Americans and Germans
 

Anyone travel to Germany lately and gotten "looks" from Germans? We were just there last week for two weeks and the Germans were not very friendly to Americans. Anyone else experience the same? We were in the Bayern region, including Munich for Oktoberfest.

I have not been recently but found the Germans not very friendly or helpful to the English, I was in a bar trying to get drinks for 8 of us they served everybody who came after us before serving us then in the middle of serving us a large group of germans came in and they served them before completing our round.

I was in Munich last October and found the Germans to be very friendly and helpful. Maybe they are tired of tourists in general with the large influx for Oktoberfest? We will be going back in a little less than three weeks so I will report back after we return home. I am hoping we will find the same happy, friendly people that we found last year.

That's correct, Germans eat little children and despise everything American. They hate Americans and make every effort to make their stay as uncomfortably as possible. They're EVIL, you must hate them, don't go there!

I've never noticed any overt unfriendliness and i suggest it's in either your own presentation or presumption

If you've never been to Europe before you may find the generally rather cooler public demeanor and interpret it to be anti-americanism (like not saying hi or good morning, etc. when passing strangers on the street)

But no Germans have, in my 35+ years of annual travels there seemed anything but polite folk.

But they do cook and eat little children, ,don't they? At least, that's what I've heared.

Provence:

I'm sorry for your poor experience. In my several journeys to Germany we have met with respect and dignity. We found that the Germans we encountered were very friendly, helpful and generally pleasant to be around. They, for the most part, seemd anxious to open a dialogue during which not in the slightest did they change any aspect of gentility that we were afforded anywhere we have been in Germany since the mid-80's, and as recently as 2005 (Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Romantische Strasse, The Black Forest, Bodensee).

Stu T.

I've frequently traveled to Germany and found them no different than anywhere else.

PalenQ gets at the root of it. Germans do not, as a culture, exhibit the easy-going nature of Americans, not the warmth of Italians. (Exceptions on both sides granted. You can always run into the curmudgeonly shop owner in an otherwise buoyantly friendly town in Italy, or the inexplicably informal and gregarious Viennese.)

But you never know in a given situation whether there is a bias steering behavior. The same thing can happen if you're a New Yorker visiting elsewhere in the US: some people are guided by their expectations, and don't keep an open mind to individuals. Even when they're not aware of it, racisim, homophobia, xenophobia can creep in ... and other times it's quite overt.

But they do cook and eat little children, ,don't they? At least, that's what I've heared

perhaps that's why the German birth rate is dangerously low right now - the 2nd worst in europe and below replacement rate - if it weren't for Muslim immigrants the rate would be more appalling

but now i know why - eating their babies i guess.

People in some european countries tend to be more formal than those in the us US. Germany is one of them.

What you may be reading as unfriendliness may simple be reserve.

(And I must admit that where I come from in the US you don't go around greeting every causal stranger in the street - people would thing you were mad. And it's not unfriendliness - just a huge number of people.)

Travelled to Germany in May and September. We speak no German and everyone we encountered was friendly.

All Germans are Nazis and racists, don't go there. They'er grim, unfriendly, xenophobic folks. You can't change them, stay home. But all Italians are great, you need to go there! Right! Americans otoh are open minded and great by definition, and all Arabs are terrorists. Yeah.

>but now i know why - eating their babies i guess.
Muslims at least don't eat babies, since they mustn't eat pork meat!

Dear Americans,
you are very welcome to our country but please remember for a second that
- Germans aren't too happy if you take for granted that everybody speaks English and understands the gargling American English. Please ask first. Especially when talking to older people or little children.
- the everlasting big American smile isn't appreciated. Germans smile when, and only when, there is a reason to smile. A smile without reasons doesn't seem honest to us.
- the "We are the greatest nation in the world" attitude isn't appreciated either. Unfortunately those Americans that show it (and there are some) are the ones that people notice while the friendly, open-minded and quiet Americans often go unnoticed. It's unfair, I know.
- incidents caused by the tourist's misbehaviour or simple misunderstandings should not be called "racism" or "xenophobia" too quickly. Some people seem to be VERY quick with such serious accusations (which Germans are extremely sensitive about).

Besides, in crowded tourist centres all over the world locals tend to get tired of the hordes.

I've spent a lot of time in Germany over the last 40 years and have found Germans to be generally pleasant, polite and courteous.

We were struck last year by how helpful people were in Munich. We (two older women) were trying to rassle our suitcases up the stairway leaving the train station and having difficulty because we're both 97 lb. weaklings. (Well, the 97 lb. part isn't strictly true....) Without saying a word, a well-dressed businessman grabbed my sister's suitcase, carried it up the stairs, plopped it down without saying a word and went on his way.

An elegant woman did the same for mine. A little later, as we were trying to get a tram ticket in a machine, a young man tried (with no success) to help us.

I've no idea what the situation was when you experienced cold behavior, but I think it was a fluke.

I'm not suggesting that you're stereotyping Germans, but many people do--just as they stereotype Americans. It always irritates me because--while every country has boors and thugs--I think the Germans are a cultured and civilized people.

I've found Germans, as a group, to be friendly, cordial and helpful.

The OP seems a little vague about what the problem was -- other than the Germans "were not very friendly."

Don't take this as an invitation to an argument, but I've found the Germans as a group to be much more friendly than the French.

quokka: I just can't get past the irony of a German saying another language is "gargling."

--I've found the Germans as a group to be much more friendly than the French.--

Whether or not this is true, attacking another group is never a good defense for oneself.

Take care of your vowels, it's A, E, I, O, U, not ayy, eeh, eyyy, oohh, yuuu. ;-). Please remenber round tones. I knew, Lina didn't get it, but Don did!

Don't be over sensitive.

I had an American client who was complaining he was being hassled for wearing an Italian football shirt in France...

I asked: "Were they saying Forza Italia?"

Yes.....