Geography Now! Germany - Americans React

Small correction: In Germany wo don't have 300 different types of bread... it's more like 3000 different types 😄

Germany has influenced the whole of Europe long before the wars, and long after. It's strange that we're taught with a focus on such a short period, I understand why - the never forget philosophy, but there is more to Germany and it's culture. You might be surprised how much English culture evolved from German culture, not least the English language...

Germany is a massively underrated tourist destination. Great country and people. Berlin for my 40th was an all-time great party - and those guys certainly know how to do that!

10:40 The eagle is probably the single most common national symbol in Europe - Germans, Poles, Austrians, Russians... When the US was picking its symbol, Ben Franklin was against adopting an eagle because he said it wouldn't stand out.

3:40 “Lower” and “Upper” in geographic names refers to elevation, not North and South. Which wouldn’t even make sense, because historically maps were not always oriented “North = Up”. Lower Saxony is obviously “lower” because it sits on the coast. The real weird fun fact is that “Lower Saxony” is the original Saxony. What is now called Saxony got its name from inheritance shenanigans.

17:45 No tests, parents can choose. The teachers give a recommendation, however it's up to the parents if they follow that recommendation or ignore it. There are a few things you need to know about the German education system though: 1) The system is not a one-way system. If for example someone graduates from a Hauptschule after 9th grade with really good grades he/she can decide to switch to a Realschule, go to school for a 10th grade and get the Realschulabschluss (a higher qualification) as well. And likewise everyone who graduates from a Realschule can switch to a Gymnasium and go to school for three additional years and graduate with Abitur at the end of 13th grade. Likewise pupils can switch to a "lower" school if they can't keep up - a friend of mine from elementary school - or Grundschule - decided to try his luck at Gymnasium; however he didn't do all that well with his grades on average being in the 4s and 5s (in Germany we don't use letters for grades, we use numbers, with 1 being the best and 6 being the worst; in tests 1-4 means you passed while 5 means you failed the test and 6 means you failed horribly); but after switching to a Realschule he was able to cope much better and managed to get up his grades to 1s and 2s. 2) Even if you don't go to another school for higher qualifications but decide to start vocational training instead (which is highly valued in Germany, it's not at all looked down upon as it is the case in the USA) you can still aquire additional qualifications later, including the Abitur which then qualifies for University. 3) As said before - vocational training (= Berufsausbildung, including craftsmanships) and trade schools (kaufmännische Ausbildung, commercial education) are held in high regard in Germany and are not considered low skilled jobs at all (because they are not, all of them are highly regulated trainings that require 2-4 years of training and grants an official degree and certificate at the end). In contrast to the USA many of these jobs are also way better payed; if you learned a craft for example you usually finish your training as a journeyman, but you can aquire additional qualifications and become a master - and craftsmen are usually well payed.

The Adidas/Puma skit is because the two brands were founded by brothers, Adolph (Adi) and Rudolf Dasler. Puma's original name was/is RuDa. Sorry, I know more random information about so many things that it's almost detrimental lol.

One thing I really appreciated in Germany is the food. If you're eating in a restaurant, you'll find some of the least adulterated foodstuffs. It was a breath of fresh air to enjoy tastes and textures that haven't been sullied by one thing or another. I'm a 'mostly veggie' now, but the roast suckling pig I had in Munich was a thing of wonder.

Regarding regional differences: I mean, we all speak high German and naturally there is a common ground, but it does make a huge difference if you are from the North, South, West or East. Different traditions, different cuisine, different clothing...the differences are sometimes subtle, but they are there. And if people start to speak their lokal dialekt, you can bet that other Germans would have trouble to understand them.

13:20 Deutsch is NOT what you call Dutch in english at all. Deutsch is the German word for what you call German. Dutch in German is translated as Holländisch. High German and Low German are two different languages. High German is based on the languages of the Southern Germanic tribes like the Alemanni and the Lombards, while Low German is based on the languages of the northern tribes, like the Saxons and Angles. Low german is also way closer to Dutch, Frisian, the Jutic dialects (which is a variety od danish) and the other scandinavian languages (except Finnish which is an uralic language and related to just one other language in Europe which is Hungarian). Low german is also closely related to a language you may be very familiar with - English. The reason is that the basic language from which modern Low German derives is actually Old Saxon, also known as Old Low German....and as Old English. It's the language the saxons spoke when they conquered England during the 5th and 6th century. Because of that modern day English and modern Low German are still way more closely related than English and High German. In a historc sense Low German was way more common in the Holy Roman Empire than High German. High German was spoken only in the Alpine regions in the South while the rest spoke Low German.According to many historians that slowly started to change when Martin Luther translated the bible - and even though he himself spoke Low German he chose to use High German for his translation.

8:30 We had a tornado few weeks ago across our city of Paderborn in North Rhine Westphalia. I never thought I'd ever have a tornado that strong so close to me 😵‍

Regarding schooling: that is one of those things that is handled by each individual state. So if and how you can choose between the different schooling options depends on where you live.

Regaring Germany's colonisation history: You most likely missed it out, because the period was pretty short. Basically Bismarck wasn't a fan of having colonies, so he actually prevented Germany having some at least initially, until he bowed to political pressure and took what the English, Dutch, Spanish and French left over - then Bismarck did, WWI happened and the colonies were taken as loot. So basically those colonies were only long enough under German control for around 30 years, but that period was sadly long enough to do a lot of damage, especially to the hereros.

Schnitzel: Mostly pork but can be calf, Rouladen is Beef, Sauerbraten is nowadays mostly beef, originally horse. A lot of mistakes in this one but that's ok because of the limited time.

Good reaction, would like to see you two do more from Geography Now.

I've been waiting for your Vblogs on the UK. Hope you're enjoying your stay with us.

Thanks for the reaction. 👍 Greetings from Hamburg.

Hey guys. Nice, down to earth reaction. Regarding school...my main teacher in ground school gave a recomendation for one of the three types of schools after ground school. My parents then decided, which school i would take. At least in Schleswig-Holstein, and it was quite a time ago ;)

Geography Now is an incredible channel. Barbs does his research and is a very charismatic guy.

There are of course a bunch of mistakes in both videos but I really like how y’all really knew a bunch about germany. Glad to see how people see germany