Not true in my opinion: I have seen people stare at parking tickets on cars, people parking in tight spots, people fixin bicycles, staring at anything slightly unusual.

It seems to be a nonconformance to expectations that leads to the stares and the level of this nonconformance limit seems to be very low in Munich compared to say London or other big cities. Maybe it's the village country atmosphere who knows.

It also seems to be more prevelant in the middle aged than the younger folk. I suspect there is no reason to remove the child like view of the world instilled in many in Munich by their parents ie staring at the mildly unusual/wear a vest/catch a chill in your neck/dont open the window for drafts/tuck your vest into your white pants mentality that I for one grew out of when I reached teenage years.

It is something we learn not to do in the UK, who use on the sly glance. We are told not to stare in the UK, staring in Italy is different especially in Italian men I understand.

Also compared to London or Paris the conformity to a standard fashion (or lack of fashion sense) seems to prevail. If you sit on the tube in London there are a vast numbers of styles while on the S Bahn rarely will there be a departure from the too short trousers/jeans and dull (do not draw attention to me top), even the punks are clean and do not smell/smoke and swear. This is perhaps a link to the conformance issue drummed into kids in the schools which lack freedom to express and encourage conformity.

I had an old neighbour in Frankfurt who complained all the time when I first moved in, even complained about me coming home late. Anyway, I got her round...within a few weeks she'd call me over to her window when I'd leave for work to hand me breakfast, chocolates, homemade cake etc.

What a difference a quick visit for coffee, listening to a few stories and handing over a bunch of flowers can make!

BTW-my most lovely grandparents are German!! Not evil! best people EVER

Conformity?! Well, when I used to visit my cousins village schools in Germany I was jealous of the different styles teenagers dared to go for, in my school in London you would have been beaten the shit out of if you turned up looking like a goth/too normal/tramp/farmer/whatever.

I don't think they stare more in Germany than anyone else (I guess except if you look totally odd, in which case they'd probably stare at you anywhere). I find it slightly odd that people notice so much...

It should be interesting when I make my move next month. I am curious if I will look like a foreigner...should be funny. The Ossis are interesting folk as it is.

Just as long as they stop staring at my boobs!!!

oh - but re the no eye contact thing in the UK. too true. Everytime I get in the lift at work everyone stares either at the floor, the numbers going up on...anything but the other 5 people in the lift... perhaps a happy medium would be the answer.

Yea I didn't see much conformity. I think I was one of the worst dressed when I was walking around Rostock Uni. The girls were all way better dressed then the ones in my home city. I saw some Punks too...it is a lot different from my city in the States. I actually didn't see people walking around in sweats and strech leggings...damn the customers of wal mart

Evil old grannies??!! Whatever next?! And to think I always offer these evildoers my seat on public transport. They've probably been waving their umbrellas at me when I turned around! I'm off to rob a few to even up the score!

comparing munich with paris and london is whatever the outcome a compliment as i would say that munich is way smaller and therefore very different in its mentality, atmosphere and people. already munich and berlin have totally different vibes and atmosphere.

I consider it to be very rude to stare at someone and because of my good upbringing and my polite nature I would absolutely never stare at anyone, unless the women has big tits that is.

what kind of a man with self respect dont look at big tits anyway?

Today I was walking down the main street in town and a very handsome man ( I assume he might be German) who was well-dressed not only stared at me, but he also winked. I find this to be uncharacteristic of German men to wink or say something to me. All they want to do is just LOOK. It's been my experience they will look but they seem to find it difficult to get outside of their comfort zone and actually say something to you. I should have asked him was there something wrong with his eye .

Did I read this correctly I hope you did say "winked".

if in London it could very possibly replace the i with an a there...have seen that about 3 times here now. YUK!

Yes London is a disgusting place for that especially those trains travelling on a parallel track – don’t look! I have to go and see the new Mr. Bean tonight and to top it all – in German. I don’t have the heart to tell the sweet girl I think Mr. Bean is shite – has anyone seen it? First day back is not easy at it is.

Yes this frequently happens to me with German men. Well at least they don't try to get physical on the street like some mediterrenean guys. In Italy I had my buttocks pinched in public transportation.

Great, this is not making me feel any better. So I guess I will get stared at as much in Germany as in the US for that...men suck sometimes.

What made you think men here differ from the USA?

Mr. Bean in German?!!?? WTF.

I think everyone stares at things that are big or huge. If you have a woman walking down the street with really big ones, women look at her too.
I think people also stare at overweight people or really tall people cause they tend to catch everyone's attention.
Men do check out a woman's breasts whether it's big, small or average size. Staring with an open mouth, drooling, now that's something else.
I had a German boss, he used to greet me by looking at my breasts. When we had a meeting, he would talk and stare at my breasts like he has never seen any breasts in his life. Oh, and I did not even wear low cut blouses in the office.

I know they aren't I am dating a German, and moving in with him next month. Granted he is not like American or German men in many aspects, but he does still walk around with his hand on my ass in public...So I am sure I will get stared at just the same way in Germany as in the US, but a girl can dream can't she?

Heh, damn men. I am not huge but above average. I get comments from random people walking down the street in the US. I guess if I get it in German I won't understand for the first few weeks...

I don't think the men on the street will comment on your breasts. However if you go to a club and have few drinks, be prepared to hear funny comments. Stuff like "Wow you have such a sexy body" blah blah.

I've got that beat!

When I was in 9th grade, my father and I took a trip to Venice. We were walking along one of the canals and I was wearing a reasonably short skirt (as 13 year old girls will do) when a man on a bicycle rode by and in the split second it took for him to pass us, managed to put his hand up my skirt, reach right into my panties and touch me in a place no man had touched me before.

I was so stunned that when my father asked what happened, I couldn't speak, the words wouldn't even come out of my mouth. Just thinking about it is making me cringe.

Wow, how disguisting. Makes my stomach turn upside down. You must have felt horrible.

I'm happy this topic has been revived
"The old german stare" is something that will bug me forever.
There is nothing nice about it. It's uncivilized, boorish and downright rude. There is a huge difference between "people-watching" and staring.
When I first arrived here 5 years ago, the staring was like daily psychological torture. It caught me completely off-guard. I never thought that I would be confronted by something so bizarre in Western Europe.

I can't even begin to fathom the suggestion that staring is the German way of showing interest/approval. For someone from the English speaking world, it implies the opposite. Like "what the fuck is WRONG with you, you freak?!"

It's a total mindfuck.

*Sigh* I know I shouldn't let myself be drawn back into this topic but the staring BUGS ME THAT MUCH!

For me, the German staring feels like they're observing me as if I were an animal in a zoo i.e. "Ooh, look, a foreigner, isn't this an interesting specimen? I wonder what it'll do now?". Some really think this way, too. Case in point, had a couple of German Teenies staring at me on the U-bahn and then start talking about me right in front of me. When I said something to them in German, one of them, shocked, exclaims to her friend "Oh my gosh! It can speak German!!".

Funny, when I travel over to the States, I feel so happy cause NO ONE stares at you. You can moon people in a public subway in NYC and people still won't look. I think the staring and the talking happens with German couples too. If the guy is staring at you, the girl who is with him will try to stare you down or talk about you. If you want to piss her off, maintain eye contact with her man. It gets the girls to boil. LOL

Oh, and she did say "it can speak German" and not "she". Still not sure if she thought I was a child or some neutral gender animal.

Staring is common in many continental European countries, I noticed the French and the Italians like to stare, its mostly in English speaking countries where staring at a stranger is a sign of hostility. In a thermal bath, several German women stared at my boyfriend's nude black butt, I got jealous.

Haven't noticed people staring particularly *checks Gidget's profile* Canuckistani? OK, possibly not European-looking then. Is this what it's all about? Staring at non-Europeans? That's another topic though.

I think it's not only in English speaking countries, but in some mediterrenean countries they have a saying like "Why are you starting at me like a cow?" referring to the long blank stares of a cow.

I am of Danish origin with blonde hair and blue eyes, Germans just like to stare, maybe they drink too much Kolsch, so they get dazed. Maybe they pay more attention to non-Europeans, I watched a news piece about a German lady who happen to the be the landlord of one of the 9-11 terrorists, and she liked to draw paintings of him, often talked about him like she had some kind of sexual feelings for him.

Well I've never noticed this alleged trait and several other people have posted the same on this thread.

If I remember correctly, staring is the only non-verbal signal which is universal and it is interpreted as potentially hostile all over the world. People still do it if they are surprised enough or just bloody rude but that happens everywhere.

It took four pages of staring to get to 9-11. I love this forum.

Maybe the topics overlap. My point here is sometimes they stare and react in the way that people do at chipmunks or the like.

Germans might stare at non-Europeans but this is likely to be because they haven't had exposure to them the way people in the UK (for instance) have. I got stared at in the West Indies for being white. It's not specifically a German thing.

yess guys, if we were to put together the fact that the wall was here and we are all human, .. I look at people to know what the natives are doing to make sure I am doing it right, .. even in my ground.

We have learnt from each other, for centuries now, .. someone is always better or prettier, beats looking at the mirror. What can that person do or have that makes them so, .. through work I have to know the person, or believe their story so I cant look sideways just directly.

When a person looks I have learnt to smile and enjoy, .. for them I seem more than likely something special for them. Should I stop something like this, new found knowledge like hey, not so bad looking eh? NO

But if someone is staring me up and down, then they are in for my favorite, do you need help? with a smile. If I am afraid of the person, or how they look at me, when its really bad, then I just dont look back.

There are these 2 female trainers in my gym. One is ugly and the other one is georgeous (alas!, occupied). the georgeous one always smiles to me, says "hi" when she sees me etc. The other one, never. she always walks with a face like she has a terrible toothache, stares me with cold eyes, and passes without any saluting or even a head movement. Now, normally i would never interested with that one as she is not pretty, not cute and not sexy, however that ignorance created some sort of a reverse attraction and i find myself looking for her. I even once asked her a silly question just to start a conversation but she answered with a face that reminded me my chemistry teacher a.k.a. Calamity Jane.

Now the theory is these people use this ignoring face to create some kind of an attitude, an expression to challenge the world that normally would not give a damn about them. this, or something like that. flame on

Now the burning question is: Does the ugly one have big breasts? Just kidding.

No, not even that.

Amusing...Some Germans have the worse faces ever and some look like they just ate something really bad. Makes you wonder...

That has happened to me a few times as well, it is very common in Mexico...
I love the fact that in London you could walk inside the tube naked and no one would even notice, I love the anonymity of it all, and when guys do look at you they do it because they really like you and they give you a wink or a smile...

It means exactly the same to me, it is an invitation for violence...

Same has happened to me, they talk about me when I'm right in front of them like I can't understand 'cause I have brown skin, they dissect me with their eyes and their bitchy comments, women are the worst! I NEVER stay quiet though, I always swear at them and tell them to get a life and they look at me like 'Oh what did I do?

I had a friend visiting from the US last summer and he is quite overweight and man oh man, did he ever get stared at. I think it was uncomfortable for him although we never discussed it directly.
That scale of obesity is rarely seen in Berlin.

Sometimes when I walk pass an attractive women that is with her guy I notice well in advance that the guy is staring daggers at me to see if I am clocking his misses. When this happens I like to seize the opportunity to really give the lady the eye – the full head moving scan – just to piss-off the guy. My reason being - if the guy is that jealous or insecure then it is my duty to make his feelings justified. Naturally I would not do this if the guy has the demeanor of Mike Tyson – I am not that stupid (no comments please).

I discussed this briefly lastnite with another TT'er, and we both were a little suprised by this thread.
I had read it before moving over here, and had been expecting to deal with this when I got here.
However, I have not seen anything that remotely resembles the level of outright staring that has been described here.
People glance at me, and the occasional one looks me in the eye. But thats about it. No stair downs or anything. If anything, if I catch them looking at me the tend to look away and not look me in the eye.
Who knows, maybe this is just me, or I am just used to people that look at the people and things around them.
All in all I have been pleasantly suprised with the friendly and open demeanor of the people here.

I seem to have a piercing type stare so if and when it happens, I usually just look back at them and check them out, man, woman or child. I don't hold back, plus its fun. Curiousity is usually the culprit in these parts so not really worth sweating it (_{this is really small stuff!})

Click to view attachment
Lovely German Stare...

Oh yes, they will. Went out in a tighter than usual T-shirt Sunday and had two comments and lots of stares - and considering how few people are on the streets on Sunday - well, it was uncomfortable.

I can't remember who said it but it rings true: