# Do the Germans make any \*bad\* stuff? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 25, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-germans-make-any-bad-stuff/487323 "2009-02-25T04:22:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-germans-make-any-bad-stuff/487323/61 "2009-03-03T22:25:01Z")
Heino. What do I win? Germans excel at Fests. Oktoberfest. Schlactfest, NofarkingreasonFest, SommerFest. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-germans-make-any-bad-stuff/487323/62 "2009-03-03T22:26:02Z")
[Pee Humor](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/TentacleMonster/Recycling.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-germans-make-any-bad-stuff/487323/63 "2009-03-04T04:06:51Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > Heino. > > What do I win? My everlasting hatred:mad: I was thiiiiis close to finally suppressing those memories, dammit! My parents and aunts are of German extraction and Of A Certain Age, so they actually _like_ Heino. I’ve seen Heino TV specials. I’ve been dragged to Heino goddamn _concerts_, fer cryin’ out loud. (If you’re not familiar with Heino, imagine Roy Orbison as a schmaltzy blond German child molester.) ---
**Author:** ![Mesquite-oh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@Mesquite-oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mesquite-oh)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-germans-make-any-bad-stuff/487323/64 "2009-03-04T09:01:40Z")
> [@Hunter\_Hawk](#): > > (If you’re not familiar with Heino, imagine Roy Orbison as a schmaltzy blond German child molester.) I just googled what a Heino is…oh my that is one weird mother f’er. [http://forum.surfermag.com/forum/printthread.php?Board=UBB1&main=1491986&type=post](http://forum.surfermag.com/forum/printthread.php?Board=UBB1&main=1491986&type=post) ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-germans-make-any-bad-stuff/487323/65 "2009-03-04T10:22:47Z")
> [@Hunter\_Hawk](#): > > My everlasting hatred:mad: > > I was thiiiiis close to finally suppressing those memories, dammit! > > My parents and aunts are of German extraction and Of A Certain Age, so they actually _like_ Heino. I’ve seen Heino TV specials. I’ve been dragged to Heino goddamn _concerts_, fer cryin’ out loud. > > (If you’re not familiar with Heino, imagine Roy Orbison as a schmaltzy blond German child molester.) Ohhh, I know who Heino is. We dressed up as him for a costume party. Zee Older Germans of a Certain Age ( and Questionable Tastes) loved the idea. Americans just went :dubious: I’m sorry for inflicting such damage onto you. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-germans-make-any-bad-stuff/487323/66 "2009-03-04T10:36:20Z")
I wanted to post here noting the most frequent bad German-built stuff I encounter: bad-to-mediocre architecture especially in commercial buildings; the occasional building that later proved to be [badly sited](http://www.tagesspiegel.de/storage/pic/fotos/politik/156241_1_070722_weesenstein_hennig.jpg); overlooked design issues that lead to failure, sometimes decades later. Yesterday a grave example came up: the historical archive of Cologne (a 1971 building) collapsed. 3 people missing, 26 shelf-kilometres (16 shelf-miles) of documents/files since the year 922 buried under the rubble. :eek: On the other hand we take responsibility for this kind of thing pretty seriously, after the fact - the civil engineer who misdesigned the 1971-1973 built Bad Reichenhall ice rink which collapsed in 2006, last year got a 18 months suspended sentence. Should motivate the designers of current builders to double-check their work, but we are probably still saddled with decades’ worth of cut corners. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-germans-make-any-bad-stuff/487323/67 "2009-03-04T15:15:39Z")
> [@Mesquite-oh](#): > > I just googled what a Heino is…oh my that is one weird mother f’er. > > [http://forum.surfermag.com/forum/printthread.php?Board=UBB1&main=1491986&type=post](http://forum.surfermag.com/forum/printthread.php?Board=UBB1&main=1491986&type=post) Holy molley.. Its the love child of Roy Orbison and Ziggy Stardust! ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-germans-make-any-bad-stuff/487323/68 "2009-03-04T16:15:51Z")
> [@Mesquite-oh](#): > > I just googled what a Heino is…oh my that is one weird mother f’er. > > [http://forum.surfermag.com/forum/printthread.php?Board=UBB1&main=1491986&type=post](http://forum.surfermag.com/forum/printthread.php?Board=UBB1&main=1491986&type=post) Trust me, it gets worse. Try checking on Youtube to see if there are any clips of him frolicking in the countryside with prepubescent kids. (In fairness, I’ll readily admit the guy has a good voice.) ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-germans-make-any-bad-stuff/487323/69 "2009-03-04T16:23:38Z")
There’s a German comedian who’s spent the last few years doing the British circuit trying (and failing, IMHO) to prove that Germans do indeed have a sense of humor. I don’t remember his name, but I remember listening to him on a radio show - Charm Offensive, I think - and he dropped an offhand “joke” about how things get made up, “like the Holocaust”. One of the most awkward moments I’ve heard on radio, especially because at least one other guest was Jewish. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-germans-make-any-bad-stuff/487323/70 "2009-03-04T17:43:21Z")
Mercedes and VW have had terrible reliability issues for a good number of years now. They are just starting to come out of it. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-germans-make-any-bad-stuff/487323/71 "2009-03-04T17:52:46Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > - and he dropped an offhand “joke” about how things get made up, “like the Holocaust”. . Well, to be fair, that joke killed back in the homeland… ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-germans-make-any-bad-stuff/487323/72 "2009-03-04T18:08:52Z")
The answer that leaped to mind for the subject line alone was, “Jazz”. Horrid. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-germans-make-any-bad-stuff/487323/73 "2009-03-04T20:47:15Z")
VW bus. 'nuff said. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-germans-make-any-bad-stuff/487323/74 "2009-03-04T21:43:55Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > There’s a German comedian who’s spent the last few years doing the British circuit trying (and failing, IMHO) to prove that Germans do indeed have a sense of humor. I don’t remember his name, but I remember listening to him on a radio show - Charm Offensive, I think - and he dropped an offhand “joke” about how things get made up, “like the Holocaust”. One of the most awkward moments I’ve heard on radio, especially because at least one other guest was Jewish. If you mean Henning Wehn, I think he’s really funny. He deliberately plays on the British stereotypes about humourless Germans. And I laughed at the Holocaust gag, I don’t see what’s awkward about it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-germans-make-any-bad-stuff/487323.md?page=3)