History UsefulNotes / GermanPeculiarities

Short said, Weimar Republic was the TropeMaker of the Autobahns, Nazi Germany was rather the TropeCodifier of the Autobahns.

In essence, Weimar Republic was the TropeMaker of the Autobahns, Nazi Germany was instead the TropeCodifier of the Autobahns.

Germany is crisscrossed by one of the densest railway networks in the world and UsefulNotes/DeutscheBahn carries two billion people a year in a country of a bit over 80 million people. Nonetheless Germans ''love'' complaining about Deutsche Bahn. Among the favorites are the unreliability of the trains being on time, the "unexpected weather" reactions that the Deutsche Bahn has to rain in spring and fall, heat in summer as well as snow in winter and to the announcements in the stations being harder to understand than morse code. So much so that some GermanHumor relies on simply saying something along the lines of "I took a train recently" as the German equivalent of "What's the deal with airline food".

[[note]]For Hungarians, the world cup final is remembered as a "national tragedy" instead of a "miracle". After the Golden Team lost against West Germany, riots broke out on the streets of Budapest, which was an extraordinary event in those strict communist times.[[/note]]

In a way, the problem with German national identity is not new. Indeed, due to changing borders and the overlap of the borders of the states that composed what was at any given time was seen as "Germany" (e. g. the Holy Roman Empire) you often have to define in the course of a discussion whom you exactly include or exclude when you say "German" or "Germany".[[note]] For instance, when Benedict XVI became pope, the German media mentioned that he was the first German pope since Hadrian VI (1522-1523). Not everyone would agree with this, as Hadrian was Dutch, albeit at a time when the Netherlands were part of the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation.[[/note]] This was also a sore point during the existence of the two Germanies before 1990: Some East Germans felt miffed when West Germans used ''deutsch'' and ''Deutschland'' in the sense of "West German(y)" for excluding East Germany, others were angered whenever West Germans used those words to include it. Also, partly due to Germany having been disunited for so many centuries, regional identities tend to be very strong, for not a few Germans more important than the national one (just ask the Bavarians) and in some cases also more than the identification with the ''[[UsefulNotes/TheSixteenLandsOfDeutschland Land]]'' in which they live. To further complicate matters, at least since the 18th century German intellectuals have been accustomed to define "German" by language and culture, and "German" as an adjective can confusingly mean both "of German nationality or ethnicity" and "in the German language". "German literature" thus still tends to be defined as "literature written in the German language" (i. e. including Austrian and German-speaking Swiss authors) more than "literature written by German nationals".

The most favorite sports in Germany are: [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball Football]], [[UsefulNotes/TheWorldCup football]], [[UsefulNotes/EuroFooty football]][[note]]what Americans call "soccer" – incidentally, American "gridiron" football has a minor following in Germany thanks in no small part to osmosis from US troops stationed there during [[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfTheColdWar the Cold War]]. Germany also hosts [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative the best American Football league in Europe]] and has won the European championship - yes such a thing exists - three times, 2001, 2010 and 2014 and would have hosted the 2018 edition if not for bizarre fighting between various international American Football officials too complicated to get into here[[/note]], tennis (preferably with Boris Becker and Steffi Graf), car racing (preferably with Michael Schumacher) and boxing (preferably with Henry Maske, or the Klitchko brothers) Handball (which does enjoy a steady following in the North), ice-hockey and basketball are somewhere down the line and only really ''en vogue'' when Germans are good at it. This love goes back to (at least) the 1954 FIFA World Cup, first time when (then West) Germany (the East German team never won a World Cup) won UsefulNotes/TheWorldCup. Which, probably, no one expected, for good reasons: The [[GermanicEfficiency German]] football team had to play Hungary's Golden Team (which hadn't lost a game in 4 years!) in the group stage. But trainer Sepp Herberger decided to play Hungary with his reserves, losing 8-3. However, this just meant that West Germany had to play another game against Turkey (which they had defeated easily just before), but then got to the easier side in the knockout stage, defeating Yugoslavia and Austria (who had suffered from a [[HeatWave hard game at 40°C]] against Switzerland) before the finals, a rematch with Hungary (who had to [[UnnecessaryRoughness literally fight]] Brazil and later confront reigning champions Uruguay). The match was played in heavy rain, which the Germans had christened "Fritz Walter-weather", as their team captain was known for playing his best football under those conditions. In addition, the Germans were equipped with footwear supplied by Adidas, which had produced a hitherto unheard of design of boot with exchangeable, screw-in studs that could be adapted to any weather. This enabled the German players to wear their regular boots despite the adverse weather.

The most favorite sports in Germany are: [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball Football]], [[UsefulNotes/TheWorldCup football]], [[UsefulNotes/EuroFooty football]][[note]]what Americans call "soccer" – incidentally, American "gridiron" football has a minor following in Germany thanks in no small part to osmosis from US troops stationed there during [[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfTheColdWar the Cold War]]. Germany also hosts [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative the best American Football league in Europe]] and has won the European championship - yes such a thing exists - three times, 2001, 2010 and 2014 and would have hosted the 2018 edition if not for bizarre fighting between various international American Football officials too complicated to get into here[[/note]], tennis (preferably with Boris Becker and Steffi Graf), car racing (preferably with Michael Schumacher) and boxing (preferably with Henry Maske, or the Klitchko brothers) Handball (which does enjoy a steady following in the North), ice-hockey and basketball are somewhere down the line and only really ''en vogue'' when Germans are good at it. This love goes back to (at least) the 1954 FIFA World Cup, first time when Germany won UsefulNotes/TheWorldCup. Which, probably, no one expected, for good reasons: The [[GermanicEfficiency German]] football team had to play Hungary's Golden Team (which hadn't lost a game in 4 years!) in the group stage. But trainer Sepp Herberger decided to play Hungary with his reserves, losing 8-3. However, this just meant that Germany had to play another game against Turkey (which they had defeated easily just before), but then got to the easier side in the knockout stage, defeating Yugoslavia and Austria (who had suffered from a [[HeatWave hard game at 40°C]] against Switzerland) before the finals, a rematch with Hungary (who had to [[UnnecessaryRoughness literally fight]] Brazil and later confront reigning champions Uruguay). The match was played in heavy rain, which the Germans had christened "Fritz Walter-weather", as their team captain was known for playing his best football under those conditions. In addition, the Germans were equipped with footwear supplied by Adidas, which had produced a hitherto unheard of design of boot with exchangeable, screw-in studs that could be adapted to any weather. This enabled the German players to wear their regular boots despite the adverse weather.

Despite Germany now playing with the main team, Hungary got a 2-0 lead only eight minutes into the game. Still, the Germans fought back and leveled the score in the next 10 minutes. After this, the Hungarians attacked several times, but German keeper Toni Turek pulled off several fine saves. The decision came in the 84th minute: German striker Helmut Rahn, nicknamed "The Boss", reached the ball on a speculative German attack 20 yards in front of the Hungarian goal, deceived the Hungarian defender by shooting with his weaker left foot, and scored Germany's third goal. Germany was the new world champion, for the first but not for the last time.

Most of the TV recording is unfortunately [[MissingEpisode lost]], including the whole soundtrack. Fortunately, the {{radio}} comment by Herbert Zimmermann has survived (and always was better known anyway, since few Germans had TV then). His [[LargeHam emotional reporting style]] stands out even today ("Deutschland im Endspiel der Fußballweltmeisterschaft – das ist eine Riesen-Sensation – das ist ein echtes Fußball-Wunder" - "Germany in the football finals - that's a huge sensation - that's a real football miracle"; "Gott sei Dank! Es steht nur noch 2:1." - "Thank {{God}}! It's only 2-1 now."; "Halten Sie mich für verrückt, halten Sie mich für übergeschnappt" - "Call me crazy, call me nuts"; ) and especially his comments when Germany scored the winning goal ("Aus dem Hintergrund müsste Rahn schießen, Rahn schießt - TOR, TOR, TOR!" - "Rahn has to shoot from the background, Rahn shoots - goal, goal, goal!"), when Turek saved one last time ("Turek, du bist ein Teufelskerl, Turek, du bist ein Fußballgott" - "Turek, you're a Magnificent Bastard; Turek, you're a football god") and after the final whistle ("AUS! AUS! AUS! Das Spiel ist aus. Deutschland ist Weltmeister, schlägt Ungarn 3 zu 2!" - "Over! Over! Over! The game is over! Germany are World Champions, beat Hungary 3–2!") In 2003, a movie about the match was made in Germany, with the very same title: ''Das Wunder von Bern''.

[[RunningGag Believe it or not, Germany has more than 1,500 different kinds of sausages, which is the world record.]] (Some people called the Germans disparagingly "sausage-eaters" for this. The Germans still like their sausages.) For unknown reasons, the sausage is also part of many German proverbs and other sayings: "Es geht um die Wurst" (everything's at stake), "Das ist mir Wurst" (I don't care), "Extrawurst" (special treatment), "durchwursteln" (muddling through), "mit der Wurst nach der Speckseite werfen" (to throw a sprat to catch a mackerel). There's even one of [[{{Grimmification}} Grimm's]] FairyTales titled "The story of the bird, the mouse and the bratwurst". And the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanswurst Hanswurst]], a once popular coarse-comic figure from German stage comedy, whose name also was used as an insult. (Later replaced by the internationally better known harlequin.)

Nowadays nobody sane in Germany wants to start a war in Europe, but people still like their Autobahn very much. There's still for a (small) part no speed limit on them, which was unique in the world for quite some time. People who wanted to change this (like the [[UsefulNotes/PoliticalSystemOfGermany Green Party]]) faced too much resistance and gave up on the issue. "Freie Fahrt für freie Bürger!" (Free driving for free citizens!) is a slogan used by car lobbyists and enthusiasts alike (though might attract giggles from juvenile English listeners). The car lobby in Germany is roughly comparable in power to the [[UsefulNotes/AmericanGunPolitics American pro-gun lobby.]] There are strict speed limits on the more dangerous parts, and a list of other rules are in place to allow as smooth travel as possible. One of these is that every vehicle has to be able to drive at least 60 km/h (37 mph). Another is that it is illegal to run out of fuel, or insult other drivers[[note]]For the latter one, just as for stopping in a dangerous curve for no reason, the penalty may be even ''imprisonment''[[/note]]. Travel is done in the right lane with one only being permitted to use the left lane for passing. ''No'' passing in the right lane is permitted. During TheSeventies, many new Autobahnen were built - during this decade, the network almost doubled its length. In 2010, Germany had about 13,000 kilometers of Autobahn, one of the densest networks in the world, and the third longest, after the United States and China. Which means a lot in a country the size of Montana.[[note]]Coincidentally, Montana was long one of the few places outside the Autobahn with an Autobahn-style lack of speed limits; up until 1999, Montana's speed limit on major highways was simply whatever was "reasonable and prudent" under the circumstances, at least during the daytime. (This was superseded by the federally-mandated 55 mph speed limit from 1974 to 1995, but whatever.) A Montana Supreme Court ruling in 1998 held this to be unconstitutionally vague, ending Montana's days as an American Autobahn--and robbing the German auto lobby of a talking point.[[/note]]

However, it has been gaining traction again in certain populist sectors of the German political discourse in the wake of the EU's troubles, the European migrant crisis of 2015 and the general gradual shift towards right-wing sentiments in continental Europe ([[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment which we will refrain from commenting upon, let alone taking sides, here]]), as a symbol for the German nation's alleged lethargy in the face of the (alleged?) problems at hand. As a companion word, the term ''Schlafschaf'' (meaning "sleeping sheep", roughly equivalent in meaning and derisive character to the US alt-right's ''sheeple'') has become wildly popular among members of the right-wing ''Alternative für Deutschland'' party as well as among grassroots Euro-alt-right movements like Pegida.

Now, Ikea is of course a Swedish furniture shop, so what could it possibly do on a page about Germany? Well, [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff Germans]] ''[[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff love]]'' [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff IKEA]]. It is the country with the most IKEA shops (as of September 2020 there are 54 stores, in comparison: the entire US has 51) and the highest revenue (15% of IKEA's total turnover comes from Germany). The IKEA restaurant is in the Top 5 fastfood restaurants of Germany, Germany created a ''law'' called IKEA-Klausel [[note]]which allows the use of warranty when the client damaged his furniture by building it wrong ''if'' the building description is faulty itself[[/note]], a museum in Hamburg showed an exhibition about IKEA furniture and research about the "IKEA effect" [[note]]which describes that a person cares more about an object if they build it themselves[[/note]] is currently done on German citizens. It also seems like products sold in Germany are higher quality than those sold in America. While America IKEA seems to be almost-scrap wood from the moment it leaves the package, the legions of BILLY shelves making up the basis for storage of things in cellars or in attics for long amounts of time can attest themselves. The relationship between Germany and IKEA is, however, quite rocky, to put it lightly - many Germans use IKEA's products, but many of the Germans who use IKEA's products complain about them a lot.

Arminius, son of Segimer, was a Germanic man from the tribe of the Cherusci. At the time he lived (around the beginning of our chronology), most of today's Germany (everything west of the Elbe river, to be precise) was part of UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire. Originally, he served as a ''ductor popularium'', a leader of Germanic auxiliaries, in [[UsefulNotes/TheGloryThatWasRome the Roman army]]. During this time, he acquired useful military skills, learned Latin, became a Roman citizen and even member of the knight class. For unknown reasons though, one day [[DefectorFromDecadence he had enough of civilization]], it seems. Around A.D. 8, Arminius had become one of the tribal leaders. At the same time, a Publius Quinctilius Varus was the Roman legate in the area where the Cherusci lived. If Arminius feared for his power, or whatever his reason was, he didn't show it, but instead kept the contact with Varus - hence knowing exactly what Varus was up to, while the Roman didn't suspect a thing. By A.D. 9, a Germanic uprising happened, and Varus took the legions XVII, XVIII and XIX to quell it. He got some warnings (by Arminius' father-in-law Segestes!), but decided not to care about them. At the area of Teutoburg forest [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield (it still isn't completely clear where that was)]][[note]]There have been extensive excavations in Kalkriese near Osnabrück in Southern Lower Saxony that point to a battle happening there somewhere around the right time (by means of coins fund) and in roughly the right size[[/note]], the three legions were [[CurbStompBattle defeated and utterly annihilated]][[note]]Current theory assumes a running battle of three days or more happening along the eastern side of the Wiehen with the Germanics hitting the Roman column again and again with a final battle at Kalkriese before the Romans could leave the heavily-forested areas and escape into the more open Norddeutsche Tiefebene[[/note]] by the Germanics led by Arminius. [[RedemptionEqualsDeath Varus took his own life after losing the battle.]] Emperor Augustus would shout his famous "Vare, Vare, redde legiones!" (Varus, Varus, give me back my legions) when the message came to Rome. The German uprising spread, and the Romans had to give up the whole area between Rhine and Elbe.

Foreigners used to put all kinds of stuff into their beer, a practice that Germans seem to find simply disgusting. The ''Reinheitsgebot'' ('purity law') was an old Bavarian law stating that beer has to be made of clear water, barley (malted or otherwise), and hops. Otherwise, it could not be sold as beer in Bavaria. The law first appeared in medieval times, as many brewers were prone to putting narcotic, hallucinogenic, or downright poisonous stuff into their brew--stuff like belladonna, poppy seeds, wormwood, and nutmeg. Another purpose was to limit the use of wheat (much more useful from the point of view of rulers for bread) in beermaking, tho as historians point out, a prohibition being frequently re-issued by the government is usually indicative of it being widely flouted. Modern Germany adopted a variant form of this law, which required that the barley be malted and also allowed a few other ingredients (such as explicitly permitting yeast,[[note]]previously ignored as it was not known to ''exist'' when the law was first promulgated[[/note]] malted wheat,[[note]]As much of Germany had a tradition of brewing various forms of wheat beer; despite attempts to outlaw it, as mentioned[[/note]] and cane sugar to be added to the mix), and also allowing foreign beer to be sold in the country. Oddly enough, ''Greece'' (not traditionally a beer-drinking country) has the same law: the first king of modern Greece was Otto (how's ''that'' for a Greek name?), a member of the Bavarian Wittelsbach dynasty. In other countries, adherence to the ''Reinheitsgebot'' by a brewer is often viewed as a point of pride, indicating a dedication to quality; the American Samuel Adams beers at one point ran an ad to this effect, and the Tsingtao Brewery in China historically adhered to it, as well.[[note]]The city of [[UsefulNotes/WhyMaoChangedHisName Qingdao]] was briefly a German possession before World War I, much like Hong Kong for Britain (though on a much shorter time scale), and Tsingtao Brewery was originally founded as a joint Anglo-German venture. Tsingtao has since begun to add rice to the mash, but this was because barley at one point became prohibitively expensive in China--[[SarcasmMode thank you, Chairman Mao]]![[/note]] There are, however, some downsides to the ''Reinheitsgebot''; among other things it discourages certain types of innovation like Belgian ''Lambic'' type beer which often include fruit juices in the mash (mixing fruit juice and beer is slightly different as the fruit-sugar is partially fermented in a "proper" ''Lambic'' which gives different flavors) and there is a general rule in nutrition legislation that anything ''that isn't present in the final product'' is fair game. For example, many beers do not meet strict standards of veganism as they are often filtered using fish bladders. Some beer nerds have very strong opinions on the issue.

Foreigners used to put all kinds of stuff into their beer, a practice that Germans seem to find simply disgusting. The ''Reinheitsgebot'' ('purity law') was an old Bavarian law stating that beer has to be made of clear water, barley (malted or otherwise), and hops. Otherwise, it could not be sold as beer in Bavaria. The law first appeared in medieval times, as many brewers were prone to putting narcotic, hallucinogenic, or downright poisonous stuff into their brew--stuff like belladonna, poppy seeds, wormwood, and nutmeg. Modern Germany adopted a variant form of this law, which required that the barley be malted and also allowed a few other ingredients (such as explicitly permitting yeast,[[note]]previously ignored as it was not known to ''exist'' when the law was first promulgated[[/note]] malted wheat,[[note]]As much of Germany had a tradition of brewing various forms of wheat beer[[/note]] and cane sugar to be added to the mix), and also allowing foreign beer to be sold in the country. Oddly enough, ''Greece'' (not traditionally a beer-drinking country) has the same law: the first king of modern Greece was Otto (how's ''that'' for a Greek name?), a member of the Bavarian Wittelsbach dynasty. In other countries, adherence to the ''Reinheitsgebot'' by a brewer is often viewed as a point of pride, indicating a dedication to quality; the American Samuel Adams beers at one point ran an ad to this effect, and the Tsingtao Brewery in China historically adhered to it, as well.[[note]]The city of [[UsefulNotes/WhyMaoChangedHisName Qingdao]] was briefly a German possession before World War I, much like Hong Kong for Britain (though on a much shorter time scale), and Tsingtao Brewery was originally founded as a joint Anglo-German venture. Tsingtao has since begun to add rice to the mash, but this was because barley at one point became prohibitively expensive in China--[[SarcasmMode thank you, Chairman Mao]]![[/note]]

Despite what some people in and outside Germany still claim and believe, they were ''not'' a brainchild of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler. As a matter of fact, the democratic government of the UsefulNotes/WeimarRepublic had planned several of them (the first one between Cologne and Bonn was finished in 1932 and inaugurated by one Konrad Adenauer, then mayor of Cologne). However, after TheGreatDepression, they were practically broke, so Hitler could claim they were his idea when he had them built (as preparation for UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo, of course, where they proved to be worse than useless for the Third Reich). What is also true is that streets were not a top priority of any government during the Weimar era and much more public money was spent on housing, particularly in big cities (Berlin grew to over 4 million people in that era)[[note]]This was a common feature of the Germanophone Left in the interwar years; in particular, those were also the days of "[[UsefulNotes/{{Vienna}} das rote Wien]]" that gave Vienna its legendary (on the left anyway) stock of high-quality public housing that lasts to this day.[[/note]] as more people needed housing than owned cars.

Now, Ikea is of course a Swedish furniture shop, so what could it possibly do on a page about Germany? Well, [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff Germans]] ''[[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff love]]'' [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff IKEA]]. It is the country with the most IKEA shops (as of September 2020 there are 54 stores, in comparison: the entire US has 51) and the highest revenue (15% of IKEA's total turnover comes from Germany). The IKEA restaurant is in the Top 5 fastfood restaurants of Germany, Germany created a ''law'' called IKEA-Klausel [[note]]which allows the use of warranty when the client damaged his furniture by building it wrong ''if'' the building description is faulty itself[[/note]], a museum in Hamburg showed an exhibition about IKEA furniture and research about the "IKEA effect" [[note]]which describes that a person cares more about an object if they build it themselves[[/note]] is currently done on German citizens. It also seems like products sold in Germany are higher quality than those sold in America. While America IKEA seems to be almost-scrap wood from the moment it leaves the package, the legions of BILLY shelves making up the basis for storage of things in cellars or in attics for long amounts of time can attest themselves. The relationship between Germany and IKEA is, however, quite rocky, to put it lightly - many Germans use IKEA's products, but many of the Germans who use IKEA's products complain about them a lot.]]

Now, Ikea is of course a Swedish furniture shop, so what could it possibly do on a page about Germany? Well, [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff Germans]] ''[[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff love]]'' [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff IKEA]]. It is the country with the most IKEA shops (as of September 2020 there are 54 stores, in comparison: the entire US has 51) and the highest revenue (15% of IKEA's total turnover comes from Germany). The IKEA restaurant is in the Top 5 fastfood restaurants of Germany, Germany created a ''law'' called IKEA-Klausel [[note]]which allows the use of warranty when the client damaged his furniture by building it wrong ''if'' the building description is faulty itself[[/note]], a museum in Hamburg showed an exhibition about IKEA furniture and research about the "IKEA effect" [[note]]which describes that a person cares more about an object if they build it themselves[[/note]] is currently done on German citizens. It also seems like products sold in Germany are higher quality than those sold in America. While America IKEA seems to be almost-scrap wood from the moment it leaves the package, the legions of BILLY shelves making up the basis for storage of things in cellars or in attics for long amounts of time can attest themselves. The relationship between Germany and IKEA is, however, quite rocky, to put it lightly - many Germans use IKEA's products, but many of the Germans who use IKEA's products complain about them a lot. IKEA should consider themselves lucky that [[AllGermansAreNazis the Germans don't round them up in concentration camps to be executed]].

Now, Ikea is of course a Swedish furniture shop, so what could it possibly do on a page about Germany? Well, [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff Germans]] ''[[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff love]]'' [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff IKEA]]. It is the country with the most IKEA shops (as of September 2020 there are 54 stores, in comparison: the entire US has 51) and the highest revenue (15% of IKEA's total turnover comes from Germany). The IKEA restaurant is in the Top 5 fastfood restaurants of Germany, Germany created a ''law'' called IKEA-Klausel [[note]]which allows the use of warranty when the client damaged his furniture by building it wrong ''if'' the building description is faulty itself[[/note]], a museum in Hamburg showed an exhibition about IKEA furniture and research about the "IKEA effect" [[note]]which describes that a person cares more about an object if they build it themselves[[/note]] is currently done on German citizens. It also seems like products sold in Germany are higher quality than those sold in America. While America IKEA seems to be almost-scrap wood from the moment it leaves the package, the legions of BILLY shelves making up the basis for storage of things in cellars or in attics for long amounts of time can attest themselves. The relationship between Germany and IKEA could, however, be compared to the relationship between the world and Microsoft - in both cases, many people use the company's products, but many of the people who use the company's products complain about them a lot.

Despite what some people in and outside Germany still claim and believe, they were ''not'' a brainchild of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler. As a matter of fact, the democratic government of the UsefulNotes/WeimarRepublic had planned several of them (the first one between Cologne and Bonn was finished in 1932 and inaugurated by one Konrad Adenauer, then mayor of Cologne). However, after TheGreatDepression, they were practically broke, so Hitler could claim they were his idea when he had them built (as preparation for UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo, of course, where they proved to be worse than useless for the Third Reich). What is also true is that streets were not a top priority of any government during the Weimar era and much more public money was spent on housing, particularly in big cities (Berlin grew to over 4 million people in that era)[[note]]This was a common feature of the Germanophone Left in the interwar years; in particular, those were also the days of "[[UsefulNotes/{{Vienna}} das rote Wien]]" that gave Vienna it its legendary (on the left anyway) stock of high-quality public housing that lasts to this day.[[/note]] as more people needed housing than owned cars.

Despite what some people in and outside Germany still claim and believe, they were ''not'' a brainchild of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler. As a matter of fact, the democratic government of the UsefulNotes/WeimarRepublic had planned several of them (the first one between Cologne and Bonn was finished in 1932 and inaugurated by one Konrad Adenauer, then mayor of Cologne). However, after TheGreatDepression, they were practically broke, so Hitler could claim they were his idea when he had them built (as preparation for UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo, of course, where they proved to be worse than useless for the Third Reich). What is also true is that streets were not a top priority of any government during the Weimar era and much more public money was spent on housing, particularly in big cities (Berlin grew to over 4 million people in that era)[[note]]This was a common feature of the Germanophone Left in the interwar years; in particular, those were also the days of "[[UsefulNotes/{{Vienna}} Rotes Wien]]" that gave Vienna it its legendary (on the left anyway) stock of high-quality public housing that lasts to this day.[[/note]] as more people needed housing than owned cars.

Despite what some people in and outside Germany still claim and believe, they were ''not'' a brainchild of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler. As a matter of fact, the democratic government of the UsefulNotes/WeimarRepublic had planned several of them (the first one between Cologne and Bonn was finished in 1932 and inaugurated by one Konrad Adenauer, then mayor of Cologne). However, after TheGreatDepression, they were practically broke, so Hitler could claim they were his idea when he had them built (as preparation for UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo, of course, where they proved to be worse than useless for the Third Reich). What is also true is that streets were not a top priority of any government during the Weimar era and much more public money was spent on housing, particularly in big cities (Berlin grew to over 4 million people in that era)[[note]]This was a common feature of the Germanophone Left in the interwar years; in particular, those were also the days of "Red UsefulNotes/{{Vienna}}" that gave it its legendary (on the left anyway) stock of high-quality public housing that lasts to this day.[[/note]] as more people needed housing than owned cars.

Despite what some people in and outside Germany still claim and believe, they were ''not'' a brainchild of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler. As a matter of fact, the democratic government of the UsefulNotes/WeimarRepublic had planned several of them (the first one between Cologne and Bonn was finished in 1932 and inaugurated by one Konrad Adenauer, then mayor of Cologne). However, after TheGreatDepression, they were practically broke, so Hitler could claim they were his idea when he had them built (as preparation for UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo, of course, where they proved to be worse than useless for the Third Reich). What is also true is that streets were not a top priority of any government during the Weimar era and much more public money was spent on housing, particularly in big cities (Berlin grew to over 4 million people in that era) as more people needed housing than owned cars.

Now, Ikea is of course a Swedish furniture shop, so what could it possibly do on a page about Germany? Well, [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff Germans]] ''[[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff love]]'' [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff IKEA]]. It is one of the countries with the most IKEA shops (as of September 2020 there are 54 stores, in comparison: the entire US has 44) and the highest revenue (15% of IKEA's total turnover comes from Germany). The IKEA restaurant is in the Top 5 fastfood restaurants of Germany, Germany created a ''law'' called IKEA-Klausel [[note]]which allows the use of warranty when the client damaged his furniture by building it wrong ''if'' the building description is faulty itself[[/note]], a museum in Hamburg showed an exhibition about IKEA furniture and research about the "IKEA effect" [[note]]which describes that a person cares more about an object if they build it themselves[[/note]] is currently done on German citizens. It also seems like products sold in Germany are higher quality than those sold in America. While America IKEA seems to be almost-scrap wood from the moment it leaves the package, the legions of BILLY shelves making up the basis for storage of things in cellars or in attics for long amounts of time can attest themselves. The relationship between Germany and IKEA could, however, be compared to the relationship between the world and Microsoft - in both cases, many people use the company's products, but many of the people who use the company's products complain about them a lot.

Now, Ikea is of course a Swedish furniture shop, so what could it possibly do on a page about Germany? Well, [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff Germans]] ''[[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff love]]'' [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff IKEA]]. It is one of the countries with the most IKEA shops (as of October 2016 there are 51 stores and five more planned until 2019, in comparison: the entire US has 44) and the highest revenue (15% of IKEA's total turnover comes from Germany). The IKEA restaurant is in the Top 5 fastfood restaurants of Germany, Germany created a ''law'' called IKEA-Klausel [[note]]which allows the use of warranty when the client damaged his furniture by building it wrong ''if'' the building description is faulty itself[[/note]], a museum in Hamburg showed an exhibition about IKEA furniture and research about the "IKEA effect" [[note]]which describes that a person cares more about an object if they build it themselves[[/note]] is currently done on German citizens. It also seems like products sold in Germany are higher quality than those sold in America. While America IKEA seems to be almost-scrap wood from the moment it leaves the package, the legions of BILLY shelves making up the basis for storage of things in cellars or in attics for long amounts of time can attest themselves. The relationship between Germany and IKEA could, however, be compared to the relationship between the world and Microsoft - in both cases, many people use the company's products, but many of the people who use the company's products complain about them a lot.

[[NationsAsPeople The US have Uncle Sam, France has Marianne, Germany has (aside from the female Germania) Michel]]: A guy who's for some reason always wearing a night cap. The origin is not completely clear; some people claim it had to do with the archangel Michael (patron saint of Germany), but that's not proven. Be that as it may, as the cap hints at, this Michel guy is generally seen as pretty relaxed, laid-back, a BigEater and drinker, and especially, someone who likes to sleep[[note]]This latter trait was in the 19th century portrayed as a metaphor for the Germans' apparent docility towards their multitude of kings and princelings[[/note]]. ''Gemütlich'', as we say. And admittedly, very far from [[NationalStereotypes German stereotypes]] (except maybe {{Oktoberfest}}) like the ruthlessly efficient UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}}, let alone ThoseWackyNazis[[note]]Although one of ''their'' slogans was "Germany, awaken!"[[/note]]. Sometimes still used in caricatures, as stand-in for the German people, if nowhere else.

Nowadays nobody sane in Germany wants to start a war in Europe, but people still like their Autobahn very much. There's still for a (small) part no speed limit on them, which was unique in the world for quite some time. People who wanted to change this (like the [[UsefulNotes/PoliticalSystemOfGermany Green Party]]) faced too much resistance and gave up on the issue. "Freie Fahrt für freie Bürger!" (Free driving for free citizens!) is a slogan used by car lobbyists and enthusiasts alike (though might attract giggles from juvenile English listeners). The car lobby in Germany is roughly comparable in power to the [[UsefulNotes/AmericanGunPolitics American pro-gun lobby.]] There are strict speed limits on the more dangerous parts, and a list of other rules are in place to allow as smooth travel as possible. One of these is that every vehicle has to be able to drive at least 60 km/h (37 mph). Another is that it is illegal to run out of fuel, or insult other drivers[[note]]For the latter one, just as for stopping in a dangerous curve for no reason, the penalty may be even ''imprisonment''[[/note]]. Travel is done in the right lane with one only being permitted to use the left lane for passing. ''No'' passing in the right lane is permitted. During TheSeventies, many new Autobahnen were built - during this decade, the network almost doubled its length. In 2010, Germany had about 13,000 kilometers of Autobahn, one of the densest networks in the world, and the third longest, after the United States and China. Which means a lot in a country the size of Montana.