What Do You Think About Germany/ Bavaria?

Can you pronounce the english "th" sound, OP?

[quote] Can you pronounce the english "th" sound, OP?

Do you think OP is Colonel Klink?

R1 I can! Very well even!

Great cars, some nice uncut dick, terrible food.

I live here, but in Berlin which is like NY except for the high rents.

I think it is a wonderful place.

Husband just spent a few years in Stuttgart which I loved as a town - it’s not technically Bavaria though. Scenery is beautiful. Everyone smokes. I really think there is a nice balance between industry and nature though.

Beautiful castles, lovely scenery, friendly people, great food(not elaborate but decent), great beer, great wine......I have zero negative experiences in Germany. There’s not many beaches but apart from that the country has it all if you ask me. Nice climate(not too warm), hills, mountains, culture. I like the language but the grammar takes some effort. I haven’t spoken German for over a decade so I’d go for English now(sorry). After Corona I’d love to go to Wacken Open Air again. Germany has great festivals. Oh and the outdoor swimming pools than can be found everywhere are great too.

I’m not American but honour where credit is due OP

R7 Thank you darling!

I lived in Berlin for most of the 2000s. I never learned to like German food, or the climate, but overall quality of life was definitely better than in the US. It has been steadily gentrifying since before I left, so I'm not sure if it's still as exciting.

Bavaria has a reputation for being more expensive and more conservative than northern Germany, but maybe the natural beauty makes up for it a bit.

Would love to go there one day

I just read that now Nazis have infiltrated the elite forces ..is that true or over blown i mean we have white supremacy in our current administration and police forces so I’m not judging

I spent a week in Berlin three years ago and can’t wait to go back! The history, the people, the architecture - I loved it all.

Most Americans who visit Germany want to visit Berlin, which has an outsized image in America due to being at the center of so many Cold War and WW2 intrigue entertainments over the years.

Bavaria rightly or wrongly is heavily associated with the kind of Germanic kitsch one finds in local Oktoberfest celebrations or German-themed restaurants, or the Germany pavilion at Epcot Center.

Bavaria is great: awesome outdoor activities, fantastic food and beer, and the people were much friendlier than in other parts of Germany.

Berlin sucks. I know I'm supposed to love it, but it really could be anywhere. The art scene! The clubs and bars! The gays! Last time I was there, everyone spoke English. One restaurant had a member of the wait stuff who only spoke English and needed help with a German couple who were not English fluent. Berlin really could be Chicago or New York or London.

But I've spent most of my time in the North of Germany for work. It is so boring there. God help you if arrive for business on a Sunday. I am pretty sure it's a crime to buy a pack of gum. And the food there (e.g., around Cologne/Duesseldorf) is not nearly as good as other parts of Germany.

One thing I do find interesting about German business: it is surprisingly aggressive capitalism with surprising levels of tolerance for corruption.

Strict Catholics in Bavaria, no?

I have always wondered if Austrians have a different accent from people in Bavaria? Can you tell when an Austrian is speaking?

I liked the naked people in park in Munich.

R16 Yes, it is definitely noticeable. Funny that you ask, because today I watched an interview of an Austrian woman speaking English on Youtube and he had the broadest Austrian accent imaginable. It was quite horrid. And that woman lived in London and NYC for a decade at least. She is also married to the brother of Chloe Sevigny.

Bavaria is beautiful landscape wise and the food is great (closeness to Italy and Austria) but people are a bit on the conservative side.

Bavarians are the Texans of Germany.

R18/OP - Is the high German/low German distinction in accents still used?

OP the real question is what do you think about germany & bavaria?

R18 Yes, it is. But what do you mean with that?

Grüß Gott, OP! I love Germany, and I cannot wait to return when things calm down. I find that Bavarians and southern Germans in general are more "laid back" than their northern counterparts. The Austrians are even more so. By laid back, I don't mean lazy. Northern Germans can be uptight. Bavarians, Austrians, and southern Germans have better senses of humor.

Bavarian men are great. I've laughed a lot more afterwards with Bavarian men than I have with northern German men.

The beer is fantastic. Just love Weissbier! The bread is great. so is coffee, cakes, pastries. Meals can be hearty, but in all cities you will find restaurants that have updated German cuisine.

If you travel to Munich...go to the Viktualienmarkt to get lunch. Fantastic sausages...weisswurst und blutwurst.

Do not jaywalk! And cross only on the green. And everything is closed on Sundays. If you live over there, get all your shopping done on Saturday. Sundays are quiet days.

You'll love the feather beds. And German windows.

Tschüss!

Thanks R18, Then I am assuming Hitler spoke with an Austrian accent, I never could figure out how an nation came to follow to such disaster someone that sounded foreign and was foreign even though he was given German citizenship.

I am going to be the odd man out here. I love Germany: The Spreewald, The Ostsee, Dresden, Potsdam, The Hartz Mountains.

Berlin, no. Munich, OK as a place to fly in and out of. Like the Augustiner-Keller and the puppet collection at the city museum...and of course Cafe Frischhut. I loath anyplace that is a stop for a Viking tour, except Bamberg.

R24 He actually didn't speak with an Austrian accent. He spoke High German in his speeches as far as I can tell. But I would never actively listen to them, so I don't know.

German men are the hottest! I can't go into details but ,um, German men are HOT!

R23 You sound cute!

I need an American boyfriend!

R25 My more-or-less hometown is a Viking Tour stop I think. I love to observe Americans!

Vielen Dank, GermanGayGuy/R28.

I had a great deal of fun in Regensburg one summer during a festival there. People dressed up in various costumes, paraded through the town, and then went down the river on floats.

I had lunch outdoors at some restaurant in the middle of the town. The only other table was taken by a woman with a couple of good-looking, younger guys fawning over her. She had a small dog with her, who kept on coming over to my table. She finally came over to apologize to me. I told her there was no need to do so. The dog was cute.

When I asked my young, good-looking waiter (studying for a law degree) who she was, it was clear he didn't care for her. She was Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, the extremely wealth widow of the closeted Prince. She's now a cohort of Steve Bannon.

American. As a tourist, I love Germany and find the people to be welcoming and the food köstlich. Berlin is first class and the many of the smaller towns are charming. Grew up with two brothers who played in the bundesliga. Another friend from grad school is one of Mutti's economic advisors (works on social security) and has only lovely things to say. Great country, well run, strong economic future, obviously one of the most successful democracies and countries in the world. Lots to be proud of.

R29 I am from close to Regensburg and we don't like that bitch! Did you flirt with your waiter?

R30 You get around, boy!

I visited ages ago - the bedding is phenomenal. Why cant they make it like that in the US?

R31, Ja. Er hatte einen wirklich hübschen Hintern!

[quote]Er hatte einen wirklich hübschen Hintern

Ein Knackiger Po?

This is a lousy story because I cannot remember the German actor's name. But in around February of 2001, I was in India, in a small town south of Goa, and a famous German actor (IIRC he was a German soap star) was traveling with a twink. The actor looked to be in his late 50s or early 60s (but since I was in my 20s I could have been off) and the twink was my age, so maybe 22 or so. We were in a restaurant together, large tables, often mixed groups, but they and their entourage had commandeered a whole table. I must have been sitting with a German-English lad named Chris (a drugged out German with a hilariously perfect BBC accent; his father was an English pilot) who explained to me why half of the room was staring at the old man in the back. Never saw them again. If he was rich and famous, I don't know why he was there in the first place. He looked like he preferred anonymity and wasn't finding it among the hoi polloi.

Kinky. Uncut. Big dick. Can you confirmed?

I like Germans. I don’t think they’re Nazis. We have family there and visited in maybe 1975 when I was a wee one. It was very tidy and I ate Toblerone.

My neighborhood on the UES used to be German, and there’s a tiny vestige. Delicious food.

The fattest people I have ever seen are in Bayern and I am from Texas. All those fat people are really nice there though compared to Hamburg and Hannover. The people are remind of Americans really. Its beautiful too.

I love Germany, and have traveled there a lot. I prefer southern Germany, and Bavaria most of all. Went to Oktoberfest in Stuttgart one year (not Bavaria, but actually the part of Germany my family comes from) and it was a fantastic and hilarious time.

Loved Bavaria! Did the touristy things like the Hofbrauhaus. German food is underrated. Great stuff, and like French food, tastier and healthier than what passes for German food in the US. Everyone spoke English well, so I had a conversation with a guy in a Biergarten who said, “I can understand how you elected W once, but twice? The Black Forest is lovely. Visited Dachau. Creepy to see train signs with that destination. Also been to Berlin and Gottingen.

And the guys were hot. Much hotter than the Scandinavians I had been brainwashed into thinking would be the best.

Southern Germany (Bavaria) is colder in winter, (more mountainous), a sunnier and warmer in summer. The native dialect there is hard to understand if you have studied Hochdeutsch in school.. I've linked some comparisons below. (The plumper girl speaks hochdeutsch, the other speaks Bavarian German).

German food is not generally tasty, other than a wide variety of breads that can't be found in other countries and some good pastries. In general, Germans eat a lot of sausages, noodles or potatoes with some sort of brown gravy, and most vegetables are cooked within an inch of their lives. Not a good country for people who like bright green and colorful vegetables.

My first time to Europe was my first business trip to Munich in 1990. I was 23 years old. After the business meetings I planned to stay a few extra days. I couldn’t afford to stay at the downtown hotel my company put me up at for the personal part of my trip so one of my German colleagues booked me into a small inn about 4 train stops outside of Marienplatz Square.

I arrived at the inn around 8:00 pm, after working all day and spending a couple of hours walking around since I didn’t get to do that during the week. I was starving when I checked into the inn and asked the woman who ran the place where I could go get some dinner. She said nothing was open in walking distance and I’d have to take a taxi or take the train back into the city center. I probably looked like I was going to cry because she took pity on me and invited me into the kitchen. She gave me a beer and fixed up some sort of pork with noodles, my first experience with spaetzel. To this day it was one of the best things I ever ate.

We chatted over dinner, and she helped me map out my itinerary for the next few days. Her English was perfect.

My room was small with a shared bathroom but I didn’t see any other guests that night. The bed had a thick feather bed and I slept better than I had all week.

I sent the innkeeper a Christmas card when I got home and we stayed in touch for several years. I would have returned but she sold the inn.

Just a really nice memory and made me fall in love with Bavaria, its people and the food!

Also, the inn keeper wasn’t some kindly Bavarian Frau. She seemed very put out at first at my poor planning and that I was stupid enough to not know that there would not be any open restaurants nearby. Gislaine Maxwell kind of reminds me of her in how she looked.

Munich has great museums! I loved spending my afternoons in them.

Normally, I hate beer. But some of the best beer is to be found in Munich. At the large park, beer with lemonade can be had. It was so quenching and refreshing on a warm summer's day. The park had flowing streams that you could sink your feet in.

I stayed in a hotel that welcomed everyone (families, gays, straights), but it also had a gay sauna as part of it. Guests got in for a discount!

The frauen really know how to Karen. I mean if you need an unsolicited discourse on what you're doing wrong with the geraniums in your window boxes, well, they are your gals!

I liked Germany. The people were very friendly! Germans in American can be testy and impatient. You should be more like the Dutch and chill out!

The Germans I met in Schwabia were very nice except when the talk turned to Turks.

Oops, Swabia, my bad.

Bavaria and Southern Germany is known to be conservative and backwards by many Americans. Other Germans always talk shit about Bavaria - it does seem to be rather disliked.

That's what was funny, I was there as an exchange through my high school German class. We had a longstanding program with a little town there. We were carefully tutored in redneck German! Not so much dialect (although we learned about -le instead of -chen for diminutives), but I'm sure we all sounded funny. Like Germans learning Alabama English instead of British English.

They wanted me to eat Maultaschen (good) and not kebab (very good).

Bavaria is gorgeous, the food is fine, and the people are friendly. But it seems everyone smokes. I have a friend who grew up in Hamburg and told me that Germans don't consider Bavarians real Germans, whatever that means. On a side note, Austrians are probably the most humorless people I've ever encountered. Maybe outside Vienna they're more relaxed.

The men are hot and the food is dreadful. You can either have huge balls or a decent dinner.

I have spent extensive time in Bavaria. The scenery and architecture are beautiful. I went to high school in the United States and had a transfer student from Bavaria in some of my classes. He wore lederhosen, and in one class he sat right in front of me. I used to love seeing his ass in front of me every school day.

Spargel!

I've only been to England & France so far. Germany is definitely on my list, and I'm very excited. I'll be walking a lot, so I'm hoping I don't gain TOO much weight...because I definitely plant to eat and drink way around the country. All of it interests me immensely.

I hope all Bavarian men are like this.

I live in Zinzinnati. The city’s heritage is primarily from German immigrants. We still celebrate it with the second largest Oktoberfest after Munich. Our downtown neighborhood is named Over The Rhine (OTR). Overall great people and big sausages. Of course we are not without our issues.

My grandpa was from Dayton, from German people. He liked to make Sauerbraten, but I was too young too appreciate it.

[quote]I never could figure out how an nation came to follow to such disaster someone that sounded foreign and was foreign even though he was given German citizenship.

Most American conservatives hate New York, so how could most American rightwingers follow to disaster someone who sounds like a New Yorker and is in fact a New Yorker even though he’s embraced by middle Americans?

Prove your German OP. Show your dick.

i took german in h.s. (who does that anymore?) and the class went to tyrol and bavaria between 11th and 12th grades and i had the time of my life and loved all of it.

I took a train from Munich to Trento, and it was the most beautiful landscape I've ever seen. Stunning.

i wanted to plan a trip there this year but it fell through obviously 😭

I’ve heard good things about the country. Bad things about the food. I just want beer and sausage anyway.

[quote]German men are the hottest! I can't go into details but ,um, German men are HOT!

Pics of these hot Germans? And extra points if they're gay. People just say things mindlessly because of a notion planted in their heads even though they're not grounded in reality.

OP has been fishing for compliments for WEEKS and as someone who tried Germany and France and finally settled on Italy, I'll give my honest opinion without being rude or offensive.

1. A strong homophobic undercurrent in all levels of German society. They like to check all the correct lines about policy and acceptance but literally no big celebrities ever come out as gay because of it.

2. A very strict and conformist society where people are loathe to stand out or deviate from societal norms. You will get chewed out by total strangers for stuff like jaywalking or littering (I'm not saying they're wrong) point being, there's a right way to do things and you should follow all these rules.

3. The work environment is also very interesting. People are very direct with no room for nuance or subtlety. And boy, the wrong place to be if you're not into hierarchies. Again, very direct. Absolutely no filter. I remember this woman, out of the blue, telling two South American colleagues to their faces that she was writing a memo recommending their positions be abolished because, in her opinion, there was a lot of work duplication and they didn't seem productive enough as they spent too much time chatting, on breaks and Facebook, so no need to keep them. Kept my head low after that because I didn't want to be next. They're far more efficient and productive than Southern Europeans (French, Spanish, Italians) but definitely not as creative.

Sticklers for rules are not attractive or sexy to me. I know the image on this board is of tall, blond Adonises, but that wasn't my experience. If I were to rank the sexiest men in Europe:

1. Italians

2. Spaniards

3. French

4.Portuguese, Greeks, Cypriots, Balkans

5. Germans, Dutch, Scandinavians, Brits and the rest.

[quote]Other Germans always talk shit about Bavaria - it does seem to be rather disliked.

When I was in Munich, the locals talked shit about Berlin. I'm from Texas, so I'm familiar with the dynamic. That was 20 years ago, FWIW. I don't usually drink beer, but it is good there. Good fresh food, great art museums. I'd love to go back, someday when the apocalypse is over.

“What do you think about the United States/Texas?”

R65 I am not fishing for compliments. I just wanted to know what Dataloungers think about my country! I would love to go to NYC one day!

"OP has been fishing for compliments for WEEKS"

^^^ indeed. Sorry but he is slowly getting on my nerves too.

And can also confirm that Berliners love to talk shit about Bavarians.

And hey, OP, hör auf zu jammern dass du immer noch Jungfrau bist und nen Ami-boyfriend willst?!?! DL ist nicht der rechte Platz dafür. Lad dir grindr oder gay romeo runter wie jeder andere und gut is!

OP: you sound young, which is a rarity around here.

R70 I am young :-)

R69 I do have planetromeo, but only the weird guys text me. And I am too rural for grindr to ever work.

I also haven't written that much on datalounge. I just want to be part of this community.

I spent a month in Southern Germany after college. I loved Freiburg and met people who became friends and actually visited me in the US. I loved Munich and had my 1st gay bar pickup experience there! The beer was excellent, the food was too heavy and bland, but not terrible. I loved the museums the beauty of the mountains and how clean and orderly everything was. 4 years later I worked for a Bavarian Co., but in NY. Working with Germans was a mixed bag. They have their way of doing things and can't think outside of the box. They had trouble with the US market b/c they wouldn't design their products for the US market--the constant lament was "We sell hundreds of these in Germany! Why can't you sell more here?". They also had an attitude that they were far more cultured than the Americans which I didn't find to be the case as this was in NYC and they were Bavarian small city people. The men in Munich were hot and lots of fun, I had no trouble finding thick blonds. I want to go to Berlin, but I know Paris is more my flavor.

I was stationed in Mannheim for 3 years. Munchen and south was my weekend winter getaway.

Skied in the hills near Berchtesgaden every weekend. Loved it.

Steak tartare (raw ground steak and raw egg) was different. Ate it once. No thanks.

I like Bavarian kitsch. I would love one of those Black Forest cuckoo clocks

I would love a hot German count or prince for a boyfriend

GermanGayGuy,

come to Berlin...if there were a way to trade private information on here I would give you my e mail.

We are not so rural here and it is easy to build a life but hard to find an apartment.

R42...what a great story. That's what makes traveling the best experience to have.

Go off the beaten track in Germany. Visit Darmstadt. It's a small city with tremendous Art Nouveau (Jugendstil) architecture. The last Grand Duke (Married twice, but really gay) was a patron. The Grand Duke's sister was the last Empress of Russia. Because she and Nicky visited often, they built a Russian Orthodox chapel. Very beautiful Art Nouveau.

In Munich, go to see their WWI memorial. It's in front of the Bavarian State Legislature. Impressive. The visitor looks down rather than up to see the folly of war. Demonstrates how powerful pacifism was in the 1920s.

If you go to Vienna, visit the Church that was the chapel for the courtiers. It's outside the Hofburg. If they still have them, take a tour down into the crypt. You can see corpses from past centuries. Really cool. And, of course, go to the Habsburg crypt. Pay homage to Empress Zita and Sisi. If one's around, grab a monk, start asking questions...they're full of trivia.

I spent several years living in Germany and only recently returned home. I had a somewhat miserable experience living in Baden-Württemberg, which is very conservative, but Bayern is amazing. I used to love escaping to Munich, Bad-Reichenhall, Füssen, and other places. To me, Bayern is easily the best state and I always recommend it to anyone who wants to experience Germany, even though I also enjoyed places like Dresden, Baden-Baden, and Esslingen.

I only went to Berlin once for a music festival, and I thought it was very overrated. It didn't help that the people were generally smug assholes (and not the Germans...the ex-pats).

As for German men, I personally feel like you'll see more attractive guys walking down the street in any American city than you will Germany. They might not have as many obese people, but none of the really great looking guys were ever German. It probably doesn't help that I prefer men with dark hair, which is why I tended to gravitate toward Croatians and other men from the Balkans. Also, dating was a nightmare. Germans can speak their mind when it comes to stupid shit like jaywalking or recycling bottles on a Sunday, but none of the German guys I dated could ever communicate their feelings.

Anyway, I strongly disagree with people trashing the food. In several years I had horrible meals in France, Austria, and the Netherlands, but never Germany.

Hey OP post a pic of your uncut rural German dick.

Germans aren't terribly pleasant people to deal with but at least they're unpretentious, honest and very direct. Oh, and their English skills suck. And even when you come across a Kraut who speaks fluent English it usually comes with such a thick accent that it is almost impossible to decipher what that person is saying. They also have horrible taste in pretty much everything: they listen to Helene Fischer, think Stefan Raab is funny and find garden gnomes adorable.

channelcriterion.1@gmail.com

This is my mail. Write me, y'all!

R78 There are many darker German guys.

R78, here are two:

Simon Boer and Gerrit Klein

Simon Böer is a sexy daddy. Sexy but straight.

This, German Gay.

I imagine this is an unofficial national anthem of some sort?

I was there on vacation a few years ago. Loved Bavaria. Munich is a delightful city with great museums and I love traditional Bavarian food. The German Alps are amazingly beautiful and crazy Queen Ludwig's castles can't be missed. Some of the smaller towns near the alps (like Oberammergau) are picture postcard perfect. And the mins is hot.

To visit, excellent. To live, no. The minuses outweigh the plusses for me.

The food's fine. The selection on Romeo's okay, too.

R80, I don't think the comment about their English is fair at all. A German speaking bad English will always sound better than a French person speaking fluent English (listen to Macron, a smart international man, trying to speak English). Germans would make me laugh because they would often speak clear, umderstandable English, and then apologize for speaking bad English.

The men pictured in R82 are handsome, but not particularly my type. The hottest guy I met in Germany had Croatian parents.

R78...I won't argue with you here:

Regarding the comments of R65.

1. Homophobia. What I see is that Homosexuality is viewed as economic/class behavior. The wealthy/ higher up the social strata you are, the more resistance to homosexuality. At least when I did business in Germany in the 1990s, business was still very family oriented. There weren't mergers, there were marriages. Homosexuality doesn't fit in with this model.

The other aspect is that I find Germans far less interested in the sex lives of others or the need to pigeonhole them. Bisexuality is normal. I have not seen the debates about whether bisexuality exists in Germany (or Europe for that matter) that I see in the USA.

2. Personally, what R65 sees as a "strict, conformist society", I see as a society that puts the community good above the individual. American individuality tends to be more like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum and screaming, "You can't tell me what to do." I have no problem with not being able to use a lawnmower on a Sunday. Nor, do I have a problem with the German's lack of spontaneity. Why should a have to shuffle my life around simply because someone suddenly wants currywurst.... and showing up at my door unannounced is the worst.

3. German business, like German sex is predictable. I find people who complain about German business, have not done their homework. It is very simple: learn the rules. Once you have learned the rules, you know what to expect and what is expected from you.

What about women? I've heard Germany is very backwards and the woman belong in the home raising kids.

R90, No. They tried social engineering to encourage women to stay home and have children (tax benefits and penalties as I recall). The result was that women either decided to not have children or to have children out of wedlock. I am not sure if the social engineering exists nowadays.

R78, I'd love to taste some of that Croatian sausage, but I'd feast on Benno Fürmann's sausage!

[quote]I like Bavarian kitsch. I would love one of those Black Forest cuckoo clocks

The Black Forest and Bavaria are two completely different regions, cultures, accents, etc.

I spent 2 weeks in Cologne last Fall for work, and almost killed myself I was so bored. First off, the weather was rainy and drippy and wet the entire time, so I must admit that put a damper on things. But Cologne just doesn't have a lot going for it. Great cathedral, but once you've seen that, you've been to Cologne.

I used to live in Lower Saxony. It was a good fit for me as far as punctuality, not so much when it came to overall nosiness (although I expect that's much worse in the south). That said, never spent much time in Bavaria outside of Franconia. The closest I got was eating at the local Paulaner restaurant.

I was pretty young then (twenties), so the irony is that I probably know more about German culture now. I've gotten more into German philosophy and literature since I moved back to the US.

Oh yeah, miss the food too (all the variations on potato sides, the goose at Christmas, the white asparagus in spring).

"And can also confirm that Berliners love to talk shit about Bavarians."

Berlin never seems to complain when they get funds from Bavaria since they are too dumb to run their own city.

I don't like caraway seed in my food. Is that a Bavarian thing? Way to ruin a loaf of rye!

I went to Würzburg for a week once for work and thought it was a a real sleeper hit as a destination. Charming.

R94, the funny thing is, Germans (and immigrants trying to prove their German-ness) love to claim Cologne/Köln is the gay capital of Germany. Yeah right. It might host a popular gay pride parade and have some gay bars, but it's nowhere on the level of NYC or San Francisco.

R100, you say that as if it is a bad thing.

Maybe it's not a bad thing, but German gays are really proud of Cologne/Köln, when at the end of the day it's just a boring city with a pretty choice. It is NOT a world class city gays should flock to.

*pretty church

So is the Black Forest in Bavaria? Is it the majority of Bavaria?

And I'm assuming Black Forest cake comes from there.

The Black Forest is in the state of Baden-Württemberg, which is in SW Germany.

Apparently Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte was invented by someone from that state, but when he was living elsewhere.

r105, isn't Bavaria in SW Germany?

R106 Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg are both in the southwest of Germany, but Bavaria is eastern southwest and Baden-Württemberg (with the black forest) is western southwest. If you only look at those two then Bavaria is in the east of Baden-Württemberg.

Bavaria is in the southeast of Germany and BW in the southwest.

R61 don’t touch the garden gnomes. We love them here in the Netherlands too

Bring me edelweiss, GermanGayGuy!

Yeah my roommate here in Romania had a grandfather who was half German and his family sent him to officer school in Bavaria (Stuttgart to be exact) back in 1935. He came form a good family and became a leading tenor. She said he told her he had never seen more beautiful cities and civilized roads but the people were racist, homophobic, and backwards rednecks who supported Hitler (he didn't, like most intellectuals...hated the Nazis). Essentially, Bavaria is still culturally rich and has a great infrastructure and system but just like the US...you need to be among the educated elite or you end up among a bunch of fat rednecks.

Stuttgart, like the Black Forrest is in Baden-Württemberg.

I lived in Germany briefly in the late 90s and mostly loved it. I got to see most of the Bundesländer with the exception of Bavaria and Saarland. It’s a beautiful country. I was based in the old East Germany, which was an interesting place to be at that time, as the place was transforming fast, and billions of Deutschmarks were pouring in to restore historic old towns. When I arrived in my new town, there were still traces of Russian influence there, including the sign for a supermarket which had been for the exclusive use of Russian army personnel. By the time I left 18 months later, that had gone and the whole town seemed to be covered in scaffolding.

Unfortunately, I felt that the investment being made was going wrong somehow. Buildings were being restored, but jobs were lost as whole industries were just scrapped. It was already leading to a change in demographics as young people moved away for work.

I loved my time there though. Things seems to work in Germany. People pay a lot in tax, and complain bitterly about it, but the country functions well: Excellent public transport, great healthcare, well-maintained public spaces (except for some mindless graffiti). It took me a while to feel comfortable with the people, because there is a certain polite formality to social interactions which disconcerted me at first. It was like a new language I had to learn. But it was worth the effort, because once you learn how to interact, you see that a certain politely expressed bluntness isn’t mean as an affront, but is rather the basis of sincere friendship.

Munich is quite lovely and while I wouldn't seek it out in the US, I don't mind German food over there, schnitzel in particular.

But while it's quite lovely, the Nazi associations are creepy AF.

Dachau is a stop on the rail line. (Think about that one) and many of the buildings seem to have some Nazi association. ("And this building is where the White Rose Society girls were beheaded! Here's where Jews were tortured! Here's where Hitler staged his first putsch!"

In October (pre-pandemic) every American on a semester abroad heads to Munich for Oktoberfest and it can seem like you're at a frat party at Cornell or Duke.

R114 Would love to be at a frat party!

[quote] Bavarians are the Texans of Germany.

If Bavarians are Texans, would that make Eastern Germans Mississippians?

Then I suspect that Oktoberfest 2021 would be worth checking out OP

[quote] On a side note, Austrians are probably the most humorless people I've ever encountered.

You'd be humorless too if you supported the Nazis! Ok, that was a joke. But I have heard the humorless part about Austrians countless times.

I've only visited relatives in Hamburg. It's a very nice city. I have always wanted to spend time on the lakes of Brandenburg; maybe some day.

Bavarians aren’t the Texans of Germany at all. Bavarian students frequently score among the highest in Germany and Bavaria has some great universities.

Austrians aren't humorless at all, they just happen to have a super weird sense of humor.

The cities are clean and everything works. But 80 years later and the world still won't let them forget their Nazi roots.

Villages and small or mid size cities are clean, but some larger cities in Germany are dumps. Munich is pretty clean, but Berlin and Stuttgart are not.

R122 - were you talking Austria or Germany? Most certainly NOT everything works in Germany, but it's no Third World dump.

[quote] But 80 years later and the world still won't let them forget their Nazi roots.

Hmmm, I wonder why????

[post redacted because independent.co.uk thinks that links to their ridiculous rag are a bad thing. Somebody might want to tell them how the internet works. Or not. We don't really care. They do suck though. Our advice is that you should not click on the link and whatever you do, don't read their truly terrible articles.]

[quote]But 80 years later and the world still won't let them forget their Nazi roots.

It's the Germans themselves who have worked so hard to make sure people remember that part of their history, as witnessed by the countless museums and other sites of commemoration dedicated to that era. Every schoolchild in Germany is taught to "never forget."

And while using their Nazi past as a way to put down individual Germans may have some shock value, it's also very much taboo, at least here in Europe. Remember the Berlusconi incident from way back in 2003?

You still haven't told us about your dick size GGG. Are you a top or a bottom? If you want to fit in here you can't be a prude.

R128 I am mostly a bottom (99 %). Dick size: 13-15 cm

[quote]And while using their Nazi past as a way to put down individual Germans may have some shock value, it's also very much taboo, at least here in Europe

Not in Britain. They bring it up automatically every time they hear someone’s German and then collapse with laughter like it’s the funniest joke ever. A German ex colleague had this one guy goose stepping around him repeatedly when he worked in London.

Check out Boris and Camilla at the Olympics in 2012.

I’ve never met a German who I haven’t liked. They’re so pragmatic and straight-forward. Always know where I stand with them.

watersports and ff!

My grandfather was from Austria, not far from Bavaria. He managed to get out, but left a son behind who was exterminated at Dachau. He would not allow German to be spoken in his home (fellow Austrian relatives and other refugees lived on his street in the US). He gave his last name a French pronunciation. He hated Germans and Germany.

I have never had a single good thought about anyone or anything German.

Americans seem to like the food and they adopted as their own.

OP is actually a Russian troll and doing research on what divides Americans culturally

R135 - pasta etiquette, of course.

Parts of Germany are most attractive! Bavaria, yes; the "Romantic Road" towns of Dinkelsbuhl, Nordlingen, and Rothenburg ob der Tauber; the northern fairy tale places of Hameln, Goslar, and Celle; the villages along the Rhine and Mosel; King Ludwig's castles; and so on.

Munich to me was okay.

Do Germans refuse to speak English? I would like to go and work in Germany, but it seems like you need an excellent knowledge of the German language for any job

R134, the funny thing about that picture is that American and German hot dogs and hamburgers taste nothing alike. American hamburgers are soooo much better, but I much prefer German hot dogs (in both cases the difference is in the quality and consistency of the meat).

R137 here. My personal experience with a German family from near Worms was awesome. My husband and the son met in a PA Graduate School class, and we socialized. When we visited Germany, the family---the father was in the Army in WW II---gave us room and board and a parting gift of several bottles of their vineyard's wine. Oh, and the mother washed our clothes!

Another time we shared a lunch table with an East German (at the time) couple,, and became "Christmas card" friends for a long time afterwards.

What surprised me most on my initial visit was how devastated by war Germany wasn't!

I enjoyed the cuisine very much, but I like wursts, potatoes, good bread, and better beer! Especially the beer at a monastery just outside of Munich!

R6, I hope you visited the Mercedes Museum, especially if you like Formula One!

R131 and R133 Want to fuck? Get over those bad memories, honey?

[quote] the father was in the army in WWII

1. When did this happen? Even given that Germany was drafting 14 year olds at the end, sounds like it must have been the 1960s or 70s?

2. Did it freak you out that the father was a Nazi soldier? It wasn't just the SS that went around killing civilians and POWs.

What’s the word on Merkel’s handpicked successor?

R144, her hand-picked successor (Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer) is out of the running to succeed Merkel when she steps down next year. She stepped down as party leader, but currently serves as the equivalent of our Secretary of Defense.

The front runner, which is appropriate for this thread, is the current governor of Bavaria (Söder). Also in contention is a gay man who's the Minister of Health, but despite enjoying a moment as a bright young thing, he gets less popular as time goes by.

I never had a problem communicating with any Germans in Germany. I speak a very small amount of German to get by, but once they saw me struggling they switched to perfect English. The only ones who couldn’t or wouldn’t were the Muslim refugees/immigrants.

R146 in San Diego people refused to speak English and assumed everyone knew Spanish. Had a hard time ordering food since I don’t speak the language. It’s strange how people in certain areas refuse to help tourists from other countries or continents out

GGG do you vote for AFD? Do you feel any difference in your country after 2015?

[quote] Do Germans refuse to speak English? I would like to go and work in Germany, but it seems like you need an excellent knowledge of the German language for any job

No, most younger Germans will speak English well. Older folks who were educated in East Germany didn't learn it in school.

I worked for an international company with plenty of people who only spoke English. It can be done, but you will obviously have limited options. I would advise you to learn some basic German before you think about going. I wish I had. It's tough to find the motivation once you're there and juggling work, social life and every thing else.

R137 I've been in Rothenburg ob der Tauber too and yes it is lovely.

r138, so very American

If they gave us the cuckoo clock, they can’t be all bad.

OP, my BF is German and to him Bavaria is like the American South - pretty land, but conservative, small minded people.

R143, Yes, circa 1975.

R143, Did the father's Army service freak me out? I suppose we were told something anodyne.

That was Switzerland, R152. Give credit where it's due (especially since there's not much else for the Swiss to boast about). And remember the celebrated line from 'The Third Man':

[quote]In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed. They producedd Michaelangelo, da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock.

R151 Except I'm not an American and I had german language in school but didn't use it for ages now plus it was never perfect too begin with, since they only taught us basics. Nice try though.

R156 thanks for the update. I thought those clocks came from the Black Forest region.

OP, sorry I have not read all the posts above, but I wanted to comment anyway. I was stationed in (West) Germany (Baumholder and then Hanau) from 1977-1979, and it was a great learning experience for this 18-year-old naif from PA Dutch Country. We PA Dutch are of German/Swiss descent and have many of the same values as our German ancestors, i.e., thrift, hard work, and personal integrity, and I felt very much at home amongst the Germans. I was always mistaken for a native German when in civilian clothes (I look very German), and I felt embarrassed whenever a German spoke German to me because, although most of the students in my high school studied German (or Latin), I studied Spanish for four years.

I loved the German people, and even when I was 18 I realized how much better their culture was in many ways. There were bumper stickers protesting nuclear power (in 1977!). There was no such thing as a paper (or plastic) bag for groceries; customers took their own cloth bags. The forests were so beautiful they looked like they'd been manicured. The transportation system was incredible, and I loved riding the trains. I also loved driving on the Autobahn, right up until I blew the engine on my poor old Volkswagen bug. The Germans worked a 35 hour week, which amazed me. And I still believe that Germany has some of the best engineering in the world.

I would love to live there now that I'm retired, especially since Europe is getting warmer. But I have no idea how I would go about doing that (other than finding a nice lesbian to marry me) and I doubt if I could afford it anyway. Oh -- and I love Merkel. It must be nice to have an educated woman at the helm.

Thanks for asking the question.

I am culturally German and like R159 am from the same region of the US, but had family ties to Germany that go back centuries. But my family has been in the US for 150-200 years.

I am the one w/a German BF at R153 and learned many things since we have been together. One of the main lessons is the diversity of Germany. If you based impressions on just movies/media you would think Germany is a monolith but I never realized how different some of the different regions are. Of course there's also the unification, and the fact that it was only roughly 30 years ago that the eastern part was reunified.

I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos aimed at an English audience called Easy German. Haven't learned the language well yet but am learning fascinating things about concepts like language and dialects, down to what people eat for breakfast. (Muesli, by the way, is a real thing there.)

Another difference is food

German food in America was mostly the comfort food and workers' food - meats covered in gravy. But German food is again, more diverse by region and generally more refined.

I think a lot of what we as Americans know as German food was kinda filtered through Pennsylvania Dutch.

Germany must be the place to go for hot muslim cock!

I'd love a good Turkish cock right now.

Or just some hot, uncut German schniedel.

They’re so beautiful and whimsical @R153

They’re so beautiful and whimsical @R152

R161 What food would that be?

For some reason, threads about Germany usually garner lot of replies on datalounge.

GGG -- Do you personally know any Komissars in Bavaria?

R166 In the US it seems to be limited. I don't think my BF was arguing that Germany necessarily has the greatest cuisine in the world, but he said that it's much more diverse than "brat, kraut, dumpling, gravy" which is what we see and eat here.

R162 - can confirm. Or, at least Berlin.

R169 OMG, tell me about your experiences with Muslim tops! I am a bottom as well and I love Muslims!

R167 What?

R168 I once posted a list on datalounge with diverse Bavarian food.

GGG do you like golden shower and scat play?

R171 No!

This Muslims I dealt with (all Turkish) were bottoms. A few lived in Turkey, but would spend their vacations to visit relatives in Germany as a chance to fuck every guy possible.

I was with a Turkish daddy years ago and he had the fattest cock I've ever seen

GGG must be young.

[quote]"brat, kraut, dumpling, gravy"

This is also my mental acuity test that I remember so greatly. Or what I leave in the bowl after Executive Time.

German breakfast and lunch can be delicious. I like the fish and salads, up north. I like those simple lunch restaurants they have in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, where you get a modest meal made with some care and good ingredients. Well it's true in many European countries, in fact.

[quote] Yes, circa 1975.

So have you been back to Germany at any point in the past 45 years, R154?

I scored last-minute tickets to Bayreuth last summer. Absolutely incredible, life-changing, bucket list kind of thing.

Nice, too bad the family ran out of production talent. I would love to hear the room acoustic in person!

Hey GGG you said you are too rural for Grindr to work. How often do you get fucked then? You sound like an insatiable bottom. Have you ever been DPed or fisted?

GGG said he's a virgin.

R181 I never get fucked. Fisting sounds kind of scary...

This is my mail for anyone who wants to make contact :P channelcriterion.1@gmail.com

Are you still in the closet? Is your fellow countryman Tim Kruger the ideal top for you?

R184 I am not in the closet. I don't know this guy. I need an American top!

For the person who posted above, a great deal of Germany *was* bombed. Not only did the allies do "nuisance" bombing on residential areas and areas of no military importance, they intentionally bombed buildings of historical importance to decrease morale. Ir was also common for allied bombers to dump bombs on tiny villages of no importance simply to reduce the load for the return flight.

What happened in Germany is that they took what has been called the "Disneyland" approach to rebuilding. Many of those lovely "Medieval" villages are 20th century construction. The ability to rebuild in a manner that appears seamless is pretty amazing. Often, it is impossible to tell the old from the new.

Ugly icy and racist overall as a population, but the country is pretty and they make unbelievable cars and electronics.

Having said this, the German World Cup soccer team coach haunts my dreams as one of the hottest men I’ve ever seen.

GGG. Can you recommend a German gay porn site with young sexy guys (preferably bareback)? I've found tons with Eastern European guys (mostly Czech and Hungarian) but no Germans, Austrians or Swiss.

I'd love a site with German daddies.

Must find it! Los gehts!

Unless they're drug addicts, Austrian and Swiss guys don't need to do porn--they have good career prospects.

I love the "Körperkultur" of Germany. Take the right (or wrong?) turn in the Englischer Garten in Munich and it's on full display. First time I stumbled across it, a man on a bike rode past me. He was beautiful, but all I could think was "that's got to hurt!"

Great story in "The Guardian" about a wild boar who stole a man's laptop along one of the lakes in Berlin.

I volunteer to be the centerpiece of a bukkake scene where all the men are from various German states, plus Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and hell, we can throw in Luxembourg for good measure.

I love their aspirin.

R190 is correct. Gay porn stars from the US, Spain, or Central European countries might often look like models, but the industry tends to draw a very specific type in Germay, Austria, or Switzerland. Think about it: Tim Krueger is the most successful Germanic gay porn star, and even if his body is great his face is nothing exceptional.

The hottest gay content I've seen out of Germany in the past few years features young straight men abusing older guys. There's no nudity or kissing, and most of the stars appear to be immigrants from Turkey and eastern Europe.

Ich habe kein comment. I'm not thinking about Bavaria, honey. I'm thinking about SURVIVAL.

My first trip to Europe was Berlin in 2002. Tons of fun. Strangest memory was going to the gay bar SO36 in Kreuzberg, which has LGBT ballroom dancing on Sundays set to insanely kitschy Schlager music. At one point it struck me I was watching a room full of lesbians slow-dancing to the German version of "You Picked a Fine Time to Leave Me, Lucille". One of those moments when you wonder who slipped acid into your drink.

r187?

If you're focusing on Tim Krueger's face you have rather missed the point

Tim Kruger is handsome. WTF are you guys talking about? He has a beautiful smile.

R197 he looked better years ago. There was something about his whole deal made me hot in the junk. Perhaps his commanding German presence. If I’m remembering correctly, he had an ass that made me fan myself like the Senatrice. Even in shirts and dress pants he had an insane body.

That same year they had a hot ass goalie too. I have a crap memory but I kept watching soccer (which I hate) because of those two.

R187

speaking of hot soccer players

R178, I visited Germany (always flying Lufthansa 747s to Frankfurt) several times in the late 20th C. Usually combined it with elsewhere, like to Scandinavia; or to Austria, Yugoslavia, and Greece; or to Austria and Italy.

But the crashes of TWA 800 and JFK, Jr (was overseas for both) put paid to my flying.

[quote]Tim Kruger is handsome. WTF are you guys talking about? He has a beautiful smile.

He is not handsome by any standard. Come on!

^^ U R nutz!

^A total AWG who's not even sexy, because sometimes you can have a not pretty face but still be attractive. Nondescript is the correct description of his face.

I'll be getting rammed, slammed and pounded by Tim's long fat cock while all you bitches argue about his delicate countenance.

When I was last there, Berlin was wild. So many clubs where you could meet other men, not even discreetly, and dance together. Cocaine was everywhere too! What a wild scene!

We stayed at the Adlon, what a lovely hotel, such old world service.

The only downside was that there was this group called the Nazis and they were always fighting with the Bolsheviks.

It wasn't as bad in Munich as the concierge at our hotel told us that there weren't many Bolsheviks there, only Nazis. He himself was a big fan of the Kaiser and was hoping that Hindenburg would allow him to return.

Lovely city and charming beer gardens, but the gay scene there was like night and day from Berlin. Tea rooms only!

I still remember being in a guest house in Canada where the rest of the guest list was all hot French and German men. They'd walk to/from the shared shower completely nude.

All that uncut cock. It was heaven.

Has anyone been to Thuringia? My great-grandfather was from there (Ershausen).

How can I find a big strapping tall German that I can marry so I can get out of the US?

I am 6,5 R210!

A 6'5" bottom? I had no idea they existed!

What's that in meters, GGG?

R212 Why that? R213 1,96m

How come you are still a virgin GGG? Also is your whole country really that crazy about football? I want to be spitroasted by Neuer and Hummels so bad.

If I were 1.96 meters tall I'd spend my whole life wondering why I couldn't just get those extra .04 meters.

Is your cock as long as your body, GGG?

R209, Thuringia is very pretty. Lots of charming old towns straight out of Grimm's fairy tales. When I was in Eisenach at the Wartburg (famous Martin Luther site) looking down at all the forests, I felt like I was finally in the stereotypical Germany of my college German textbooks.

R217 He said his cock is about 13-15 cm long. Considered everyone exaggerates when they talk about their penis size, I'd say it's about 5 inches long. It's a bit disappointing but he is a bottom so it doesn't matter.

Pic or no offers!

R219 It's rare for the tall guys to have equally big cocks.

I'd love a nice long German schniedel right about now....*sigh*

R219 Actually I did say the truth! I am anonymous here and I am honest after all - because I am German!

R210 here, GGG. You fit the bill nicely.

R210 here, GGG. You fit the bill nicely.

I was watching Tageschau (national German 8pm news) and they talked about German beaches on the Northern coast being packed this weekend, and I thought oh crap. Then I saw the beach footage - shots of the masses on the beach, in clusters of 2/3, all absolutely perfectly spaced 6 feet apart.

It was fucking glorious.

And IMHO it's why they get to enjoy nice things this covid-imfested summer while the US falls apart at the seams.

You still haven't answered the question at R215 GGG. Are you fat and ugly? That's the only reason why an open gay man living in a western country is still a virgin. I imagine lots of big dick German gays would love to make a 6"5 guy like you their bitch.

R226 I am not fat, though I do think I gained some weight during the pandemic. I did have some issues about my looks, though some nice-looking guys were into me and one guy said I looked great.

I want to be somebody's bitch!

GGG, what is high school like for gay Germans? Is it as cliquey as the US? Did the jocks single you out for bullying and threaten to beat your faggot ass up? Do sluts get shamed and hookups become scandals and fuel for gossip? Did anyone good looking and straight-presenting ever DL come on to you or some other gay guys?

[quote]masses on the beach, in clusters of 2/3, all absolutely perfectly spaced 6 feet apart.

Of course it was. The entire public sphere seems built on following societal norms, with just about anyone ready to call you out for violating them.

If you cross a street in Germany and the pedestrian signal hasn't changed to green yet, even if no one else is coming in the opposite direction, German people will yell at you.

The country of Karens?

Always thought this German actor was hot.

(Looks a bit waify here but much hotter on screen)

Yes, R231!

The sad thing about Germans is that they will quickly say something when they witness a relatively harmless infraction (like jaywalking or trying to recycle bottles on a Sundsy). However, they never have shit to say when a serious incident requires intervention. I was at a party where a young guy was literally sexually assaulting a woman on the dance floor, and I was the only one to push him off of her. My German sucks and I'm not very big, but grown men watched uncomfortably and did nothing. Gay couples being harrassed? Nothing. People abusing their wives or children? Nothing. Panhandlers walking around residential neighborhoods and going up to people to ask for money? Nothing. Those are just some of the things I experienced where I felt that I was out of line for saying something.

R233, for some reason, that reminds me of a story I was told by a Buddhist monk who actually visited Germany a few years ago. He was waiting at a bus stop and there's was an elderly woman in a wheel chair also waiting. In his country's culture, it is considered appropriate to assist and elderly person. I guess he should have thought twice but he was just trying to be nice--he tried to assist helping the woman onto the bus. The minute he tried to assist her, she tried to hit him while screaming at the top of her lungs "GET THE HELL OF ME YOU FUCKING BASTARD!". He was shocked that anyone would react that way and it was a HUGE culture shock for him. But hey, that's Germany (and probably a lot of Europe, too).

Sorry for all the spelling/grammar mistakes, I'm tired lol.

[quote] The sad thing about Germans is that they will quickly say something when they witness a relatively harmless infraction (like jaywalking or trying to recycle bottles on a Sundsy). However, they never have shit to say when a serious incident requires intervention

Of course my mind immediately goes to a rather well known example of this.....

What bullshit R234 I help elderly people all the time.

I ASK first if they would like help.

Sounds like the monk was an asshole.

R237, I think he didn't ask and he was wrong to forget that. But I do think if he did the same thing in america, that would NOT be the reaction he would get. At least here in Chicago.

R238 So Germans are bad because they prefer you ask permission before grabbing their wheelchairs? Seriously? Is that your contention?

I spent a lot of time in the states about 5 years ago and would never have grabbed a wheelchair or any other device without asking the person if they needed help.

R194

Loved Koblenz and Trier. Lovely towns and Koblenz had great deals on white wines.

R225 - I assure you that is not happening everywhere in Germany. On the lakes here in Rheinland-Pfalz, they are not distancing. At all. The difference is here, the police will be coming in starting tomorrow to crack down as numbers are up here in Germany.

R242, a friend of mine lives in Germany and he is currently vacationing in southern Bavaria. He sent me pictures from the Zugspitze and I was surprised by all of the people either not wearing masks, or walking around with the mask pulled down (exposing their noses and mouths). Germany has handled the pandemic quite well, but it's clear people around the world are getting complacent.

R243 - they sure are. At least people are still wearing them in stores and (mostly) on public transport here.

R242: interesting. Certainly blows a hole in my assumption that Germans were consistently sticking to social distancing.

R225 still better than many from what I see in the news and my social media feed from friends back in the States and elsewhere, but between the much smaller, but still-present anti-mask crew and beer... things happen.

The German fetish for following the rules is real, but not universal.

Ill just leave this here

Germans who speak English (which is to say most people under the age of 70, esp. in urban areas) often have no patience with you mangling German. I've been several times and hope to go back after COVID because of an interest in Bauhaus. Bavaria is beautiful and has many pretty towns like Regensburg. Munich is a lively city and Berlin in very cosmopolitan, if reserved. The country has lots to see and do, and is easy to get around.

The beer and wine are terrific. The food is boring, but fresh fruit in the Spring (widely available) makes up for it and the food is more varied now then it was decades ago--you don't have to eat sausage if you don't want it.

R248, It isn't that easy to get around, particularly by train. I can't tell you how many times I have had to take a train ride 45 minutes in the opposite direction in order to make a connection to get somewhere else. They also have weird train schedules where the train you want only operates Tues & Thurs at 10:00.

[quote]Germans who speak English (which is to say most people under the age of 70, esp. in urban areas)

Not true. At nine or ten, children are divided based on potential:

Hauptschule – for less academic students;

Realschule – for intermediary students;

Gymnasium – for academic students;

Gesamtschule – a comprehensive school combining all education types.

Students who attend Hauptschule or Realschule most likely do not speak English. Do not expect post office or U-Bahn employees to speak English. If you need to get a shoe repaired, don't expect the cobbler to speak English. It will be very hit and miss is anyone at an outdoor market speaks English.

^ That system is now much different in Berlin. I don't know if the Hauptschule still exists elsewhere.

I hope no one does expect their cobbler in Germany to speak English.

R249, my travel rule while living in Germany:

Within 100km: Take the train

Over 100km, Under 1000 km: Drive

Overv1000km: Fly

The train system in Germany is good, but it's not as easy to get around for longer distances, and you're close to screwed if you have to go to anything other than a major city.

R248 OMG, I am from Regensburg (more or less!) What did you do there?

R247 any size verificatia?