This year represents a personal milestone: I have lived as long in Germany as in the United States (not counting my years as a baby). Inside, I’m now half American, half German, and I feel a strong attachment to, and appreciation of, both countries.
I thought about this last weekend when two friends — one American, one German — sent me the same article from The New York Times. Its author compares Germans respecting the rules at a swimming pool to Germany being cautious in its response to the current financial crisis.
My American friend commented that certain attitudes haven’t changed since she was a student in Germany in 1990. My American side could see the logic in that. But the part of me that’s been living in Germany so long found the article — and the accompanying illustration — a little condescending. It’s implied that the American approach is categorically the right one, and that the Germans should stop being “stubborn” and “resisting“.
Much of the German media, of course, applies its own bias toward America — a lot of things in the US appear bizarre, overblown, underregulated and wrongheaded from a European perspective. But in my opinion, the stereotypes of Germany are less fair, and potentially more dangerous, because they’re a little out of date.
American reporters still tend to sit in Berlin and write about things like opera, King Ludwig II and Oktoberfest. Newsworthy Germans outside the world of politics and finance — particularly as covered by The New York Times — tend to be Nazis (skinheads or former concentration camp guards), ex-Nazis (the pope included), spies (Stasi informers) or criminals (usually small-town bank robbers doing something bizarre).
Some Americans believe in these stereotypes. In 2003, author Michael Moore told an auditorium full of 20-year-olds in Munich that they held a collective responsibility for what their grandparents had done during the Third Reich.
Most Americans, however, don’t feel this way. It’s because Germany’s cultural ambassadors have done such a good job.
Armin Mueller-Stahl is well known for his talent in a variety of film roles. Magicians Siegfried and Roy entertained visitors to Las Vegas for 30 years. Heidi Klum, Claudia Schiffer and Elke Sommer project elegance, grace and good nature. Werner Herzog and Roland Emmerich are opposites in the world of film, but the work of both is broadly appreciated.
German engineering has always been legendary; but even Volkswagen, which had its origins in the Third Reich, proved in this 2006 American ad campaign that Germans are cool and have a sense of humor.
Aldi and Haribo have established themselves in the United States — Aldi promising a “more intimate shopping experience” and Haribo telling customers where to find three-pound bags of gummy bears. Ritter Sport and Beck’s beer are widely available, and Hofbräuhaus has just opened its third restaurant in the US (complete with American tourists!). Americans are starting to get a better picture of what Germany is like — just not through the media.
What do you think? Are our countries being fair to each other? I’d like to hear your opinion. Register for free and leave a comment below.
