Defining characteristics of a German

part of a design research project:

i am new to germany and as part of a design project for the munich world cup am doing this crazy study about germany and germans... role models, culture and identity...

following are some reactions from people i have 'bumped' into...

‘germans are tense people…’
‘germans are individualists…’
‘germans are not impulsive… ‘
‘germans are very mechanical… ‘
‘germans are great technologically…’
‘germans are very precise… and specific… ‘
‘most germans cannot relate to their history… ‘
‘bavarians are great people… very friendly… and warm’
‘germans spend more money on their fuel than on milk ‘……………………

so u guys can react and add to this 'PILE ON'...

germans are open-minded and tolerant

German girls are good looking whereas the blokes aren't

german blokes are not bad in the sack, though (in my experience, albeit limited)

germans like sausages, and their sausages are surprisingly good...

germans are an odd bunch, in this respect very much like every other nationality when viewed from the outside.

Germans are from Germany

German's speak an odd language called German (this is not English)

german sausages are indeed effing great, so is obazda

germans like taking their kitchens with them from house to house which is a bizarre concept when you first come across it.

Doesn't everybody?

Assuming the average person consumes 100 l of milk per year (roughly 0.3 l per day, that's probably on the high side already), and further assuming that one litre of milk costs about half the price of one litre of gasoline, a very fuel efficient car would let you drive at most 1,000 km for the amount of money spent on milk. Hardly surprising then that people spend more money on fuel than on milk, unless they don't have a car...

Bavarians like dogs and allow them almost anywhere.

every stereotype of Germany is germane

Germans wear socks with sandals

‘bavarians are great people… very friendly… and warm...but it takes a lifetime to get to know such people.

Or And

bavarians are great people… very friendly… and warm..to themselves.

Old Germs love their rules and regulations.

Germans aren't very quick off the mark in an emergency

Those Germans make a very good [insert item such as megaphone]

wo wo wo .. aren't we all like brilliant at making statements and judgements !!

and you actually wanted ?

"Bavaria is to Germany what Texas is to the US." (Copyright 2006, by me)
- Bavarians dress funny, they have a strange dialect, and most of the world thinks of them as typcial for the entire country (to the chagrin of the rest of the Germans).

wtf do you want? arse

They can't abide the cold steel, sir! no, sir!

He may want arse, best to ask/offer by way of PM I think.

what have most of your list

e.g. ‘germans are great technologically…’

got to do with crowd behaviour though?

Does this mean they're really robots in disguise? Or is it meant to be they're great with technology or Germany is technologically advanced? I think they're robots.

Those Kraftwerk chappies for instance ? Or Edmund Stoiber ? I mean you can hear the breaks when his tape is rewinding.

They don't like it up 'em.

Germans like to change the title of TT forum topics...

oh wait, my mistake, I meant not "Germans" but "Moderators".

8 years later and it still is a bizarre concept to me.

Not for your lack of trying to take the muddy path home too, I'm sure

ah timmeh, i see your point there. not quite what i was implying ;-) more along the lines of the fact that imho he is an arse. just wanted to clear that little misunderstanding up y'know.

They have square heads. I told a German girl that she had a square head so I knew her to be German.

She then made me very drunk, I proposed whilst nearly falling in the canal near the Brindley in Birmingham, we got married and are still together 15 years later.

They have a sense of humour and are tolerant (very tolerant in my wifes case!!)

In Germany, once the neighbor's 'Rollladen' go down - the party's over.

I hate to stereotype but you do see a tendency here and there. Although I met the coolest german snowboarder the other day. I hung out with her, then she looked me in the eye and said.

"You have a concept of what Germans are like dont you?" I just laughed. She just smiled and said its all b*llsh*t I will let you know. I will say this she is like no German I have met so far here. I mean its like someone I would meet in Tahoe.

There are several ways of identifying Germans. Often they will be seen wearing Lederhosen or sporting a rather interesting mullet. If not they may be the ones ignoring the queue for the bus and moving directly to the front.

Queues???

Copyright, yer ass. I've been saying that since 1994.

From the word go this thread had the potential only to be a bunch of arse. Why, because the last thing we need is a specific thread dedicated to bringing up over and over again the stereotypes which are so often proven to be nothing more than tabloid bollocks, outdated beliefs and personal prejudices.


Sanjeev, don't know how you intended the above comment to come across, but on first glance it makes you look like a contradictory fool of some sort. You've asked people for their comments in a very specific way and then you say, in what comes across as quite a sarcastic manner, that people here are "brilliant at making statements and judgements". I suggest you either explain your comment or piss off back under whatever idioitic rock you came from.

Most Germans believe we foreigners are economic refugees.

The rate at which globalisation is moving their jobs to Eastern Europe and India, very soon they will be the economic refugees.

...which is a bad thing or a good thing? What are people like from Tahoe?

RT

German men have the worst hair in the known universe.

ref: keydeck... stereotypes and prejudices are for real and all around us... reference 'Garden State# dreamy number when the protagonist gets high after burrying his mom !!

and yeah the first step to tackle prejudices is to let it all out... and my first trigger was an attempt to do that... and yeah it is a real project... u could verify it whenever you want...

i also accept the second comment might seem a wee bit sarcastic... but i would find it more 'tongue in cheek'...

Germans take serious things seriously. After 20 years in this country I have decided that this is the main difference between Brits and Germans. They do not lack a sense of humour as many claim, they just do not laugh about serious things. Aren't Americans similar in that respect?

mik id tend to agree on the humour comment im not sure about americans but i find the british and the english in particular can take the piss out of themselves and , well enjoy it immensly, however ive been in germany total of ten yrs and not found very many germans that will laugh at themselves !!! only other comment to make is there extremely law abiding , to the point i just want to go grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, everytime a german says oh you cant do that , thats just not allowed lol

Germans are wary of each other. They only stick together when they have a common enemy.

Of course these are prejudices, but national traits do exist! Look at the Italians and their temper, look at the French and their arrogance, look at the Irish and their procrastination, look at the British and their sense of protecting the underdog...

That's a new one to me.

belgianpraline i do like your reactions especially the cross cultural element...
in such a case what do you think is the most apt imagery of a sculpture in munich... say in Marienplatz or stachauss...

I mean should it be related or inspired by the history of munich ... the painting, dance et all... or something absolutely different !!

the aim is to draw people in ...

for those willing to be an official part of this research can reply to the following triggers:

my story… research project… Munich(TUM)

Background and Education:

Family members and their occupation:

Aspirations/ Dreams: Age:

Role Models: Nationality:

Hobbies: Years spent in Munich:

Favorite music/bands:

Favorite books:

Favorite car:

Favorite food:

Favorite movie:

Hanging out places:

Favourite story / incident in your life:

Five words which define you:

Five words which define Germany:

Five words which define Germans:

Five words about Munich:

Five images which come to your mind with the word ‘Germany’:

Five images which come to your mind with the word ‘Munich’:

What is culture for you?

What is identity for you?

Most important concerns for Germany:

How would you like to live in the future:

Your strategy if you’re made the mayor of Munich/Bavaria: