Germany

Why is it even called Germany anymore?

Because it is in Germany?
Because there are many germs there.
Because it''s not Chile.
could be worse, try... United Kingdom.
h.lodscjitz
\ \ Because Michigan was already taken.
What else do you want to call it?; Deutschland?
Thethoughtfulcritic
After the fall of the Berlin Wall there was a David Letterman Top Ten List of potential names for the reunified Germany, and I seem to recall that Number One was "The Love Shack."
Germany is an English name. Ask an English speaking county why they still use that name for Deutchland. (see r6)
And in Spanish it''s Alemania. \ \ But then Spanish is different for just about everything. Estados Unidos, Ingleterra, etc.
LuciferTheLightBringer
Well the Greeks call Greece Ellas, while the Greeks call Switzerland Elvetia. The Swiss call their country Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera, or Svizra, depending on which language they speak. Which one should we call it?
It was going to be Hitlerville but they thought people might confuse it with Hooterville.
http://www.maggiore.net/greenacres/
[quote]The Swiss call their country Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera, or Svizra, depending on which language they speak. \ \ Actually, they call it Confoederatio Helvetica (Latin for Swiss Federation) which is why their little oval bumper stickers say "CH")
Nothing wrong with Switzerland, my aunt lives there and she wouldn''t dream of going back to her own country. Her husband is Swiss - german variety that is! At least they protect their own interests! Besides she introduced me to continental chocolate. Yum Yum.\ Germany is actually comprised of several kingdoms united under Bismarck! All have differing cultures.
anonymous female.
Interestingly, Germany has more different names than nearly any European nation: Duitsland, Tyskland, Germania, Allemagne, Saksa, Niemcy, Deguo, and of course, Naziland.
Why are you asking OP?
oohh R6, you must be kicking yourself that you are one whole hour LATE to being R1 on this thread too!
America should be called Vinland or Florida, its two first names.
America should be called "Jesusland"
"Germania" was the term the Greeks and Romans used.\ \ I wouldn''t suggest calling it "Naziland", as they''re still pretty sensitive about all that.
The country you should be asking about is Turkey. That name makes their country a joke. They went from "Ottoman Empire", which sounded powerful and classy, to "Turkey"? Even "Turkland" would be an improvement.
Whet Istanbul?
Also known as Holes and Poles.
In Germany, it''s known as, "Bundesrepublik Deutschland"
America was named after Amerigo Vespucci. It might just as well have been named Vespucciland.
Anomynous
Hitlerville!
What a Germans such sexual freaks?
[quote]Actually, they call it Confoederatio Helvetica (Latin for Swiss Federation) which is why their little oval bumper stickers say "CH")%0D\ %0D\ Actually, we are not.
swiss chick
[quote]I wouldn''t suggest calling it "Naziland", as they''re still pretty sensitive about all that.\ \ They fucking should be. The Germans like to act completely offended whenever someone questions the level of sadism and depravity demonstrated by everyday Germans during WWII.\ \ We''re not talking about a few isolated thugs. We are talking about hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children who descended into the depths of bestiality for an extended period of time.\ \ There is something sick and wrong with that culture and that shit does not disappear overnight, regardless of how cowed and embarrassed they may be about their past.
r28, most of those people are dead and long gone. Get over it.
R28: does this mean we get to blame you personally for Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Based on your fucked-up issues, I believe it does.
Oh, god, here we go again...
Because English speaking people called it Germany before the war, West and East Germany after the war, and thought that calling it Germany again after reunification was the most reasonable thing to do.%0D\ %0D\ Of course some other names were considered:%0D\ %0D\ Peoria-am-Rein%0D\ %0D\ North Tunisia%0D\ %0D\ Schnitzel Unter Scandia%0D\ %0D\ Larynx%0D\ %0D\ Elkasommerland%0D\ %0D\ Sentabergerland%0D\ %0D\ Fassbinderepic%0D\ %0D\ Heideggeria%0D\ %0D\ Neibelungenland%0D\ %0D\ Holy Roman Empire Part Deux%0D\ %0D\ Wurstershire%0D\ %0D\ Krautestan%0D\ %0D\ %0D\ %0D\ %0D\ %0D\ %0D\ %0D
And my favorite Little Marbella
You mean the Fourth Reich und the Upcoming Fodder
R30:\ \ Excuse me, dumb bitch, but I did not personally condone the H-bomb being dropped on Japan, nor did I take part in dropping it on Japan, nor did I know about it before hand and do nothing to prevent it.\ \ False equivalence. You must be a Nazi.\ \ Germans knew what their government was up to. Most of them condoned, many of them actively supported it, and up to 10% had blood on their hands DIRECTLY.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, and Americans systematically slaughtered all the Natives, and enslaved blacks. Let''s not even get into Stalin, someone Hitler could never touch when it came to genocide. r35 must go up to people of different ethnicities, and just start fights with them. lmao.
Are you brain damaged, R35? Only 5-10% of the current German population were adults during WWII.\ \ So yeah, if you''re stupid enough to assert that the entire German population was directly involved in the Holocaust, I''m crazy enough to accuse you of personally bombing Nagasaki. \ \ Go read a history book, read what false equivalence really means for extra credit, & get back to us.
I agree with R30. The level of depravity demonstrated by the Germans during WWII points to an inherent cultural flaw with the Germans. And it''s not the type of flaw that simply dies off with a generation either, any more than Germans'' obsession with "following the rules" and "following the leader" has died off since the war.\ \ Germans are defective. They need to be monitored.
Sorry, I meant to say that I agree with R28.
R38
In about 50 to 75 years from now it will be called "Germanistan".
Don''t believe everything your rabbi tells you, R38.
Doucheland has a nice ring to it...
Zak
I thought it was named by the Romans after Germanicus--one of their leaders (or something).
Turks and Kurds have bad names. They live near each other, so they could be confused as "Kirks and Turds."
Why is Greece called Greece?%0D\ And why is the former Soviet Republic of Georgia called Georgia? Its real name is nothing like Georgia. %0D\ And why is Finland called that when the Finn don''t call it that?%0D\ And what about India? And Thailand? And China? And Japan?
Why is the USA called the United States? I''ve never seen a cuntry less united.
On a related topic, why are half of Americans unable to find Europe on a map?
r38 = copypasta from another thread in which his demented ass got repeatedly kicked.
I say we rename it. My vote: "Bob."
OP, you should have added a poll!
r38, have you ever been to Germany?\ \ If you have, you would know that the nation''s processing, soul-searching and heartfelt, intelligent commemoration of its atrocities is a testament to a people''s determination to overcome the shame of its recent history. \ \ I wish I could say the same thing about my country, the U.S.
Turks and Kurds and Jutes Better Skurry...
Love it when Americans, who have butchered millions in the name of "liberty & justice", but hey, they HAD to do it, are getting all mightier than thou about those TERRIBLE Nazis.
R28/35 is all worked up from having seen that recent documentary, "Captain America."
After living in Germany for seven years and visiting Germany on and off for many more, R50, I just can''t agree with you.\ \ The rise of neo-Nazi groups all over Germany and the number of Holocaust apologists is downright scary. The "soul-searching" has always been more official, i.e., from the government anyway. Many, many Germans have remained privately sympathetic to the Nazi movement.
Don''t single out Germans. Human beings in general are defective and capable of all manner of depravity. All it takes is the perfect storm and god knows what hell awaits. Just look at history.
Germans are among the most thoughtful people on the planet today. Americans seem more likely to allow a holocaust today than Germans. Americans won''t stand up for anything or have a rally for anything, and look at the moronic leaders Americans are electing: Michelle Bachmann?? Sarah Palin??? Rick Perry??? Tim Pawlenty??? These people are insane!
I certainly wouldn''t categorize Germans as any more Nazi-like than, say, the average Datalounge poster.
[quote]Actually, they call it Confoederatio Helvetica (Latin for Swiss Federation)%0D\ %0D\ Well, no, they don''t "call" it that; that''s just the official compromise for the international licence plate country code.
R58: And a brilliant compromise it is for a country with at least 3 official languages.
Unlike other countries (like Germany), we Americans fight wars for FREEDOM.
[quote]Unlike other countries (like Germany), we Americans fight wars for FREEDOM.\ \ Is that what you''re calling oil these days? Freedom?
[quote]Unlike other countries (like Germany), we Americans fight wars for [bold]EXXONMOBIL[/bold].\ \ Fixed your typo for you.\ \ You''re welcome.
DEUTSCHLAND!!
Because calling it Wiener Schnitzel would give you the wrong idea.
R28 and R30 are right. Even the current generation are people raised by those who were raised by the citizens of the Third Reich. There are still people alive who suffered at the hands of the nazis and the Third Reich and there are still those alive who perpetrated the horrors of that time of evil and depravity. And there are still enough morons floating around who take pride in the Third Reich or try to excuse the country. While there came a time when it took more courage than the majority of Germans had to stand up to Hitler, there was a time when it was possible to stop it but the German people were either too stupid or too vain or too craven to do anything about it while there was still time. I love much about Germany but it's as if they need to be on eternal parole.
Bullshit, r65. As an American who's spent a good deal of time in Germany, I can tell you definitively that a Fourth Reich is far more likely to happen in the God-and-Guns US today (and even more likely to happen in Russia) than in Germany. Just because the Americans and the Japanese and the English (did you know that they invented the concentration camp?) have been better able to deny their historical atrocities doesn't mean the Germans should be the ones "on probation". How many of the idiots posting vitriol here have ever even met a real live German, rather than a Hollywood movie caricature?
R14 And in Italian, the adjective (and demonym) "German" is [bold]tedesco[/bold]. I was always curious as to why there were so many different names, too.
Cunning Linguist
The only war the USA ever fought in that was for freedom was WW2. Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Afghanistan, Iraq and many other covert wars not officially talked about (East Timor, Cambodia, Cuba etc.), are/were all staged for American Imperialism and Control.
R54, I doubt you actually lived in Germany. I lived in Germany for 30 years. And while I met several people matching your description of neo nazi Germans, 99% of Germans I met were nothing like it. You sound like you have read about this topic, but you did not live in that country.
[quote]99% of Germans I met were nothing like it. 99% of people in the world don't want trouble and do what it takes to stay out of it. That means Naziism in the 30s and anti-Naziism in the 2000s. This is what makes people so scary.
I got a big kick out of R9's post - the names for European countries are entirely cognate with the English, except for the glaring exception of 'Alemania'.
Native%20Spanish%20Speaker
[quote]The only war the USA ever fought in that was for freedom was WW2. Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Afghanistan, Iraq and many other covert wars not officially talked about (East Timor, Cambodia, Cuba etc.), are/were all staged for American Imperialism and Control. Did you ever hear about the troubles in the former Yugoslavia? What about U.S. military action there do you think was staged for imperialism and control? Or did you think the U.S. was there for oil?
I've met Germans -- bright, well educated, hard workers, but still scary. First, they are NOT ashamed of the Third Reich. They pay only the thinnest of lip service against and change the subject. Will NEVER speak of the Holocaust. I am pretty sure that most are anti-semites. They did STOP Hitler when they had the chance because they supported Hitler by and large. Certainly it wasn't a case of everyone from Hindenburg to the last kraut being for Hitler. But, a majority were ...
All germans should be watched
R72 USA had a strategic interest in Yugoslavia. Bondsteel military base in Kosovo?
Smoke a joint and watch "Triumph Of The Will." You'll never be the same again.
[quote]First, they are NOT ashamed of the Third Reich. They pay only the thinnest of lip service against and change the subject. You're deranged.
Camp Bondsteel was built in order to house peacekeeping forces after Kosovo declared independence in 1999. We had no interests in the area prior to the NATO bombing in 1999. We went there in the interest of freedom. If you want to contest that, then, please, tell me what vital U.S. interest in the area Bondsteel was built to protect? What glory or treasure did the United States gain from its intervention?
They have the BEST fetish bars in Germany. I still remember fondly.. bending over at the bar and being fucked with a beer bottle while everyone looked on.. such sweet sweet memories. The Germans are such lovely people.
Beer anyone?
Class, R78.
[quote]Camp Bondsteel Sounds like a gay leatherman resort.
r73 is deranged indeed, and he is projecting. I'm German, and I haven't encountered a single Nazi sympathizer in Germany in 30 plus years, i.e. for the whole of my life. The reason few Germans won't speak about the Holocaust is because it's painful and embarrassing for us - not because we agree with it. Idiot.
Suddenly I feel like a beer
Imclassytoo
^^ I obviously meant: "few Germans will speak". And r73 is still a tiresome idiot.
Don't mess with the Germans. Mercedes has secretly designed a microwave that seats 300. With all the turks in Germany I think Germany will rename itself Gerky.
r84, I respect your opinion. But, I stand by mine - the Germans I have met have not struck me as overwhelmed with their past. And, I believe, that if Hitler had won the war, they would have no problems getting their share of the spoils.
This is why I love Trader Joes.
Whatever happened to Prussia? Wasn't that the previous name for Germany?
r87 Prussia was a kingdom within the lands that became Germany. The capital of Prussia was Berlin and Prussians dominated the unification of Germany. Parts of it now are in Poland and renamed an unpronounceable string of consonants (see Gdansk--Danzig) as a result of WW2. Even worse, Konigsberg, now Kaliningrad is technically a part of Russia. Has world history been discontinued in school now?
Anonymous
I'll take Germans over Mexicans any day.
Los Angeleno
The Ottoman Empire covered much of the Balkans, the Middle East and North Africa. The Anatolian peninsula had been referred to as Turkey since the 11th century.
How many of you feel any guilt for dropping two atom bombs on Japan? Denying blacks basic civil rights well into the 1960's? Carpet bombing North Vietnam? Why on earth would a young German feel any real guilt for what happened 60 years ago?
Did you know that David Hasselhoff is quite popular in Germany? I think that in time they will find this fact quite difficult to talk about also.
downcomesthewall
KUCKUCK!! wie gehts euch in amerika?
Ganz gut.
Exactly, R91!
Germans look best in uniform...or very structured clothes like Bavarian jackets (the design of which Chanel borrowed from the one Visconti's boyfriend Horst P. Horst wore). Or Mugler, etc. And what's that Hun mens designer who does all the fab army looking clothes that The Gays adore. Him. In unstructured civvies Germans tend to look like they missing their point. R81 is clearly one of those tedious liberal Huns one meets who drone on about the horrors of fascism, but whose brains are, like all krauts, wired for it. Except they express it in different ways. Like denying they've ever met Germans who might possibly entertain a mild fondness for AH. Spare me. 10 mins in gay bar and I was being told immigrants weren't a problem, they were 'a disease'. But then I'm bl/bl, so looked like part of the Aryan furniture. Their anal prescriptiveness wears one down, but their scholarship, romanticism, madness, and the genuine breathtaking master race beauty of a few, is what saves them.
"I'm German, and I haven't encountered a single Nazi sympathizer in Germany in 30 plus years, i.e. for the whole of my life." Then obviously you haven't met the current Pope and former Hitler Youth member, Ratzinger. Who is continuing his attacks against the Gay community world wide now, just like he did for Hitler eons ago. As long as this guy is doing that, and as long as Germany continues to deny Gays full equality before the law, the Nazi reputation stands.
All the sane DLers must still be without power after Sandy, judging by responses like r96 (spent 10 minutes in a German gay bar and now calls Germans "krauts" but fetishizes their "master race beauty" and uniforms) and r97 (obviously a close friend of Mr. Ratzinger, since he knows for a fact that the latter joined the Hitler Youth at 15 or so solely for the purpose of gay-bashing). Sandy, you bitch! Now we have to deal with this drivel until the lights go back on. Say, doesn't "Sandy" sound suspiciously like a German name, btw?)
Exactly, r98. r96 blabbers about the 'hidden Nazi tendencies' of others, only to deliver this gem: 'the genuine breathtaking master race beauty of a few, is what saves them'. Well, it doesn't save you from sounding like a Nazi yourself. Master race? You're quite the freak, r98. Secondly, r97 is the same troll who pops up in all German-related threads with the same drivel every time, because his relatives had been murdered by the Nazis. That is horrible indeed, r97, and it will forever shame Germany as a nation, re her past. But your obsessive need to visit revenge on the Germans of today (on DL of all places) does make you sound crazy, and - quite racist. You employ the same racist categories the Nazis did (Sippenschuld, Blutschuld, and all that), and Hitler would have been proud of you. Finally, r97, Germany has done more for her gay citizens than the US has ever done for gay Americans. Deal with it.
r81
Germany has done more for Gays than Saudi Arabia too. Why not use that comparison?
Give it up, r100. Gays in Germany lead a peaceful life here, can enter civil unions, aren't harrassed in public, nor are they insulted by abominations such as Mitt Romney/Coulter/Bachmann, without the press doign nothing. The second most powerful politician in our country is married to a man. Get back to me when the US - or Saudia Arabia - have accomplished these things. And even when the US does, it'll be years and years after Germany and the rest of the western world already implemented pro-gay legislature - that was binding for their entire nations (and not just a few territories, as is the case in the US). If you sit in the glasshouse.... you know the saying. Except when you're a dumb, racist American, then you throw that stone anyway.
r81%20/%20gay%20German
^^ "without the press doing anything", is what I meant. And it's true. The shit that goes down in the US and remains uncommented by the press, or worse, with the press complicit, would be unthinkable in today's Germany. Just recently, our CONSERVATIVE secretary of family affairs suggested introducing full same-sex marriage, and it was widely approved by the media, fairly discussed in television programmes, and so forth. (But opposed by the catholic wing of the conservative party). Not a word of bile by the press, though. Gays are largely protected in Germany, and fair game in the US.
Germany bans Gay marriage Germany bans Gay adoptions Germany bans Gay surrogacy Two of the three government parties, the conservative Christian parties Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union, still are opposed to full LGBT rights. The third government party, the liberal Free Democratic Party, supports LGBT's equality. German registered partnerships do not enjoy the same tax benefits as marriages. The USA is worse, but not everyone on DL is American.
"A thousand years will pass and the shame of Germany will not be erased." Hans Frank " After Hitler's accession to power in 1933, Frank became Nazi Germany's chief jurist and Governor-General of occupied Poland's 'General Government' territory. During his tenure (1939–1945), he instituted a reign of terror against the civilian population and became directly involved in the mass murder of Polish Jews. At the Nuremberg trials, he was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity and was executed."
From the horse's mouth
Here's a name--"OOO--EEE-OO-A'A, TING TANG WALLA WALLA BING BANG". The capital in Berlin stays the same except that as an additional punishment Germans must hop naked down the street so we can see the flopping tits of the women and the flopping dicks of the men. Better yet, let's call it Kangaroo-land from now on...........
eeeeeeee cummings (ezra pound was a nazi and deserved a good spanking)
r104 = arguing for racial guilt makes you a Nazi yourself. There is no racial guilt. Germany is forever shamed for a thousand years, that is true. But those Germans born after 1945 have nothing to do with it personally, just as every American born after the Civil War has nothing to do with pre-war slavery on a personal level. Something tells me you don't think the American South, the Carribean and Brazil will be shamed for a thousand years, for abducting and murdering millions of Africans, tearing families apart, torturing people, hunting them down, and making them live miserable lives. Quite selective you are. And - racist. Sensitivity re the past, and responsibility as to the long-lasting effects of the misdeeds of our forefathers is one thing. But to argue for personal guilt of their progeny is to argue like a fascist.
r103: I never said that Germany was perfect. In fact, one of the parties you mentioned - the CDU - agrees things aren't perfect for LGBTs either. It bears repeating: the conservative secretary of family affairs has recently pushed for gay marriage. Needless to say, the Social Democrats and the Green Party are in favor of it too - just like in France, it's only a matter of time till they get in power, and they will implement the rest. Your implication that Germany is still fascist at heart, and that's why we don't have full equality is quite simply ... wrong. That would make France fascist at heart, and Italy fascist at heart, and Luxembourg fascist at heart, and the UK fascist at heart. The problem with these countries is the Catholics and/or social conservatives who oppose equality. But they hardly make up the entire populace of their respective nations. And being a social conservative does not equal being a fascist. Sorry. All these countries (save Italy), including Germany, protect their gay citizens better than the US does re gay Americans. You are sitting in the proverbial glasshouse. If any western country is going down a fascist road, it is the USA.
[quote][R96] blabbers about the 'hidden Nazi tendencies' of others, only to deliver this gem: 'the genuine breathtaking master race beauty of a few, is what saves them'. Well, it doesn't save you from sounding like a Nazi yourself. Master race? You're quite the freak, [R98]. Sorry to break it to you bitch, but (a) I'm not PC when it clashes with personal truth and (b) I've seen Germans so jawdropping in their beauty, including an ex-boyfriend, they looked internally lit like they had fluoescent tubes up their arse. My boyfriend was so prototypical he was nicknamed 'The Little German' as a boy and as a man was a Henreich Himmler wet dream: platinium haired, blue x-ray eyed, and satin over steel muscle. I once combed his body inch by inch to see if i could find the tiniest freckle, mole, pjmple or scar. Nothing. He was scarily physically perfect. Combine that wifh the Germanic dominance and Wagarian yearnings, and yeah: I think the term master race for some Germanics is totally warranted. No wonder so many of their victims looked in awe: they can be awesome. Of course the majority of the population look like shit, but there's this incredible minority....
R96
r108 = Nazi.
all those thick uncut German cocks YUMMY
Ever read Funeral Rites, R108? No, of course not. You're bone stupid. I'm as much a nazi as Genet was while writing that cumspattered masterpiece.
r111, you're certainly too stupid to reference the right poster. You meant r109, not r108. r108 was your own post. Your fevered rantings and inability to identify the correct interlocutor speak volumes about you. Not only are you a Nazi, you're also a name dropper, a poser, and you've got a few screws loose.
r109
Expecting modern day Germans to shoulder the guilt of WW2 (and WW1) is like expecting modern day white Americans to shoulder the guilt of slavery. Move on, people, move on.
Thank you, r91.
So mentioning Jean Genet on DL now qualifies one as a 'name dropper'? Fuck me dead! The Time of the Morons really is upon us. Like any sensible fag, Tom of Finland had no trouble loathing the politics of nazis, while admiring the beauty of Germans in uniform - and fucking them as a young man in occupied Finland. By refusing to distinguish between personal taste and racism, the 'german' on this thread shows himself to be either one of those ridiculous ideological germans, or one of those Jewy McJew jews or camp followers who wave the anti-semitic card at anything and everything, so actually making themselves the worst possible enemy of every sane jew and german.
Time for your meds, r115. Any thread about Germany will bring out the crazies in no time, you can bet your house on that. They're lurking. Just whisper the word "Germany" into the wind, and watch it unfold.
"Germany is forever shamed for a thousand years, that is true." Then we are in agreement r106. I am not advocating racial guilt at all, nor collective guilt. I only put in the description of Hans Frank from Wikipedia in case other posters forgot who he was. Not because today's Germans are guilty of the mass murders on the Eastern Front. Sometimes it takes a monster to know another monster - Stalin's Order of the Day before the final assualt on Berlin - "Remember, only the unborn are innocent." If Stalin gives Germans born after 1945 a pass, who I am to argue.
Why is it even harped on at all? Endlessly. Leopold II, Lenin & Stalin, Hirohito, Pol Pot, and Turkey collectively killed infinitely more people. There's even a big gold statue in the centre of Brussels of Leopold holding an African baby. Which is the equivalent of one in Berlin of Hitler holding a jewish one. Unlike Israel, the Congoese have MOVED ON, and haven't used their genocide as blackmail to steal territory from others and the money of American taxpayers. Jews need to move on too. Shit like the Ann Frank house is just Princess Di murder porn for fat tourists.
I love Ronhill13 on Cam4. He's from Germany, or whatever you call it.
You're right, OP. Let's just call it Virusey.
There is still much shame in having German roots. I have never heard of a 2nd or 3rd generation North American celebrity repatriating/celebrating their German roots. It happens with British, Scottish, Irish, Italian, French, Spanish, Czech, Hungarian,Swedish etc. all the time. But never with German roots. That tells you something. Mind you, I don't think Germany really encourages those with German bloodlines to re-repatriate.
[quote]There is still much shame in having German roots. I have never heard of a 2nd or 3rd generation North American celebrity repatriating/celebrating their German roots. It happens with British, Scottish, Irish, Italian, French, Spanish, Czech, Hungarian,Swedish etc. all the time. But never with German roots. I don't know how much of that is shame, and how much is due to the fact that Germany is actually a fairly new country. I grew up in a German town (German was the language of the schools until WWI), but people didn't identify as German as much as they identified as Prussian, Bavarian, Rhinelander, and so on. Even today people still say they're from "south of Munich" or name some obscure little village, instead of saying they're German. In my town there separate social clubs, bars, and churches for each little region, and each group tended to stick to themselves--the concept of being a "German" really never clicked with them.
r121, Sandra Bullock never misses an opportunity to mention she's German, and she spoke IN GERMAN at both the Oscars and Golden Globes, in front of an American audience. To maximise her cute factor. Leonardo DiCaprio too has mentioned his German grandma numerous times. That renders your arguments somewhat moot, I would say. Also, what US celebrity has "re-patriated" to Sweden, Hungary or Spain? Names, please.
That sounds like a defensive thing to me. If I wanted to promote German culture after the Nazis, I would definitely be looking to promote generations who fled the country before Naziism as proof that the two were not synonymous.
Right, but since WWII, German culture has been technology. That's the image they're projecting. Fuck, Heidi and old guys wearing lederhosen, if think Germany you think Mercedes, BMW, Volkswagen, Siemens, and Porsche. That's the image Germany wants, not Bavarian beer maids with big tits, and certainly not Hitler or guys with dueling scars.
Ah yes, the ramblings of Leo and Sandra negate any discussion otherwise. LOL! When World War II began it hadn't even been a 100 years since the German sovereign states and tribes were united under Bismarck. It was more liek 60 years. People did still relate more to their individual areas and cultures. Despite nazi insistance the country wasn't one homogenized state. I think you will find that celebration of one's roots can depend on why you or your ancestors left the homeland in the first place.
It's called "Germany" for the same reason it has always been called "Germany." Whatever that reason was. Nothing has changed which might affect what we call it. We're no longer calling it "East Germany" and/or "West Germany."
[quote]We're no longer calling it "East Germany" and/or "West Germany." We call it what it is: The Fatherland. *_*
r126, sweetheart, I never said a discussion of Germany's past is negated by Sandy and Leo celebrating their German roots. I did make the point that Germany no longer is as taboo as it once was, and I did address the post at r121: "I have never heard of a 2nd or 3rd generation North American celebrity repatriating/celebrating their German roots" Now r121 has heard of a 2nd or 3rd generation North American celebrity celebrating their German roots: one of them happens to be the biggest female star in Hollywood, the other arguably the biggest male star in Hollywood. Apart from that, we still need to know who those US celebrities are that "re-patriated" to Hungary, the Czech Republic, Sweden, and Spain. r121: names, please!
For the record, every German living in Germany today identifies with Germany first, and his local region second. Regionalism is stronger in the south, especially in Bavaria, but even a Bavarian traveling abroad would say: "I'm German", not "I'm Bavarian". If you think otherwise, you don't know Germany, and you are romanticizing cliches. Secondly, to answer OP (not that he's likely to read this at this point): Germany is called "Germany" in English because of Tacitus' book "Germania", which described the tribes north of the Rhine, c 100 AD. Tacitus = pre-eminent Roman historian, who'd traveled to the Rhine, and who's bequeathed us the only written account of the German peoples. In Italian, the name is still "Germania". The French call Germany "Allemagne" because of the Aleman tribe, which inhabited the southwestern corner of what is today Germany - closest to what is today France. The German name "Deutschland" is derived from the word "diutisc", which described the family of languages spoken by the Germanic tribes. That includes the Netherlands, and that's why Dutch is called "Dutch" in English.
German%20living%20in%20Germany
[quote] German living in Germany That signature was wholly redundant.
r131, you sound like a stereotypical German.
If anyone is interested: the English word "taciturn" is derived from said Roman historian, Tacitus. Who was known to be quiet.
r130
Well r108, you do know that the "aryan" type you speak of is a dime a dozen in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Estonia, no? The type you are describing in Germany, Belgium and neighboring France that the Nazis idolized are actually farm peasant stock that never lived in the cities and were uneducated. They stayed in their villages for generations and never struck out as pioneers and game changers. This can be said for most people who are of just one nationality. They think this makes then pure and elite but it really just points to unadventurous peasant ancestors who never had the gumption to go out and explore this world. They played it safe and stayed put. This is not a trait to be proud of and brag about.
The current Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, would like you to know how important Jesus is in her life. She also, obviously, does not think Gays deserve full equality.
http://www.thelocal.de/politics/20121106-45993.html
I watched the documentary "Hitlers Children". It is shocking to realize how many Germans still today, are predestined to a repeat of this. The son of a German Concentration Camp leader even accused a room full of older Germans of still being sympathetic to Nazi ideology.
r136 has never spent any significant amount of time in Germany. I recently saw a tv program that told me Americans want slavery back! That is shocking. We must keep a watch on the USA.
Until Germany passes full equality for its gay citizens, the Paragraph 175 bigot reputation, is still applicable.
Paragraph 175 was done away with decades ago. Try again, loon.
The legislation was done away with in 1994, but the discriminatory polices against Gays, was transferred into new legislation. In 2006, the Euro commission even slammed Germany for failure to pass basic work place protection required as a member of the EU, making them in violation of EU human rights laws. They did agree to pass basic employment protections after this pressure, but still fail in many other grey areas. I have worked with GLAAD/HRC/Ammesty and NLGTF for 15 years. If you want to defend bigots, try The Free Republic, you will feel more at home there R139.
R65 -- "I love much about Germany but it's as if they need to be on eternal parole" "deutsche Schuld" {German guilt} -- the idea that all Germans [this includes non-native German speakers, ethnic descendants of Germans, and actual Germans] should personally feel limitless guilt and perpetual shame over every last event occurring in, around, above, beneath, and within Germany from January 30th, 1933 until May 2nd, 1945, to atone in perpetuity plus 5 minutes for the war crimes of the Third Reich. As applied by the self-anointed righteous {READ: anti-German bigots} crying "Nazi Nazi Nazi" where none exist, deutsche Schuld becomes the faux-intellectual weapon of choice to silence anyone seen as promulgating or perpetuating German ideology. This includes any idea, from "Brahms was a better composer than Saint-Saëns" to beneficial financial/economic concepts created by German economists/bankers, who are obviously trying to take over the world, as that is what Germans do when unrestrained/unleashed/not supervised. To dumb it down -- it's a STFU to any pro-German sentiment, perceived or actual.
There is nothing wrong with saying I am not my ancestors......providing..... you actually are not. BUT, when you are actually still treating Gays as second class citizens, you ARE still acting like your ancestors and the rep gets transferred to you too. Hence anti-gay bigotry becomes a German trait, not just a Nazi trait.
r140, I'm not suggesting the current conservative government isn't lacking, re full equality. But the fact remains: you can live a carefree life as a gay German. We don't have Matthew Sheppard incidents. Those are unheard of here. Germany has had openly gay mayors in Berlin and Hamburg; Munich is being co-ruled by a gay party; and our vice chancellor is married to a man. Our CONSERVATIVE secretary of family affairs wants to introduce gay marriage. Compare that with the situation in Italy, Britain, Ireland, or the US. The hysteria on this thread is generated by ideas what Germany must be like based on her history. People are thirsting for revenge, when they learn about the atrocities committed by Germany 1933 - 45. That's understandle, but it's also quixotic and ultimately rather primitive. You would say the same thing about a German who was resentful / revengeful towards a random American in 2012, because of slavery or the genocide his nation committed against Native Americans. And neither of those two ethnicities has lived happily ever after in the US.
If Americans still refused to legalize interracial marriage, you can damn well believe people would be bringing up the history of American slavery daily and would be right in doing that.
r144, Germany has civil unions, which the US doesn't even grant all its gay citizens. Try again, hon. As a gay German I can tell you that no gays in this country feel discriminated against. All the rest is American hysteria, based on ideas what Germany must be like, because of her fascist past. Hysteria, prejudices and racism - on your part.
You%27re%20welcome.
Some US states have full equality. 4 more this election. Not 1 single Germany state has this. As gay Germans you are not fighting hard enough. Reversing your relatives past, requires more than lip service and excuses. It requires that Germany become THE world leader in fighting anti-gay (and anti-Jewish) bigotry....which Germany is most certainly not today.
"Some US states have full equality. 4 more this election" But they're worth NIL in Missouri, Idaho or Virginia. Those are sham "equal rights", as they're not federal. Germany is far, far ahead of the US. Deal with it. Also, single German states (which aren't states as in the US, but Bundeslaender) cannot introduce gay marriage on their own. It's a federal thing. As for the rest of your post: what if gay Germans are happy with the way things are here? That would render you nothing but a busybody. Which you are. Overseas busybodies deciding what's right for a culture they don't even know. No wonder everybody hates you. Finally, gays have been hounded by the catholic church for centuries, in almost all European countries. The UK doesn't grant gay marriage. Italy, another formerly fascist country, has zero gay rights. It bears repeating: you're taking out your primitve need for revenge on a country that is nothing like you say it is. Those sitting in the glasshouse... should shut the fuck up.
"4 more this election" Wrong! 3 more this election. Minnesota only decided marriage wasn't just between a man and a woman. But they grant ZERO marriage or civil union rights to their gay citizens. None! If someone like me, a foreigner on a different continent, is able to gather - and remember - the facts correctly, while you, an American, is not... then nothing more needs to be said about the rest of this discussion. You are hysterical, as pointed out earlier.
Japan went from Nippon to Japan and was forced to change their flag under American military command. I think the fact that Germany was reconstructed under European/UK command has something to do with the light touch that was applied in contrast.
VESPUSSYLAND
OP, you're that guy who's dating the academic, right? Be. Honest.
The twelve Romanesque churches of Cologne.
http://www.cologne-tourism.com/attractions-culture/romanesque-churches.html