict thing.
It was worse years ago.
It also depends on the situation and, of course, how long people have to wait for you. It can be very rude, but usually, most people let little social fauxpas slide, especially if you are a forginer.
There is a saying "5 Minuten vor der Zeit, ist des Deutschen Pünktlichkeit", which also has a soldier variant, often heard in military training.
But germans aren't as particular about time as it suggests. You can come a bit late and no-one will really complain in most cases.
Well, Germans are rather punctual and generally 5-15 minutes early, although there is leeway for the academic quarter hour.
It's common to text an excuse if you are 5-20 minutes late though.
Not sure if that’s related but I once saw a Vietnamese influencer make a big deal about how “German people sleep in beds, and not bamboo mats on the floor” and how incredibly “German” that is
That’s not a German thing, that’s a “everywhere-outside-of-South-East-Asia” thing
Yeah. Her videos are fun most of the time, but I have the feeling she’s going to need to change things up soon if she wants to keep her YouTube career. Most people can’t relate to life in Vietnam. So it’s interesting to see a comparison of Germany to Vietnam in that it’s like a two-for-one learning experience, but at some point I stopped watching her videos if I could tell it was going to lean heavily into Vietnamese culture.
Before coming to Germany, I watched a lot of does and don’ts most of which now seem like recommendations: Video: Don’t cross the road when it’s red no matter what. Someone will yell at you and the Germans never do that. Now: I see a lot of people, mostly even Germans, doing that. I don’t hear nobody yelling. Video: Never wear gym clothes outside. Now: I see a lot people rocking gym clothes outside. …. I might have misunderstood these videos but it’s good to know some things before hand and Germany is a developed country and Germans won’t point and laugh if you make social mistakes.
Edit: this comment isn’t to say these things are okay but you shouldn’t expect an outburst from people if you do them. It’s never okay to cross the road when the light is okay, even if there are no cars in sight, specially when kids are around.
There are other things that other people don’t do but nobody cares if you do it.
It’s just that a lot videos make it look like fire would rain on you for those things.
I will admit I (as a German) have been shouted at by an old lady for crossing the street on red. But I think old ladies as the arbiters of all that is lawful is not a German thing but pretty universal lol
Happened to me too... Some old Lady shouted "Sei den Kindern ein Vorbild!" and I looked around and repeated "Welche Kinder, es ist halb 11 in der Nacht und Auto kommt auch keines!"
The gym clothes might be a generational thing. I think it's super weird to go out like that in public when you're not intending to exercise, but that seems to be moving towards a minority opinion.
I was talking to friends of a friend in Leipzig once and he told me about how uptight people in Munich are. He said they even look at you weird when you go to the restaurant in sweatpants. I live in Munich and I immediately looked at him weird and thought who the hell goes to a restaurant in sweatpants. I guess the stereotype was accurate lol
My parents were simple people but they totally agreed with Lagerfeld.
# “Sweatpants are a sign of defeat. You lost control of your life so you bought some sweatpants.”
It's also a before and after Covid thing.
It's becoming much more acceptable to wear comfortable clothes, even in some office jobs, over perfectly creased dress shirts or sth.
I really hate those videos. At best they name things that might annoy an obnoxious minority of pedantic germans, that most germans also hate and make fun of. And at worst it's just complete nonsense literally nobody will care about, like your gym clothes example. But 100% of the time it's things a lot if germans do all the time.
Edit:
The one with crossing the street during Red lights is the only legit one though. I know it germans do it all the time, but you need to know, that it can even cost you your drivers licence if you cross the red lights as pedestrian. So I wouldn't recommend this.
Yeah those memes can be funny but are often very exaggerated. At least they don’t apply to the vast majority of germans I bump into.
I think when people are shown these memes over and over, they start to see the world only through that lens.
The thing with the gym clothes is how prevalent it is and in which settings they are worn. Bakery run on the weekend? Sure. Shopping trip in the city? No! Grabbing a Döner? Yes. Going out to a restaurant? Absolutely not.
I cross red lights, but I make sure there are no children around and of course the road is clear. In other countries (including the US) I've seen people cross the road on red and the cars had to slow down for them. That's crazy to me.
So there's usually some truth in these statements, but they are very exaggerated.
The gym clothes thing is definitely not true, though sometimes when you see someone in a shopping center with either full bicycle attire or a sports bra and short leggings I will wonder why they decided to wear that. As for the red lights, it’s definitely a thing to wait for a green light more so than in other countries. Walking through London I have never seen anyone waiting for a green light, but I don’t think anyone will shout at you for crossing when red lights
The don't cross the road on red is weird for me too. Here in Hannover most just go when it's clear. Also, the last times I waited because kids were close, kids and their parents were the ones going so I stopped doing that as well.
Maybe it's a small town vs. bigger town thing?
> It’s never okay to cross the road when the light is [red] even if there are no cars in sight.
Traffic lights are infrastructure for cars. Pedestrians and cyclists don't need lights, cars do. And cars have too much influence on city planning already, so I refuse to wait on red lights when there are no cars in sight. Why shouldn't I cross an empty road?
Kind of. It's not that I often hear things that don't happen. But I often hear exaggerations. Especially in those "5 things you shouldn't do in Germany" Videos. Most of the time they name things a lot if not most germans do regularly, but just a small minority is annoyed by it.
For example Jay walking. That happens all the time in Germany. Maybe not as much as in other countries, but I've never experienced somebody getting some kind of backlash for jay walking.
Usually in those videos there is one point where I think: "yes that's true". But for all the other points I think, that most people wouldn't care except maybe some over pedantic people, that even germans hate. It's not normal, that your neighbours immediately call the police if you are too loud on a Friday after 10pm once. It can happen if you have bad luck with your neighbours. But it's not the norm and most germans dislike neighbours like this too and wouldn't want to live next to them.
I see the jay walking thing more often on the internet and think it’s a translation problem.
There is no jay walking law in Germany, BUT German pedestrians (in comparison to other countries) stop at a red light, even at 1 am when there’s no car.
Also there’s a rule in German traffic law that you have to use a traffic light when it’s close to cross the street, but it doesn’t specify what distance „close“ is. So from different legal cases we only know „close“ is 15-40m. Basically if you can see what color the traffic light has without any obstruction you‘re supposed to use the traffic light
**Germans stare at you.**
I never heard, or saw this outside of Reddit.
I‘m probably just too used to it, but I never felt someone stare at me and don‘t think I do it myself.
I’ve experienced it quite a bit and have heard many Germans (for example, on podcasts like Easy German) admit that it’s true and for some, it even got them yelled at abroad.
But it’s also possible that Germans are not actually staring at you and may just be staring into space and it just looks like they’re staring. Germans also hold eye contact longer than many cultures that come here to work/live and it can feel like being stared at.
I have a hypothesis about the eye contact thing. In some places, when you make eye contact with someone, it's considered polite to smile (or nod, or say hi). However, Germans tend not to smile at strangers. So they will make incidental eye contact and not smile. I think that's what is perceived by some visitors as staring.
My interpretation: Germans tend to look around unconsciously while "idling" like during a bus trip. Sometimes they linger on someone thinking "this scarf reminds me of this one winter with Karl when we were skiing in the Harz mountains..." not even noticing that they are still looking at that person till their eyes lock and then they quickly look elsewhere as if they were caught and then during the rest of the trip try not to look at that person anymore. Since in other cities it might be more common to just stare outside the windows or at the floor during such a trip these things don't happen that often.
I saw this a lot when I was living in Bavaria. Maybe they don't realize they're doing it, and I certainly don't think they meant to be rude, but I think a lot of foreigners have experienced this.
Maybe it's just because we stick out like a sore thumb.
Ah this one is true. At least in Bavaria (I don’t have much experience in the rest of Germany) and at least with older people, they shamelessly stare at people
Ah yeah, the "This person's stare lingered on me for a few moments longer than what is common in my culture. HELP!" question.
Is there a numbered list of stereotypes somewhere, like some newsgroups had them for stsard phrases back when these were a thing?
Then many replies in threads like these could look like "see #0815 and #4711".
Yeah, i never got this one. Im from the US and visit Germany every year (sometimes extended visits) and ive never noticed this. Unless maybe i also do the same thing so i dont notice...
This one is actually very true. As a German, i dont or never did realize this until my wife who is from a different country joined me in Germany and suddenly started pointing out how people are staring all the time. Its something that might go unnoticed for us but we seemingly do stare a lot
My family does it a lot, in my opinion. Whenever we’re outside/in public, they will people watch but not even try to hide it so they just stare at people while quietly talking or gossiping about them based on what they can see (because they don’t know them).
To me it just feels rude how obvious they are and don’t even try to hide it. And I don’t get people watching in general, tbh
The myth of German efficiency, not true when it comes to things like bureaucracy, it's all paper-based and stuck in the 90s with thousands of rules to prevent any kind of common sense decision.
I got downvoted for this before just in recent weeks, asking don't Germans generally follow rules to a T (because this is the rhetoric everywhere). So yeah, this stereotype apparently isn't true for the most part in Germany.
We like to follow rules, but we also like to probe existing rules for role-bending and loopholes. That's why our law system is so complicated and exuberant
A american once claimed on twitter I couldn't be german, because I am a moderate lefty who is also proud of germany (our social security system, our fodd and struff like this). appariently I am not left enough to be german. Guy would probably get an annorysm when he hears about the CDU alone, which is far more right than I am lol
Yeah. Not only in English speaking TikTok/Reels but also on the Russian or Ukrainian side of the internet. Like recently I’ve heard things like that German villages always have train, and good infrastructure and so on. Or the kids traveling to school by public transport. Maybe it’s true for places near to big cities but in Saxony there are villages without the bus with only school bus picking up kids to school. Or wine vending machines. I think they are very local to wine regions, I’ve never seen them in saxony. But they are speaking as if they are everywhere.
Almost all my american friends thought that the movie "the sound of music" is really popular here and that it is tradition to watch it each year with the family, but I've actually never heard of this movie before and don't know anyone who watched it. It also actually plays in Austria, but they thought that this is Germany.
I've seen people from other parts of the world over exaggerate our problems with immigration in order to push their political agenda.
Yes, Germany does have problems with immigration, mostly due to immigration policies that fail to create a framework that drives integration.
That being said, the situation is by far not as bad as many alt-right trolls and YouTubers want you to believe.
There is an Instagram from a Vietnamese woman, living in Germany I can't stand because of that. I think she's very nice, I like her. But I wanna scream 'hell no' to lots of her videos about 'in Germany they do this'.
Most of it seems to be weird routines/behavior of her German financé. I even thought about unfollowing her because it upsets me so much. ^^
Now I can't even remember lots of examples. The only one coming to my mind now is, when she talked about Germans putting mayonnaise in their salad. Lettuce, not Kartoffelsalat or Nudelsalat but Blattsalat!
omg yes, i also like her personality and i think she is really cute and nice, but she is really
exaggerating many things and due to lot of followers actually many people could think it is german reality
I get it, that some is exaggerated on purpose. Because it's more interesting and funnier then.
And of course she can only describe what she sees day by day and cannot always know, if things are really 'tipical German ' or if it's only her finacé and his friends/family.
But really, in 8/10 times I think 'WTF!?'
American here but have lived in Germany for a while. One thing to understand is that Bavaria is the Texas of Germany. It's really big relative to the other states, is nostalgic for its independent past, and everyone thinks the rest of the country is like that.
Many German stereotypes are derived from Bavarian culture, like Lederhosen and Oktoberfest. Very few people in the rest of the country wear Lederhosen just like few people in the US wear cowboy hats.
Yes! So accurate! I am from the North and we are often irritated that Bavaria seems to be used as a guideline for germany when we joke about how Bavaria for us is nearly a different country. I dont even understand their language and need a Translation for their food.
When we moved from the north down to the south, the German lads at the pub were mystified as to why I'd want to do that (was for work). Seems they feel more akin to the Dutch than to Bavarians.
About the German stare - I've never experienced this in my nearly 8 years here. One explanation could be that I avoid eye contact myself, but I think I would have noticed at least one incident if it were that commonplace.
I come from Eastern Europe where people like to dress up and always be in full attire. My whole life I've been hearing something like "woah in that Europe they wear jeans!! To the theater!!! My grandpa's second cousin thrice removed was once in theater in Germany and everyone wore sweatpants and pyjamas!!! He was SCHOCKED and gave soviet criminal offensive side eye!!!"
I remember when I went here to the theater for the first time and guess what, noone wore hoodie to fucking Phantom of the opera! Everyone was dressed nicely, more formally, perfectly according to the event. Like wtf
Where I come from the big stereotype is that Germans shower once a week and brush their teeth once every 2-3 days also, and don’t wear deodorant.
Also know one person from my country that is also in Germany and they also like to propagate this.
I, personally, have a German partner, live with German ppl in a shared flat, have German friends, know their families and extended families and none of them are remotely true and I wonder what type of Germans this acquaintance of mine have been crossing paths with
When I stayed with friends in Canada they confessed at some point that they were fully prepared to tell me to shower more regularly. They were surprised I took a shower every day and used deodorant because they'd heard about Europeans not taking hygiene very seriously.
Well, I did grew up showering only once a week and still do that.
That doesn't mean that you cannot take a washcloth and wash yourself at the sink every day.
I guess it's from an older time to save water.
In my home country using the German railways(DB) was synonymous with punctuality 😂 I’ve learned my lesson and I’ll spend hours of my life telling people how wildly inaccurate this is
I think the meme about the punctuality of German trains precedes the privatization of DB in the 90s. It's basically a lesson about how infrastructure is clearly a task for the government. Same with Internet btw.
Sad but true, in German we call this „kaputtgespart“ (saved to pieces)
Internet access is tragical in Germany. Even in the unlikely event if you luck out and have high speed access, it is crazy expensive. In Spain we have fiber in small villages, 90%+ access of all residential addresses. And it’s not a particularly small or plain country either.
Internet? No! I can remember how the Deutsche Post forbid using Modems and you had to use acoustic couplers. When it comes to technology the government is slow and dumb.
My dad was actually a criminal during the '80s because he used his knowledge as an electrician to split our phone line by splicing another cable into the phone cable in our house and install a second, non-standard phone on the other floor. Those were two crimes: Tampering with a communication line owned by the federal post ministry and operating unlicensed communications equipment. Back then you had to apply for a second phone, wait for the post office to process your request at glacial speed, wait for a post technician (a civil servant employed by the federal post ministry) to split the line and install an official, ministry-approved and -owned standard phone. Today you can do this yourself and install any equipment you want, provided it adheres to all applicable standards, but back then the communication sector was one of the last bulwarks of the early, authoritarian republic.
I’m not against this stuff being a government service but other EU countries also had to privatize and some did it without everything going to shit. Am Dutch and live in NRW and keep repeating this to people. Our trains are punctual and privatized. It’s the non-investment and bureaucratic overhead that killed German rail.
In your defense, it [wasn’t nearly as bad not too long ago](https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/deutsche-bahn-puenktlichkeit-im-fernverkehr-sinkt-unter-60-prozent-a-10affb61-d6a3-4dac-931d-3d842701a7c6?sara_ref=re-so-app-sh). From ~90% punctual to under 60% within 4-5 years is an absurd drop. (Sadly paywalled, but I’m sure the graph/data can be found elsewhere.)
I think they also adjusted the definition of how late is being late in order to massage the numbers in the Bahn s favor. So old numbers may not be comparable as they are measured by more strict metrics of when late is late
Im german, my memory says its -5min late doesnt count. prime example why you dont privatize infrastructure and essentials. CDU tried to privatize the autobahn (thank god thats failed). famous Andi Scheuer installed maut stations but, to my knowlege, they stand without function, but the maut collecting firms got a huge payout due to missed gains.
>privatize infrastructure Rail infrastructure and everything in the DB group is government-owned. >Andi Scheuer installed maut stations He didn't. [Toll Collect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toll_Collect?wprov=sfla1) was founded in 2002 and has been collecting highway tolls for cargo traffic in Germany since around 2004. This was installed by SPD/Green government. And apart form birthing issues it seems to run rather smoothly.
That drop is horrible - especially when considering that the 90% was bs to start with. In their fine print the DB states that any cancelled train does not count as delayed. Which is obviously retarded but boosts their stats. Additionally the Bahn has something called the "Scheuer/Pofalla-Wende" (after the inventors of this method). Heavily delayed long distance trains just turn around at some point, causing a series of cancellations further down the line. We recall that these do not count as delayed any more. And since the train just turned around it is suddenly on time again. Magic. One can argue that there is a benefit to this as it keeps the delays from rippling through the greater network, but it is still shit af when you as a passenger get this little announcement. There is a wonderful talk by David Kriesel about this (in German): [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rb9CfOvojk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rb9CfOvojk)
YES! people can't believe when I tell them DB is frequently late!
Frequently late? Rarely on time…😆
Before the privatisation, it was.
The vast majority of the German rail infrastructure is owned by the govermenent. So is the DB group.
The infamous Christmas pickle. In the US everybody knows Germans put it in the tree. In Germany no one has ever heard about that.
Can confirm, this is the first time I'm hearing about a Christmas pickle. I'm currently trying to figure out if I'm being trolled. it seems a bit absurd...
It came over, you can get these pickles at Nanu-Nana. A friend gifted me one a few years back.
Yeah, they started to sell these at Christmas markets, too, because so many American tourists asked for an authentic German Christmas pickle to bring home. For us it's just another fun ornament. I mean, there are burgers, sausages, milk shakes, cheese etc., too. It doesn't really confuse anyone why there would be a pickle on sale.
Matter of fact, our teacher recently told the class that this was an American thing
I thought it’s from a region in eastern Germany. Lausitz possibly? I don’t quite remember. But it’s from somewhere not too far from where I grew up, so that one winter we discovered a pickle stand at the christmas market (made from glass like regular ornaments) and got one for shits and giggles. There was a little booklet in the package explaining the tradition. We ended up really liking it, it’s on my parents’ christmas tree every year now.
The biggest pickles tradition area in the Lausitz is Spreewald, but we don't have Christmas pickle decorations. It might have been invented in Thüringen but never spread very far before landing in the US https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weihnachtsgurke
I think there was a McDonalds promotion, where they gave out chirstmas pickles. If you search for "Weihnachtsgruke mcdonalds" you can find pictures
We started doing that because it actual is fun for the kids.
I do have a Christmas pickle since I've read two years ago that as a German I apparently need to have one. Can recommend.
Christmas pickle? Wtf
We have one from Kühne, the workers get one for Christmas. But they make pickles.
My wife bought some Christmas pickles after reading about them in American sources. But our tree usually also has burgers and birds and other fancy ornaments.
The what....?
well to be fair it's Weihnachtsgurke
About a week ago I've heard about this for the first time.
Weirdly, I've had a handful if Germans insist to me that it's an American tradition and ask me why we do it. After googling, apparently in some regions it *is* a thing, but I'd never heard of it until moving here.
Not exactly the answer to your question, but related: The way of speaking German in movies/shows. Its barely recognizable
I wonder if this is a relic from old World War II movies where they deliberately tried to make German sound more aggressive and harsh: in a lot of people's minds here that's just what the language sounds like (despite being inaccurate) so that probably still influences how it's used in movies and TV from the Anglosphere.
Definitely. They also not just tried to make it sound harsh but also to make it sound ridiculous. You can see it in movies and in video games, if there are german voice clips in the english version they almost always sound like the person yelling it has severe brain damage and/or is mocking germans (if it isnt just SCHMETTERLING to emphasize how harsh the language is supposed to be)
Often it isn't even that, but just a really thick english accent.
I recently watched Guy Ritchie's The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, which felt a bit like a off-brand Inglorious Basterds. American/Mexican actors/actresses speaking German in that movie completely broke my immersion. Even though it was only one or two lines, it was so far off from intelligible German... I'm very disappointed, that producers often seem to not care at all - as a German, the quality of a movie immediately drops massively if people who are supposed to be speaking decent German, don't speak German at all.
Especially considering that if you only have like one or two lines in German, you can easily learn to say it through Google translate already.
Never trust google translate, that's how we get thos unintelligable messes. And that's only the writers. You want something that makes sense? Hire professional translators and voice coaches for filming. Do you want those extra costs and more people running around set? For a few throwaway lines that the prime audience does not care for? Producer says no.
Atomic Blonde could have been such an amazing movie, but the German in it absolutely sucked balls. I'm fully bilingual German / English, and I wouldn't have known what was said without the subtitles.
I did that one time on Netflix with NGE, where the 'german talking girl' gets a call. Their Original voices from the 90's are sooo on point. Then I checked ALL other languages available. Not only does the sentence differ to the point where it has a different meaning, it's hardly german. I'm very curious to watch Im Westen nichts Neues with english voices. One rare opportunity to have the pov of a native speaker.
In thentv series "The Grimm" the character with german background used "Alles hat ein Ende nur die Wurst hat Zwei" as a saying after his brother died. Pretty sure the writers just looked up a german saying about hownthings end and take the first. Also Blacklist claimed Germany has a mythology figure called "der Großman" this is a figure people in the internet came up as a Basis for Slenderman to make him Sound more real.
He really said "Alles hat ein Ende nur die Wurst hat zwei" after his brother died? Guess he really didn't like his brother then lol
It was supposed to be heartfelt but as a german watching the show in englisch it just made me look "WTF"
I mean, the entire two seasons are an entire wtf moment. Don't know what they were smoking, but gosh was this horrible
This is hilarious 😂😂😂
For anyone wondering why that saying isn't exactly a thing you would say when your brother dies. It's from a [carnival song](https://youtu.be/X5C9gkgrKPI?si=QsGOfCylJGwRHgTL) and means everything has an ending only the sausage has two.
Alles hat ein Ende, nur die Wurst hat zwei, ja mein Schatz, es ist vorbei.... 🎵
Doch du musst nicht traurig sein, du bist ja nicht lang allein.... 🎵
A guy on YouTube made a chocolate cake with red cabbage in it and called it a traditional German recipe. Lol dude, no it's not 😂
There is a chocolate cake recipe circulating in the States that was invented by a guy named German. And 'Muricans being 'Muricans, after a few years they couldn't tell the name of a country and a guy apart anymore.
it's even better: the guy named german made chocolate, and a women then made a cake specifically for mr german's cholocolate, the "german's chocolate cake". over time the 's was dropped and people think it a german thing because it is called "german chocolate cake" lol
That's hilarous. Poor Mr. German, now no longer credited. The cake looks delicious too
The cake is sent directly from heaven. So delicious!
There are many youtube channels of the type "10 things Germans do" from random American vloggers that moved to Germany. They all love to spread "facts" that they learned about Germany and consider the norm, but are often bullshit or only things that this one German they met dtold them. For example: All Germans have a shelf in their toilet. All Germans wear house shoes at home. All Germans move with their kitchens. While all of this does exist, it's certainly not universal, and sometimes vastly outdated.
Seems like a YouTube issue in general.
Are you implying that user generated content might be wrong and maybe even just motivated by getting clicks? Do you realize how wrong that must be in a sane world?
I mostly agree with you BUT not having a kitchen in your apartment and having to move with your old one (or buying a new one) Is definitely the norm for a lot of apartments in Germany
"Don't you want to take over my dirty and broken kitchen with water damage? I paid 4000€ for it and now I want 3950€" -Vormieter
This is painfully true, I wish Germans stopped this shit
I'd say it's much more common to just keep the previous tenant's kitchen.
Recently moved. Not a single flat I checked had no kitchen. All were pre installed.
it is a regional thing. Here in Hamburg all apartments come with kitchen, in Berlin the stove is required by law, in the south you get bupkis
>All It only is wrong when it's that kind of blanket statement. And the video I saw didn't phrase it as such an absolute. It is legit to point out differences between the US and Germany. Apartments not being leased with a kitchen, ppl using loafers at home and toilet bowls with poop shelves are all true things that exist to varying degrees and are different from the US.
I recently stumbled over a post on r/fallout about the creatures in the game, and a comment was talking about how the devs took inspiration from different cultures for naming their creatures, like the yaoi guay is Chinese and the centaur is Greek, and the Snallygaster from Fallout 76 is German. I don't know of any creature similar to the description of a Snallygaster in German folklore and the word itself isn't German either, though it is an anglicized version of the German "schneller Geist". The Snallygaster is an American creature first reported by German immigrants, but it's not a creature from our folklore. (please, anybody correct me if I'm wrong lol)
Just looked it up: The F### is that? The nearest creature from german myth, that comes near to that, would be a Lindwurm, but even then... This looks more like a Lovercraft creation
I think the Lindwurm is not origanaly from germany, but from austria. Not shure though. Maby it is also a Baba yaga thing, who is originaly russian but also known in Poland, because they were the same Nation a few times
Yes, you're right. If I remember correctly, the Lindwurm myth comes from Klagenfurth Austria, but to be fair, this was from the time, where the HRE stilp existed. So, there wasn't really that much of a difference.
As a non bavarian, everytime… For singularities, everytime, what goddamn pickle? Thats a mc donalds marketingploy… That blueeyed blonde dude with a mustache faking the acccent being invited to “edgy conservative us comedian podcasts is the worst offender, guess where he got his foot in the door, exactly, as a standup act in muinich bavaria…
What dude?
God and I thought I was the only one that hated him. The best one with german humor is Liam Carpenter
Who? A link would be nice...
I don’t really want to give him more audience as you might understood from my comment…
Can't sell your pickles normally? Just put German in front of it and then you got something.
[how bout' dat](https://youtu.be/1Am_hMLo6EE)
What drove me nuts was all those people thinking that Germans drink out of steins all day. And even more, believing that stein is a German word that's used at all. I had to look it up myself the first time I heard it. Okay, it's probably derived from Steinkrug. But these puppy eyes when they ask me about the steins we use in our family and if they are family heirlooms was just ridiculous.
Never heard somebody use that word.
I looked for that comment. Stein may be a dialect word but it is not widely known at all. It always makes me wonder which German immigrant wave brought it to America and where they were from.
This one is seriously annoying
[удалено]
My grandma always called me Liebchen 🥰 but apart from her I’ve never heard anyone say that 😂
Yup I only ever hear old men call young women this in a VERY condescending way.
I'm Gen Z and i started doing it years ago – it has a cute ring to it!
Wait, it's not 1820?
We don’t wear Tracht. Even in Bavaria, you don’t wear Tracht all the time. Most areas have Trachtenvereine - a special interest club. It’s not a common thing to wear to celebrate. Even the Dirndl at Octoberfest wasn’t too common until the early 2000 and probably started as a marketing thing.
And what they don't get told is Tracht is maily a made up stereotype that changes from region to region. A Murnauer Tracht is very different from a Munich Tracht or a Dachauer Tracht. And when you look at the history of Tracht, you'd find that what many see as the basics of Tracht, you'll find out that Lederhosen have been worn all over the place, like France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, etc... as durable workwear. Imagine a fisherman in Lederhosen. Probably the worst choice. And that those "glorifying" it as the working mans traditional clothing where first laughed at. They however convinced King Ludwig I about their "traditional bavarian inheritance" and he had the sterotype created. Later the Nazis jumped on that train too.
When I moved to Bavaria I started to see a lot more Tracht in my life. Random in the Biergarten, at celebrations, school graduation etc. I love that they wear them more often.
You're a Zuagroaßter, of course you like it. But seriously, nowadays many natives see it as peacocking. Young men prancing in their "traditional" Tracht, that isn't even from their region, to find a mating partner, while collectively binge drinking. My dad found the wedding picture of my grand grandmother recently. She was from the Schrobenhausen area and he was from the Dachau area. Their wedding attire has nothing in common with what is nowadays sold as "traditional" Tracht.
I find it just weird.
I often hear Americans say something like crazy German porn or that Germans like porn with feces. I have yet to see these crazy German porn movies and I don't think the other thing is true either.
And what's even going on with all this straw lying around?
Why are you wearing a mask?
Alarm! Alarm!
_well then blow me one_
I actually tried to look into this a while ago. As far as I understand, we consum *normal stuff* mostly from the US, but produce pretty fucked up stuff for other countries.
This is actually kind of true. Especially in the 70s or 80s, german had lax porn laws (i think, not too sure, picked some of this up years ago) while the rest of the world was still concerned over vanilla, so a lot of the really crazy stuff (like playing with feces and other "fun" stuff) came from germany.
Yeah I was about to say, the crazy German porn is an old stereotype. Used to be a pretty big stereotype about Germany here in Sweden too, especially in the days of VHS porn. The stereotype included – but was not limited to: * Gay porn (usually kind of macho, with moustaches, muscles, and body hair) * Military-ish paraphernalia: high riding boots, leather coats, military style leather caps. * The colour black for apparel: leather and latex. * Sado-masochism I don't know how accurately this aligned with actual German porn back in the day, because I can definitely see how the stereotype has been significantly spiced with stereotypes about Germans in general, especially with the military paraphernalia stuff that of course also always tangent WW2 SS and tank corps aesthetics (even though much of the leather stuff in underground culture of those decades actually originally came from biker fashion which in turn took their fascination for leather from the gear of allied WW2 airmen who also often wore leather jackets and caps). The stereotype of the macho German gay scene has also faded in the past 20 years, and I also have no idea how accurate that ever was. IIRC, Freddie Mercury did change his style to include leather, moustache, etc when Queen moved their music production to Munich, but I also just think that was a shift in the gay scene that was worldwide and originated from the US (didn't the village people allude to the macho gay ideal a lot with at least one member wearing biker stuff and their song "macho man"?) That was a long tangent of unfiltered musings on underground fashion sense in the '80s and '90s. Sorry to everyone who read through all of this.
I'm wondering if what they are looking at is actually not German porn but porn made by Germans for Americans and what they're doing is they're just modeling it off of that audiences desires.
I used to work for a German porn site as a data analyst (incidentally one of the most professional companies I've ever worked for), and I would say that Germany and the UK are perhaps the European countries with a larger-than-average community for fetishes like urine and feces. It's just a niche regardless, and the cliche about Germans liking poop in their porn is vastly exaggerated and close to an urban myth.
I think it's a misunderstanding because of the accent. Actually we love porn with faces.
More sexually open in Germany, that stereotype is just taking it to the extreme
All that Bavarian shit that the rest of the country does not care about.
And not even all Bavarians care about.
Anything typically Bavarian gets conceived as typically german, especially by americans, but absolutely isn’t. Almost noone eats Weißwurst north of the Weißwurstäquator, noone outside Bavaria wears Lederhosen or dirndl (and bavarians only do it on special 🍺 occasions), Neuschwanstein is not typically german but the feverdream of a demented bavarian king etc.. Bavaria is our Florida.
Well, Bavaria is more like German Texas. Rich, more Patriotic than the rest of the country and originating many of the stereotypes foreigners assume about the whole country.
They are patriotiv about bavaria not germany tho
That's because Bavaria was the main occupation zone for the US after WW II. They never ventured out of their zone and so took the only images that they knew of Germany back to the states. And Hollywood did the rest.
I am not German but I think so many people get so much wrong about Germans and Germany. For example somebody from India asked me how common is naked men wrestling in the park ( bruh wtf ). I told him NEVER and he was shocked that not only there is no brazen nudity in public ( only controlled settings ) but German folks are not even big on wrestling leaving alone public exhibitions. They are more of football , camping and fishing folks than doing violent sports in front of public . Machismo bravado is also not that brazen here and many get confused when they hear and see this. This is not an insult to anyone’s masculinity but in my opinion most german guys are sweet, shy and gentle and even the rougher ones are still less loudmouths and more like silent stoic types who don’t disturb other ( individual exceptions exist of course) . Turns out he was watching too much gay porn and apparently this is a theme where two burly Prussian aesthetic daddies with the worst imitation of german accent wrestle each other completely naked ( I am actually concerned that this aesthetic is popular) . I do think people overestimate the prevalence of public nudity wayyy too much in general. Like no I am not greeted by a naked grandpa proudly swinging with his coffee when I go for a morning walk. In fact he will get arrested or have the police called upon him at least if he does that. People also think that Germans very logical , objective and completely unbiased by default and I myself had to learn the hard way that it’s actually not the case. I find German folks overtly sentimental and can be hardasses about it. Oh and this most fun. Almost everyone including my own parents believe that Germany has the BEST and Most PUNCTUAL railway system in the world. I have to sink in shame 🥴.
I had a massive reverse culture shock coming back from Japan and having to use the Frankfurt Fernbahnhof after a 15-hour flight. That train station is one of the most modern and well-connected train stations in Germany, and yet, there were only a few mediocre food choices with ridiculous prices. You can't understand almost any of the enouncements, and yet they tried to inform about several delays in the 30+ minute range, every 30 seconds. No employee was around, so you couldn't ask what the best alternative route home was. After we waited 40 minutes, we took an alternative train. Then we got yelled at by the train coducter because we took too long boarding the train. That train was also 60 minutes late already. I couldn't understand where the sudden haste came from. The icing of the cake was that this train (also an ICE) was on a slower route than the one we planned to take. Never had a more sobering experience coming home.
To be fair I haven’t been here too long to witness DB in its full glory ( never really used long distance trains until 2 years ago and 5 years back I stuck to just short distance NWB trains ) but there is very very clear decay of main station facilities and services in this span of 5 years I have been here and it’s fucking sad. Meanwhile my parents are posting about how awesome this new speed rail which travelled 4000 km through the harsh terrain of Indian geography trip was 🫣. At this rate all developing countries will have better rail services than Germany 😪😪😪
Thats what privatizing does to a mfer
Too many, esp in this sub. Typically its an expat/tourist seeing something exactly once and directly assuming it has to be a german thing. Like "I saw this guy doing his toe nails in public transport, as a non-german I was grossed out" or "my flat mate eats pickles with Nutella. What are some other typical german food combinations?". Generally speaking theres a lot of shit about Germans online. It starts with language jokes in which the german language is always shouted in a very aggressive manner because "hahah german sounds soo harsh!!" when in reality german doesnt really sound harsh. It only does if you aggressively yell at somebody and at that point its kind of normal for every language. Then theres this whole Lederhosen, Bretzeln and Bierkrug thing. When foreigners think of Germany, they typically think of Bavaria, not realizing that most of the "typical german" things they know are almost exclusive to Bavaria, one of the 16 states in Germany. Some even think of Austrian stuff because of "the sound of music". Kind of drifting off topic here, but those many many regional differences are one of the reasons why this situation occurs so often. Because there might be traditions in one part of the country that people from other parts of the country may have never heard of before. Many people, ime especially Americans, tend to forget how different Germany can be and how much cultural variety we have, despite being such a small country in comparison.
The bretzeln thing reminds me of a post from this sub of a ‘German’ restaurant and the appetizers given were packet pretzels put into a bowl.
To me, it was about punctuality. I was told Germans are very particular about time and one should never be even a minute late to meetings or anywhere but hey, the world never shattered when situations weren't that kind to me. People wait for as much as 5 minutes without getting annoyed.
Compared to other countries we are punctual as hell. Never understood that clichee, but after I worked in a few different countries I finally got it
I realized the truth of German punctuality when we met for beers with our Italian and Spanish colleagues. Everyone was there at 20:00, some Germans at 19:55, some at 20:05, the Mediterraneans came at 21:00.
That was me when moving from Berlin to Madrid... ...I just adjusted to it and either also arrived 45 minutes late or scheduled meeting people for 45 minutes early...I can wait 15 minutes, no Biggie.
Exactly, I don't think its a german thing to be punctual, rather than Italians, Spaniards, Greeks being always late. I am Slovak by birth and the Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Hungarians all tend to be punctual (or they will let you know that they will be late in advance with apologies) when meeting up with my Italian friend means waiting for him between 30-60 every single fucking time for no reason whatsoever
Learned that when I got a job that required international video conferences. Almost everyone from Germany is either there at most 2 minutes after the starting time or sent a chat message like "Sorry, I can't make it on time. I'll be about \[estimate\] late/unable to attend." by that time. With people from other countries I've had them randomly join like half an hour late, needing to be brought up to speed and not saying a word of apology or even offering any explanation for why they're late. Of course we aren't the only punctual nation, not everyone from "unpunctual" countries is like this, and the example is on the extreme side of what I've witnessed. But yeah I can clearly see where the stereotype comes from.
Punctuality IS a thing! It is not? Everyone I know, everyone at work knows the mantra my grandmother and my mother told me: „Pünktlich ist 5 Minuten zu spät!“ „If you are on time, you are 5 Minutes late.“ this is so deep in my mind, I am regularly half an hour too early for appointments, so I am often walking awkwardly around buildings to be right 5 Minutes early.
I know it as "5 Minuten vor der Zeit ist des Preußen Pünktlichkeit. " (5 minutes early is the prussian punctuality.)
Yeah and then you have "5 Minuten nach der Zeit ist des Bayern Gemütlichkeit"
I usually give Meetings 15min. before I give up.
Ahh, the akademisches Viertel \^\^
Well, its more about respecting each others time. Nobody is gonna get mad about a couple minutes usually, we all know that sometimes things just happen, as easy as traffic etc. But we do expect people to tell us if things are getting much later, like 30+ minutes. We might not say anything - especially in a buisness setting - but Germans do tend to get annoyed if they feel their time isnt being respected by others. But its not like, a 100% strict thing.
It was worse years ago. It also depends on the situation and, of course, how long people have to wait for you. It can be very rude, but usually, most people let little social fauxpas slide, especially if you are a forginer.
There is a saying "5 Minuten vor der Zeit, ist des Deutschen Pünktlichkeit", which also has a soldier variant, often heard in military training. But germans aren't as particular about time as it suggests. You can come a bit late and no-one will really complain in most cases.
Well, Germans are rather punctual and generally 5-15 minutes early, although there is leeway for the academic quarter hour. It's common to text an excuse if you are 5-20 minutes late though.
Not sure if that’s related but I once saw a Vietnamese influencer make a big deal about how “German people sleep in beds, and not bamboo mats on the floor” and how incredibly “German” that is That’s not a German thing, that’s a “everywhere-outside-of-South-East-Asia” thing
Vietnamese people often sleep in the same bed like their parents often until they get married in their mid 20s… #funfactboutViets
Yeah. Her videos are fun most of the time, but I have the feeling she’s going to need to change things up soon if she wants to keep her YouTube career. Most people can’t relate to life in Vietnam. So it’s interesting to see a comparison of Germany to Vietnam in that it’s like a two-for-one learning experience, but at some point I stopped watching her videos if I could tell it was going to lean heavily into Vietnamese culture.
I live in SEA, and I sleep in a proper bed. It's really just in villages.
Before coming to Germany, I watched a lot of does and don’ts most of which now seem like recommendations: Video: Don’t cross the road when it’s red no matter what. Someone will yell at you and the Germans never do that. Now: I see a lot of people, mostly even Germans, doing that. I don’t hear nobody yelling. Video: Never wear gym clothes outside. Now: I see a lot people rocking gym clothes outside. …. I might have misunderstood these videos but it’s good to know some things before hand and Germany is a developed country and Germans won’t point and laugh if you make social mistakes. Edit: this comment isn’t to say these things are okay but you shouldn’t expect an outburst from people if you do them. It’s never okay to cross the road when the light is okay, even if there are no cars in sight, specially when kids are around. There are other things that other people don’t do but nobody cares if you do it. It’s just that a lot videos make it look like fire would rain on you for those things.
I will admit I (as a German) have been shouted at by an old lady for crossing the street on red. But I think old ladies as the arbiters of all that is lawful is not a German thing but pretty universal lol
Happened to me too... Some old Lady shouted "Sei den Kindern ein Vorbild!" and I looked around and repeated "Welche Kinder, es ist halb 11 in der Nacht und Auto kommt auch keines!"
Das könnte meine Mutti gewesen sein, tut mir leid 😞
The gym clothes might be a generational thing. I think it's super weird to go out like that in public when you're not intending to exercise, but that seems to be moving towards a minority opinion.
I was talking to friends of a friend in Leipzig once and he told me about how uptight people in Munich are. He said they even look at you weird when you go to the restaurant in sweatpants. I live in Munich and I immediately looked at him weird and thought who the hell goes to a restaurant in sweatpants. I guess the stereotype was accurate lol
My parents were simple people but they totally agreed with Lagerfeld. # “Sweatpants are a sign of defeat. You lost control of your life so you bought some sweatpants.”
It's also a before and after Covid thing. It's becoming much more acceptable to wear comfortable clothes, even in some office jobs, over perfectly creased dress shirts or sth.
lol, i never got the red light thing. Shure one look out for children , but if there are non one passes if the trafic allows it :)
I mostly wait at red lights. But like you say: no cars around? No children around? Schwupps, and I have crossed the street…
I really hate those videos. At best they name things that might annoy an obnoxious minority of pedantic germans, that most germans also hate and make fun of. And at worst it's just complete nonsense literally nobody will care about, like your gym clothes example. But 100% of the time it's things a lot if germans do all the time. Edit: The one with crossing the street during Red lights is the only legit one though. I know it germans do it all the time, but you need to know, that it can even cost you your drivers licence if you cross the red lights as pedestrian. So I wouldn't recommend this.
Yeah those memes can be funny but are often very exaggerated. At least they don’t apply to the vast majority of germans I bump into. I think when people are shown these memes over and over, they start to see the world only through that lens.
The thing with the gym clothes is how prevalent it is and in which settings they are worn. Bakery run on the weekend? Sure. Shopping trip in the city? No! Grabbing a Döner? Yes. Going out to a restaurant? Absolutely not. I cross red lights, but I make sure there are no children around and of course the road is clear. In other countries (including the US) I've seen people cross the road on red and the cars had to slow down for them. That's crazy to me. So there's usually some truth in these statements, but they are very exaggerated.
The shoes thing is with literal gyms (Sporthallen), as you can drag dirt into the gym or have little stones in the soles that scratch the floor.
The gym clothes thing is definitely not true, though sometimes when you see someone in a shopping center with either full bicycle attire or a sports bra and short leggings I will wonder why they decided to wear that. As for the red lights, it’s definitely a thing to wait for a green light more so than in other countries. Walking through London I have never seen anyone waiting for a green light, but I don’t think anyone will shout at you for crossing when red lights
The don't cross the road on red is weird for me too. Here in Hannover most just go when it's clear. Also, the last times I waited because kids were close, kids and their parents were the ones going so I stopped doing that as well. Maybe it's a small town vs. bigger town thing?
> It’s never okay to cross the road when the light is [red] even if there are no cars in sight. Traffic lights are infrastructure for cars. Pedestrians and cyclists don't need lights, cars do. And cars have too much influence on city planning already, so I refuse to wait on red lights when there are no cars in sight. Why shouldn't I cross an empty road?
Kind of. It's not that I often hear things that don't happen. But I often hear exaggerations. Especially in those "5 things you shouldn't do in Germany" Videos. Most of the time they name things a lot if not most germans do regularly, but just a small minority is annoyed by it. For example Jay walking. That happens all the time in Germany. Maybe not as much as in other countries, but I've never experienced somebody getting some kind of backlash for jay walking. Usually in those videos there is one point where I think: "yes that's true". But for all the other points I think, that most people wouldn't care except maybe some over pedantic people, that even germans hate. It's not normal, that your neighbours immediately call the police if you are too loud on a Friday after 10pm once. It can happen if you have bad luck with your neighbours. But it's not the norm and most germans dislike neighbours like this too and wouldn't want to live next to them.
I see the jay walking thing more often on the internet and think it’s a translation problem. There is no jay walking law in Germany, BUT German pedestrians (in comparison to other countries) stop at a red light, even at 1 am when there’s no car. Also there’s a rule in German traffic law that you have to use a traffic light when it’s close to cross the street, but it doesn’t specify what distance „close“ is. So from different legal cases we only know „close“ is 15-40m. Basically if you can see what color the traffic light has without any obstruction you‘re supposed to use the traffic light
Most of these videos are just engagement bait. The creators fully know that they are spreading bullshit.
**Germans stare at you.** I never heard, or saw this outside of Reddit. I‘m probably just too used to it, but I never felt someone stare at me and don‘t think I do it myself.
It really depends where you are from and what your tolerance for staring is. The same goes for customer service. It is really a matter of perspective
I’ve experienced it quite a bit and have heard many Germans (for example, on podcasts like Easy German) admit that it’s true and for some, it even got them yelled at abroad. But it’s also possible that Germans are not actually staring at you and may just be staring into space and it just looks like they’re staring. Germans also hold eye contact longer than many cultures that come here to work/live and it can feel like being stared at.
I have a hypothesis about the eye contact thing. In some places, when you make eye contact with someone, it's considered polite to smile (or nod, or say hi). However, Germans tend not to smile at strangers. So they will make incidental eye contact and not smile. I think that's what is perceived by some visitors as staring.
My interpretation: Germans tend to look around unconsciously while "idling" like during a bus trip. Sometimes they linger on someone thinking "this scarf reminds me of this one winter with Karl when we were skiing in the Harz mountains..." not even noticing that they are still looking at that person till their eyes lock and then they quickly look elsewhere as if they were caught and then during the rest of the trip try not to look at that person anymore. Since in other cities it might be more common to just stare outside the windows or at the floor during such a trip these things don't happen that often.
I saw this a lot when I was living in Bavaria. Maybe they don't realize they're doing it, and I certainly don't think they meant to be rude, but I think a lot of foreigners have experienced this. Maybe it's just because we stick out like a sore thumb.
Ah this one is true. At least in Bavaria (I don’t have much experience in the rest of Germany) and at least with older people, they shamelessly stare at people
As someone whos not german, I noticed this wildly!
I wonder if it's because of tourists.
I stare. Happens when someone is obnoxious and rude in public places, which often happens with "those" US tourists, you know the specific type.
Ah yeah, the "This person's stare lingered on me for a few moments longer than what is common in my culture. HELP!" question. Is there a numbered list of stereotypes somewhere, like some newsgroups had them for stsard phrases back when these were a thing? Then many replies in threads like these could look like "see #0815 and #4711".
Yeah, i never got this one. Im from the US and visit Germany every year (sometimes extended visits) and ive never noticed this. Unless maybe i also do the same thing so i dont notice...
i agree i have no idea what people talk about with this stare. if anything people in public avoid eye contact at all costs
This one is actually very true. As a German, i dont or never did realize this until my wife who is from a different country joined me in Germany and suddenly started pointing out how people are staring all the time. Its something that might go unnoticed for us but we seemingly do stare a lot
This is 100% true.
My family does it a lot, in my opinion. Whenever we’re outside/in public, they will people watch but not even try to hide it so they just stare at people while quietly talking or gossiping about them based on what they can see (because they don’t know them). To me it just feels rude how obvious they are and don’t even try to hide it. And I don’t get people watching in general, tbh
Until someone pointed it out I never noticed it. But yes, there is a stare. I guess I am German and that’s why I stare myself.
I do notice that
"Germans are rude and stare all the time". Tell me you've never been in Eastern Europe without telling me.
They don't dance to the annoying Rhabarber Barbara Song
The myth of German efficiency, not true when it comes to things like bureaucracy, it's all paper-based and stuck in the 90s with thousands of rules to prevent any kind of common sense decision.
I got downvoted for this before just in recent weeks, asking don't Germans generally follow rules to a T (because this is the rhetoric everywhere). So yeah, this stereotype apparently isn't true for the most part in Germany.
We like to follow rules, but we also like to probe existing rules for role-bending and loopholes. That's why our law system is so complicated and exuberant
They want others to follow the rules but if the rules are not beneficial to them they happily break it.
A american once claimed on twitter I couldn't be german, because I am a moderate lefty who is also proud of germany (our social security system, our fodd and struff like this). appariently I am not left enough to be german. Guy would probably get an annorysm when he hears about the CDU alone, which is far more right than I am lol
Yeah. Not only in English speaking TikTok/Reels but also on the Russian or Ukrainian side of the internet. Like recently I’ve heard things like that German villages always have train, and good infrastructure and so on. Or the kids traveling to school by public transport. Maybe it’s true for places near to big cities but in Saxony there are villages without the bus with only school bus picking up kids to school. Or wine vending machines. I think they are very local to wine regions, I’ve never seen them in saxony. But they are speaking as if they are everywhere.
I've often seen YouTubers talking what a great word "Wanderlust" is. While that word technically exists, I have never heard anybody use it...
Those tiktok dancers who wear Bavarian Tracht and then sing songs in high German. Nope!
Its that suing people would be a german thing. I dont find this at all.
More of an American thing
Almost all my american friends thought that the movie "the sound of music" is really popular here and that it is tradition to watch it each year with the family, but I've actually never heard of this movie before and don't know anyone who watched it. It also actually plays in Austria, but they thought that this is Germany.
That they are on time and well organised. And efficient. The Australian government is far more efficient than any level of government in Germany.
I've seen people from other parts of the world over exaggerate our problems with immigration in order to push their political agenda. Yes, Germany does have problems with immigration, mostly due to immigration policies that fail to create a framework that drives integration. That being said, the situation is by far not as bad as many alt-right trolls and YouTubers want you to believe.
There is an Instagram from a Vietnamese woman, living in Germany I can't stand because of that. I think she's very nice, I like her. But I wanna scream 'hell no' to lots of her videos about 'in Germany they do this'. Most of it seems to be weird routines/behavior of her German financé. I even thought about unfollowing her because it upsets me so much. ^^ Now I can't even remember lots of examples. The only one coming to my mind now is, when she talked about Germans putting mayonnaise in their salad. Lettuce, not Kartoffelsalat or Nudelsalat but Blattsalat!
omg yes, i also like her personality and i think she is really cute and nice, but she is really exaggerating many things and due to lot of followers actually many people could think it is german reality
I get it, that some is exaggerated on purpose. Because it's more interesting and funnier then. And of course she can only describe what she sees day by day and cannot always know, if things are really 'tipical German ' or if it's only her finacé and his friends/family. But really, in 8/10 times I think 'WTF!?'
In Germany they don't jaywalk Rubbish. Of course they do. Just like anywhere else in Europe.
American here but have lived in Germany for a while. One thing to understand is that Bavaria is the Texas of Germany. It's really big relative to the other states, is nostalgic for its independent past, and everyone thinks the rest of the country is like that. Many German stereotypes are derived from Bavarian culture, like Lederhosen and Oktoberfest. Very few people in the rest of the country wear Lederhosen just like few people in the US wear cowboy hats.
Yes! So accurate! I am from the North and we are often irritated that Bavaria seems to be used as a guideline for germany when we joke about how Bavaria for us is nearly a different country. I dont even understand their language and need a Translation for their food.
When we moved from the north down to the south, the German lads at the pub were mystified as to why I'd want to do that (was for work). Seems they feel more akin to the Dutch than to Bavarians.
The infamous scheissenbetrachtung
Every video about Germans says that we hate jaywalking. Srsly, everybody here does it. We usually only care about it, when children are near by.
About the German stare - I've never experienced this in my nearly 8 years here. One explanation could be that I avoid eye contact myself, but I think I would have noticed at least one incident if it were that commonplace.
I come from Eastern Europe where people like to dress up and always be in full attire. My whole life I've been hearing something like "woah in that Europe they wear jeans!! To the theater!!! My grandpa's second cousin thrice removed was once in theater in Germany and everyone wore sweatpants and pyjamas!!! He was SCHOCKED and gave soviet criminal offensive side eye!!!" I remember when I went here to the theater for the first time and guess what, noone wore hoodie to fucking Phantom of the opera! Everyone was dressed nicely, more formally, perfectly according to the event. Like wtf
Where I come from the big stereotype is that Germans shower once a week and brush their teeth once every 2-3 days also, and don’t wear deodorant. Also know one person from my country that is also in Germany and they also like to propagate this. I, personally, have a German partner, live with German ppl in a shared flat, have German friends, know their families and extended families and none of them are remotely true and I wonder what type of Germans this acquaintance of mine have been crossing paths with
When I stayed with friends in Canada they confessed at some point that they were fully prepared to tell me to shower more regularly. They were surprised I took a shower every day and used deodorant because they'd heard about Europeans not taking hygiene very seriously.
Well, I did grew up showering only once a week and still do that. That doesn't mean that you cannot take a washcloth and wash yourself at the sink every day. I guess it's from an older time to save water.