Posted on 07/02/2002 12:48:23 PM PDT by Shermy
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germans may make great cars, brew delicious beer and give the world stunning fashion models, but they still feel unloved and unwanted.
Sixty years after World War II, Germans find themselves still disliked across Europe. They feel personally blamed for two world wars or rude behavior by German tourists, or sense they are envied because of their country's prosperity.
The latest round of introspection emerged after a blind German singer, who had been viewed as a favorite to win last month's Eurovision Song Contest, ended up 21st in a field of 25.
"Was it just the song or was it because people in other countries just don't like us?" asked Bild newspaper columnist David Blieswood, summing up the nationwide distress. "Corinna May's performance was great, but why did we lose?"
Germany's best-selling daily was filled the following week with letters from readers complaining that Germans will never win contests like Eurovision because they are so loathed abroad.
"It's pure malice against Germans," wrote Jochen Schreiner from Munich. "That's the image of Germans in Europe."
And Markus Schorn, from the southern town of Hohenthann, added: "We all know how unloved we are in Europe."
RESENTMENTS LINGER
Despite huge efforts to improve their standing and put behind them the image of dangerous belligerents whose armies trampled through many countries in the 20th century, Germans regularly encounter lingering resentment across Europe:
In Austria Germans are referred to derogatorily as "Piefke" and disliked for buying up Alpine vacation apartments. In Britain, they're known as "Krauts" and World War II references appear in media reports and advertising slogans.
In Spain, millions of German tourists armed with towels and beer bottles have conquered sandy beaches and turned parts of the country in virtual German colonies. In Poland, which lost a fifth of its population during World War II, historic enmity is never far below the surface.
Dutch, Swiss, Danes, Norwegians, Czechs, Belgians and French all report varying degrees of German-bashing, even though there are without doubt many who know and like Germans.
"Germans may be admired in many places but not often liked," said Lutz Erbring, a professor for media studies at Berlin's Free University who lived for more than 20 years in Britain and the United States.
"The stereotypes of Germans range from 'unpleasant people' to 'arrogant.' Germans abroad get treated the way they behave and some are indeed very arrogant. But stereotypes are often badly outdated. Germans are considered to be hard-working. In reality Germans are the laziest people in Europe."
Erbring, a German who spends four months a year at a vacation home in southern France, admits avoiding his compatriots there.
"I spend enough time with Germans when I'm in Germany," he said. "When I'm in France, I'd rather be not be around them."
The British newspaper the Guardian recently cited a Europe-wide survey which asked people to score each country out of 10 according to how much respect and love they had for each other. Germans came in second to last, just ahead of the British. The Irish were ranked as the most popular.
"This latest soul-searching seems mostly to be in reaction to worries about rising populism in Germany and doubts about Germany's chances at the World Cup among others," said Anne-Marie Le Gloannec, a French political scientist at Berlin's Marc Bloch center and researcher for Paris's Science Po.
"The French ask similar questions about themselves but formulated entirely differently -- are we still as great as before? Are we still the most handsome? The German self-reflection, like the French, is born of history. They ask 'does anyone like us?' because of the shadow of Nazism. It's the same question, just formulated differently."
ENVY?
Germany has Europe's most powerful economy and wages are generally among the highest on the continent. Germans also have the longest annual vacations -- six weeks -- and spend more time abroad than any other national group in Europe.
Their Mercedes, BMWs, and Porsches are considered to be among the finest cars in the world. Their beer is exported around the globe. And models such as Claudia Schiffer, Nadja Auermann and Heidi Klum are known on catwalks and magazine covers everywhere between New York and Milan.
The purchasing power of Germans combined with their sometimes high demands for luxury in less prosperous countries leads inevitably to tension. Germans are known to expect waiters and car rental agents in holiday regions to speak their language.
The loud, aggressive and sometimes barbaric behavior that some intoxicated Germans display abroad has contributed to the image of the "ugly German."
But without doubt the central reason for the poor standing of Germans in parts of Europe is the country's destructive past -- even though the vast majority of Germans alive today were born after 1945.
In Britain, German-bashing is considered to be politically correct and is part of mainstream advertising.
Playing to that World War II chord, a beer known as "Spitfire" calls itself "the bottle of Britain" in advertisements. The Kent-based brewery also once ran a slogan saying: "Downed all over Kent, just like the Luftwaffe." Another campaign poster for the beer read: "Goering, Goering, gone."
ROOTS OF GERMAN BASHING
"There are two aspects to it (German bashing)," said professor Michael Billig, a social psychologist and expert in nationalism at Britain's Loughborough University.
"First, obviously there is the historical aspect of the two world wars. Second, because we are such a politically correct society, people often take great delight in prejudices that they view as sanctioned by society.
"Prejudice against Germans has been socially sanctioned because of the heritage of the two world wars," Billig added. "There is no taboo against it."
In Poland, popular hostility toward Germans has centered recently on the rivalry between world champion ski jumpers Adam Malysz of Poland and German Sven Hannawald.
Polish fans pelted Hannawald with snowballs and bottles while he was riding the ski lift at an event in the Polish resort of Zakopane earlier this year.
Poland suffered immensely during World War II. Most Nazi death camps were in Poland and millions of Polish Jews died.
In the Netherlands, the Dutch are generally seen as disliking Germans, who represent the biggest group of tourists to the country. Dutch refer to German television networks seen in their country as "Mof1" (Kraut 1) or "Mof2" (Kraut 2).
Last month Dutch police arrested two men suspected of firing an air rifle at a passing train packed with German soccer fans traveling to an international soccer match in Rotterdam.
In Switzerland, Germans are considered rude and pushy, known for cutting into lines on ski lifts. Foreigners who speak German are advised to speak English to avoid the cold shoulder.
"They are snobbish and think they are the best," said a Zurich housewife. "They go abroad and if they can't get their own food -- sauerkraut -- they are unhappy."
Oh, the Horror, the Horror. Just make like Americans and Suck It Up. Besides, the Germans may have started WWII, but we finished it and yet we're probably more despised in Europe than they are.
Cheer up, heinies. At least you're still ahead of the British.
I'm half Irish, half German. I loathe myself.
Adjusted for the real world this should read. . . .
“mediocre cars; average beer and industrial models” . . . . .
really the car part is what set me off
Ouch! Good one!
Good. Now I know the next time I snap my fingers and ask Pierre, in English of course, to hurry up and get me my espresso refill...and btw, why the hell are you charging me for that...I'll know I'm in good company.
Next time don't sing "Deutschland über alles".
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