What are some German culture differences from the US?

Question

I am working on a college paper about the culture of Germany. I would love as many stories or resources about major culture differences. Are they very expressive? Do they drink to get drunk like most Americans? How is the family system viewed? How important is education? Is higher education free? Is something specific served with every meal? How open to strangers are they? How is the relationship between the different states? How are social taboo issue in America seen, i.e. homosexuality, abortions, women leadership, racism?

I would love to have email contact with someone there up until my visit to Heidelburg in May...any takers??? :)

Answer 1

Just to correct some stuff that annoyed me when I read it:

"There is a very high rate of alchoholism in Germany." Half-true. Alcoholism is a problem, true. But compared to Russia and Poland, Germany has a very low alcoholism problem. (You can't run an industry like the German when you tolerate excess drinking.) Also since the national drink is beer, Germans consume on the whole a lot more alcohol than average. That doesn't mean that every German spends his days drunk. Compared to what Brits can drink or US kids pack away on spring break, German drinking is really very moderate. You have a bottle of beer for dinner and that's it.

"Children actually take beer to school for their lunch." Utter rubbish. Drinking age for beer and wine is sixteen, but just because nobody frowns when a few teens sit and drink beer on the street doesn't mean the above is true.

"The water there is nonpotable which probably accounts for the high consumption of beer," Huh? Non-potable water only occurs in wine-growing regions due to heavy fertilising. Contrary to popular opion you actually need good water to make good beer, as 98% of beer is water!

"There are no different states as we know it." Rubbish too. Germany is a federation just like the U.S., there are 16 states. They are just smaller, giving the central government more leverage.

"The Police are actually part of the army, and they have total and unquestioned authority to do *** they please, including killing someone." NOT TRUE! The state police, the federal police and the army are quite seperate, thank you very much! What is true is that prior to 1994 the Federal Police had combat status because they were and are the border patrol and thus were first in line in case of a Russian invasion. (Think National Guard.) But they were never part fof the army. In dire emergencies and matters of federal security they are called in to maintain law and order or to support the state police. The law allowing the police to kill was the result of several severe hostage situations. It is the ultimate weapon that is only applied when the last possible way to rescue a hostage is a sniper's bullet or to prevent a terrorist attack.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Federal_Police
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSG9
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landespolizei
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finaler_Rettungsschuss

"If you are stopped for some rreason and the police tell you not to move...you had better not even breathe too heavily or you will most likely get shot." I got similar advice about driving in the US. I got told, "when the sheriff tells you to stop, don't reach towards your papers, or he will assume you are going to grab a gun and shoot you." Go figure.

"Volks marches (Pronounced Folks marches) are a popular past time," Duh, not among the young!

"and the language is relatively easy to learn." Biggest understatement ever. Vocabulary might be easy for an English speaker, but the grammar is a royal pain.

Ok, finished with the rant. For us Germans who have never been to the US it is difficult to figure out what is different to US culture. But you might want to check out: CultureShock!Germany, available from Amazon or similar books. I've found the CultureShock! series to be very reliable for in-depth information on countries.

You can also visit the following site for more info on Germany:

http://www.toytowngermany.com

Answer 2

The answers to the majority of your questions can be found at the English site of Spiegel magazine. In fact they have an entire section on German cultural differences. Unlike their American cousins, they are very formal and are sometimes put off by American informality. The majority don't drink to excess, and the family unit is everything. In fact, childbearing is actually subsidised by the German government because the German population is actually shrinking! There are distinct language and cultural differences between the different "Länder" that often defies explanation. Education is also subsidised and until recently university study was free. Did you know that Mark Twain wrote "Tom Sawyer" after he visited Heidelberg? In fact he named a key character of the book after Heidelberg. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about Germany, but be warned that I live in Bamberg which is near the Czech border - practically on the other side of Germany.

Answer 3

Most Germans are friendly. Smart, reading to much, cultural very interested. Traveling so much. Speaking different languages. Education is good, some places they need to pay for their university, some fees one time a year. They love to eat potato's, drink so much beer. They having good beer here. About homosexuality and women leadership, they are very cool and thinking cool. Abortions is not really free. Racism some areas in East.. there is not good, but the rest Germany are OK. We have many people living here from another countries. Family system is the same like in US. Some younger kids with 18 getting their own place.
Everything in Germany is good organized and people are friendly you can make easy friends here. Night clubs, like Discos open until morning, Berlin is all night long you can go out and having fun. I hope that enough in formations for you.
Good luck by your college paperwork.

Answer 4

you asked if they are expressive? I found when I lived in Germany that people were quite reserved and quiet...not as animated (of course, in general). they are (again, in general) a very serious, skeptical and pessimistic lot compared to our optimism.
the Germans are rule followers and feel an obligation to corrrect you (often not in the kindest way) if you make a mistake.
I lived in Berlin and met the crankiest people there that I have ever met in my life...however, i made some good, nice friends who are berliners and don't follow that stereotype whatsoever.
they drink because the beer is good and it's part of the culture. they don't drink as much as those in the Czech republic.
by the way most americans don't drink to get drunk. high school students in the states often will do that (if they're drinkers) but because the germans have a more relaxed attitude about beer, there isn't such a huge problem among teenagers
family is extremely important...
education, also, though they aren't in school many hours per day compared to lots of other places.
yes, higher ed can be free or practically free
bread is served with most every meal
there are many problems with immigrants, though germany has many many immigrants living there. i find it interesting that although the germans learn english like crazy (even our plumber knew perfect english there) they weren't trying to look for opportunities to practice like in other places---seems they learn it in a vacuum.
the relationship between the states is similar to the US
german is very liberal compared to the u.s., but racism is a problem, as it is all over the world.
good luck with your paper..
Viel gluck!

Answer 5

Speaking as the daughter & grandaughter of German immigrants, and also from having traveled in Germany several times, I would offer this: When you first meet a German, it never hurts to be exceedingly polite. Americans are much more casual about greeting & talking to strangers; I really think this is where the stereotypes (Americans are brash and rude, and Germans are stiff and humorless) come from.

So, when you first meet someone, be polite and formal. Give them a chance to meet you first. Do this, and folks will warm up to you surprisingly fast. It seemed to take about 5 minutes of being polite & formal, and then all of a sudden we were talking like old friends. :o)

No, no one's requiring you to be overly polite... but you have a much better time in Germany if you are.

Germany's a wonderful place, and Heidelberg's a great town. Have a good time, and splurge on the chocolate!!!

Answer 6

We can´t dance? Boah, this is not true... I love to battle dance or dance on top of a box... anyway, I don´t know wether it is a difference also in the US, but in the UK people don´t look into each others eyes when they meet on the street. I mean strangers. Hm, I should explain better... when I see something or somebody interesting (I do not mean physical interest, just beeing curious about something) I look at. And this is normal behaviour in germany. It has nothing to mean, it is not a flirt. We are just looking. But in the UK... the first thing I noticed I had never so few eyecontact with other people. They really avoided it (and if they thought I am looking for sth). After I had been in London I looked for this purpose in the literature and I found out: it is really a difference. it is said it is a differnce between english and german speaking countries.
I found this so remarkable I decided to share this thought with you *hehe* of course you can contact me for questions but I am also not from Heidelberg.

Answer 7

I am German-American, and just a few things off the top of my head... parents are a lot more lenient with their kids. They let them go out more and younger than in the states. They tend to drink less to "get drunk" than Americans. They place a very high importance on education and, yes, college is paid for by the state. Living costs are high, though, so a lot of students have to fork out a lot of money for living. The main meal is the mid-day meal. They eat only a small dinner. Usually bread with cheese or meat.

They never eat both cheese and meat on the same bread. It's true! lol.

The humor is more physical and "in the moment" than the more American "Seinfeld" humor. Women wear less make-up. Men are not so obsessed with being macho, or women with being feminine. On the whole, people are more to the left (liberal) than in the states. They have a universal health care system and much better facilities for homeless and needy people.

And they can't dance! lol.

(Oh, and taking beer to school? Where were you living? I have never heard of this.)

Answer 8

ooo, i just got back from a 3week stay in Germany and I went to Heidelberg...it's a lovely city! R u going to the university there??? We saw a lot of students out and about!

One thing you HAVE to do is find a Doner Kebab store...there's one difference, their fast food is faster, healthier, and more delicious!

The teens I hung out with (i'm,well, almost, 18...lol) definitely did drink to get drunk...one got too drunk and regretted it the next morning...and then never thanked me for helping him while he was PUKING the night before, ug...but that's just cuz he's a 15 year old boy...not because he's German, lol. Um, I dunno, if anything, I was more surprised with how much alike they were to americans, i mean even their english is for the most part perfect. It made me mad, i have been learning German for four years, and I only got to use very little, just because English worked so much easier for everyone.

I'm going off to college next year, and I'll be (most likely) majoring in Linguistics/linguistical anthropology...and one thing I noticed is how different things translate from one language to another, which was fascinating. Then there's also the fact that they have some things in their language that we don't have in our own, from letters to whole words/concepts.

Well, now that I've written a novel instead of a quick response...I hope you have an awesome time in Deutschland...I'll be going back in June, but to stay up in Duren, which is near Koln (Cologne). Tschuess!!!

PS~If u need any more info/help...my email is: [e-mail]

Answer 9

I have not read all the answers, but it seems you have a lot already and probably everything you need. If you have some questions about Heidelberg or need some help when you get here, you can contact me. I am an American living in Heidelberg, Germany for about 16 months. My profile has my email.

Answer 10

You may find there are many similarities between American and German culture. There are differences, though. Yes, Germans sometimes drink to get drunk.
In Hamburg, there is a street, the Reeperbahn, or mile of sin. It's sort of like New Orleans on Friday and Saturday nights. You can drink in the streets, see a band, see a sex show or go from club to club. It's pretty packed until almost 4am in summer.
Hamburg is a major port and industrial city in the north. Munich, in the south, has the beer gardens and Alpine feel to it. It's home to BMW, Siemens, the Alps, castles, Oktoberfest,and much more.
They can make fun of themselves, as we do, with differences between the North and South, but it's not serious or common to do so.
The family is similar to the US, but German children are, in my opinion, well educated and independant. Education is very important, and math/science are a big deal. Think German Engineering. I don't know how "free" the university system is, though.
International travel is quite common and easy, considering how many different countries are so close. I believe this opens their minds to many different cultures and languages early, so they can be more "worldly" than many of us here.
Beer is considered a basic food and is not taxed, as it is in the US. A glass or two of beer or wine is normal at dinner. The food is quite good and international. They seem to be more sophisticated than us when it comes to food and dress. fast food is present, but no common. They may not have as many clothes to wear as us, but they do know how to dress well and coordinate their outfits. They wear dress shoes where we wear tennis shoes.
Like the U.S., many Germans are open to others. I have several friends there. Some are not, very open, like here. Their social structure, politically, is more liberal than ours. They pay quite a bit in taxes and petrol (it's benzine not gasoline) is quite high because it is taxed so much.
In many ways, the Germans have more freedom than we do. The autobahn is one example. There are strict speed limits in places, and your car must me well maintained (no rust for example), but you can drive as fast as is safe. My personal best is 280KM/hr. Driving over posted limits is verboten, and you will get a ticket if you exceed the posted limit.
There are also some quirky laws. You cannot name your child anything you'd like, for instance. It must be an approved name in a book.
Homosexuality is no big deal, similar to larger American cities. I have found most Germans to be both more tolerant of others and, paradoxically, some are quite racist. I have found a great dislike of Russians, in some though.
As far as women are concerned, they are very equal to men in the work place and politics. Just look who their leader is, Angela Merkel.
You will have a wonderful time there. The country is beautiful, the people mostly terrific, history is amazing, and their values are quite similar to ours.
Sorry, I don't know anyone in Heidelburg. Have a grand time!