Geography Now! Germany | American Reaction

Thank you for watching me, a humble American, watch this very fun video Geography Now! Germany. Thanks for subscribing!

[AndwariTV]

We Germans show our patriotism by watching all the reaction videos about Germany and seeing how people react to how great we are - its like a quiet version of patriotism :D

[Deathmic]

Yes, there are stereotypes about the school types. Since Hauptschule (which I'd translate as Main/Basic school) takes less years to get a degree and isn't as hard as the others, it's considered the lowest kind of school with the most worthless degree that won't get you hired for anything but blue collar work. Realschule is considered kind of a neutral in between kind of degree, but won't be enough for universities or most high level white collar work without upgrading your degree with additional schooling afterwards. A Gymnasium degree opens many doors for you, but takes more years and effort to get. So basically, Hauptschule kids are considered to be too stupid for better schools and Gymnasium kids are considered elitist snobs. Take this with a grain of salt of course, since it's just my personal regional experience (south west Germany).

[workaholica]

The video is so fast paced and packed with information I'm willing to forgive all the (painful) spelling mistakes.
The one thing I cannot let slip though: Cuckoo clocks have been made in the Black Forest region of Baden-Wuerttemberg, the state with the strong ties to its neighbour Switzerland (also a famous clockmaking nation). Bavaria had nothing to do with it.

[berlinermaurer]

I'm from the Brandeburg and there is actually an interesting school-concept called "Gesamtschule", where the best parts of gymnasium and realschule are combined. Some people leaving school after class 10 and starting their apprenticeships, some stay to make their Abitur, the grade you will need to study. They need 13 instead of 13 years to reach that.
It's actually a great system, but much more expensive compares to others.

[yukiamijochi]

For people wondering how there are so many different dialects ... remember germany was seperated in many different principalitys not so long ago ~ 100 years ago ... also they blend into each other which is quite interesting

[xDarkestDemonx]

Vergangenheitsbewältigung does _not_ translate to "a lingering sense of guilt". A more acurate translation would be "overcoming of the past".

The generations of germans that are alive today have nothing to do with what happened in WW2 and the newer generations didn't even experience the post war germany anymore. So, for the vast majority of germans, there is no sense of guilt.

However, there is a sense of responsibility. And that's pretty much what Vergangenheitsbewältigung means. It is also a term that is used for people who experienced a mental trauma. It is about coming back to your feet, to accept that it happened it is part of your history, but that it doesn't define you and that it's in your responsibility to not let it happen again.

That's why there are so many memorials scattered throughout germany, why there are so many documentaries, why children learn about WW 2 _extensively_ in school and visit concentration camps. It's a part of history that we, for the most part, overcame, but have not forgotton.

[kreativuntermdach]

Reinheitsgebot means you cannot add other stuff. BUT you can engineer the heck out of it nonetheless. You can change the type of yeast, which gives vastly different results. You can change the duration of any part of the process and get different results, mostly the processing of malt plays a huge role. OR change the type of other ingredients. There are varieties of hops available for beers, and the amount of one thing compared to the Rest can also be important. You see: lots of ways to tweek only 4 ingredients. Kinda like with flour, eggs and butter: you can make pancakes, cakes, cupcakes, Donuts and a whooe lot of other stuff and everything tastes different with different textures.

[Medley]

16:30 We Germans have learned the hard way that national pride goes hand in hand with national arrogance. Unfortunately, we've screwed up so much that it's harder to be proud of our history. It's a shame that other countries can't do the same. Great Britain, France, USA or Italy don't to have a clean record either. But they suppress this completely.

[jeanyluisa]

18:45: "Namibia" is a counry in Africa. its been a german colony until 1915

[eikejmeyer]

This is so far the best video on Germany I have seen on YouTube by far. It is giving a lot of context, history and details. It is also really refreshing to see a video being labeled "about Germany" that is actually about Germany and not Bavaria. It is even culturally aware enough to be pointing out that this is a stereotype image. 👍 Great seeing you reacting to this awesome video.

[m.h.]

While the statement about tornadoes is technically true, they are nowhere close to America in terms of severeness. There are reportedly only around 40 tornadoes per year (America has around 1100). And those that do exist, are much weaker than their American counterparts.

[clethraz.]

There are stereotypes about Hauptschul pupils. This type of school is the lowest one of the three. If your child has always good grades (like A in your country) it will most likely attend the Gymnasium at age 10 and go to university afterwards. Hauptschule is for kids with lesser good grades. The education there focuses more on practical things. When you graduate from Hauptschule you will most likely do an apprenticeship in any kind of profession, which takes about 3 years of vocational apprenticeship at your company/employer and school. After that you are examined mechanic, craftsmen, nurse, office administrator whatever.... This form of education is also highly regarded here in Germany. When you are "ungelernt" (unlearned - without a completed appretice ship) you will always regarded as a unskilled worker and earn less money.

[TZ_]

If you wanna learn more about Germany's history you should check out the animated history of germany part 2 and part 1, in that order

[ppilihplul]

15:44 yeah it exists, we the Gymnasiasten(Gymnasium) are the ones who get the best "Allgemeinbildung"(we get taught about everything a bunch), Realschule gets taught mostly about everything in Gymnasium just not that fast and doesn't go into topics that deep as Gymnasium and Hauptschule or Gesamtschule gets taught about basics in German English and Maths and then how to do the job they are good in

[ptat._.]

Here in Hamburg (Northern Germany) there's Gymnasium (total 12 years of school) and Stadtteilschule (total 13 years of school). Stadtteilschulkinder are considered "more stupid", since they need more time to learn everything. Gymnasium is for the "smarter ones".

[hr]

The German texts are full of spelling mistakes, so watch out (Saurbraten = Sauerbraten, Mehrdrutig = Mehrdeutig, Backfiefengesicht = Backpfeifengesicht, etc.). So don't order a "Saurbraten". 😉

[asator]

Here in Germany we have a saying: "If you have nothing to be proud of yourself, you still have your national pride". It kind of discribes how we feel towards fanatic nationalism and such...

[prody]

I think Lower Saxony is called like this because it is next to the Netherlands (which means "low-laying country"). It has nothing to do with the North or the South, but with altitude.

[amaril-kb]

By the way, you sound so cool when you try to speak german. I think it’s so fascinating how the tone of your voice can change depending on wich language you speak. That’s a phenomenon I witnessed for a while now by different people.

[lionessjas]

11:13
Im living in that part of Germany where some people (included myself) are speaking the sorbian language. It´s really nice that they find out about us ´cause often we´re forgotten when it comes to other languages in between Germany. Sorbian sounds as well as Polish or Czech (accept of the writing there are very similar words in those languages). We have so much traditions additionally to all the other German stuff that is known. And we´re really trying to preserve the language and the traditions! (Kind of difficult ´cause the people who are fluently speaking the language are getting old and dying)
Thanks Ryan for making this reactions. I really like your channel!!