German Peculiarities: Difference between revisions

{{tropeUseful Notes}}

Despite what some people in and outside of Germany still claim and believe, they were NOT a brainchild of [[Adolf Hitler]]. As a matter of fact, the democratic government of the [[Weimar Republic]] had planned several of them (the first one between Cologne and Bonn was finished in 1932). However, after [[The Great Depression]] they were practically broke, so Hitler could claim they were his idea when he had them built (as preparation for [[World War Two]], of course). Nowadays nobody in Germany wants to start a war in Europe, but people still like their Autobahn very much. There's mostly no speed limit on them, which was unique in the world for quite some time. People who wanted to change this (like the green party) faced too much resistance and gave up on the issue. "Freie Fahrt für freie Bürger!" (Free driving for free citizens!) is a slogan used by car lobbyists and enthusiasts alike. But there are speed limits on the more dangerous parts, and a list of other rules are in place to allow as smooth travel as possible. One of these is that every vehicle has to be able to drive at least 60  km/h (37  mph). Especially during [[The Seventies]], many new Autobahnen were built - during this decade, the network almost doubled its length. In 2010, Germany had about 13000 kilometers of Autobahn, one of the densest networks in the world, and the third longest after the US and China.

[[Nations as People|The US have Uncle Sam, France has Marianne, Germany has (aside from the female Germania) Michel]]: A guy who's for some reason always wearing a night cap. The origin is not completely clear; some people claim it had to do with the archangel Michael (patron saint of Germany), but that's not proven. So or so: As the cap hints at, this Michel guy is generally seen as pretty relaxed, laid-back, a [[Big Eater]] and drinker, and especially, someone who likes to sleep.<ref> This latter trait was in the 19th century portrayed as a metaphor for the Germans' apparent docility towards their multitude of kings and princelings</ref>. ''Gemütlich'', as we say. And admittedly, very far from [[National Stereotyping Tropes|German stereotypes]] (except maybe [[Oktoberfest]]) like the ruthlessly efficient [[Prussia]], let alone [[Those Wacky Nazis]].<ref>Although one of ''their'' slogans was "Germany, awake!"</ref>. Sometimes still used in caricatures, as stand-in for the German people, if nowhere else.

Foreigners used to put all kinds of stuff into their beer, a practice that Germans seem to find simply disgusting. The ''Reinheitsgebot'' ('purity law') was an old Bavarian law stating that beer has to be made of clear water, barley (malted or otherwise), and hops. Otherwise, it could not be sold as beer in Bavaria. The law first appeared in medieval times, as many brewers were prone to putting hallucinogenic or downright poisonous stuff into their brew--stuffbrew—stuff like belladonna, poppy seeds, vermouth, and nutmeg. Modern Germany adopted a variant form of this law, which required that the barley be malted and also allowed a few other ingredients (such as explicitly permitting yeast,<ref>previously ignored as it was not known to ''exist'' when the law was first promulgated</ref> malted wheat,<ref>As much of Germany had a tradition of brewing various forms of wheat beer</ref> and cane sugar to be added to the mix), and also allowing foreign beer to be sold in the country. Oddly enough, ''Greece'' (not traditionally a beer-drinking country) has the same law: the first king of modern Greece was Otto (how's ''that'' for a Greek name?), a member of the Bavarian Wittelsbach dynasty. In other countries, adherence to the ''Reinheitsgebot'' by a brewer is often viewed as a point of pride, indicating a dedication to quality; the American Samuel Adams beers at one point ran an ad to this effect, and the Tsingtao Brewery in China historically adhered to it, as well.<ref>Tsingtao has since begun to add rice to the mash, but this was because barley at one point became prohibitively expensive in China--[[Sarcasm Mode|thank you, Chairman Mao]]!</ref>

The most favorite sports in Germany are: [[The Beautiful Game|Football]], [[The World Cup|football]], [[Euro Footy|football]],<ref>what Americans call "soccer"</ref>, tennis (preferably with Boris Becker and Steffi Graf), car racing (preferably with Michael Schumacher), boxing (preferably with Henry Maske, or the Klitchko brothers). This love goes back to (at least) the 1954 FIFA World Cup, first time when Germany won [[The World Cup]]. Which, probably, no one expected, for good reasons: The [[Germanic Efficiency|German]] football team had to play Hungary's Golden Team (which hadn't lost a game in 4 years!) in the group stage. But [[Magnificent Bastard|trainer Sepp Herberger decided to play Hungary with his reserves]], losing 8-3. However, this just meant that Germany had to play another game against Turkey (which they had defeated easily just before), but then got to the easier side in the knockout stage, defeating Yugoslavia and Austria (who had suffered from a hard game at 40&nbsp;°C against Switzerland) before the finals, a rematch with Hungary (who had to [[Unnecessary Roughness|literally fight]] Brazil and later confront reigning champions Uruguay). The match was played in heavy rain, which the Germans had christened "Fritz Walter-weather", as their team captain was known for playing his best football under those conditions. In addition, the Germans were equipped with footwear supplied by Adidas, which had produced a hitherto unheard of design of boot with exchangeable, screw-in studs that could be adapted to any weather. This enabled the German players to wear their regular boots despite the adverse weather.