What generalizations does the rest
of the world make about Germany?
I've picked out five German stereotypes,
how much truth is in them,
and where did they come from.
But first of all,
which ones annoy Germans the most?
[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
Romanticized images of Germany often
include a woman dressed like this.
This is a dirndl, and the male equivalent
is lederhosen, literally, leather trousers.
These types of folk clothing are very
specifically linked to the southern
state of Bavaria and neighboring Austria.
You might come across people wearing them
day-to-day in Bavaria,
but it's most common on special occasions
and during festivals like Oktoberfest.
The dirndl is just one example
of folk costume in Germany.
Most traditional dress, known as Tracht,
started out as work clothes for peasants.
Various aspects of traditional idealized
German culture, including Tracht,
were later used in Nazi propaganda.
The dirndl even got a bit of a makeover
under the Nazi regime, a lower neckline,
a slightly shorter skirt,
and a tighter waist.
The designs seen today vary
from very traditional to very modern.
And apparently,
the position of the apron's bow
can indicate relationship status.
For example, tied on the right means
married or engaged,
and on the left means single.
The stereotypical image of a German also
tends to include a beer in the hand,
usually in one of these enormous glasses.
In fact, the mass is another element
of Bavarian culture that has somehow come
to dominate the image of Germans abroad.
Germany actually has an impressive range
of glassware, sometimes with a specific
glass to go with a specific type of beer,
like this kölsch glass from Cologne.
Of course, not all Germans like beer,
but it is an important part of the culture
overall, with different beers also
connected to regional identities.
Traditional brews which follow the rules
of the Beer Purity Law still dominate,
but the country has seen
a boom in craft varieties too.
And the popularity of non-alcoholic beer
shows that the Germans' taste for beer
is more than just a thirst for alcohol.
Cheers to that.
[FOREIGN LANGUAGE] so goes the German saying
which means that punctuality in Germany
means arriving five minutes early.
Well, whoever decided this
forgot to tell the trains.
It's practically a national sport
here to moan about train delays.
And after four years of commuting,
I'm well and truly on board, so to speak.
But a lot of German people do pride
themselves on being on time,
and punctuality is a characteristic you
see again and again
attributed to the Germans.
So, where did this punctual
reputation come from?
Let's talk to a time expert.
[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
That brings us on to the next stereotype,
German efficiency, which gets
a big thumbs down from me.
A dictionary definition of efficient is
working or operating quickly
and effectively in an organized way.
Okay, so the Germans might have
the organization part down,
but speed and effectiveness, not so much.
Did you know it took 632 years to finish
building the Cologne Cathedral?
A more modern case study that brought
global visions of German efficiency
crashing down was the new BER Airport
in Berlin, a project plagued
with problems from the get-go.
It finally opened in 2020,
billions of euros over budget and 10 years
behind schedule,
just in time for the coronavirus to hit,
bringing most air traffic to a standstill.
Interestingly,
it often seems that the Germans' love
of precision and planning
actually gets in their way.
If Germany ever wants to live up to its
efficient reputation, it's gonna
have to break up with bureaucracy.
What was it Mark Twain apparently said?
"A German joke is no laughing matter."
Bit harsh, Mark.
Personally, I know plenty of funny
Germans, and I think most people
appreciate good comedy, right? [APPLAUSE]
However, what is sometimes missing
from the comedic toolbox here is
the ability to take things a little less
seriously and have a good
old laugh at yourself.
But don't take my word for it.
Let's talk to someone who knows a lot
about the German relationship with humor.
Gayle Tufts is a comedian
from the United States who's been
in Germany for more than 30 years.
This country is the size of Texas,
but it is incredibly regional,
and not just with accents,
but also with what they eat,
what they drink, and when they laugh.
The people who live,
come from the Rhineland,
they're, they're ready to laugh.
They're ready to have a good time.
They're the party people of this country.
And then the Berliners have seen
everything because it is
the cultural capital of this country.
So, they'll all sit back and say,
"Well, tell me about it.
Hmm?"
And the North Germans
are incredibly dry, but really smart.
And in the South,
there's a warmheartedness.
In Stuttgart,
for example, talk about food.
You can do a 20-minute
monolog about bread.
They will be rolling
in the aisles in Stuttgart.
So, where does the no sense
of humor reputation come from?
You have to kind of go back
to the Second World War.
In those glorious
the golden '20s where there was so much
entertainment and so much theater,
a lot of the Germans that were
involved in that were Jewish.
And they were either exterminated
and murdered, or they fled to the States.
And after the war, of course,
things weren't that funny because
where does comedy come from?
It comes from my experience,
my storytelling.
And I think there was an entire generation
that it was very difficult
to find the humor in anything.
Although once the '50s, '60s started,
there were some great,
great German comedians.
Loriot, for example.
In the '90s and the 2000s,
all of a sudden,
comedy clubs started popping up,
and mic shows where there would be
four different comedians a night.
And now you've got a,
a comedian for every taste.
Germans do have a sense of humor,
and thankfully, it's thriving because in
these times, we all need a sense of humor. [APPLAUSE]
I'd love to know how many of these things
are part of your image of Germany
and which stereotypes from your
country get on your nerves the most.
Leave us a comment.