His accent I mean. Both being Austrian. I’ve been listening to one of those ‘teach yourself German’ audiobooks and will occasionally listen to YouTube clips of native german speakers to see how much I can pick up on.
At this point, although I understand maybe 10% of what is being said, I have been able to pick up on how German regional accents differ. I listened to a clip of Arnold Schwarzeneggar(Austrian) doing a german interview and then a clip of Angela Merkel(Hamburg) doing an interview and while I can’t put my finger on it, I can hear a pretty big difference. For all I know, it may be class based accent differences and not necessarily regional.
Listening to a clip of Hitler, it’s kinda hard to discern the accent in the same way, because he’s giving a speech and not speaking in a conversational tone.
So, anyone know? Also, i’m not sure how varied regional accents are in austria, but would Hitlers accent be working class? middle class? country?
Here’s a private conversation between Hitler and Mannerheim about the war with Russia. He’s not making a speech in this one, but just talking regularly. So this might help if you wanted to hear how he sounded when he wasn’t speechifying.
I’ve also noticed that when listening to clips, an austrian or bavarian accent seems to sound less ‘german-y’ to my ears. My guess, and correct me if i’m wrong, is that the stereotypical harsh sounding german(to english speaking ears) is an aristocratic prussian accent? Meaning like any war movie with the ramrod straight german officer clicking his heels and sounding evil. That accent.
They speak Austrian German. There are actually several dialects spoken in Austria, but there is a recognized Austrian standard dialect. It’s my impression that Germans and Austrians can generally understand each other’s speech pretty well, but there are definitely differences.
And yet another question in case a german speaker happens along… When a native english speaker is speaking german, can germans differentiate between a brit speaking german vs an american? Or are the the differences between british accents and american lost and just kind of blends into an ‘anglo speaking german’ accent?
Hate to be the spoilsport, but I don’t hear any similarities between Hitler’s and Schwarzenegger’s accents at all.
Schwarzenegger’s displays precisely that deep Austrian peasant twang (“hillbilly Austrian” is spot on – thanks, user_hostile!) Hitler so carefully suppressed.
Mannerheim, belonging as he did to the Swedish minority in Finland, would probably have had German as (at best) his third language, and so does in that clip what most people in such a situation would have done: He en-un-ci-ates ex-tre-me-ly clear-ly, so as not to be misunderstood by his very, very important guest. That’s probably why some of you find him easier to understand.
Bonus fact: If you want to hear a really fucked-up, completely incomprehensible version of German, Austria ain’t the place to go – try Switzerland. Actually, speaking of Herzog, I can recommend The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner, a documentary he made about a brilliant Swiss ski jumper, Werner Steiner, who speaks with the craziest Swiss-German accent of all time.
It depends on both the speaker and the listener, but if the speaker’s accent is thick enough, and the listener has some knowledge of different English dialects, then certainly it’s possible. Conversely, it is often possible for an English speaker to differentiate between Austrians and (non-Bavarian) Germans speaking English.
