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Germany - and what you think you know about it.

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posted on May, 29 2017 @ 07:15 AM
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Germany - and what you think you know about it.
The ignorance is high these days and rumors and lies are spread even by long standing members. Intentionally or not, I want to clear up some things! I´m aware that this in itself is a small generalization but at least it comes from someone born and living here. To be honest a recent post made me write this thread, but because I´m at it now, I´ll expand it to more topics than US/Germany.

I put this in the rant because it
a) riles me up when lies are spread
b) I cant figure out the right forum for it.

Military
- The US pays rent for their bases in Germany and that pays our healthcare
WRONG. Painfully wrong. For every base the US builds in Germany, they only have to pay 5-7% of the costs. Actually they pay around 15-20%, more than they need according to §23 ABG 1975 NATO treaty. So that leaves the Germans with 95%-80% of the building costs for evey base the US decides to build. Official governmental source: dip21.bundestag.de...=2

- Out military is in bad shape.
We do not even have enough men to be called a "militär", but yes everything is in bad shape, extremly bad shape. From the NH90, missing spare parts, not working G36, Drone project bound to fail because of legal issues and many more.

- We are reliant on third party sources to defend.
While that is true, it´s not directly our fault that it came to this. There are conditions that we need to adhere to, setup by the winners of WW2. If you´re interested in this, please PM me and I´ll dig you the sources but it would be to much for that thread now. But I ask the ones who think this, do you have a clue how small Germany is?19x smaller than the USA. So OF COURSE we can´t defend ourselfs 100%

- We do not pay the 2% NATO.
Partly wrong. It´s not mandatory but I agree, we´re not paying enough.


Social systems
- Someone said that the US is paying partly for our healthcare.
FALSE. I don´t know why you put up such lies but you should be ashamed.

- Healthcare is free
FALSE. 50% of your healthcare is paid by your employee, 50% is paid by your monthly income and taken automaticly. HOWEVER, there is this thing called HARTZ4, I´ll come to that.

- If you do not work, you still get enough money to live.
Partly true. If you loose your job but it´s not your fault, you´ll get up to 90% of your last payment for around 24 months, while you have to search for work actively. The money for this is taken every month from your loan, so you basically are insured beforehand and it´s your money.

If you fail to do that in 24 months, you get nothing before you´ve not sold your house, car. Then you´ll get around 400-500€ each month with special conditions like you can´t have a huge flat/house to rent etc. Many anti-social people take advantage of this but it´s generaly looked down and if someone asks you what you do for a living and you answer "HARTZ4" your basically an outcast. Because if you can work and want work, you WILL find work in Germany during that 24 months of non-HARTZ4 payment (the one from your own pocket).

- You get free loan/payments at the end of your life (67years) (It´s called "Rente" and I refer to it as "rent")
No, you have to pay it yourself. With each monthly loan, a percentage is taken away for your rent. You are basically financing the current old people as the money on that "bank account" lasts for around 28 days. That´s why we´ll have a big problem in 30 years, when so many old people retire into their rent and there are not enough young people.


Europe
- Germany is one of the benefitors of the Euro.
Partly wrong. We lost >50% buying power since 2001. Over the course of ten years, products that cost 1 DM, now cost >1€, while the 1€ = 0.50DM. We are an export nation, because of that, we benefit from the Euro somehow, yes. I am confident to say that we´re one, if not the strongest nation in the EU in financial and economic terms. That´s not because of the €.


Culture
- The german language is harsh.
No one talks like Hitler here. The dialect is Austrian, btw but they also do not talk like Hitler.

- Germans are not polite.
We are polite, but direct. Directness is very importan to us because we say it like it is and don´t like to talk around corners to get the point. That´s often missunderstood espacially with my posts. I´ll say things like I see them and not # around. If you´re offended by directness, remember it´s not ment to be unpolite but straight faced. Politeness is actually very upheld here. If you live in a small town, you greet each other when you walk by them, even if you don´t know him. Cities not so much but in rural regions this is a thing.

- Germans drink beer in the morning / the whole day.
Actually, there is that saying "Kein Bier vor Vier" and that means, no beer before 4p.m. It has to do with work ethics and ethics in general.

- Germans are prude
Some are, some not. We have naked chilling zones by the way. You have to be naked there. If the public swimming pools declare "it´s naked time", you have to get naked or out of the bath.

- Germans are naked all the time.
You see, some think we are prude, some think we are naked all the time. Both is incorrect.

- No sense of humor
We can be rediculous as well. We are very direct. if someone asks us "How´s your day?" We will answer you that question to the fullest extend. Most Germans are a bit reserved towards new friends, because we value friendships and relations very much. Someone we know for ten years is not a friend just because we know them that long. We do not open up that fast but when we do, you can have the blast of your life. Our fests are exactly for that, having a great funny time.

- Germans are sternly / strict.
Most of us have a very clear picture of morals and efficiency. We like it if things work out like we want and we do the best to achieve that. That includes being "sternly" sometimes.

- Germans can´t have guns.
We can and do have guns. Almost every small town with more than 1000 people have their own shooting ranges and clubs, mainly for airrifles and .22 but there are also big ones where you can shoot bigger calibres. You can get up to three pistols and two long rifles to take home if you train for a year at the shooting range. If you want to collect weapons, you can. What we can´t have is the NATO 5.7x28mm round, full-auto and bullpup trigger groups. If you do your hunting license (it´s one of the hardest exams in Germany to take) you can walk into any gunstore and buy a firearm right from the getgo but you have to register it in time (2 weeks after you bought it).

- Germans are timely.
Partly wrong. We like it if something works like clockwork, that does not mean we are never late to an appointment. But if you say you´re here at 15 o clock, we expect you
a) to show up in general or at least give a call.
b) to show up until 15:10. Or else you could have said 15:15. Stand behind what you say.

- The sunday is holy.
True for most. Don´t you dare mowing your lawn or doing heavy loud work at sunday or after 10pm in general.

- Germans are greedy.
I can´t speak for all but generous hospitality is widely practised.
edit on 29-5-2017 by verschickter because: (no reason given)

edit on 29-5-2017 by verschickter because: (no reason given)



posted on May, 29 2017 @ 07:15 AM
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Cars
- No speed limits on the autobahn.
False. Around 60% is without speed limit, the rest is 80km/h-120km/h.

- We can´t have license plates with the letters "SS" in the middle.
True.

- We make the best cars
False. We overengineer the crap out of cars, that means some electronic gadgetery can be prone to failures because it was rushed out too fast.


Refugees
- Most Germans are okay with Merkel and want her for 2017 because she made such a good job.
o_0 not that I noticed.

- They can roam freely.
False but they still do it regardless and register somewhere else to get double or tripple the money

- They live in dirty barracs squeezed together.
Most of the refugee centers were built just for them and a year later they look like 30 years old. Cultural thing.

I hope you enjoyed this read, if there are any questions left, feel free to ask! Fellow Germans, feel free to chime in with your opinion and answers. Thank you for the patience.

Edit: Messed up the formatting a bit.



posted on May, 29 2017 @ 07:32 AM
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Very good post thanks for sharing your ideas.variety is the spice of life.a reply to: verschickter



posted on May, 29 2017 @ 07:40 AM
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a reply to: verschickter

Jürgen Klopp (Manager of Liverpool FC) is the funniest and most charismatic manager in the English Premier League.
I love his post match interviews and he makes me smile or chuckle regularly...and I'm from Swansea originally.

I never knew there was such a thing as a German with an amazing sense of humour, he is a fantastic ambassador for your country.



posted on May, 29 2017 @ 07:43 AM
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A German joke is no laughing matter. Sorry couldn't resist that one. I love German culture and really like German people. We were natural allies against the ahem cough cough, and those misunderstandings that we had in the last century should not be allowed to detract from that.

Do a good job of running Europe and don't let that mad old childless hag destroy your magnificent heritage.
edit on 29-5-2017 by CulturalResilience because: (no reason given)



posted on May, 29 2017 @ 07:46 AM
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Is it true that some places in Germany people have their beer piped to their house like water?



posted on May, 29 2017 @ 07:48 AM
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Yes it is. It's also true that German people goose step all the time and wear lederhosen in winter.
a reply to: Tucket



posted on May, 29 2017 @ 07:49 AM
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a reply to: CulturalResilience
Oh gosh, I forgot about the Lederhosen stuff ^^.

a reply to: Tucket
No but there is a beer pipleline in building process that will run to the "Wacken hard rock festival".
www.bbc.com...

BTW, beer consumption in youth degrades, nowadays wine (especially from my region) is hip. Generally, wine was always second to beer, but just because it´s harder to make a good one in quantities.
edit on 29-5-2017 by verschickter because: (no reason given)



posted on May, 29 2017 @ 07:50 AM
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a reply to: verschickter

I notice you didn't mention anything about beach towels and Sun loungers.


Germany is a great country and you do in my opinion make the best cars , you have great culture , food and you gave the world Nena , who knew a song about balloons could be so sexy when sung in German.

Other than that all your getting is my name , rank and serial number.




posted on May, 29 2017 @ 07:52 AM
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Thanks for your rant in English, I think I got the gist of it, while there is a word or two temporarily confusing, (still,it's better English than I could write German) I've spent a lot of time working in Germany in the past, and I've seen some of the doo lally comments by posters here which are stupid and ignorant, but they don't know any better...nor it seems do they want to. As for living in Germany, if one has a bad time there, then it's one's own fault...simple as that.



posted on May, 29 2017 @ 07:53 AM
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a reply to: gortex
Good that you speak of it.

It´s true, many germans on vaccation will stand up very early and reservate their loungers before breakfast opens, go to breakfast and return to the pool. I´m not that type, I go diving when I´m on vaccation and I´m far out at see when most stand up.



posted on May, 29 2017 @ 07:55 AM
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Perhaps you can answer a question that has always bugged me. How is it that German beer is some of the worlds strongest, yet German wine is piss weak?
a reply to: verschickter



posted on May, 29 2017 @ 07:55 AM
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I don´t want to evolve this thread into glorifying germany, have bad stuff or rumors, point it out please!!

a reply to: smurfy

If you remember the awkward sentences, please point them out to me so I can avoid those mistakes the next time.



posted on May, 29 2017 @ 07:57 AM
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Cheers for reminding of that German bird that was seriously hot until she showed her hairy pits, and I don't mean the good pits.
a reply to: gortex



posted on May, 29 2017 @ 08:00 AM
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a reply to: CulturalResilience

Our standard beer is 5.9%, I don´t know why honestly. Our wine ranges between 10%-13.5%. I know what you mean, you probably had some Trolling&Lemberger, you can drink that stuff like water. It´s a blend between two and very common in south germany and somehow common in the north. Those are also steel tank wines, the good ones out of the barrel, you´ll get them locally.

There is also Tafelwein, a very cheap blend used for cooking.



posted on May, 29 2017 @ 08:00 AM
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Lived in Friedrichshain for a few months and absolutely loved it, loved the people and the beer. My only complaint was that it was the coldest freakin christmas I've ever experienced in my life....and I live in a ski resort...



posted on May, 29 2017 @ 08:05 AM
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a reply to: Flatcoat
That´s whe we have Glühwein (mulled wine) to warm us temporarily. The weather here is very localy. That means, 10km away you can have brightest sunshine and no rain. But fog, cold wind and no sun the next 10km. The whole day. Germany has many hills and valeys thus we have regional weather zones.



posted on May, 29 2017 @ 08:11 AM
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a reply to: verschickter

Actually when I was there everyone was drinking "Master Blaster".....Red Bull, Vodka and white wine.......brutal...



posted on May, 29 2017 @ 08:11 AM
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The next time you come to England visit Dartmoor, you will experience some seriously changeable and localised weather. So you send us all the Blacktower and Blue Nun and keep all the good stuff for yourselves, Fiendish behaviour! I am going to report this to UN. By the way, I get quite excited at the thought of a blue nun.
a reply to: verschickter



posted on May, 29 2017 @ 08:12 AM
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a reply to: verschickter

I had mulled wine at my wedding, lovely.
Same here with weather on the SW coast of England, can be sunny when I leave home but raining 20 miles away.
British weather is pretty crap generally though, I haven't seen frost for years, Winter is a limp rag, and Summer is a few weeks when it doesn't rain lol




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