6 Things NOT Actually German That Americans THINK ARE German...

There are many things in the US that Americans think are German or think are authentic German traditions, but after moving to Germany, we found to not be true at all or not completely true... 😊Today we show you 6 of these things and some of their true origins! 😃

1:39 - Video Theme
1:47 - Wiener Schnitzel
3:28 - Beer Vessels
6:18 - Das Boot
8:49 - German Chocolate Cake
10:55 - Christmas Pickle
13:48 - Belsnickel
18:31 - Bloopers

Filmed: Kaiserslautern / Ramstein / Spreewald, Germany - June 2020
_____________________________________________________

INSTAGRAM: @passport_two

TWITTTER: @PassportTwo

_____________________________________________________

🛏 Get $40+ off of your first AirBnB by using the following link!!

🎒Our Gear (Affiliate Links):

_____________________________________________________

❤️Aubrey was a Speech-Language Pathologist, Donnie was a graphic designer, but we both had a dream to travel the world and experience cultures. After three years of being married and dreaming about if something like this great adventure would be possible, we decided to quit the rat race and take on the world. We sold everything we had, quit our jobs, and took off! After 9 months of aimless and nonstop travel, we now get to fulfill our dreams of living abroad as expats as we move to Germany!

[PassportTwo]

Update: We have been made well aware that we in fact show a “Weizenbier glass” and not a “Pils Glass.” Neither of us have much beer knowledge so relied on the trusty internet to teach us what was what and apparently this time it let us down...😔😉 But thankfully you all didn’t and taught us what both actually are! Thanks! 😃

[ronja]

I've never heard of Belschnickel? But in my part of Germany (Baden Württemberg), Saint Nikolaus' mean sidekick is called Knecht Ruprecht

[rasmusseinding]

It seems that the words Belshnickel and Belzenickel are composed of two components: Belz=high german Pelz (english fur) and Nickel, a short form of Nikolaus. In some german regions Pelznickel used to be the hairy or furry companion of Nikolaus, whose job it was on December 6 to frighten and sometimes punish unruly children. In Silesia he is called Pelzmärtel, in Bavaria and Austria Krampus and in other areas Knecht Ruprecht.

[kranzandreas]

I come from the (Vorder)Pfalz region and I heard about Belshnickel, I know him as "Belzenickel". It's not something that is really celebrated anymore. So I think it's a lost tradition The christmas market in Bobenheim am Berg is still called Belzenickelmarkt, though. They do sell craft Belzenickel there. So if you want an authententic one, you have to go there. It's only one weekend in December though.
My father used the word basically as a friendly insult" Du alter Belzenickel" - "You old Belshnickel"
Belz = pelt in Pfälzisch so Belzenickel basically means "pelted St. Nicholas" (Nickel being short for Nikolaus)
No wonder this is a Pennsylvania Dutch tradition, Pennsylvania Dutch is basically the same as Pfälzisch

[paulsj]

17:40 Aubrey nails it! Consider 40+ sovereign states in 19th century Germany and a language which would change from village to village - source of many differences!

[whybutwhy]

As an Austrian I have to say, thank you for correcting this.

[snippy]

Never seen any Gurken in Trees, never even head of Belschnickel.

Also here around Hamburg Beer is mostly drink out of some kind of smal glas Mugs. Krüge - not a thing over here.

[olivertenby]

Well... coconut and pecan are absolutely no typical German ingredients... at least not in the past so It is obviously not a German recipe.🤓

[ulig]

As a German I think you got most things right, very accurate. Well done! Just one minor thing: That was not a beer glas for Pilsner beer. You showed the typical one for Weißbier aka Weizenbier (wheat beer).

[livinghere]

Thank you for the last Part. I think many people don‘t know about the diversity of traditions based on the regions in Germany. I live in the north of Germany and we hate it if someone thinks that all germans are wearing lederhosen.

[christiantobias]

Funny side note: the actor Jürgen Prochnow plays is the original movie "Das Boot" and also in Beerfest. There is also a reference in the film where the Germans observe the current situation from a submarine.

[Seythia]

So, being from Nuremberg, I still remember being frightened by this dude dressing up as pelzmärtel, or pelznickel or, as Franconians would call him, because we do not know how to pronounce hard consonants: belznickel (/-märtel). The official explanation of of the name is that it's some Mish mash from st. Nicolas's fur (pelz, Google the story) and the märtel comes from 'st. Martin'. It's basically the same figure as Krampus (which is Austrian) and knecht Rupprecht, which is northern German. It's no wonder that this tradition cannot be verified anymore because it's basically died out. When I was a child we would go on train rides with father Christmas and belzmärtel, we'd have them visit kindergartens and schools and basically any sort of event. For some reason, this just doesn't happen anymore. I don't know when this disconnect happend, but my own cousins' children don't know anything about this tradition.

[tobiastogerin]

I have never heard about christmas pickle before - must be a local tradition.

[HomeWorkouts_LS]

I'm from the US but I've never seen that version of a 'German' chocolate cake. This whole time, I thought it was the same thing as black forest cake with cherries! That's what my grandma used to make.

[RobTheWatcher]

That was the wrong movie poster of "Das Boot". 😉 You showed the artwork of the 2018 remake.

[johannabeere]

I've never head of Belschnickel, but when someone in the comments pointed out that the beginning of the name was a variation of the word Pelz, I rememberd something similar - Pelzermärdl. I'm from Nürnberg, Bavaria and in my childhood, on Dez. 6th either Saint Nicholas (catholic tradidtion) or the Pelzermärdl (protestant tradition) visited and brought gifts. If I'm not mistaken the tradion of Pelzermärdl is the same as the one of Belschnickel. I found a german wickipedia article on Pelzmärtel, which explains the relation of these traditions and the different names. Nickel is a diminutive for Staint Nicholas and märtel or märdl is a diminutive for Saint Martin.

[svenwaibel]

In Franconia we do not call him Belsnickel, we call him "Pelzermärtel" and is part of Christmas, but not so popular as the "Christkind"

[lphaetaamma]

"Maß" actually means "masuring unit" wich references to 1litre

[neophytealpha]

They have been known to call the stoneware vessel with the metal lid a stein. That was the only one I heard called that. The 1L I heard called a glas.

[Rsama]

Wiener Schnitzel: wenn nicht aus Kalbfleisch dann wird das "Schnitzel Wiener Art" genannt.
Ich nenne meinen Bierkrug einfach Bierkrug.
Bierstiefel hatten wir in meiner Jugend. Einer gab einen Stiefel aus dann wurde Reihum getrunken mit der Spitze nach oben. Wer den Schwall abbekommen hat zahlt den nächsten Stiefel. Ach ja die Jugendzeit.
Ein Stück Kuchen ist kein Nachtisch. Das hat mich in meiner Zeit in den USA immer irritiert, man fragt nach Nachtisch im Restaurant und bekommt eine Kuchenauswahl. Die einzige Alternative ist meist Creme Brullee.
Wir haben ein Christmas Pickle, vor 4 Jahren in NJ gekauft und vorher noch nie davon gehört.
Belshnickel? Noch nie gehört und ich komme aus dem Südwesten.