German Culture

I’ll be departing for Germany in under a month, and its nearness has gotten me thinking about leaving one community and joining another. I’ve devoted this latest post to German culture. 

This week the BBC aired the documentary, ‘Make Me a German’. It’s a must watch and provides a great insight into the varying cultural norms of European cities. The show a social experiment takes a conventional British family and gives them the identities of average German citizens. Situated in Nuremberg, a city with a staunchly nationalist past, the family must act out their lives as conventional Germans to the tiniest detail. This includes housewives with four hours of daily cleaning, husbands who are the sole bread-winners, and being efficient, especially at work where in some companies phones are prohibited for the duration of the day. 

One key point the documentary highlighted was the familial tensions created when the British family were expected to conform to rigid gender roles. The wife’s desire to detach herself from the identity of a housewife was most evident as she shook off her inability to reach daily housekeeping quotas with nonchalance, while the husband who was given a job at a pencil factory, also struggled to maintain the average work ethic of a German male. In the factory where success is determined by the performance of the whole team, he was frequently picked up by the factory supervisor for punctuality, slowness and using his mobile. 

‘Make Me a German’ which sought to find out why Germans are so successful perhaps unsurprisingly concluded that as an industrial nation, teamwork and ‘doing your bit’ is an integral part of German culture.  In the UK, when it comes to achieving success greater emphasis is placed on the individual and reaching goals independently. The documentary made me consider whether the freedom to make your own choices independent of the group outweighs making sacrifices for the greater good. Although in reality these two factors would not be mutually exclusive, at least for me personal agency is paramount. 

This being said, it would be ridiculous to assume to know everything about a country’s culture within the space of an hour length documentary.  I hope my own experiences in Germany over the next year will give me a positive impression of the country. 

On a lighter note, electronic dance music is also a big part German culture. Laserkraft 3D’s ‘Nein Mann’ is a funny take on the scene, their video has gone viral with over twenty-seven-million hits on Youtube. It’s well worth checking out for the dancing and neon faces alone!

And if you have watched ‘Make Me a German’, what did you think? Share your comments below!