21 year old German here.
This question is for Americans who have been to Germany before (or might’ve had any interaction with Germans). And I know there are a lot of Americans on this platform who bash and hate on their own country but I hope to get an answer that’s as truthful and unbiased as possible.
So as someone who’s very sensitive I always felt like people here are way too cruel and direct. It’s a prevalent stereotype that Germans are very direct and cold. I know that a big part of this is my own perception and mental state that will cause these types of perceptions independent from the country because there will always be assholes.
But I wonder if it could be true that some of my observation might actually be because Germans might actually be more cruel. If you guys are really honest I wonder if it is possible that Americans might be slightly more nice than Germans and which country you think is actually more cruel in general. (Hope this question is not too stupid)
People are cruel everywhere.
Unfortunately that’s true :(
Only thing we can do is try to make the world a better place one by one
US is a big place. Hospitality differs between new york and alamosa, colorado.
I always hear they have great hospitality in the south.
Unfortunately, a lot of southern hospitality is just superficial. It’s frequently a veneer of hospitality over a lot of judgment and hate.
I’ll take cold honesty over fake friendliness.
Yea I don’t think that’s the case. And even if I would still take fake friendliness over cold honesty every day. I think the stereotype of “fake friendliness” is more associated with areas like California/LA. I know some people from the South and they’re genuinely nice (and I can tell it’s real. I see it very quickly if someone is faking it). But as I stated in my post there are always assholes everywhere
I’ve lived in both the south, and in CA. There are wonderful people both places, and a lot of fake people. The amount of casual racism, bigotry, and hate has been much higher in the south. And it’s made it really hard to stomach their ‘hospitality’.
my favorite lightbulb joke is:
q. how many germans does it take to change a lightbulb? a. one because they are efficient and without humor.
Lol, I like that XD. But it’s probably true. I think there might be something about Germans that makes them overly efficient/structured to the point where they lose the humor and warmth. Like as if they lack being “casual” and seem very uptight. Does that make sense?
An outsiders perspective on German efficiency: it seems like you’re all taught that there is a correct way to do everything.
Non Germans may be taught that there is a correct way for one or two things and maybe other correct ways are acknowledged, but for the most part, we only need to do those few things actually correctly. Good enough is good enough for everything else
I feel like the German government doesn’t actively hate the majority of the population, so I’m going to go with Americans having worse lives.
I mean the AFD hates all migrants and they make almost 20% of Germanys population…
They don’t speak for the whole federal government, though.
At least, not yet
I mean Americans are more likely to strike up a conversation with a stranger than a German and they will probably be more polite while doing it.
As a country, the US is much crueller than Germany though. I’m not going to tell you that Germany is perfect, but there are expectations about what is acceptable that simply don’t exist in the US. If you visit the US you’re going to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of homeless people and particularly the number of homeless people on crutches, because it’s ok not to give them needed medical aid. Similarly there’s an overwhelming number of school shootings where every other country has simply stopped them via gun control. You also have basically no workers rights compared to Europe and if you’re poor it’s assumed to be your fault.
Again, you will see aspects of this in Germany, but the US simply has many of the worse aspects turned up to 11.
I think it’s reassuring that there were mass anti-extremism protests through out Germany against AfD. To me, this shows me there is a kindness within the culture and a desire to prevent the hate expressed during the Nazi regime.
I would say culturally, Germans are serious and honest, which could come off as cold on first impression. But I have experienced kindness and understanding in most interactions especially when it was apparent I could not speak Deutsch.
I have personnally experienced a realtor stand up for me after just meeting when landlord was trying to nickle and dime me out of my deposit for a 40 year old house. He flat out said he would not work with him if he would not provide my deposit back in full.
As mentioned, milage may vary and people all have theor own personality, but I have not had a bad experience with any Germans.
