Hi!

When I lived in Germany with family friends, they would not accept payment, so my parents gave them gifts. Despite their bristly reputation, Germans are warm, humble and hospitable to their guests. Pick up some flowers from the local farmers' market to take with you when you arrive. There is a farmers' market in every town, look for the highest church spire or the Munster (cathedral) and it is usually close by to the market, in the old part of town. That is a lovely experience to talk to the wonderful farm wives who sell their products at the local market.

Bring them something that is unique to your hometown, that packs easily and travels well. We come from the Northwest, so we bring smoked salmon, handmade crafts and paintings/photographs from local artists, scenery calendars or coffee table books.

Also, we often take our hosts out to dinner at a special restaurant or buy them a gift from a local shop, a special purchase that they wouldn't buy on their own.

Enjoy!
Julia

Is there anything representative of the area in which you live? I think that is one of the best gifts, because they can't really get that where they live. Don't bring chocolate, European chocolate is very good, even the average stuff. I live in Sydney and sometimes bring Australian wine. I have even given a CD of Australian music, and coffee table books. It depends a little on which friends or family I am visiting. Families with children are infinitely easier to cater to - once I brought glove puppets of kookaburras and wombats, which were well received. In your case some of the local alcohol might be OK, if they don't shun alcohol. My South Australian friend sometimes brings dried fruit from their area, which I think isn't that great a present, but it's what they do in her part of the world (lots of orchards and vineyards).

Lavandula

I think the suggestions for a "local" product are the best.
These days, everything and anything is available in Germany, including American wine at a reasonable price.

German love calendars with photos and coffee table books -- perhaps you could bring one from your area. Or, an easy to pack local food.

local products are good but note that GM fed beef is not considered a delicacy in large parts of europe

Depending on where you live I'd bring an Ice Wine from Niagra or something else of similar note but avoiding Maple syrup, I grew up with the bottle of darn stuff in my parent's fridge from 1965 to 1990 and if we hadn't torn the house down it would still be there now.