Proud to be a German?

Question

I know an American who traveled to Germany recently, and someone asked him if he was ashamed to be an American right now He answered with, "No, I'm proud to be an American. Immigrants are fighting to get in my country, not out." He then asked the man if he was ashamed to be a German, after what the German's did to the Jews during WW2.

Answer 1

In Germany, it's frowned upon, when you say you are proud to be German. People who say that they are, are usually very right-wing or very old.

Younger generations (i.e. people born after WWII) are brought up to be ashamed of their history, that is the history of their country. When I was at school (I am 33 now), we had to go on field trips to concentration camps almost every year, we had to watch n**i propaganda and films of the 'life' in Auschwitz. All, to show us how horrible those times where, and (in my opinion) to show us what crimes our (great-)grandparents committed. That's no foundation to every be able to say 'I am proud to be German'.

And that is so different from how kids are brought up in America. A country where you swear alliance to the flag before every day of school, where every kindergarden kid knows the words of the The Star-Spangled Banner. Where the nationalanthem is sung before every sports game. Where soldiers are heroes and horrors of past generations stay just that: horrors of PAST generations.

I always cringe, when my American friends 'tease' me about being German, when they call me n**i or joke about me being anti-Semitic (which I am not, omg!). I would never think about referring to them as descendants of people who bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki...

But I guess that's just the different upbringing.

Before this summer, it was even frowned upon to show German flags in public. The Soccer World Championships changed that a bit, but it was still very weird. A lot of my friends who are my age where just dumbstruck, when their kids brought home flags and I heard quite a few discussions about whethter it's ok for them to have those flags. We adults were really not so sure, but then a lot of people put flags on their cars to show which team they wanted to win... so there were a lot of German flags driving around town and you got used to the sight. (They are all gone now of course and I think we are back to 'normal' :-))

Wow, this is getting quite longish, so I better get to the point...

No, I can not say that I am proud to be German. I can be proud of my personal achievements, maybe of the person I am, but not of the country I live in.

But during the last years I kind of made piece with this country. When I was younger I did everything to get away from here, even lived in America for a while, travelled a lot. I still travel a lot, but now I like to come back. I like this country and its grumpy people. I LOVE southern Germany. When I go hiking on the weekends and see the wonderful nature, I am sometimes so much in awe that I can't breathe. Yes, Germany is beautiful!

Answer 2

I think an individual person has no reason to be proud or ashamed for the actions of their  Nation, iow their leaders.

I can be proud of a personal achievement and also be ashamed of a personal wrong doing.

Answer 3

Any Germans younger than about 70 have no need to apologise for Hitler and his atrocities.

Answer 4

I'm proud to be German and I always have been. There are lots of countries that have done shamable things and WW2 is just one of the bad things that Germans have done. It's not really even our fault just our leader misled us. The USA has done bad things but people are still proud to be an American. Its in the past.

Answer 5

And that's a very good question; most Germans will NOT answer that question because they are ashamed.  So let's hear from some Germans as to how they feel about it.

Answer 6

I am German. I am proud of my country, the standard of living, the political system and the social system. I am, of course, not proud of the horrible things that Hitler did during and before WW2. But people should differenciate between being proud of a country and being proud of things happened in the past.

I could also ask can Americans be proud to be American, considering what Bush is doing. But that is also too general. People think, when they hear someone is proud of Germany, he is a n**i. But also could people think, proud to be american means being the same opinion as Bush in Iran-, Iraq- and other wars. So if I am asked wether I am proud to be German, I can say yes without being a n**i. I am not proud of Germany's behaviour in the past and I am not proud of the racist movements that take place just now. But that is a different matter. Proud to be German doesn't necessarily mean to be a n**i or to agree to the things Hitler did.

And I don't think America is the best country in the world, no matter how many points minus that will give me. America is not in the Kyoto programm, still polluting the world more than the whole of Europe does. Mr Bush is the most stupid man I have ver seen, doing almost the same to the civilisation of Iran and Iraq as Hitler did to the Jews. I wouldn't honestly be proud to be American, at least not until Bush's time is over as a president!!!

No country should claim to be the best one, every country has its advantages and disadvantages. For example, a lot of people move to South Africa, because it's great there. Germany, too, has to watch now, how is coming, because there are so many coming in, the place where they live must be build.

And about recovering after 9/11: You should ask yourself why it happened after all. And you should have a closer look on things. Here in Germany we get a lot of material that has been restricted in the USA, by order of Mr Bush. I would wonder what could be so embarassing for him that he wouldn't want you to see. No country is jealous, not as long as Mr Bush messes up the world.

And about the money? So what, you get a lot of other things from us and Germany also got help from other countries. It is not you that has to play the role of the world's police.

Answer 7

I am not ashamed because I wasn't even born then. However, I cannot understand that some people ( no I can't call them people)

some sadists from a civilized nation that has brought forth some of the greatest minds  could commit such horrendous crimes.

Again, however the normal civilians like my parents did not know about those atrocities until the war was over. I have talked to an 80 year old German yesterday and he still shakes his head and is nearly brought to tears.

Answer 8

I have to agree with Alexa.

I am German and am living in the US since 2001. I never intented to live here - way to far away from home! Well, but I met my husband who happened to be a US-citizen and that's why I am here. Over those few years I have fallen in love with this country!!! I understand WHY people are proud to be Americans. But I also understand WHY people have a hard time being proud Germans. I feel the same way. There certainly is great technology coming from Germany, you can get a great education, there's breathtaking country side. Therefore, I would suggest NOT to say that you would NEVER go there!!!!! You'd miss out on a lot -and I mean A LOT of awesome, interesting, jaw dropping events, sights, and people!

I am not ashamed of being German, but I am not proud of what generations before us did. I love Germany, not just because it's where I grew up.

P.S. Did you know that Hitler was Austrian, not German?!?

Here's my husbands comment (we just came back from a 19-day trip to my german home town; it was his first time to Europe):

I grew up knowing about Germany from what schools and media have shown us. I am glad I went over to Germany to meet my other half of the family. I was surprised that many people on the streets don't say HI back to you. I was also pleasantly surprised to find people alot like you and me. There are some really good people over there! And some grumpy ones ;-) The landscape is very beautiful. And the architecture of the buildings is incredible. I would recommend that people see that country and meet the people before they pass judgment on something they've never experienced. If you go by what we've been taught then not only are you seeing a very narrow picture but you are missing out on some very beautiful things.

Answer 9

Hmmm, Nationalism, the "N" in "N-A-Z-I" (more or less).

Only a Nationalist would think that another person's identity could be defined by their nationality.

Wonder if the answers would be any different in 1942?

Answer 10

Okay...I'm German and I'm proud of my heritage.....I'm not ashamed to say this to anyone.I don't agree with what Hitler did.....but is that really that much different from what the Americans did to the native Americans.

A lot of Americans seem to forget that their ancestors may have come from Germany.

So let's just stop the finger pointing and try to get along....maybe that way we can prevent things like that from happening again.

Answer 11

I'm proud to be German.  And 9/11 doesn't even begin to compare to WWII, and making any parallels between the two is disrespectful to the people who suffered through it. What makes you think that another country could not have recovered?   If you won't travel to other parts of the world how can you know that you live on the best country in the world.  It is true that there are a lot of very poor countries out there and the US seems like El Dorado in comparison.  Europe doesn't rank among those countries....and in fact Europe is equally overhwhelmed with immigration issues.  I'd want to travel to make sure what I'm being told is actually true.  I think you'd be surprised to know that the US is in fact is not the best country in the world....that place does not exhist.  Most countries have something good to offer the world, whether it is in terms of culture or art or in regards to social systems.

Besides, the Germans are not the only ones to put people in concentration camps.  During WWII a lot of peolpe are surprised to know that people of Japanese heritage were rounded up into camps...albeit one has to say they were released alive...but the very fact that american citizens of Japanese heritage were rounded up goes against everything the US preaches to the world about equality.  Seems a bit hypocritical.

I don't think that Americans should be ashamed either...and that wasn't a cool question for your friend to be asked.  Most americans are decent people.   There are, however, an increasing number of Americans who are ashamed of their leadership.  And by the way, a lot  of Germans like  Americans and anything American a lot...and the majority of people who have actually traveled to Europe recipricate that feeling.

By the way, tourist dollars won't do it.  There aren't that many of you traveling to Europe, unfortunately, or a lot more people would be more culturally tolerant and educated.  You'll have to sell your Beemer and give back your Braun hair dryer too.  And definately don't buy a VW for sure! Oh, and don't forget that your Chanel suit might have been designed by Karl Lagerfeld...double whammy!

Answer 12

Yes I am proud to be a German.Our generation wasn`t even born as Hitler was here so there is no reasen for us to be ashamed.

Answer 13

There is no reason not to be proud to be German.

People forget that the German history is so much more than n**i Germany. That was a very short (just very ugly) part of our history. There are other things and people Germans can be very proud of.

Every country has their moments in history that makes them look bad. Germany was not the first country that prosecuted Jews or started a war. But because it was fairly recent and pretty bad, other countries like to point the finger to Germany and forget about their own past.

Answer 14

I am German.

My father is Jewish.

My mother is Christian.

One grandfather had to fight in the "Wehrmacht".

One great-grandmother died in Theresienstadt.

Am I proud to be German?

Yes I am, but I had to learn to be proud. And I learnt it while spending ten great and amazing months in Pennsylvania. Dutch Land.

I do believe that we young Germans can and should be proud of our country. If we weren't, how could we be able to support our politicans or our national soccer team?

At the same time we do have to remember our cruel history. I think that one can only really be proud to be German after setting himself/herself apart with the German history. Each one has to find his/her own way to cope with it.

It is not our job to merely be ashamed. That would be too easy.

We have a resposibilty towards the world and towards the dead.

We have to be a memorial to the world and remind them, what human beings are capable of.

We have to be a watch tower and prevent a repetition of this worst case scenario in the memory of men.

Answer 15

Germany has a loooot of immigration as well. Actually it seems to me like there are more immigrants than natives.

Anyway, I am german, but I can't say that I'm neither proud nor ashamed to be german. I used to be ashamed because of the bad hstory of germany, but I don't have anything to do with that. So there's no reason at all for me to be ashamed to be german. Now that I live in the US and am I'm foreign here, so the people ask a lot and seem interested which makes me kinda special and somehow a little bit proud.