13 Fun (and often unknown) Facts About German Culture
-
Loading... - Senja Hautala
- 30 Jun 2022
- 154 Views
- 0 Like
- 0 Comment
Sometimes we forget that learning languages isn't only about vocabulary or grammar or pronunciation. Language is a window to other cultures.
Germany is one of the biggest economies in the world, with a complicated and rich history.
With a population of over 80M people, Germany is a guarantor of stability in Europe and plays a crucial role in upholding the European Union and unity. Germany is home to over 11M foreigners, and over 115M people worldwide are learning German. It makes it one of the top 5 most learned languages globally! As expats and German language learners, we've heard a fact or two about German culture, yet often we know only the cliches.
Here you'll learn 13 fun and culturally important facts about Germany.
1. German culture and presents
As you might have already guessed from the previous insights: false niceties, unjustified praise and getting into someone’s good graces with gifts do not go over quite well in a German business setting.
It might be an intuition to try to please the people around you, especially if you are the ‘new guy’.
The best way to do that is by being an efficient worker. If you’d like people to like you at the office, be polite, punctual and get your workload done up until the deadline you promised.
If it is the right occasion (e.g. birthday or christmas) and you have a close relationship to that coworker you can give a small present, of course. Try to pick something simple but of good quality (e.g. good wine or chocolate).
2. Pleasantries? No, thank you!
Germans are always praised for their efficiency. Part of that is also the way they communicate.
Oftentimes in a business environment there is not much time for pleasantries and they might be dropped completely.
This could seem off-putting to those who are used to being asked how they are doing at the beginning of an email. Germans – for better or for worse - tend to skip that part and get right to the juicy business.
Questions in bullet-points, deadlines marked in red and the only question is, whether there are any further questions. Praise is scarce and the critique is quick – but productive.
An agenda is in general not a suggestion, it is a fixed schedule that can only be altered ahead of time, and a slot for small talk is usually not on it. If you try to deviate and stray off the topic you’ll probably get ignored or cut off.
If this is how your boss and your colleagues communicate in e-mails or during meetings, don’t take it personally. Everybody is doing their best to prevent overtime and to get the work done well to enjoy that sweet (or bitter) “Feierabendbier” after a successful day.
3. Small talk in Germany is different
There is a nice little anecdote a Brazilian student, Ana, once told us. She works at a major German Company in Brazil and her Manager, Herr Markler, is from Stuttgart, Germany.
Germans don’t like to share – or overshare – personal information. Talking about things happening at the office, like a new intern or manager, a new product or the next office party, are fine. Talking about children, family, your Christmas party at home, is less common. Except, when you are talking to your best office buddy.
The younger generations are changing this, but in big companies where the majority of managers is 50+ years old, one still has to pick the right topic for that elevator ride.
So keep in mind to ask yourself how well you know the person, what age that person is, and what position the person is in.
4. Planning ahead and the culture of no suprise
Planning in advance is something deeply ingrained in German culture. It’s quite common for Germans to plan their trips or events months and years in advance. This habit seeps into most aspects of life – from business to travel to education.
On the one hand, this makes spontaneity almost impossible. It’ll be quite hard to bring your friends together on a Saturday night on the same Saturday. Germans do plan a lot. They make checklists for shopping, book holidays months in advance to secure the best room, take an umbrella when the probability of rain exceeds 25%, buy insurance for almost everything.
But on the other hand, the culture of not liking surprises offers tons of benefits to everyone around the world. German products are considered some of the highest quality and crazy reliable because, well, Germans don’t like surprises.
If you move to Germany to get a job, knowing this cultural trait might help you a lot in understanding the German business culture and perhaps using it in your job interviews.
5. Mittelstand and hidden Champions: the backbone of German economy
Mittelstand is a German word used to describe middle-sized, often family-owned companies in Germany. Unlike household names such as Apple, Netflix or Zalando, these companies are not on everyone’s lips, but they are crucial to Germany’s success as one of top 5 strongest economies in the world.
The Mittelstand is often described as the heart of Germany’s economy – and rightly so, given that mid-sized firms account for the largest share of the country’s economic output, employ about 60 percent of all workers, provide crucial training, and contribute significantly to corporate tax revenues in Germany.
Economists and journalists often call them hidden champions because these companies and brands are not well-known. Sennheiser, Rimowa and Otto Bock, for example, are mid-sized firms that manufacture some very well-known products. Other companies suchs Kirchhoff or G.A. Röders may be slightly less well known, but without them there would be very few cars on the roads, skis on the slopes, or passengers travelling safely and comfortably on airplanes. These mid-sized and family-owned businesses successfully create value and develop markets in cooperation with larger enterprises. There is probably no industry in which mid-sized firms are not represented. And, of course, many big players listed on the stock exchange today once started off as mid-sized family businesses.
The media sometimes give the impression that Germany’s economic landscape is made up entirely of large companies. In reality, 99.5 percent of all German companies belong to the mid-size sector – more than in any other industrial nation.
6. Garbage rules: recycling as a lifestyle
Germany is one of the world’s leaders in recycling and there are many contributing factors to that. One of them is something everyone needs to learn - garbage sorting rules in households!
Those who move to Germany unavoidably face the challenge as they see trash bins of different colors for the first time: how the heck do I recycle in Germany?
It can be a bit tricky before you get used to it. Does a paper towel belong to paper or household waste? How about tea bags – do they belong to bio trash or waste? And so on and so forth. Read More...
