German Culture Shocks: Expats Talk About Berlin Traditions & People Mentality! | The Movement Hub

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  • Опубліковано 10 гру 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 47

  • @Mediaevalist
    @Mediaevalist 7 місяців тому +10

    Berlin can barely be called a part of Germany at this point. It's like its own bubble that contains a runaway social experiment for some decades now, while slowly, but steadily decaying. If you want to know how most of the inner districts look like at this point, just look at the background between 0:00 and 0:04. So beautiful...
    I'm German and went to Berlin almost yearly between 1995 and 2015. Over the years I really learned to despise Berlin and most of the people who intentionally moved there and now have developed this sense of being ahead of everybody else in our republic.

    • @gillan5
      @gillan5 6 місяців тому

      You are right: it is like calling Amsterdam a Dutch City- Amsterdam is its own world within the Netherlands. Same with Berlin and Germany. Among us Germans real Berliners are known for not being very nice and polite. PS: I do not give a fuck on how somebody from Africa etc. thinks about me or us Germans. If someone does not like Germany he or she should go back to were they came from. Apart from that: why do they all come here if it is so terrible? So everyone who has a mice in front his face thinks he can speak derrogatively about us. We are not talking about the bush like Austrians or Japanse. We are very direct. If you want humour than go to England- if you find a real English man or woman anyhow.

  • @royblack2395
    @royblack2395 7 місяців тому +11

    Berlin is not typical of Germany. Berliners always had a reputation for being very rough and very rude. But contrary to what the lady from the Czech Republic said, they are very willing to improvise. You have to be like that in Berlin, because nothing works there.

    • @S_P-fg3mu
      @S_P-fg3mu 7 місяців тому

      Yes, it's because the berliners are a mix of poles, other Slavic people and Germans.😂
      They have very Slavic temperament and behaviour.

  • @johaquila
    @johaquila 2 місяці тому +1

    The Czech interviewee seems to be talking primarily about Prussian bureaucracy, which exists not just in state organizations but also in larger private companies all over the north of Germany and especially in Berlin. While that is in fact German, it's a specific German subculture that a lot of Germans absolutely hate. Other parts of Germany have less ugly bureaucratic traditions that are closer to the French and/or Austrian one, and are less reminiscent of the (far worse) bureaucracy in the former Soviet Union.
    The Afghan interviewee has a lot of insight into how heterogeneous the culture in Berlin is. There is one thing missing, though: The genuine, traditional German culture of Berlin is also different from the culture elsewhere in Germany. Berlin is a relatively poor big city, and as such has a culture of rudeness and directness that goes beyond what you can see in most other German cities. This goes so far that sometimes even with strangers, Berliners express positive sentiment via insults that must be decoded as being meant in a positive way. Which is hard to interpret because on the other hand, in Berlin people will often insult you and mean it. Similar issues may exist in some other big cities to some extent, but they are not general German culture, and Berlin is famous for this.

  • @stephenc1234
    @stephenc1234 5 місяців тому +3

    I think that's all a bit negative. People reply in English as a courtesy. They are mostly trying to be helpful and don't mean any offence. People are very practical and come straight to the point. This directness often gets misunderstood as rudeness. I find Germans, if you approach them the right way, to be kind and helpful. There's a respect for people's privacy and personal space which can come across as being cold and distant. But once you get to know them, you find they are just like everyone else.

  • @seeyouchump
    @seeyouchump 7 місяців тому +15

    People should stop generalizing and judging a population of millions based on a sample size. I have been living in Germany for a very long time and had nothing but positive experience. So please do me a favor and stop with the premise: "Germans are..."
    If you find Germans cold, then lord knows what you're going to say about eastern European countries and balkan countries

    • @ghostramp8578
      @ghostramp8578 6 місяців тому +3

      What Balkan countries? Nobody is cold there.

    • @toomuchinformation
      @toomuchinformation 2 місяці тому

      ​@@elenahauser6617Particular countries in the Balkans?

  • @dutchymcdutch2553
    @dutchymcdutch2553 7 місяців тому +12

    I'm sorry, but "When in Rome..". You don't hug people on the first meeting. That is just ridiculous, I don't care how you do it in your culture.

    • @adwaitnaravane5285
      @adwaitnaravane5285 7 місяців тому +6

      Kraut detected

    • @ghostramp8578
      @ghostramp8578 6 місяців тому +2

      True. It depends on the context, but to think bad of Germans for protecting their space etc. that‘s dumb and kind of arogant.

    • @deadlypendroppingby
      @deadlypendroppingby 2 місяці тому +1

      Yeah imagine being stumped by that and then gaslighted into thinking something's wrong with you

    • @johaquila
      @johaquila 2 місяці тому +1

      I totally agree. It's normal in some cultures, and totally abnormal in others. Hugging random people you just met for the first time is almost as wrong in Germany as it is in Japan. So don't do it. Some people will make allowances for you being a foreigner who is unable or unwilling to adjust to a different culture, but some will not. Personally, I normally have no problem with that kind of thing, but I certainly don't want to be hugged by an eccentric guy who gives me seriously creepy vibes like this Mexican guy with the look-at-me! moustache and huge ear piercing. For us, hugging is a relatively intimate activity, which we reserve either for close family or at least to close friends. It's rude to force yourself into this space when you are not welcome there. Anyone who can't understand this, think about being kissed on the mouth for a greeting by a stranger from a culture where _that_ is normal.
      One practical aspect of hugging is body odor. Living in Germany, I don't expect to be ambushed by huggers. I may well have body odor (and be aware of the fact) that is weak enough to be perfectly socially acceptable for normal social distances in our culture, but not quite acceptable for hugging. By hugging me in such a situation, you guarantee a slightly uncomfortable experience for yourself, and you put me at a disadvantage -- which is a rude thing to do.

  • @bjorndebar8361
    @bjorndebar8361 5 місяців тому +4

    Before I form an opinion about a country, I should learn the language, otherwise you can't understand what the country is like. You can't understand the country of Germany if you only know English, there are hundreds of German idioms that describe how we Germans are (oder wie wir Deutschen ticken). 😉

  • @drhausig797
    @drhausig797 7 місяців тому +2

    That sound more like Berlin People. Dont Compare us with them.

    • @bjorndebar8361
      @bjorndebar8361 5 місяців тому

      Right, and without the German language it is impossible to understand the Berlin mentality, even if you know German, it is sometimes difficult. Nevertheless, I love Berliners the way they are.

  • @caraa-cl
    @caraa-cl 6 місяців тому +2

    Schon Schwierig , die Deutsche mentalität generell ist zu verklemmt und nicht sehr Aufgeschlossen .

    • @Nils.Minimalist
      @Nils.Minimalist 6 місяців тому +1

      Verklemmt ist das falsche Wort, ich würd eher sagen das wir sehr zurückhaltend sind (meistens, um die Dinge erstmal auszuloten). Verklemmt sind zum Beispiel Amerikaner, die sich schämen nackt in die Sauna zu gehen, da passt das Wort verklemmt schon eher. Nicht sehr aufgeschlossen, ja auf jeden Fall, dem kann ich zustimmen.

    • @caraa-cl
      @caraa-cl 6 місяців тому

      @@Nils.Minimalist Ja dass hast du richtig formuliert , vielen dank für dein erklarung

  • @d0ppelbla
    @d0ppelbla 2 місяці тому

    Love it or leave it

  • @Daniel-oj7bx
    @Daniel-oj7bx 6 місяців тому +2

    why do you move here if you don´t like it .. don´t push youre expectations on us native germans

    • @krissynyc
      @krissynyc 6 місяців тому

      Because they don't possess a crystal ball to look into the future? They are speaking about their experiences.
      Stop operating in your feminine energy and actually provide a constructive criticism instead of being salty online because people are providing commentary on your country. ❤

    • @bjorndebar8361
      @bjorndebar8361 5 місяців тому

      @@krissynyc What? Here the people of Berlin are compared to the whole of Germany, which is so wrong. Comparing a Berliner with someone from Bavaria is like comparing a Frenchman with a Turk, Germany is the most diverse country in Europe, perhaps even the world, our country consists of hundreds of principalities. You have to understand that to understand Germany. A North German cannot communicate with someone from the South in their original language.

  • @chvoelker
    @chvoelker 4 місяці тому +1

    Berlin is a large slum. It has nothing to do with germany.

  • @motocyklist.gdansk
    @motocyklist.gdansk 7 місяців тому +3

    Its utmost presumptuous to judge Germans by what you foreigners experience in Berlin!!! I lived there in the 70ties and when my 1st child was born there, I told my wife:“I am not going to raise our children in THIS city! It will do them no good!“ So we left: people there are traditionally the most rude and loudest and impertinent of all German people, ignoring agressivly rules of respect for otherthinking people and the boundaries between individuals constantly, yet by creating new moral rules making the city mire and more unruly and deeply chaotic - I as a lawyer could not stand it any longer - and I never regretted that I left: today I look upon that city with deep contempt and wonder, what I have been doing there? However with regard to humor: how dare foreigners with only a short time in Germany judge on that topic? Humour is deeply woven with language - and even though I do not like Germans any more: humour they do have (not so much in Berlin though, because theirs is traditionally directed only against others). You just do not have to be blind to it!!! On the other side I do happen to have a flat nearby Westerkerk in Amsterdam and when I am there, I am deeply upset by the direct bluntness of the local people - but I wouldn’t credit this to the Amsterdammers, but rather to me being unable to look behind their fassade!

    • @derKosmoprolet369
      @derKosmoprolet369 7 місяців тому +3

      I'm German, living in Munich, and I'm in my 60s now....I seldom leaving my flat, not because I am not fit anymore, but I am bored of this city with all its conformistic ( german) norms, its materialism and so on ( it would be probably different in Berlin for me)
      Yes, ppl are different -- what you are calling 'chaotic ' I would call 'entertaining and inspiring When I was younger I've been a couple of times in Berlin and I appreciated the Berliners sense of humour ( straight, sarcastic cynical) which is pretty rare (at least) in southern Germany .This city is a good place for open minded ppl, therefore a lot of my compatriots hate this place ( it's so 'ungerman ') But I can understand, that somebody who chose to be a lawer will see it differently.

    • @Mediaevalist
      @Mediaevalist 7 місяців тому +1

      @@derKosmoprolet369 Berlin's "non conformistic" attitude would be charming, if it wasn't such a cliché and the penultimate counter-"argument" to any criticism.
      Berliners are getting poorer. - Yes, but it's so creative!
      Infrastructure is crumbling. - Yes, but it's so vibrant!
      Crime is getting out of hand in many districts. - Yes, but look at the art scene!
      Schools in Berlin are ranked place 15 of 16 of all German states. - Yes, but the clubs in Berlin are the BOMB!
      Being "different" can only carry a city and its inhabitants so far. I know both Bavaria and Berlin quite well due to relatives living there: While "indigenous" Berliners indeed carry a rough charm, many (esp. Germans) who moved there, indeed develop a superiority complex and belonging to the moral and societal avantgarde. None of that happens in Bavaria, neither with indigenous Bavarians, nor with the "Zugroasten" (domestic or international), they are doing their thing and welcome those who want to take part in it.

    • @derKosmoprolet369
      @derKosmoprolet369 7 місяців тому +1

      @@Mediaevalist it seems that you really don't know bavarians ( I'm living in Munich since 1972 btw) . They ALLWAYS bragging how unique and superior their 'Free State " and they themself are! ....and please don't exaggerate 'criminality going out of hands ' -- comparing with most big cities worldwide Berlin is pretty safe!
      to make it short: Munich is a good place for ppl who enjoying a regulated life without any disturbing surprices -- Berlin is good for ppl who wants more!

    • @dagmarvandoren9364
      @dagmarvandoren9364 7 місяців тому +2

      You make me love my home town. Have a good life

    • @moritzlohmann8682
      @moritzlohmann8682 7 місяців тому +2

      ​ @Mediaevalist Your are totally wrong, there are so many socio-economic factors, you mix everything together in your points and don't have any clue how it works in reality! Yes the Golden Rule of Berlin society is freedom "Do what you want, be who ever you want as long as you don't interfere the freedom of others." that only applies on day to day social interactions. Foreigners (including other Germans) often misunderstand that as a free for all (lawlessness) and they are the freaks you meet at 4:00 in dugged out in streets. The Natives (Ur-Berliner) are open minded and don't judge a book by its cover, we don't care if you are rich or poor, or what you are doing as your job, since life is more than work and status.
      Most of the problems you are mentioning above are in reality bureaucratic or historical in nature, from the history of six cities becoming one city state, without losing their sovereignty own (produces today a bit of bureaucratic wild west) over a divided state and hub at the front of the Cold War and the front gate from the East to the West, and the bad economics, corruption, mismanagement, selling out the city, till it was broke and even than Berlin did make something out of it... "Arm aber Sexy!"
      The "being different" is the outside perspective, in the inside it is more being your real true self, and a save space for new and different ideas, artists, architects, and any other creative mind was always welcome in Berlin, and it "was" (like the guy in the video said) "cheap" to live here... Now it has whole gentrified sections, but those guys have really difficulties to get the Berlin mentality. Since your "Status" & "Money" don't carry you far in this City.
      Yes it has many, many problems, but it isn't their mentality. The issue is most ideas from outsiders aren't "any good" or we tried it already in the past and it failed or the last one who said the same screwed us over...
      What I never get is Berlin is a nursing station for creative minds, those all of Germany (or the world) is in need of, a place of intellectual freedom, where young minds and personalities can grow... And on the other side we are Europe's biggest Open Air Madhouse/lunatic asylum/looney bin, we get them all and keep them here for a while, that the rest of your orderly societies can work without interruptions of pesky rebel minds. We don't get any "Thanks" for that service Berlin provides ;-) Most people who come to Berlin are on the Search of something, themselves, their calling, their future, love, education... and most of them will leave eventually at a time in their life, when they found something! Often not that what they thought they would find, but something (for better or worse) that gets them on their path. Others stay or come back to us like an addict, since that kind "Freedom" you can and will experience here is very rare in the World.

  • @jans8304
    @jans8304 2 місяці тому

    The more "culture" a german city hast, the more it needs to be subsidized😊
    The world is not a place we're everyone is good and warm and cuddely and honest.
    The world is füll of irresponsible selfish people who will never grow up.

  • @123frida
    @123frida 3 місяці тому

    Well first of all you asked people on Berlin … common… it’s Berlin. They are not known to be friendly.
    Secondly I’m German and I have a lot of self humor. Maybe it’s a language barrier?
    Thirdly it’s funny how different we see each other. Because whenever we travel, i feel like Germans respecting other cultures and Eastern Europeans don’t do this so much 😌 (especially when it comes to respecting the environment etc).

  • @Nepenthis
    @Nepenthis 7 місяців тому +1

    Gähn...

  • @eddiebrune8209
    @eddiebrune8209 7 місяців тому +5

    Czechs have good sense of humor? maybe they should develop better sense of self awareness..... too uptight? darling you are coming from Czechia ...... and if speaking about being tourists .... wellllllll if I would be Czech I wouldn't criticize others in this field. Thinking out of the box? she is really Czech...... ? the most non out of the box people on earth and because of that they are trying to show that they are very "different" in..... how to say? not the cleverest way and when it comes to solving problems they just shrug ..... and the first answer is "NO". What you had to improvise? even during so called communism you had very convenient life comparing to hard core communism in' lets say' Bulgaria, Russia and Ukraine if not the EU huge funding Czechia would still be in the communist box (and even now the way of thinking is very communist)

    • @fajfos
      @fajfos 7 місяців тому +2

      Agree. She described Czechs pretty well. And there are of course some overlays with Germans. But i wouldn't comment on the communist experience unless youre not from a country with the similar experience. You can also easily say that the communism mostly destroyed our ability to think out of the box as it's exactly what that regime has been doing.

    • @tomaskeprt4855
      @tomaskeprt4855 3 місяці тому

      Lol. I would like to know where you are from.

  • @JonVonD
    @JonVonD 5 місяців тому

    Berlin is not representative of Germany

  • @123frida
    @123frida 3 місяці тому

    Well first of all you asked people on Berlin … common… it’s Berlin. They are not known to be friendly.
    Secondly I’m German and I have a lot of self humor. Maybe it’s a language barrier?
    Thirdly it’s funny how different we see each other. Because whenever we travel, i feel like Germans respecting other cultures and Eastern Europeans don’t do this so much 😌 (especially when it comes to respecting the environment etc).