The difference between north and south Germany?
Jeff Fuqua
I am from Texas and going to Germany next year with a student exchange
program. I am not sure exactly where quite yet, but I would appreciate
information, of any sort, on the country. More specifically, on the
difference in the cultures of northern and southern Germany. Thanks a lot
for any info you can e-mail to me. Auf Wiedersehen!
Jeff
Christian Krause
Jeff Fuqua schrieb in Nachricht <6hh58o$9mb$1...@newsfep4.sprintmail.com>...
Ein weites Feld. The reunification of Germany has drawn the attention to the
differences between eastern and western Germany. But also between northern
and southern Germany there's a kind of rivalry. It's hard to describe.
There are differences in the language.
The predominant confession in southern Germany is catholic, in northern
Germany evangelic.
Northern Germany is more liberal, for example concerning drugs.
Therefore southern Germany is dominated by conservative parties, northern
Germany by the Social Democrats (and as a junior partner the Green Party).
There are much more differences. You can write books about this topic.
Christian
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For replies to my e-mail address please replace "nospam" with "gmx".
Hanns KREHBIEL
Christian Krause wrote:
>
> Jeff Fuqua schrieb in Nachricht <6hh58o$9mb$1...@newsfep4.sprintmail.com>...
> >I am from Texas and going to Germany next year with a student exchange
> >program. I am not sure exactly where quite yet, but I would appreciate
> >information, of any sort, on the country. More specifically, on the
> >difference in the cultures of northern and southern Germany. Thanks a lot
> >for any info you can e-mail to me. Auf Wiedersehen!
>
> Ein weites Feld. The reunification of Germany has drawn the attention to the
> differences between eastern and western Germany. But also between northern
> and southern Germany there's a kind of rivalry. It's hard to describe.
> There are differences in the language.
> The predominant confession in southern Germany is catholic, in northern
> Germany evangelic.
> Northern Germany is more liberal, for example concerning drugs.
> Therefore southern Germany is dominated by conservative parties, northern
> Germany by the Social Democrats (and as a junior partner the Green Party).
> There are much more differences. You can write books about this topic.
>
On the other hand: There is more easiness and joy of life in the South. I think
for two reasons: 1) The Catholics are not against some amount of mundane joy, or
they would not have succeeded with the counter-reformation some centuries ago. Cf.
beer-gardens, Oktoberfest etc.
2) Part of what now is Germany was occupied by the Romans 2000 years ago, and
the border of their territory is still a cultural divide. Roman territory was
approx. everything west of the Rhine, then everything south of the Danube, and
also in a corner between the two rivers, behind the so-called Limes. I am sure
the Romans left not only cultural but also genetic traces. In the Roman area
people celebrate Karneval, Fastnacht, Fasching with gusto (attempts to root these
events in other parts of Germany failed.); the cooking is much better; people are
more sociable; etc. etc. And, ;-) before the pill era, the number of out-of-
wedlock-birth was considerably higher.
Christian Krause
Hanns KREHBIEL schrieb in Nachricht <353C71...@vxdesy.desy.de>...
>Schnipp-<
>> Ein weites Feld. The reunification of Germany has drawn the attention to
the
>> differences between eastern and western Germany. But also between
northern
>> and southern Germany there's a kind of rivalry. It's hard to describe.
>> There are differences in the language.
>> The predominant confession in southern Germany is catholic, in northern
>> Germany evangelic.
>> Northern Germany is more liberal, for example concerning drugs.
>> Therefore southern Germany is dominated by conservative parties, northern
>> Germany by the Social Democrats (and as a junior partner the Green
Party).
>> There are much more differences. You can write books about this topic.
>>
>
>On the other hand: There is more easiness and joy of life in the South. I
think
>for two reasons: 1) The Catholics are not against some amount of mundane
joy, or
>they would not have succeeded with the counter-reformation some centuries
ago. Cf.
>beer-gardens, Oktoberfest etc.
Oktoberfest? ;-)
IMHO it's nothing to do with the religion. I guess it's the sun (and perhaps
the Föhn, sorry, dunno the English word). The religion determines only some
strange political decisions.
>2) Part of what now is Germany was occupied by the Romans 2000 years ago,
and
>the border of their territory is still a cultural divide. Roman territory
was
>approx. everything west of the Rhine, then everything south of the Danube,
and
>also in a corner between the two rivers, behind the so-called Limes. I am
sure
>the Romans left not only cultural but also genetic traces. In the Roman
area
>people celebrate Karneval, Fastnacht, Fasching with gusto (attempts to root
these
>events in other parts of Germany failed.);
So joy depends on one's genes?
>the cooking is much better;
Oh, come on, Hanns, I agreed with most of your statements but cooking is
better??? LOL.
In a next step you'll claim that even the beer is better...
>people are more sociable
and obtrusive.
; etc. etc. And, ;-) before the pill era, the number of out-of-
>wedlock-birth was considerably higher.
Oh, so many people gone to hell ;-)
Gruß, Christian
Thilo Simper
Christian Krause wrote:
>
> Jeff Fuqua schrieb in Nachricht <6hh58o$9mb$1...@newsfep4.sprintmail.com>...
> >I am from Texas and going to Germany next year with a student exchange
> >program. I am not sure exactly where quite yet, but I would appreciate
> >information, of any sort, on the country. More specifically, on the
> >difference in the cultures of northern and southern Germany. Thanks a lot
> >for any info you can e-mail to me. Auf Wiedersehen!
>
> differences between eastern and western Germany. But also between northern
> and southern Germany there's a kind of rivalry. It's hard to describe.
> There are differences in the language.
> The predominant confession in southern Germany is catholic, in northern
> Germany evangelic.
> Northern Germany is more liberal, for example concerning drugs.
> Therefore southern Germany is dominated by conservative parties, northern
> Germany by the Social Democrats (and as a junior partner the Green Party).
> There are much more differences. You can write books about this topic.
>
>
Hallo Jeff, hallo Christian,
this is the northern (Dortmund?) point of view.
Now a southern one: The parliament of the southern German
Baden-Wuerttemberg is the one with the highest number of liberals ....
but yes and shamefully it's also the only one where there are any of the
right-wing Republikaner. So with politics Christian might be right.
I also once read a nationwide survey about naturism. There significantly
more people from Baden-Wuerttemberg disliked visiting a nudist beach
while Germans from the North and esspecially from the East had a more
relaxed attidude about it.
But on the other hand the protestantism in the North has some pleasure
killing aspects, too. Look at the food.
The South borders to the bon-vivant (and catholic) France and you have
the influence from Austria as el dorado of unbeatable Mehlspeisen.
Together with northern Italy, the Czech Republic and Austria southern
Germany is part of the G4K (Gnocchi- Knedlik- Knoedel- Kultur- Kreis).
Compared to this 'Gruenkohl mit Pinkel' from the North means nothing,
SCNR.
Thilo.
Christian Krause
Thilo Simper schrieb in Nachricht <353CA7...@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de>...
>-Schnipp-<
>> Ein weites Feld. The reunification of Germany has drawn the attention to
the
>> differences between eastern and western Germany. But also between
northern
>> and southern Germany there's a kind of rivalry. It's hard to describe.
>> There are differences in the language.
>> The predominant confession in southern Germany is catholic, in northern
>> Germany evangelic.
>> Northern Germany is more liberal, for example concerning drugs.
>> Therefore southern Germany is dominated by conservative parties, northern
>> Germany by the Social Democrats (and as a junior partner the Green
Party).
>> There are much more differences. You can write books about this topic.
>>
>> Christian
>>
>Hallo Jeff, hallo Christian,
>
>this is the northern (Dortmund?) point of view.
>
>Now a southern one: The parliament of the southern German
>Baden-Wuerttemberg is the one with the highest number of liberals ....
>but yes and shamefully it's also the only one where there are any of the
>right-wing Republikaner. So with politics Christian might be right.
Hi, Thilo, sorry, Jeff,
I can't say this in English. Mit liberal meinte ich weniger die Anzahl der
politischen Vertreter, sprich: FDP-ler, sondern die Grundeinstellung zu
vielen Dingen, die sich im Norden (dazu zähle mich als Dortmunder auch noch
so eben) eher, wenn natürlich auch nicht zu 100 %, mit unseren nördlichen
Nachbarländern vergleichen läßt, z.B. eben Drogenpolitik,
Homosexuellengleichstellung etc.
>I also once read a nationwide survey about naturism. There significantly
>more people from Baden-Wuerttemberg disliked visiting a nudist beach
>while Germans from the North and esspecially from the East had a more
>relaxed attidude about it.
For example, I miss family showers in southern swimming-baths. In some
northern swimming-baths they have, but I've never seen something like this
the South (or in Dortmund ;-)
>
>But on the other hand the protestantism in the North has some pleasure
>killing aspects, too. Look at the food.
Oh, no, the same procedure...
>The South borders to the bon-vivant (and catholic) France and you have
>the influence from Austria as el dorado of unbeatable Mehlspeisen.
>Together with northern Italy, the Czech Republic and Austria southern
>Germany is part of the G4K (Gnocchi- Knedlik- Knoedel- Kultur- Kreis).
>Compared to this 'Gruenkohl mit Pinkel' from the North means nothing,
It's a question of 'education'. No one taught you good taste ;-) And
Grünkohl mit Pinkel means everything compared to Knödel. But I guess,
concerning food we'll never agree...
-Tom-
Thilo Simper <ul...@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de> wrote:
> I also once read a nationwide survey about naturism. There
> significantly more people from Baden-Wuerttemberg disliked
> visiting a nudist beach while Germans from the North and
> especially from the East had a more relaxed attidude about it.
Thilo,
you shouldn't discourage Jeff about southern Germany through
remarks on these finer points of difference. From an American
perspective this difference is negligible. Around Lake Constance
and at the quarry lakes along the Upper Rhine you will certainly
not get the impression that the people of Baden-Wuerttemberg
"dislike visiting a nudist beach". Au contraire. There are plenty
of nude bodies casually enjoying the sun and the water all over
Germany to either shock or keep young Americans happy.
As for Bavaria, even in downtown Munich you can go to the
Englische Garten on a hot summer's day and with no ado
relieve yourself of clothing.
Tom.
-Tom-
gon...@eawag.ch (-Tom-) wrote:
> As for Bavaria, even in downtown Munich you can go to the
> Englische Garten on a hot summer's day and with no ado
> relieve yourself of clothing.
Which brings to mind the wholesome Bavarian tradition of
Biergaerten to ease one's self into the summer evening.
Before visiting one of those, it is, however, advisable
to put something on
Tom.
Thilo Simper
Hi Tom,
-Tom- wrote:
>
> Thilo Simper <ul...@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de> wrote:
>
> > I also once read a nationwide survey about naturism. There
> > significantly more people from Baden-Wuerttemberg disliked
> > visiting a nudist beach while Germans from the North and
> > especially from the East had a more relaxed attidude about it.
>
> Thilo,
> you shouldn't discourage Jeff about southern Germany through
> remarks on these finer points of difference. From an American
> perspective this difference is negligible. Around Lake Constance
> and at the quarry lakes along the Upper Rhine you will certainly
> not get the impression that the people of Baden-Wuerttemberg
> "dislike visiting a nudist beach". Au contraire. There are plenty
> of nude bodies casually enjoying the sun and the water all over
> Germany to either shock or keep young Americans happy.
> As for Bavaria, even in downtown Munich you can go to the
> Englische Garten on a hot summer's day and with no ado
> relieve yourself of clothing.
> Tom.
>
Right. The effect of some possibly stronger conservatism in the South
might even be overcompensated by the higher number of sunny days. So the
chance of either shocking Jeff or keeping him happy could still be
greater there.
Thilo, von der badischen Sonne verwoehnt.
-Tom-
Thilo Simper <ul...@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de> wrote:
> The effect of some possibly stronger conservatism in the South
> might even be overcompensated by the higher number of sunny
> days. So the chance of either shocking Jeff or keeping him happy
> could still be greater there.
>
> Thilo, von der badischen Sonne verwoehnt.
Hi Thilo,
You have a good point there. All the more so since Jeff is from
Texas and isn't adapted to cold climates, and chances are he'd
feel just awful on the wind-swept plains of chilling northern
Germany. The Upper Rhine Valley in southwest Germany, where
you are writing from, is easily the warmest and sunniest area in
Germany, and therefore it is also the home of some, if not all, of
Germany's finest wines. What do you think Thilo?... I think we
ought to suggest that Jeff goes to Freiburg in the southwestern
corner of Germany. It is a beautiful city with a high percentage
of students, the Black Forest comes practically right into town,
and just west of Freiburg is the Kaiserstuhl, the warmest spot
in Germany, producing tasty wines and having several lakes
with predominately nude beaches to choose from right nearby,
which will enhance his learning about our culture and focus
his studies.
Gruss, Tom.
Thilo Simper
-Tom- wrote:
>
> Hi Thilo,
>
> You have a good point there. All the more so since Jeff is from
> Texas and isn't adapted to cold climates, and chances are he'd
> feel just awful on the wind-swept plains of chilling northern
> Germany. The Upper Rhine Valley in southwest Germany, where
> you are writing from, is easily the warmest and sunniest area in
> Germany, and therefore it is also the home of some, if not all, of
> Germany's finest wines. What do you think Thilo?... I think we
> ought to suggest that Jeff goes to Freiburg in the southwestern
> corner of Germany. It is a beautiful city with a high percentage
> of students, the Black Forest comes practically right into town,
> and just west of Freiburg is the Kaiserstuhl, the warmest spot
> in Germany, producing tasty wines and having several lakes
> with predominately nude beaches to choose from right nearby,
> which will enhance his learning about our culture and focus
> his studies.
>
> Gruss, Tom.
Hi Tom,
you're absolutly right. Freiburg is a good suggestion. But culturally
for a Texan Bavaria is still the other option. From what I've heard
about the Lone Star State Jeff might have a good understanding for
Bavaria's mind of her own. And if he doesn't likes the big city of
Munich there are some other small and gemuetliche places to study. Say
Passau.
Thilo.
Hans Franke
Thilo Simper wrote:
> -Tom- wrote:
>> [ Tom's suggest for the southeast and Freiburg ]
> you're absolutly right. Freiburg is a good suggestion. But culturally
> for a Texan Bavaria is still the other option. From what I've heard
> about the Lone Star State Jeff might have a good understanding for
> Bavaria's mind of her own.
This reminds me of an american friend (NJ based) who insists that
Bavaria must be the Texas of Germany - I just told some _REAL_ facts
about my homeland Bavaria - :)=
> And if he doesn't likes the big city of
> Munich there are some other small and gemuetliche places to study. Say
> Passau.
But maybe to quiet - Passau and Fulda might be the only places
in Germany where they still would like to burn Ketzer.
Gruss
H.
--
Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut.
HRK.
Uma no mimi ni nenbutsu.
Wayne Brown
Jeff Fuqua wrote:
> I am from Texas and going to Germany next year with a student exchange
> program. I am not sure exactly where quite yet, but I would appreciate
> information, of any sort, on the country. More specifically, on the
> difference in the cultures of northern and southern Germany. Thanks a lot
> for any info you can e-mail to me. Auf Wiedersehen!
>
> Jeff
That's a tall order. Whole books could be written on the differences between
northern and southern Germany! It's difficult to come up with valid
stereotypes because every time you assume you've got a good cliché, you
suddenly start thinking of so many exceptions that the image ends up getting
wrecked. Perhaps the language aspect should be addressed first since that is
probably the first impression made on a foreigner who comes to Germany as an
exchange student, supposedly also to improve his knowledge of German.
The northerners are generally easier for the learner of German to understand
because their speech often seems to come closer to the kind of German that a
foreigner has learned in school. You've probably heard that "dialects" are
spoken in Germany; linguists list more than 130 main classifications. These
are very strong regional differences (many times more pronounced than
anything in the US), which in some cases could qualify to be called separate
languages. However, for generations schools have been teaching a standard
language for universal communication and quite successfully. In fact, the
success of schools and the media have been so pronounced in the north that
local dialects have been dying out and steps have had to be taken to preserve
this cultural heritage.
Southern Germany is quite a different ball game. Although the standard
language has made great inroads, southern dialects are thriving. So much so
that a foreigner finds it difficult to understand what people are saying
among themselves and usually has to wait until he is addressed directly in
order to get the drift. Surely a very frustrating situation for someone
trying to learn German.
>From the language point of view, you'd probably be better off getting a
school in northern Germany.
Regards,-----WB.
Alexander Rose
A_Wayn...@csi.com wrote:
>That's a tall order. Whole books could be written on the differences between
>northern and southern Germany! It's difficult to come up with valid
>stereotypes because every time you assume you've got a good cliché, you
>suddenly start thinking of so many exceptions that the image ends up getting
>wrecked.
LOL!!!
>Perhaps the language aspect should be addressed first since that is
>probably the first impression made on a foreigner who comes to Germany as an
>exchange student, supposedly also to improve his knowledge of German.
Too true...
I have just met an student from the US - his German is really good, but
where did this poor guy go to?
Vienna, Austria!!!
So I am almost the only person he can understand - I am from Northern
Germany.
Sometimes he appears _very_ desperate...
Alex
--
Please reply to:
h9552113 at idefix.wu-wien.ac.at
where the first "at" is a @, remove blanks.
Sorry for the inconvenience!
HCALTMANN
gric...@ionet.net (Gordon L. Richard) wrote :
>If the posts in some of the religion newsgroups are an indicator ..
Those posts are definitely not an indicator of what is happening. May I
suggest that you also read newspapers, especially editorials, magazines and
books. Perhaps even TV might be a source of more accurate information to you.
-- Heinz
HCAl...@aol.com (Heinz Altmann)
Hans Franke
Wayne Brown wrote:
> Jeff Fuqua wrote:
>> I am from Texas and going to Germany next year with a student exchange
>> program. I am not sure exactly where quite yet, but I would appreciate
>> information, of any sort, on the country. More specifically, on the
>> difference in the cultures of northern and southern Germany. Thanks a lot
>> for any info you can e-mail to me. Auf Wiedersehen!
> Perhaps the language aspect should be addressed first since that is
> probably the first impression made on a foreigner who comes to Germany as an
> exchange student, supposedly also to improve his knowledge of German.
:) His first lesson could be that there is no German standard language -
only a lot of variations with a dominance of the Hochdeutsch dialect in
newspapers and other medias.
> The northerners are generally easier for the learner of German to understand
> because their speech often seems to come closer to the kind of German that a
> foreigner has learned in school. You've probably heard that "dialects" are
> spoken in Germany; linguists list more than 130 main classifications. These
> are very strong regional differences (many times more pronounced than
> anything in the US), which in some cases could qualify to be called separate
> languages. However, for generations schools have been teaching a standard
> language for universal communication and quite successfully. In fact, the
> success of schools and the media have been so pronounced in the north that
> local dialects have been dying out and steps have had to be taken to preserve
> this cultural heritage.
Same in the south - it'sxhard to find nowadays s.o. speaking a pure
bavarian tounge :(
> Southern Germany is quite a different ball game. Although the standard
> language has made great inroads, southern dialects are thriving. So much so
> that a foreigner finds it difficult to understand what people are saying
> among themselves and usually has to wait until he is addressed directly in
> order to get the drift. Surely a very frustrating situation for someone
> trying to learn German.
> From the language point of view, you'd probably be better off getting a
> school in northern Germany.
ROTFL - Do you realy consider these Platt 'coloured' language
Hochdeutsch ?
(Ok, maybe you'll find it easy, because it sounds more like english)
Servus
Hans
Helmut H. AGENA, HH
Das mit dem Platt ist ja wohl etwas anderes. Es ist sicherlich dem
Englischen verwandter als Oberdeutsch. Und es ist linguistisch betrachtet
k e i n Dialekt sondern eine Sprache wie niederländisch/Flämisch.
Hans Franke <fra...@scn.de> schrieb im Beitrag <3545D1...@scn.de>...