Joschka Fischer says Brits must change attitude

A TOP German politician yesterday pleaded with Brits to stop seeing his countrymen as goose-stepping Nazis.

Foreign minister Joschka Fischer said our image of Germany was too firmly rooted in World War Two.

And he claimed jokey nicknames — such as Fritz, Kraut and Jerry — were harming relations between the two countries.

Mr Fischer’s comments came just a week after Germans helped vote Fawlty Towers the world’s favourite BBC comedy.

The sitcom is most famous for hotelier Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) goose-stepping in front of German guests and warning staff: “Don’t mention the war.”

Mr Fischer, 56, said: “My children are 20 and 25. When they watch Germany in some of the British media, they think it is a picture they have never seen in their lifetimes.

“If you want to learn how the traditional Prussian goose-step works, you have to watch British TV.

“In Germany in the younger generation — even my generation — nobody knows how to perform it.

“Co-operation between our two countries is excellent on the official level. But people-to-people there is a problem, and I think the media are playing a very important role.”

Mr Fischer called on more Brits to visit Germany. He said: “The country has changed in a democratic, positive way. Two or three generations have grown up as real democrats.

“Berlin is now a fascinating capital city on a par with London and Paris

I think he is right, whenever I am back in blightly people who should know better still ask how I can live with "them jermains" and the likes of Stan "the chippy bomber" Boardman don't help the cause. People in the UK do seem to harp on about the war. Of course it should never be forgotton but it is time to move on.

Yes I agree Kev. Some of my kids school friends are the worst cuplrits...unfortunately they think it is funny to mimic the Germans and slag the country off. I can't help feeling that maybe this starts at home, parents who do the same thing. It just follows down through the generations. They think all Germans are the same. My kids have had Hitler comments etc thrown at them etc etc...my kids just enlightened them abit about Germany and the people they know who are Germans. After a few weeks they stopped thankfully.

My German b/f has an excellent sense of humour and I can poke fun at him all I like about Germans on holidays with their deckchairs etc He laughs cos he hates it too!

Lets hope we can educate the younger generation into more positive thinking towards Germany (blimey I'm sounding old )

Well I think old Joschka should get on with putting his country in order and not commenting on 80's BBC sitcoms. My friends and family back home in England have quite a positive view of the Germans, and I would say the same for all other non-tabloid-readers.

Joschka should get his facts straight and not base a whole country's view of Germany on some silly 6ft bloke with a funny moustache! He's prejudging our apparent prejudices! Which came first, the chicken or the egg

Yeah I agree NL, whenever I am home & people know I live in Germany they always say "wow lucky you, great wine & beer" & several of my friends have visited & not one ever had a negative attitude towards Germany or Germans, though I must add that I did have a somewhat bad attitude towards "northern" Germans, but blame that on the Bavarians

when I'm back in the UK and tell people I live in Germany, the response I get most is "Is your husband in the army?" sigh...

If Joscka Fischer has really never seen goose stepping in Germany he could always come and watch our local Schützenfestband when they parade through the village.

I totally agree about this. It really marks us out as an ignorant race to other Europeans.

Did anyone see "Wife Swap" on Channel 4 the other night? A wife from somewhere in the South West of England swapped with a German family from Hamburg I think.

What really let the show down were the producers who saw it necessary to have incidental music such as the theme from the Battle of Britain playing underneath the UK parts of the show and Oompah music underneath the German bits.

What I find incredible are the things you can get away with saying against the Germans on TV today - If you said the same things about black people or Asians you'd be in court!

Obviously when Fawlty Towers came out things were seen differently, but even so we laugh at it partly because we're thinking "He can't say/do that!"

I saw the Wife Swap the other night and altho I thought the outcome was good for both families, I didn't like the way the producers portrayed the Germans. People in England will think that is typical of a German family. No TV, no dishwasher, having to wash the floors by hand (not even a mop!) and doing absolutely everything for her husband and kids. Friends of mine have commented about how awful a German wife is treated etc...but in reality it isn't like that at all. I think if you were to look into families worldwide, there would be lots of differing families everywhere.

Did make me laugh to see the German family having a karaoke party...infact I laughed quite alot throughout the whole programme!

I laughed at them singing "Who the Fuck is Alice" - Aaahhh - Memories of summer nights in the "Distiller" in Munster me and the rest of the pub singing along to that and "Country Roads"!. :$

Have to say I agree Hellie - It was one of the best of the shows so far - The German husband and English wife deserved each other. The prodcuers did do a bad job - Anyone who hadn't seen the shots of the outside of the house would have thought these people were paupers and that they definitely weren't

Must have been the first time there wasn't a row when they all met up at the end too - Do you remember Wayne and Waynetta Slob from the last series? Jeez!

I think the German complaint that we Brits are hung up on the war is somewhat hypocritical. I've lost count of the number of plays, films, documentaries I've seen airing on German TV about the war, Hitler, The Nazis etc...

I mentioned it once but I think I got away with it...

That's true, in the past few months there's been a steady steam of such programs. Must admit though, some of them have been quite good.

The Arte Channel have been showing this stuff on a loop for bloody years!

Please remember though that a Stern cover with Hitler on or something about Nazis is guarenteed at least 20% sales increase. Same goes for TV programmes, the viewing figures shoot through the roof.
Also "Der Untergang" ...look how many people have been to see that.
there not as stupid as they look the old Germans I tell yer.

I think all people have certain perceptions of other cultures. I have forgotten the number of jibes I recieved over weather, food yobs and other british sterotypes and equally did the same over German sterotypes all good friendly banter with no offense ment or taken.
I think alot of it is the british humour where almost nothing is out of bounds and something I really missed living abroad. Most is good natured and designed for a laugh.
Faulty towers I felt was never insulting to Germans more at Basils perception of the germans, more aimed at the British mentality with the major and so on.
The older generations of both cultures will alway have some resentment to each other you cannot live through that experience without it. However the more reasonable elements of both cultures I have found very accepting of the other with everything you will always get the mindless idiots who think its funny to take the issues to a new level where it becomes offensive.
But as far a jokes about the Germans give me more how boring life would have been with out the Basils you started it and allo allos General Von Kinkenhoff was a hero of Ze Germans.
I would say the British are harder on their own culture than on others.

Fawlty Towers is one of my favorite british comedy-series (ok, i haven't seen many yet, but it's also the most successful, right)

The only thing about the episode "the germans" that really bothered me was the fact, the the actors playing the germans weren't germans at all!
Really funny episode in which Basil is (like always) the real fool;
well "communication problems" is still on nr. 1 for me...

(Really) funny nazi-jokes are always welcome !