NationStates Jolt Archive

Really, why does the world hate Germans so much?

It's appaling how Germans get portrayed in foreign media, they're either the obese, Santa-Claus like beer-quaffing, sausage-eating, loud-mouthed Bavarians, or else the strict, over-disciplined, helplessly organised slim-lipped, sarcastic, cold Prussians with artrocious accents. Where's the diversity???

Germans have done so much good for the world, they invented cars, TV, found out about infections through microbes and developed ways to prevent it, they gave the world painters like Albrecht Duerrer, musicians like Johann Sebastian Bach, writers like Schiller and Goethe and philosophers like Hegel, Wittgenstein and Kant. And yet they're constantly criticised by the world and made fun of.
You are all a bunch of ungrateful bastards!
[/sarcasm]

Ok, now, really I'm just fed up with France and the USA whinging about how they are being treated so unfairly and unversally loathed.

So here's a surprise:
EVERYBODY IS!!!
It doesn't make you special, folks. Get over it.

And please, please, please, stop those endless sado-masochistic posts on why France/Europe/USA/Canada/Western Australia/Timbuktu is loathed for being so mucch better than the rest. Please.

I never knew a German invented TV?

I never knew a German invented TV?

Damn, my mistake.
Then again, perfect for my example... I've seen people from various nations here claiming that someone from their nation had invented something he hadn't.

Really, why does the world hate Germans so much?You started it!

Who could hate the land of chocolate, beer, and kuku clocks?

Stereotypes suck, I agree. All the marvelous gifts to the world from your nation and all anyone can think of is the fat, beer-swilling cowboy yahoo with the gun rack on the back of his pick-up truck and the "Love It or Leave IT!" bumper sticker. Yep, they suck.

I myself never think of those images of Germans, I go for the chocolate-hoarding ones hiding out in Ireland. :D

Damn, my mistake.
Then again, perfect for my example... I've seen people from various nations here claiming that someone from their nation had invented something he hadn't.

Television wasn't invented by a single person, it seems to have been something that a lot of people decided would be an excellent idea during the first decades of the 20th century.

Who could hate the land of chocolate, beer, and kuku clocks?

I tend to think of that as the Swiss stereotype. Well, except for the beer... ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v629/squorn/givemepoland.jpg

Well I want to be a muslim-killing serb/croat! It makes me special! x(

[/sarcasm]

Stereotypes suck, I agree. All the marvelous gifts to the world from your nation and all anyone can think of is the fat, beer-swilling cowboy yahoo with the gun rack on the back of his pick-up truck and the "Love It or Leave IT!" bumper sticker. Yep, they suck.

I myself never think of those images of Germans, I go for the chocolate-hoarding ones hiding out in Ireland. :D

I think you got me wrong there... I don't mind the stereotypes. I grew up with them, some of them are even funny. What I do mind are people who get worked up about being thought of in stereotypes ;)

Television wasn't invented by a single person, it seems to have been something that a lot of people decided would be an excellent idea during the first decades of the 20th century.
You could say the same of most things - the car, the telephone, the radio, the computer...

Actually, Alexander Graham Bell completely ripped off somebody else's work when he 'invented' the telephone.

Its because they invaded Poland!

Germans have done so much good for the world, they invented cars, TV, found out about infections through microbes and developed ways to prevent it, they gave the world painters like Albrecht Duerrer, musicians like Johann Sebastian Bach, writers like Schiller and Goethe and philosophers like Hegel, Wittgenstein and Kant. And yet they're constantly criticised by the world and made fun of.

You forgot Tokio Hotel!

Who could hate the land of chocolate, beer, and kuku clocks?

I tend to think of that as the Swiss stereotype. Well, except for the beer... ;)

Ha, excellent! Just a couple days ago I was told by an American friend that he always thought of cuckoo clocks as a stereotypical Swiss thing. :eek:

Suffice to say that I was appalled, seeing how cuckoo clocks are quintessentially German.

So I'll totally use this thread to ask what everybody else thinks about this.

Cuckoo clocks - typically German or typically Swiss?

Since when did Germany invent the car? Didn't a bunch of guys just kinda start making them? (And I'd prefer our Fords over your Audis anyday, thank you... sorry, venting a bit on expensive repairs).

Since when did people hate Germany, the war's long over, we don't hate you. At least not here in the USA.

Its because they invaded Poland!

Damn Baby Hitler. If only he'd just taken his pacifier... :p

I think you got me wrong there... I don't mind the stereotypes. I grew up with them, some of them are even funny. What I do mind are people who get worked up about being thought of in stereotypes ;)

Oh. :rolleyes: It's Monday.

Okay ... ahem ... well ... because they're anooying? Despite my "stereotypes suck" rant above, I try not to let them get to me. Every now and then, however, one slips through my shields and provokes me. Seems to be pretty prevalent here in NSG to deride the US and while I usually just roll my eyes at that, like I said, every now and then ...

There must be some chocolate around here somewhere. Or maybe I could just get sick and go work from home. I hate misunderstanding people's posts. *wanders off muttering*

Cuckoo clocks - typically German or typically Swiss?

Both.

Cuckoo clocks - typically German or typically Swiss?

The really good ones are made in the Black Forest so I would give it to the Germans.

Germany also has some really good chocolate. (Probably took it from the Swiss) :p

I never knew a German invented TV?

Damn, my mistake.
Then again, perfect for my example... I've seen people from various nations here claiming that someone from their nation had invented something he hadn't.

Eh, you weren't that far off. Enter Karl Ferdinand Braun (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Ferdinand_Braun), the inventor of the cathode-ray tube:
In 1897 he built the first cathode-ray tube oscilloscope(1) .CRT technology is to this day used by most television sets and computer monitors. The CRT is still called the "Braun tube" (Braunsche Röhre) in German-speaking countries (and in Japan: Buraun-kan).

Television wasn't invented by a single person, it seems to have been something that a lot of people decided would be an excellent idea during the first decades of the 20th century.

I thought John Logie Baird invented it, but I could be wrong

Because of two things.

Because of the Roman Empire and because of Nazis.

Nazism was one of the worst thing to hapen to civilization, many people will never forget it.

I thought John Logie Baird invented it, but I could be wrong

And I thought Philo Farnsworth did. And David Sarnoff though he himself did. The Wiki article says they all kind of used each other's work.

Because of two things.

Because of the Roman Empire and because of Nazis.

Nazism was one of the worst thing to hapen to civilization, many people will never forget it.

And we have a Godwin (I'm surprised it took this long).

There was that interlude in the late 30's and early 40's, but ... the Roman Empire?

I remember this big thread where a guy named IDF with others were talking about *something related to Israel* dont know what precisely. IDF finally said something like "indeed, I say I don't like the German nation". If supporting an apartheid regime isn't bad enough being so hateful about everyone because they are supposedly anti-Semitic and then making a discriminating remark yourself... phew.

Nazism was very very bad for Germany as well. I for one like Germany, it is one of our biggest trading partners and Germans aren't unfriendly people. If I am supposed to hate everyone my ancestors fought I could make one hell of a list.

And we have a Godwin (I'm surprised it took this long).

I beat him with my Baby Hitler post. ;)

I beat him with my Baby Hitler post. ;)

*looking back* So you did. *re-allocates the Godwin award*

There was that interlude in the late 30's and early 40's, but ... the Roman Empire?

The barbarian hordes sacking and creating the fall of Rome?

Although the Vandals were more slavic, Gauls were French, and the Huns were most definately not from the Deutschland. Germany was never really touched by Rome except for the Battle of Teoutoberg Forest where the Romans were beaten back behind the Rhine.

*looking back* So you did. *re-allocates the Godwin award*

W00T! :D

I remember this big thread where a guy named IDF with others were talking about *something related to Israel* dont know what precisely. IDF finally said something like "indeed, I say I don't like the German nation". If supporting an apartheid regime isn't bad enough being so hateful about everyone because they are supposedly anti-Semitic and then making a discriminating remark yourself... phew.

Nazism was very very bad for Germany as well. I for one like Germany, it is one of our biggest trading partners and Germans aren't unfriendly people. If I am supposed to hate everyone my ancestors fought I could make one hell of a list.

I agree with that there, especially more so since I'm Birtish, hating everyone your ancestors fought well that's just about every known country in the world!

Nazism was one of the worst, if not the worst, belief systems in the world, but that isn't a viable reason for hating Germany. It was 50 years ago and Germany is an entirely different nation now. Germany has certainly done more good than bad, excluding Russia Germany is the most powerful country of modern day Europe. If anyone here doesn't like Germany for a war that happened half a century ago then please by all means, go hate the British too for conquering and enslaving a fare share of the planet or go hate the French or Dutch for doing the same. It was all a long time ago and things are different now.

[serious mode: off] Ok, Germany does make good chocolate but why has noone here mentioned Belgium?!:D

Because you touch yourself at night.

<snip>
[/sarcasm]

Ok, now, really I'm just fed up with France and the USA whinging about how they are being treated so unfairly and unversally loathed.

So here's a surprise:
EVERYBODY IS!!!
It doesn't make you special, folks. Get over it.

And please, please, please, stop those endless sado-masochistic posts on why France/Europe/USA/Canada/Western Australia/Timbuktu is loathed for being so mucch better than the rest. Please.

oh good, i was beginning to worry for a minute there.

Ha, excellent! Just a couple days ago I was told by an American friend that he always thought of cuckoo clocks as a stereotypical Swiss thing. :eek:

Suffice to say that I was appalled, seeing how cuckoo clocks are quintessentially German.

So I'll totally use this thread to ask what everybody else thinks about this.

Cuckoo clocks - typically German or typically Swiss?
I think of cuckoo clocks as being German.

Ok, Germany does make good chocolate but why has noone here mentioned Belgium?!:D

Because Germany stole their chocolate too :p

I never knew a German invented TV?
Damn, my mistake.
Then again, perfect for my example... I've seen people from various nations here claiming that someone from their nation had invented something he hadn't.
At least we can claim the first regular tv programme which started in 1935. But there's gotta be a reason why the cathode ray tube is also called a Braunsche Röhre. Without that...
Its because they invaded Poland!
I didn't. So who's "they", eh?
You forgot Tokio Hotel!
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y223/GermanNightmare/ultima.gif
Ha, excellent! Just a couple days ago I was told by an American friend that he always thought of cuckoo clocks as a stereotypical Swiss thing. :eek:

Suffice to say that I was appalled, seeing how cuckoo clocks are quintessentially German.

So I'll totally use this thread to ask what everybody else thinks about this.

Cuckoo clocks - typically German or typically Swiss?
I'd say they're typically from the Black Forest, so Germany.
Since when did Germany invent the car? Didn't a bunch of guys just kinda start making them? (And I'd prefer our Fords over your Audis anyday, thank you... sorry, venting a bit on expensive repairs).
It is generally acknowledged that the first automobiles with gasoline powered internal combustion engines were completed almost simultaneously by several German inventors working independently: Karl Benz built his first automobile in 1885 in Mannheim. Benz was granted a patent for his automobile on January 29, 1886 and began the first production of automobiles in 1888. Soon there after, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Stuttgart in 1889 designed a vehicle from scratch to be an automobile rather than a horse carriage fitted with an engine.
Does that answer your question?
Because you touch yourself at night.
Sometimes even during the day!

So I'll totally use this thread to ask what everybody else thinks about this.

Cuckoo clocks - typically German or typically Swiss?

Swiss for the Clocks, Germans for the Sauerkraut..and beer.

The barbarian hordes sacking and creating the fall of Rome?

Although the Vandals were more slavic, Gauls were French, and the Huns were most definately not from the Deutschland. Germany was never really touched by Rome except for the Battle of Teoutoberg Forest where the Romans were beaten back behind the Rhine.

The Goths (that's the tribe, not the moody teenagers) sacked Rome and they were of Germanic origin. I'd also like to point out that although the Gauls existed in France and Northern Italy they were a confederation of Celtic tribes. Modern French people share a closer link with the Franks, another German tribe. Just don't tell the French that they are actually Germans.

I don't hate Germans, in fact, I like the Germans. I have a lot of German in my bloodline and also have a German last name.

Cuckoo clocks - typically German or typically Swiss?

i always thought they were swiss too. same with chocolate, particularly chocolate with nougart(sp?) in it.

Stereotypes? Of Germans? Nah! Keep your lederhosen on and don't get paranoid! ;)

I tend to think of that as the Swiss stereotype. Well, except for the beer... ;)

Swiss for the Clocks, Germans for the Sauerkraut..and beer.

i always thought they were swiss too.

Alright, this is worse than I thought - it's not only Americans thinking the damn things are Swiss. Poor Switzerland. :p

So here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuckoo_clock)'s debunking the stereotype, once and for all (as if :rolleyes:): the Swiss don't make cuckoo clocks. Never did, hopefully never will.

You've all been fooled by Mark Twain, Orson Welles and, for good measure, Benito Mussolini:

The cuckoo clock is often wrongly associated with Switzerland, as in the movie The Third Man. In the USA, this error is probably due to a story by Mark Twain in which the hero depicts the Swiss town of Lucerne as the home of cuckoo clocks.

"In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed - but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love, 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. So long, Holly." - The Third Man

This quote was not originally in the screenplay by Graham Greene but put in the film by Orson Welles who copied it from the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.

'74.

Really, why does the world hate Germans so much?

It's appaling how Germans get portrayed in foreign media, they're either the obese, Santa-Claus like beer-quaffing, sausage-eating, loud-mouthed Bavarians, or else the strict, over-disciplined, helplessly organised slim-lipped, sarcastic, cold Prussians with artrocious accents. Where's the diversity???

Germans have done so much good for the world, they invented cars, TV, found out about infections through microbes and developed ways to prevent it, they gave the world painters like Albrecht Duerrer, musicians like Johann Sebastian Bach, writers like Schiller and Goethe and philosophers like Hegel, Wittgenstein and Kant. And yet they're constantly criticised by the world and made fun of.
You are all a bunch of ungrateful bastards!
[/sarcasm]

Ok, now, really I'm just fed up with France and the USA whinging about how they are being treated so unfairly and unversally loathed.

So here's a surprise:
EVERYBODY IS!!!
It doesn't make you special, folks. Get over it.

And please, please, please, stop those endless sado-masochistic posts on why France/Europe/USA/Canada/Western Australia/Timbuktu is loathed for being so mucch better than the rest. Please.

stereotypes are fun!



now i want pasta

The barbarian hordes sacking and creating the fall of Rome?

Although the Vandals were more slavic, Gauls were French, and the Huns were most definately not from the Deutschland. Germany was never really touched by Rome except for the Battle of Teoutoberg Forest where the Romans were beaten back behind the Rhine.

I ... guess. It's hard to say what the ethnic make-up of some of those tribes was, though the Gauls had been thoroughly pwned by the Romans by the time the Western Empire fell. As for Rome touching Germany (in a nice way, of course), what's the German word for cheese? And for wine? There was interaction and trade, and quite a few Germans ended up serving in the Roman army as time passed. It's too bad the Romans decided conquering germany wasn't worth it, would have been interesting to see what a Romanized Central Europe might have become.

'74.
:D

*pats*

:D

*pats*
'88:)

Alright, this is worse than I thought - it's not only Americans thinking the damn things are Swiss. Poor Switzerland. :p

So here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuckoo_clock)'s debunking the stereotype, once and for all (as if :rolleyes:): the Swiss don't make cuckoo clocks. Never did, hopefully never will.

You've all been fooled by Mark Twain, Orson Welles and, for good measure, Benito Mussolini:

Twain would be so proud!

If the Swiss did make cuckoo clocks, they'd come with cork-screws and nail-files and screw-drivers and three different kinds of cuckoos you could switch in and out. :D

I didn't. So who's "they", eh?

Yes you did (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MbeT7_ARm8)

my apologies, could not help but mention the war.... ;)

'74.

FFS, please get rid of that obnoxious sig.

Probably because they started it. They invaded Poland!:p

Sorry, really couldn't resist. In any case, simply citing humerous stereotypes as evidence of anti-Germanism hardly seems fair. The former (the paunchy bloke in lederhosen) is essentially positive, whilst the latter (sarcastic, cold, unemotional bond villian-esque character) is a damn sight more desirable than the arrogant french, gregarious and bellicose American, or uncultured English lout stereotype.

FFS, please get rid of that obnoxious sig.
I could have made it pink.;)

Probably because they started it. They invaded Poland!:p

Sorry, really couldn't resist. In any case, simply citing humerous stereotypes as evidence of anti-Germanism hardly seems fair. The former (the paunchy bloke in lederhosen) is essentially positive, whilst the latter (sarcastic, cold, unemotional bond villian-esque character) is a damn sight more desirable than the arrogant french, gregarious and bellicose American, or uncultured English lout stereotype.

Gregarious is bad? :eek:

Funny how "anti-Germanism" (did we coin a new term?) is so bad here, yet anti-Americanism runs rampant and, moreover, gets applauded...

Gregarious is bad? :eek:

At least you use irony. I hope.

At least you use irony. I hope.

Depends on whether you really mean "describing one who enjoys being in crowds and socializing."

Funny how "anti-Germanism" (did we coin a new term?) is so bad here, yet anti-Americanism runs rampant and, moreover, gets applauded...

How jealousy works really...

Oh... and to all those people talking about Poland...

DONT MEANTION THE WAR!

Funny how "anti-Germanism" (did we coin a new term?) is so bad here, yet anti-Americanism runs rampant and, moreover, gets applauded...

I thought the OP and some others mentioned how they didn't care for stereotypes of any kind? :confused:

Depends on whether you really mean "describing one who enjoys being in crowds and socializing."

Gregarious in its classical sense. Not merely sociable, but the loud, gobby **** who dominates every room, pisses everybody off, and fails to take silence as a hint to sod off.

I thought the OP and some others mentioned how they didn't care for stereotypes of any kind? :confused:

Of course. Typical hypocrisy of the anti-US folks. "Don't talk bad about my country. Oh, and the US are TEH EVIL!!!1one" :rolleyes:

If you don't want it thrown at you, don't throw it at others. Pretty simple to figure out really.

Gregarious in its classical sense. Not merely sociable, but the loud, gobby **** who dominates every room, pisses everybody off, and fails to take silence as a hint to sod off.

Oh, you mean a German! ;)

Oh, you mean a German! ;)

Possibly. However, at least the US has deoderant;)

Funny how "anti-Germanism" (did we coin a new term?) is so bad here, yet anti-Americanism runs rampant and, moreover, gets applauded...

Thats because we don't confuse Germans then with Germans now, and the same with Americans. When America reforms itself, we'll do the same.

Possibly. However, at least the US has deoderant;)

See? We're not so bad.

Possibly. However, at least the US has deoderant;)
Not to my experience... :mad:

Thats because we don't confuse Germans then with Germans now, and the same with Americans. When America reforms itself, we'll do the same.

You fail at differentiating between "America" and "Americans."

Actually, you fail at differentiating between all of the nations that makes up the Americas, as well.

You fail at differentiating between "America" and "Americans."

And decent Americans and Amerikans. As I think I stated before, we could just say "people like you" for want of a better way of expressing it.

And decent Americans and Amerikans. As I think I stated before, we could just say "people like you" for want of a better way of expressing it.

Really...don't even go the "people like you" route...

You fail at differentiating between "America" and "Americans."

Actually, you fail at differentiating between all of the nations that makes up the Americas, as well.Why should one do that?

Why should one do that?

Uh...which?

Of course. Typical hypocrisy of the anti-US folks. "Don't talk bad about my country. Oh, and the US are TEH EVIL!!!1one" :rolleyes:

If you don't want it thrown at you, don't throw it at others. Pretty simple to figure out really.

I agree that there are people who love taking potshots at the US but then when someone does the same to their country they get all riled up and offended. Hypocrisy, sure. But not every non-American who criticizes the US is like that. Assuming otherwise is a mistake.

Uh...which?

No, what ... ?

Funny how "anti-Germanism" (did we coin a new term?) is so bad here, yet anti-Americanism runs rampant and, moreover, gets applauded...

The other thing I don't like about Americans is that they have to always say stuff like "We Americans," Tony Blair and others don't go around saying "We British," so what's the point? It's ok to be proud, but that's just a bit iffy. Other than that though people don't like America because they're jealous, it's a massive sprawling super power that virtually controls the planet, anyone would be jealous of that. Why did/do people hate the British so much? Because they used to control the planet as well.

its kinda strange the way the germans get scolded the most for ww2 in terms of atrocities, what about the japanese?
I think the French get a lot of undeserved criticism, well maybe some of its deserved meh.

Funny how "anti-Germanism" (did we coin a new term?) is so bad here, yet anti-Americanism runs rampant and, moreover, gets applauded...

I thought the OP and some others mentioned how they didn't care for stereotypes of any kind? :confused:

Of course. Typical hypocrisy of the anti-US folks. "Don't talk bad about my country. Oh, and the US are TEH EVIL!!!1one" :rolleyes:

If you don't want it thrown at you, don't throw it at others. Pretty simple to figure out really.

Astonishing how much actually reading the OP or, God forbid, the thread, before bashing on it would help. :rolleyes: :

[/sarcasm]

Ok, now, really I'm just fed up with France and the USA whinging about how they are being treated so unfairly and unversally loathed.

So here's a surprise:
EVERYBODY IS!!!
It doesn't make you special, folks. Get over it.
I don't mind the stereotypes. I grew up with them, some of them are even funny. What I do mind are people who get worked up about being thought of in stereotypes ;)

The other thing I don't like about Americans is that they have to always say stuff like "We Americans," Tony Blair and others don't go around saying "We British," so what's the point? It's ok to be proud, but that's just a bit iffy. Other than that though people don't like America because they're jealous, it's a massive sprawling super power that virtually controls the planet, anyone would be jealous of that. Why did/do people hate the British so much? Because they used to control the planet as well.

I got about 85,400 hits in Google for "We British". :p Someone's saying it.

Astonishing how much actually reading the OP or, God forbid, the thread, before bashing on it would help. :rolleyes: :

Uh...yeah, I read the OP and the thread. See the direction the thread took? I did. And I responded to it. You, WYTYG, should be more than accustomed to the turns threads here take. Chiding for replying in kind is just silly, my dear.

On a side note: There's anti germanism?

I thought that whole thing died out in like 1946 because ifnot I still have a lot of Anti-Japanese posters I'd love to post all over town.

Ha, excellent! Just a couple days ago I was told by an American friend that he always thought of cuckoo clocks as a stereotypical Swiss thing. :eek:

Suffice to say that I was appalled, seeing how cuckoo clocks are quintessentially German.

So I'll totally use this thread to ask what everybody else thinks about this.

Cuckoo clocks - typically German or typically Swiss?

totally German....like fondue is totally like Swiss man....

Oh what's wrong with Japan now? Another war frustration?

Is Japan (like Israel) acting racist? Is Japan occupying (like Russia does to Georgia) lands?

So I'll totally use this thread to ask what everybody else thinks about this.

Cuckoo clocks - typically German or typically Swiss?
Definitely Austrian. ;P Someone had to say it.
'74.
Heh.

Oh what's wrong with Japan now? Another war frustration?

Is Japan (like Israel) acting racist? Is Japan occupying (like Russia does to Georgia) lands?

Japan still has quite a few territorial disputes with its neighbours.

Yeah. But in the case of the Russians they don't have a territorial dispute they are just in parts of Georgia as peace keepers, effectively making it impossible for the Georgian government to rule over its own country threatened by separatists.

I like the German people in the new VW commercials. They're so cute.

I like the German people in the new VW commercials. They're so cute.
That's just what I needed... being called "cute".

That's just what I needed... being called "cute".

I hope you've learned your lesson.

I don't get particularly annoyed by stereotypes, though I admit to becoming a little frustrated with people who can't tell the difference between stereotypes and reality.

Incidentally, this thread reminds me very much of a bit from the Douglas Adams book Last Chance to See involving a pair of painfully stereotypical Germans. :)

The other thing I don't like about Americans is that they have to always say stuff like "We Americans," Tony Blair and others don't go around saying "We British," so what's the point? It's ok to be proud, but that's just a bit iffy. Other than that though people don't like America because they're jealous, it's a massive sprawling super power that virtually controls the planet, anyone would be jealous of that. Why did/do people hate the British so much? Because they used to control the planet as well.No. Jealousy is not the reason. It's America's ill behavior, as a nation as well as individuals. Their double standards, their nationalism, their irresponsible policies abroad, their religiousness, their stubborn pride. As I said before "Americanization" now means all the negative developments of society, state, culture.

I hope you've learned your lesson.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y223/GermanNightmare/AngryGerman.gif

Ha, excellent! Just a couple days ago I was told by an American friend that he always thought of cuckoo clocks as a stereotypical Swiss thing. :eek:

Suffice to say that I was appalled, seeing how cuckoo clocks are quintessentially German.

So I'll totally use this thread to ask what everybody else thinks about this.

Cuckoo clocks - typically German or typically Swiss?

The Cuckoo is German but the Clock is Swiss. ^^

Really, why does the world hate Germans so much?

It's appaling how Germans get portrayed in foreign media, they're either the obese, Santa-Claus like beer-quaffing, sausage-eating, loud-mouthed Bavarians, or else the strict, over-disciplined, helplessly organised slim-lipped, sarcastic, cold Prussians with artrocious accents. Where's the diversity???

Germans have done so much good for the world, they invented cars, TV, found out about infections through microbes and developed ways to prevent it, they gave the world painters like Albrecht Duerrer, musicians like Johann Sebastian Bach, writers like Schiller and Goethe and philosophers like Hegel, Wittgenstein and Kant. And yet they're constantly criticised by the world and made fun of.
You are all a bunch of ungrateful bastards!
[/sarcasm]

Ok, now, really I'm just fed up with France and the USA whinging about how they are being treated so unfairly and unversally loathed.

So here's a surprise:
EVERYBODY IS!!!
It doesn't make you special, folks. Get over it.

And please, please, please, stop those endless sado-masochistic posts on why France/Europe/USA/Canada/Western Australia/Timbuktu is loathed for being so mucch better than the rest. Please.

I dont think we Canadians make those kinda threads. We dont ask other people's opinion, we are just too good...;)

I like Germans. Sauerbraten, Black Forest Cake, good beer. Mmmm. Fairy tale castles in the Black Forest. Skiing. Tall, blond, good-looking men, short, dark, good-looking men. Intelligence, loyalty, not much sense of humor, but no one's perfect. Of course there is that predilection to follow histrionic leaders into war, but ...

I don't think there's much "Anti-Germanism" in the world.

Clichés prevail. The German comes with a Pickelhaube, the Frenchman comes with a beret and a Gauloise in his mouth, and the Englishman comes with in a tweed suit, an umbrella and the "Times". Do they?

Got to live with it, but not take it seriously.

Really...don't even go the "people like you" route...

Well, right wing militarists who think the sun shines out an American ass. I'd say thats a box you have to tic.

Because you touch yourself at night.

Of course I do... who doesn't??? :p

Television wasn't invented by a single person, it seems to have been something that a lot of people decided would be an excellent idea during the first decades of the 20th century.

It was invented twice, by different people. Philo Farnsworth, an America, invented in 1932, but it didn't get on well. Vladimir Zworykin, a Russian, managed to invent a good television in 1947, and that's when it took off.

Funny how "anti-Germanism" (did we coin a new term?) is so bad here, yet anti-Americanism runs rampant and, moreover, gets applauded...

*roflmao

Funny how you completely failed to understand what this is about. Slag whoever you want in this thread, but if you want to whine about being slagged, go elsewhere. :p

Of course. Typical hypocrisy of the anti-US folks. "Don't talk bad about my country. Oh, and the US are TEH EVIL!!!1one" :rolleyes:

If you don't want it thrown at you, don't throw it at others. Pretty simple to figure out really.

I'm not throwing it at anyone. I'm hoping to draw it all onto my own home country, in the hope that poor tormented souls like yourself can finally stop feeling misunderstood. Ok?
Germans can take it, they have for decades now, so if USAmericans can't I figured it would be better if everybody started giving out about Germany instead.

Uh...yeah, I read the OP and the thread. See the direction the thread took? I did. And I responded to it. You, WYTYG, should be more than accustomed to the turns threads here take. Chiding for replying in kind is just silly, my dear.

Actually, reading the past few pages, you were the first one to mention the USA and negative sentiment towards it.... so much for the direction it was taking :rolleyes:

I'm not throwing it at anyone. I'm hoping to draw it all onto my own home country, in the hope that poor tormented souls like yourself can finally stop feeling misunderstood. Ok?
Germans can take it, they have for decades now, so if USAmericans can't I figured it would be better if everybody started giving out about Germany instead.


Its all been done and dusted though. America making a complete shite of things is "live" however.

Its all been done and dusted though. America making a complete shite of things is "live" however.

You know what? Give out to the Germans for it, they can take it ;)

You know what? Give out to the Germans for it, they can take it ;)

Hmmmm-----I could have people sing "Deutchland Uber Alles" everytime they show American troops marching on TV - thats sort of 2 Eagles with the one stone.

Hmmmm-----I could have people sing "Deutchland Uber Alles" everytime they show American troops marching on TV - thats sort of 2 Eagles with the one stone.

http://forums.di.fm/images/smilies/lmao.gif

That might just do...
And remember, Germany opposed the war on Iraq, too, after all.

http://forums.di.fm/images/smilies/lmao.gif

That might just do...
And remember, Germany opposed the war on Iraq, too, after all.

O yes. And when Amerikans on various boards were whining you could just throw in "O NOES, TEH GERMANSEZ AREN'T FOR WAR " and watch the irony bounce off...

Its because they invaded Poland!

Poland deserved it. Western Poland was created out of German land, and Eastern Poland came from land the Russians surrendered to Germany during WW1, so both Russia and Germany had valid claims on parts of Poland. Hitler didn't demand all of the German land back, just the Danzig corridor which seperated the main part of Germany form The Eastern Prussia enclave. The arrogant Poles refused even this minor demand, so the Germans invaded and took all their land back. Most other countries would have done the same.

Poland deserved it. Western Poland was created out of German land, and Eastern Poland came from land the Russians surrendered to Germany during WW1, so both Russia and Germany had valid claims on parts of Poland. Hitler didn't demand all of the German land back, just the Danzig corridor which seperated the main part of Germany form The Eastern Prussia enclave. The arrogant Poles refused even this minor demand, so the Germans invaded and took all their land back. Most other countries would have done the same.

Like Iraq and Kuwait, that worked out well.

If you have to invade a country to get it back, then it really doesn't belong to you to begin with.

Ft. Sumpter, too predictable

Like Iraq and Kuwait, that worked out well.

If you have to invade a country to get it back, then it really doesn't belong to you to begin with.

Ft. Sumpter, too predictable

If it was created out of your nations land, then yes it does belong to you. Also, Germany didn't ask for ALL their land back, just the land they needed.

Really, why does the world hate Germans so much?

People can't get over the Holocaust.
"Omg, your German? How many Jews did you kill?" That's what they are thinking, they won't say it but it's the first thing that runs through their head.

That and crazy German porn.

If it was created out of your nations land, then yes it does belong to you. Also, Germany didn't ask for ALL their land back, just the land they needed.

Yes, that's why they went on and annexed The Netherlands, Belgium and Northern France right after that... they just took what they needed.

And you're conveniently forgetting that the fact that parts of Poland were German for some time was due to Prussia having annexed them before. They were not traditionally German.

Cuckoo clocks - typically German or typically Swiss?

German. We don't do overly large clocks with freakin' birds inside here. Also, Germans produce chocolate? I can only think of Rittersport, eww.

That and crazy German porn.

Fuck yes. Its like a box of horrible allsorts...you never know whats going to hop out...

Its because they invaded Poland!
Who hasn't? It was the "in"-thing for the previous millenia, like exterminating minorities or oppressing the working class.

It was a Mexican who invented colour TV by the way

German. We don't do overly large clocks with freakin' birds inside here. That's what I said. *nods and ignores the chocolate slander*

Who hasn't? It was the "in"-thing for the previous millenia, like exterminating minorities or oppressing the working class.

Yeah, but at least we fought back hard...unlike France. :p

On a side note: There's anti germanism?
Must........resist......

http://www.utils.ex.ac.uk/german/abinitio/whygerm1.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,556024,00.html

I fail.

Seriously though, check out this little gem:
http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?PageID=825
http://pewglobal.org/reports/images/252-9.gif

Note that Germany gets the lowest rating in...Germany! :p Well, at least in Europe, anyways.

The Americans are ignorant hicks.
The French are anal-retentive prudes.
The Germans are irrate militants.
The Italians are ruthless mobsters.
The Irish are boisterous drunkards.

Everyone has a stereotype attached to them.

me, personally, i think of Germany as the fatherland, Russia as the mother land, and ww1/2 as daddy having a bit too much at the bar that night(yes, i know germany didn't start WW1).

but in seriousness, for anyone who hasn't had german chocolate, it's some of the best in the world, Kinder...i might just have to kill for.

Also, cars, who has better cars than germany?

and i guess this is somewhat biased coming from a german-student growing up in the amana colonies in Iowa(a german settlement) but the food is delicious!

So as the Die Prinzen song goes "Das alles ist Deutschland!"

If anything, we need MORE anti-Germanism. Just pile it on until they grow some balls and pick it the fuck up.

No. Jealousy is not the reason. It's America's ill behavior, as a nation as well as individuals. Their double standards, their nationalism, their irresponsible policies abroad, their religiousness, their stubborn pride. As I said before "Americanization" now means all the negative developments of society, state, culture.

You know, you'd be surprised at the number of Americans that aren't like that. We've got a pretty diverse country over here, so you're going to each of those in varying degrees ranging from major to minimal.

On that note, what exactly is wrong with Religion?

On that note, what exactly is wrong with Religion?

It's only Christianity. islam is fucking fantastic :rolleyes:

I rather like Germany and Germans myself.

Unfortunately, the only way I can answer this question is rather cynically. It's because of that war six decades ago. I know it's crappy that people are still prejudiced because of it, I find it sad, but that's how it seems to me. The portrayal of Germans as fat, liederhosen-wearing, beer-chugging oafs is sort of a way to make a stereotype for Germans that couldn't possibly be threatening.

It's only Christianity. islam is fucking fantastic :rolleyes:

I hate the fundamentalist movements of both. To me their only differences in actual views are pretty much window dressing.

Television wasn't invented by a single person, it seems to have been something that a lot of people decided would be an excellent idea during the first decades of the 20th century.

Many people had the idea for the lightbulb, radio, computer, cars, planes etc, etc. The one that does it first gets the credit. At least thats been the rules. Although Al Gore inventing the Internet tried to break that but failed.

You confused me initially, Cabra -- I was left wondering, "There's anti-Germanism in the world???"

Many people had the idea for the lightbulb, radio, computer, cars, planes etc, etc. The one that does it first gets the credit. At least thats been the rules. Although Al Gore inventing the Internet tried to break that but failed.

Considering that the US Government's ARPA created the internet in the ~1950s, and Tim Berner-Lee created the world wide web in 1970, Al's claim is a whole lot of hot air.

The CLOSEST Gore can come is that he CAN claim coining the term "Information Superhighway."

Must........resist......

http://www.utils.ex.ac.uk/german/abinitio/whygerm1.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,556024,00.html

I fail.

Seriously though, check out this little gem:
http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?PageID=825
http://pewglobal.org/reports/images/252-9.gif

Note that Germany gets the lowest rating in...Germany! :p Well, at least in Europe, anyways.Am I the only one who finds this chart interesting. In the "Why do American's hate France" thread a bunch of people were going off on how the dislike was greater on the american side, but according to this the opposite is true.

I'm sure it is partially because lots of people, not just Americans, can't get over the fact that Hitler was German and Nazis were German, etc. And so most people, mostly subconsciously relate anything German, or anyone German, to that war and Hitler and Nazis. And I guess Germans/Germany is stereotyped as beer drinkers, because i guesss they do drink a lot a beer? and are pretty famous for making good sausages (more like, Bratwurst, Knockwurst, etc.), and I don't know. But cuckoo clocks are most defintely Swedish.

You confused me initially, Cabra -- I was left wondering, "There's anti-Germanism in the world???"

*lol
I guess I was being too sarcastic there... of course there is. There has to be. Same as there's anti-Francism, anti-Italianism, anti-Anglocism, and let's not forget anti-Americanism. The only ones who felt threatened or insulted enough by all the stereotypes and bad jokes floating around the globe to actually go and invent a word for it are the USA, but that doesn't mean that Germany doesn't get its fair share. Same as Russia. Same as Austria (oh, believe me, you don't want to here THOSE joke. Suffice to say that Germans tend to refer to them as "Schluchtenscheisser"). Same as Turkey. Same as China. Same as North Korea. Same as Japan.

I was just fed up with some USAmericans' constant whinging about it on this forum, so I thought I'd try and get things in perspective. From some of the responses it's pretty clear that it went right over some people's head, though.... :(

Who could hate the land of chocolate, beer, and kuku clocks?


certainly not me.

to the op,i have not noticed it...ever,at least with the people i hang out with.
i have zero ill will towards germans.
this may be wrong,but when i think of germany,i think of awesome cars,great beer,beautiful dark forests,the girl on the st.paulis beer label,and meticulous engineering types....oh and bratwurst(sp)

i am not into travelling,and have said i would never want to leave the states(i like our diverse landscape)but i have been to cozumel and cancun(the only time i left the states,aside from montreal a few times cause it is within driving distance)
but i would love to go to germany.

of all the places i would like to see..my short list is:
1.the south pacific
2.germany/sweden(alpine areas)
3.australia

doubtfull i will ever see them,as i hate planes,and i dont think they make enough zanax's to get me there.

Am I the only one who finds this chart interesting. In the "Why do American's hate France" thread a bunch of people were going off on how the dislike was greater on the american side, but according to this the opposite is true.
Yeah, but everyone hates America's foreign policies, pretty much.

strict, over-disciplined, helplessly organised slim-lipped, sarcastic, cold Prussians with artrocious accents
Personally, I think this stereotype is a great stereotype for a nation to have. :p But yeah, Germans are pretty cool. I don't have a problem with them.

Must........resist......

http://www.utils.ex.ac.uk/german/abinitio/whygerm1.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,556024,00.html

I fail.

Seriously though, check out this little gem:
http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?PageID=825
http://pewglobal.org/reports/images/252-9.gif

Note that Germany gets the lowest rating in...Germany! :p Well, at least in Europe, anyways.
No they don't, Pakistan does.:confused:
Oh you sneaky devil with your white text!
----------------------------------------------------------
I like Germany but i have less respect for them because they are so touchy about WWII.
That isn't entirely true but heh

Although Al Gore inventing the Internet tried to break that but failed.

He does have a Lifetime Achievement Webby for his contributions to making the internet what it is as we know it though...

I'm sure it is partially because lots of people, not just Americans, can't get over the fact that Hitler was German and Nazis were German, etc. And so most people, mostly subconsciously relate anything German, or anyone German, to that war and Hitler and Nazis. And I guess Germans/Germany is stereotyped as beer drinkers, because i guesss they do drink a lot a beer? and are pretty famous for making good sausages (more like, Bratwurst, Knockwurst, etc.), and I don't know. But cuckoo clocks are most defintely Swedish.
Hitler was an Austrian. Not a German. (Although they made him a German later on...) That's the one big thing the Austrians want to change: Make Hitler German and Beethoven Austrian...

And Swedish Kuckucksuhren? I've yet to see that!
Personally, I think this stereotype is a great stereotype for a nation to have. :p But yeah, Germans are pretty cool. I don't have a problem with them.
I only wish I could fulfill that stereotype better. It's not that bad to have, now is it? :p
I like Germany but i have less respect for them because they are so touchy about WWII.
That isn't entirely true but heh
Whereever you go as a German, someone is bound to mention the war, and if only in a stupid joke.
The last 2-3 generations have not lived through nor defined themselves through that war, so all it will do is make the Germans feel strange.
(Sneeky secrets in white script!)

Hitler was an Austrian. Not a German. (Although they made him a German later on...)

On a side note, that should get thinking those who want to change the US-Constitution to allow Schwarzie to become president :p

Stereotypes suck, I agree. All the marvelous gifts to the world from your nation and all anyone can think of is the fat, beer-swilling cowboy yahoo with the gun rack on the back of his pick-up truck and the "Love It or Leave IT!" bumper sticker. Yep, they suck.
Well said, Farnhamia. I likely could not have put it better myself.

I rather like Germany and Germans myself.

Unfortunately, the only way I can answer this question is rather cynically. It's because of that war six decades ago. I know it's crappy that people are still prejudiced because of it, I find it sad, but that's how it seems to me. The portrayal of Germans as fat, liederhosen-wearing, beer-chugging oafs is sort of a way to make a stereotype for Germans that couldn't possibly be threatening.


I was living in West Germany during the 70's, and made friends with many Germans. I remember an elderly gentleman explaining to me why the world feared Germany as a whole, and preferred for it to be separated.

During those years, East Germany and West Germany where the economic and military powers in their respective block (NATO/WARSAW), not including the nuclear powers of US, UK, USSR and France. He also told me how twice in the same century it took the whole world to stop and defeat the Germans, and that was the reason Germany was stil feared even during the separation between East and West.

Vic

I don't think Icelanders have a stereotype...I feel left out.

I don't think Icelanders have a stereotype...I feel left out.

Here comes.

Icelanders (there are about 40 or so) live in grass-covered excavations. When they get cold, they dance around a geyser. Apart from that, they wear horned helmets, feed on salmon and sing atrociously (Björk). That's about it.

Here comes.

Icelanders (there are about 40 or so) live in grass-covered excavations. When they get cold, they dance around a geyser. Apart from that, they wear horned helmets, feed on salmon and sing atrociously (Björk). That's about it.
Actually, that's pretty accurate.

I think a lot of it has to do with WWII. People still associate it with the Nazis and totalitarianism. Interestingly, I've noticed some level of anti-German sentiment even in anime. The evil cabal Seele in Neon Genesis Evangelion is centered in Germany (to say nothing of Asuka) and I recall one of the main baddies in Trinity Blood being named Dietrich von Lohengrin (as German a name as there is to be found).

Really, why does the world hate Germans so much?

It's appaling how Germans get portrayed in foreign media, they're either the obese, Santa-Claus like beer-quaffing, sausage-eating, loud-mouthed Bavarians, or else the strict, over-disciplined, helplessly organised slim-lipped, sarcastic, cold Prussians with artrocious accents. Where's the diversity???

Germans have done so much good for the world, they invented cars, TV, found out about infections through microbes and developed ways to prevent it, they gave the world painters like Albrecht Duerrer, musicians like Johann Sebastian Bach, writers like Schiller and Goethe and philosophers like Hegel, Wittgenstein and Kant. And yet they're constantly criticised by the world and made fun of.
You are all a bunch of ungrateful bastards!
[/sarcasm]

Ok, now, really I'm just fed up with France and the USA whinging about how they are being treated so unfairly and unversally loathed.

So here's a surprise:
EVERYBODY IS!!!
It doesn't make you special, folks. Get over it.

And please, please, please, stop those endless sado-masochistic posts on why France/Europe/USA/Canada/Western Australia/Timbuktu is loathed for being so mucch better than the rest. Please.

Political correctness dictates that everyone must be loved by everyone for everything, except the Germans.

;)

Seriously though, I don't get it either, it's pretty preposterous.

Here comes.

Icelanders (there are about 40 or so) live in grass-covered excavations. When they get cold, they dance around a geyser. Apart from that, they wear horned helmets, feed on salmon and sing atrociously (Björk). That's about it.

Actually, that's pretty accurate.

You left out the part about their women wearing clothes made from dead swans (http://www.worth1000.com/web/media/302686/bjork.jpg).

Considering that the US Government's ARPA created the internet in the ~1950s, and Tim Berner-Lee created the world wide web in 1970, Al's claim is a whole lot of hot air.

The CLOSEST Gore can come is that he CAN claim coining the term "Information Superhighway."

To be fair to Gore, he never claimed to have invented the internet. He claimed to have supported and funded the program to develop Arpanet into something bigger, which, y'know, he did. (I think his exact words were something like "I took initiative in creating the internet.") Politicians do so many things worth mocking that it's a bit of a pet peeve of mine to see them mocked for things they never actually did. :)

Guess what other fun things Germany brought us?

The holocaust and rabid government censorship. And a prime minster who just can't stand being felt up a bit. Come on, the rest of the world is the US's bitch, why can't you be?

the rest of the world is the US's bitch

In your dreams.

In your dreams.

Hi, Tony Blair!


Although most of the people aren't, the governments are.

And those dreams are more nightmares, really.

You left out the part about their women wearing clothes made from dead swans (http://www.worth1000.com/web/media/302686/bjork.jpg).

I thought all women dressed like that :confused:

Guess what other fun things Germany brought us?

The holocaust and rabid government censorship. And a prime minster who just can't stand being felt up a bit. Come on, the rest of the world is the US's bitch, why can't you be?

To be honest, if I was her Mr Bush would have left with a black eye. And a well deserved one at that.

I think a lot of it has to do with WWII. People still associate it with the Nazis and totalitarianism. Interestingly, I've noticed some level of anti-German sentiment even in anime. The evil cabal Seele in Neon Genesis Evangelion is centered in Germany (to say nothing of Asuka) and I recall one of the main baddies in Trinity Blood being named Dietrich von Lohengrin (as German a name as there is to be found).

The Japanese have a sort of mini-obsession with Germany. MAER, for example...

Here comes.

Icelanders (there are about 40 or so) live in grass-covered excavations. When they get cold, they dance around a geyser. Apart from that, they wear horned helmets, feed on salmon and sing atrociously (Björk). That's about it.

If every Icelandic woman looks like Björk I don't care how they sing, I'm moving there. :D

To be honest, if I was her Mr Bush would have left with a black eye. And a well deserved one at that.

You know, there's so many reason to deck Shrub that, if he ever gropes you, your hands will be sore long before you're able to address the sexual harassment.

Hm? As a Finn I have only one thing to say: Ich rauche Camel. Rauchen Sie Rovaniemi?

Not really. A toast to former and future brothers in arms and let bygones be bygones. Let's get wankered!

Joona

It's appaling how Germans get portrayed in foreign media, they're either the obese, Santa-Claus like beer-quaffing, sausage-eating, loud-mouthed Bavarians, or else the strict, over-disciplined, helplessly organised slim-lipped, sarcastic, cold Prussians with artrocious accents. Where's the diversity???

Germans have done so much good for the world, they invented cars, TV, found out about infections through microbes and developed ways to prevent it, they gave the world painters like Albrecht Duerrer, musicians like Johann Sebastian Bach, writers like Schiller and Goethe and philosophers like Hegel, Wittgenstein and Kant. And yet they're constantly criticised by the world and made fun of.
You are all a bunch of ungrateful bastards!
[/sarcasm]

Ok, now, really I'm just fed up with France and the USA whinging about how they are being treated so unfairly and unversally loathed.

So here's a surprise:
EVERYBODY IS!!!
It doesn't make you special, folks. Get over it.


Totally agreed.
Italy (in the last 500 years) has produced people like Cristoforo Colombo, Vespucci, Machiavelli, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Galilei, Torricelli, Volta, Fermi, Marconi, Garibaldi, Meucci, Segre, Pontecorvo, Rossini, Verdi, Puccini, Munari, De Chirico, Fellini, Luchino Visconti, Moravia, Calvino, Gramsci...
and the stereotypical italian is a mafioso with a mustache and greased curly black hair with a knife and a Borsalino.

I say, fuck the stereotypes.