Traditional Clichés

Every nation has its clichéd stereotypes, but that is by no means the full picture - especially in today's Germany. Be surprised!

A German joke is no laughing matter! As we all know, we Germans have no sense of humour, we love wearing lederhosen, and we always eat sausages and sauerkraut. We are efficient, thorough, obsessed with punctuality - and we make perfect cars. We always want to be first on the beach. Oh, and we are also painfully good at taking penalties.

Those are some of the stereotypes. But Germany is also home of the Love Parade, an annual celebration of Techno music on the streets of Berlin. It is a country of designer flair (Hugo Boss) and supermodel chic (Claudia Schiffer). 

It's a land of coalmines transformed into temples of art, of long holidays and Frei Korper Kultur (freebody culture - or nude sunbathing).  And - believe it or not some of us always had a sense of humour. After all, we allowed the artist Christo to wrap the Berlin Reichstag (Parliament) in what looked like a vast sheet, so we can't take ourselves all that seriously.

Go on, get out of the clichés - and into the challenges and changing faces of modern Germany. You'll be surprised by what you find.