Advice for an American in Germany?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m leaving Saturday to spend two weeks in southern Germany. Rough itinerary: fly in to Frankfurt (arriving Sunday morning). Drive to Speyer to spend a few days. Next stop is Freiburg am Neckar for about a week, then up to Stuttgart for the rest of the stay, ending up back in Frankfurt on the night of the 15th to fly out the morning of the 16th. I took German in high school but that was fifteen years ago, so I’ve also armed myself with a phrase book, a quick reference card, and the question “Wo ist die Toilette?”

The purpose of the trip is genaeology research; my mother’s entire family comes from that region and half of my father’s does too. I’ve got lots of records, some dating back to the 1600s, so I’ve got tons of small towns to visit and churches to photograph. Some of the family is from Alsace-Lorraine, so at some oint I’ll be crossing into France to hit the Colmar area.

Any advice you can give is appreciated. Recommended sites, foods to try, places to avoid, things to *not *say, anything you can think of to keep me from being the ugly American and hopefully have some fun.

2

Don’t mention the war!

3

You’re going to have an amazing time!! I’m jealous!

Unfortunately it’s been a few years since I was last in Germany, so I can’t offer any super-specific recommendations. But the whole country is beautiful (especially the south, where you’ll be!), the food can be great (schnitzel! brötchen! bratwurst!), and the people are much warmer and friendlier than most Americans give them credit for. As you can tell, I’m pretty fond of the place.

I don’t know how it’ll fit into your itenerary re. your research, but some must-see places that spring to mind are Nürnberg, Rothenberg, Munich, Würzburg, Freiburg and Garmisch.

Food: try a Jägerschnitzel at least once before you go. This is the traditional fried veal, served with a mushroom gravy sauce. Delicious. For lunch, try a bratwurst, or look for the fast food chain Nordsee, which has good seafood snacks.

Language: Just about every German I’ve ever met under the age of 40 speaks at least some English, and usually pretty good English at that. You’ll get around just fine without speaking much German. That said, still don’t presume that everyone speaks English, and make an attempt at using German first. I’ve found that in general Germans are very pleased when they find an American who speaks some German; they don’t seem to expect it, and are very encouraging.

In conversation, I’ve found Germans are very earnest and straightforward, and contrary to expectations, not adverse to speaking about the war. (Well, at least among the younger generation, and as long as the subject arises naturally.) I don’t think there are many taboo subjects or things you shouldn’t say, though if you’re an ardent George Bush supporter I wouldn’t make a big point of it unless you want to get into a lot of heated political arguments.

I’m blanking on anything else (sorry; it’s late here), but it doesn’t matter because I’m sure you’ll have a great time regardless. To the couple German dopers out there who might read this, I hope I haven’t butchered your country too much! :slight_smile: Good luck!

4

Try the beer. Damn fine stuff.

5

THAT’S what I was blanking on. (And probably why I was blanking on it.)

6

Do you mean Freiburg im Breisgau perhaps (the one in the Rhine valley)? (I don’t know any Freiburg am Neckar)

As you’ll arrive on a Sunday, don’t plan on doing any shopping that day.

Don’t step out of any first-floor windows :smiley:

7

Sausages. Sauerkraut. Schnitzel. Bread. Lots of good chow in Germany, but make sure you’re wearing your eating trousers with a good loose waistband and a belt with lots of holes in it. And have your cholesterol checked beforehand - if it’s high, don’t go.

And make sure you order whatever the local beer is wherever you are - that way you get to try a good variety.

8

As Rodgers has already mentioned, most Germans know at least some English from school, and in my personal experience, are eager to try it out. It helps if you speak slowly and without too much an accent to be understood.

Though if you try German, the Schwaben - people living in the Stuttgart area - can be hard to understand with their very thick accent. (Even for Germans from other areas.)

Topics to avoid: the war and Georg Bush, if you are a supporter - most Germans are against.

Cultural differences to remember: Germans are much more relaxed about sex, but very adverse to violence re movies, PC games etc.

Southern Germans - mostly the Bavarians, but maybe also some of the Schwabens - are also not as friendly as Americans might be used to, e.g. when you look at somebody, they don’t smile back, they look away. This doesn’t mean they are unfriendly, they just don’t smile all the time.

Germans also tend not to chat casually with people - they look for deep, real friendships, so if you talk for hours on the train, it may bother your opposite. Or it may not - depends on the circumstances.

Depending on what train you are taking, bring headphones - the more expensive ICE trains have radio on board.

Remember for any electronics you bring, you’ll need an adapter for the plugs AND we have 220 Volts, not 110, so you need a transformer or similar.

Cars: While it’s true there is no general speed limit on the Autobahn, that doesn’t mean you can drive 250 kmh everywhere - there are speed limits in towns and on the smaller roads. Some parts of the Autobahn also have speed limits (I think because of too many accidents there). Don’t drink and drive. When visiting any of the larger cities like Stuttgart, I strongly recommend the Public transport system - you don’t have the hassle of looking for a parking space, or trying to find streets in a foreign city and in a foreign language.

Speyer is a very old town, and Stuttgart, as capital of Baden-Württemberg, is also worth sight-seeing. I don’t know what kind of tours they have, though, but just ask at the tourist office.

Foods: I can’t reccommend all the meat dishes, as I’m vegetarian, but special foods in the Schwaben region are Spätzle - noodle dough scraped into hot water - and Maultaschen - dough filled with meat and boiled in a soup. There’s also Schupfnudeln - noodles made from potatoe dough, and fried in a pan, sometimes together with Sauerkraut.
There are many traditional dishes, and they can differ in taste, so I recommend trying to see what you like.

Remember that we use metric, so distance and speed is in Kilometers (roughly a yard), drinks and food are in liters (roughly a quart) and kilos (roughly two pounds). Currency is the Euro, and the different values have different colours and size (some Americans think the colour means it’s monopoly money. It’s not, it’s for the people with bad eyes to make distinguishing easier). 1 Euro is very roughly 1 Dollar. The cent coins (100 cents = 1 Euro) have different backsides according to which country issued them; many people like to collect them, maybe you would like, too.

Remember to bring enough money or traveller cheques, because withdrawing money can carry high fees. Remember also, if you want to withdraw money at the ATM, that a PIN with more than 4 digits likely won’t be accepted. Visa may not be accepted everywhere. The most common card is the EC-card, which is linked to a bank account (debit card?), not a credit card. There is much more cash payment for small amounts, credit cards are for big purchases (because of the fees for the merchants, many have signs that they will accept credit cards only above a certain amount.)

If you buy big souvenirs, you can get the VAT (Mehrwertsteuer, currently 16%) back with a special form. The big shops have service desks for this. (The MwST is the same for the whole country, no special sales tax.)

9

Okay, second part (I had to leave quickly):

Gasoline is probably more expensive than what you are used to - currently, it’s about 1,30 Euros per liter. Gas stations don’t give octane numbers, but “Normal” and “Super” (and Diesel). If you want to rent a car, you probably need an international drivers license. It’s forbidden to drive and talk on your cell phone (called “Handys” in German, btw), unless you use a hands-free device. I don’t know how expensive your roaming fees are, though - it might be best to not use your mobile. If you drive a car, gasoline and food is most expensive on the Autobahn, less expensive if you drive off into the next small village. The German version of the AAA is called ADAC and helps drivers with breakdowns, but also with advice. Maybe you want to go into their office and have a look.
We also have mandatory Good Samaritan laws - if you come upon an accident, you MUST help as far as you can (at least call the ambulance and secure the area). You most likely won’t be sued for doing first aid wrong; and the State insures you when helping others.

The big cities have internet cafes, and some of the hotels also offer Internet access.

An interesting site I found is How to Germany - they have practical tips, but also some essays on culture etc.
You can also try the culture quiz at Zompist for the differences between Germans and Americans.

How not be an “ugly” American: Don’t wear Hawaii shirts and shorts. :smiley: Also, since overt nationalism/patriotism is generally frowned upon, don’t wave/wear flags or similar. (There was a thread some time ago in regard to the soccer World Cup, and why flag waving is unusual here, that had a very good explanation.)

While there are McDonalds and Burger King around, I’d recommend the small Italian restaurants instead. They are rather cheap, and make good food. Typical take-away food is, besides roasted sausages (Würstel), Döner Kebap - Turkish roasted meat in a bun. More common than a BigMac.
Restaurants: Besides the many Italian ones (I think they are comparable to the Mexican family restaurants in Southern US), there are also the traditonal German “Kneipen” (pub-like), with meat-only, cheap, lots of surly elder men drinking beer. The food can be low quality or good. Don’t expect to be seated - you seat yourself. You don’t get free tap water - people usually drink “Mineralwasser” (Mineral water) with CO2 or “Apfelschorle” (Applejuice with mineral water). Or CocaCola. Service charge is usually included, but it’s customary to “round up” to the next number and give 10% as tip. It’s also not expected to eat and then leave - nobody frowns if you drink one glass of juice for an hour while talking with your date. And drinks aren’t served with lots of ice, generally, people drink warmer.

Also, rooms are not standardily air-conditioned! (It’s not that hot now.)

Pack both clothes for warm weather (I hope we get a nice “Altweibersommer” = Indian summer, where temps are in the 20 C range), but also for cold rainy weather (September can be cold, esp. as we’ve already had a cold August. 10 C is a bit cold, I think).

There are many parks in the bigger cities - Stuttgart has a nice park and zoo combination - that are nice to walk through when the sun is shining. The inner cities here are a lot safer than New York or similar, so you don’t need to bring your gun :stuck_out_tongue: (which would be prohibited here, anyway.)

In Frankfurt, you could try the “Äpplewoi” (Apple wine) which is special for that region. And close to Freiburg, there’s the Kaiserstuhl (an old vulcan) where vine is grown. Since autumn is the time for winegathering and -making, you might want to go to a “Besenwirtschaft” (a bunch of twigs tied together indicates that fresh wine is being served) or to a “Weinfest” (different wines are offered to taste). Again, try the local stuff for diversity.

TV: If your hotel has cable or satellite TV, you can get BBC Europe, CNN Europe for News in English. Main German news is at 20:00 (8 pm - we use 24h format) on ARD (channel 1) for 15 minutes, with weather forecast at the end.

Any other question? Too much info? :wink:

10

Oh, and I hope you have fun with your stay, and success with your research!

11

Since Rodgers mentioned Brötchen: Germany is famous for having about 600 varieties of bread! So I recommend trying the local bakerys, the sourdough bread, instead of the soft sponge white toast bread that usual in the US (which you can find in the supermarkets). There are lots of health and wholegrain breads around, as well as lots of cakes and sweet stuff.

About shopping: Normal shops have legal opening hours. While airports and big train stations and gas stations get an exception, prices might be more expensive there. Legal opening hours for shops are Mon. to Sat. 8 - 20 (8 am to 8 pm), but in small towns, shops usually close at 6 pm and may be open only Sat. morning.
Banks have much shorter hours, about 9:30 to 15:30, with lunch break in between.
Public offices have varying hours - safest bet is in the morning.

12

Or Swabians, we call them in English. I can attest to the dialectical difficulty. I spent a year in Germany and became reasonably fluent in the standard language. But there was this one girl in our dorm from Schwaben (also the name of the region), and the entire time I was there I could never understand more than “Wie geht’s?” from her.

13

As an American student spending a year among a mixed circle of Germans and Americans, I can’t say I noticed this much myself, but I’ve always heard the Germans are more reserved about their personal lives than Americans are. If you find yourself on a long train ride sharing a compartment with strangers, don’t expect the kind of personal revelations you sometimes get with Americans.

Try to get to Berlin if you can. It’s truly the world city of North Central Europe.

14

Yes, I can still remember my fiance telling me of a long train ride he shared with an American football coach, who wanted to share his views (which my fiance didn’t agree with) and his life story of personal sucesses (which my fiance wasn’t interested in) during the whole time (and because my fiance isn’T’ that fluent in English, it was an effort for him to listen for a long time) without taking any hints. (Although Germans are generally considered to be more direct when speaking their mind - they don’t dally around with niceties so much.)

15

Heh. I remember when I spent a week for a seminar in the Allgäu region (still Bavaria), one of the trainers had a thick accent, and her two catchphrases were “Ha noi?” (no, not the city - it’s similar to “Well? So what? What’s up? No biggie… etc.”) and “Yoghurt” (Jo guat = Ja gut = okay). We used these freely amongst ourselves for fun…

16

We happened to spend a couple of nights in Freiburg on our trip to Europe, but this was over 20 years ago so I don’t have any useful details to share. Although they did have a nice cathedral of some sort, and did you know they sell cuckoo clocks? :stuck_out_tongue:

I do remember noticing some cultural differences - we “Ugly Americans” are loud! And we tend to be less aware of the personal space of people around us. I second the observation that Europeans (in general) are less likely to open up to strangers. Stay low-key, you’ll absorb more and be noticed less.

17

Practically every major town and city in Germany will have at least one, possibly more, old churches, maybe even cathedrals, that are worth visiting for cultural history. But please with respect for the worshippers - Tourists wearing the aforementioned Hawaii shirts and shorts, taking pictures and talking loudly (and being fat) are labelled immediatley “Ugly (obnoxious, ignorant, uninformed) Americans”… (Visiting Germans who show no respect for the service are ugly Germans, of course.)

I won’t recommend buying cuckoo clocks, or Bierseidel (Beersteins - we don’t call them that!), or Hummel figurines, because I don’t consider them typical German, but typical souvenirs for (dumb) American tourists. (Doesn’t apply if your family/friends want one of these, or if you just happen to like them.)

18

Really not much to say after the excellent advice from constanze, other than recommending the Germany Survival Bible from the Spiegel magazine. (Also recommended to German readers, it’s very entertaining…)

19

Heh-heh…I harken back to the late 70s when my girlfriends went to Germany to bicycle through the country. My friend’s mother was terrified that she would accidentally bicycle through the gate on The Wall and die under the iron fist of communism. But I guess you don’t have to worry about that.

20

That Spiegel Survival Bible is pretty good (although the dating tips are a bit funny…)

[Quote]
Personal invitations of all kinds are to be taken at face value. “We’re having a party, please do come,” means “We’re having a party, please do come,” and not “We feel rude not inviting you in front of these other people, but surely you’ll have the grace not to show up.” Similarly, “Come over to my house and we’ll have tea,” means that you should start planning a date and time for that pleasant event. It is not to be confused with the Anglo-American “We should get together sometime,” which means “I hope I never see you again.”

[Quote]

This is important to remember - don’t invite people to come and visit you in the States if you don’t mean it.