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Version vom 13. Februar 2020, 06:32 Uhr

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Is it true, that german people are too serious?

In addition to our school project: ,,humor around the globe“, I‘m going to present you some facts about the Germans and their sense of humor. The informations are from an interview from ,,FOCUS Online“, a german news website, with the expert Rainer Stollmann.

German people have the reputation, that they´re too serious and this is still the view of the world on Germany and why nobody tries German comedy. But where does this reputation come from? A lot of people think that stereotypes rely on the reality and when you look at the german culure, you can see that it´s more about romance and pain than about fun, which you can also see in the tales. Their culture is very important so that it still influences the people. Even the first cartoons, that were meant to be funny, have mainly serious aspects and are not meant for comedy. Moreover the literature is more likely to be romantic with a tragic end. But german people do know international comedy ,like Charlie Chaplin a famous comedian, even better than other nations.

Relying on the expert, Rainer Stollmann, germans should try to mix humor and seriousness to overcome the stereotypes and to have more fun in general. As a german I don´t think that we´re to serious but I agree that the german culture is taken very firmly and that we should be more humorous about it. I hope you liked my article and please review on the topic, wether you think germans are too serious or not.

Kristin

German Humour

For our school project on humour around the globe, I have decided to give some Information on German humour, being from Germany myself. I base this blog entry on an interview by FOCUS online with Rainer Stollmann an expert on the topic of humour.

To the question of whether Germans are humourless or not is easy to answer. Yes, they are. Stereotypes are often based in reality; Germans are not comedians they are romantics. That is the epoch that shaped Germany the most. To this day the most beloved classics in literature and music are serious and not humorous. Even though there are comedians from the 19th century such as Wilhelm Bush who is one the inventors of the cartoon most of his work is not funny but rather pedantic. Which can be seen in a lot of works from that time. While works from Shakespear often can be interpreted as a tragedy or comedy without disrupting the source material. German classics are either a comedy or a tragedy. To add to that there are only two classic works of classic literature in German history: “Minna von Barnhelm” by Lessing and “Der zerbrochene Krug” by Kleist. The first real comedies in Germany’s pop culture were fairy tales these were 500 years ago considered to be comedic. The most famous fairy tale writers: the Grimm brothers. They set themselves apart by giving their stories naive and innocent, romantic one could say. That is the typical “Grimm-Sound” but it also took away that comedic element that fairy tales were supposed to have. But that was 500 years ago today there are many comedians such as Otto Waalkes, Loriot, Helge Schneider and many more Satire papers. Because of the Stereotype of the unfunny German no one knows about the comedic potential that we have to offer. On the contrary German audiences are very familiar with international comedians. The likes of Charlie Chaplin, Mr Bean, and Monty Python are well-known all-around Germany.

So, does that mean that Germans are not that unfunny? Well, Loriot answered that question once he said that Germans draw a line between humour and seriousness. In other words, they are waiting for a signal to laugh. Loriot found that unfortunate and hoped that they would mix humour and their seriousness a bit more.

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Do Germans have any sense of humor ?

Today ´s topic is if Germans are humorous at all or not and what are the reasons for it. I, as a German student abroad at this school, find it really interesting to join the project “Humor around the globe” and to exchange ideas with you guys.

As far as I´m concerned it all starts with the history of Germany. But does this justify the stereotype of Germans and their seriousness? Somehow it really does. Around the end of the 18th century until into the 19th century was the aera of “ Romance” in Germany, which was mainly spread in europe countries. It decribes the values of longing and world pain in the past which affected several areas in the German culture like the music, the philosophy and the German literature. Overall everything in this aera was somehow connected with seriousness. An example for that are the tales written from brothers Grimm like “snow white” or “sleeping beauty”, which have a negative touch and are mostly without humor. If you don´t know those just let me give you an example for that. Do you expect toxic apples, bad stepmothers or a 100 years long sleep as a birthday present in a fairy tale for children? I guess you don´t, but it relates to the aera of romance.

But that´s not all. Some other experts comment on this question that Germans are very serious because they had a different development in comparison to other countries like France, which became a nation in a political way or England in an economical way. Germany instead sticks to its culture to form a nation and that´s probably one of the reasons why they are really serious when it comes to their culture.

Another point is that, because of the prejudices that Germans are humorless other nations don´t interest for the German comedy. In comparison to that the average audience in Germany knows apparently the most international comedians.

Just to sum up, it becomes clear that Germans are sometimes prejudices that they are not funny , what is related to their past. But in this question if Germans are humorous I agree with the statement from Loriot, who once said that Germans do like to laugh as much as other nation do, but they seperate humor and seriousness too much and wait for a signal if it´s appropriate to laugh. Instead Germans should learn to mix seriousness and humor. I think it is also a great advice for anyone. So how do you think about it, can you agree with it or do have another opinion ?

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Is it true that Germans are humorless?

Some countries have prejudices against Germany because of the assumption that Germans would not understand fun. The expert Rainer Stollmann is going to substantiate the given prejudices.

First of all he starts with the explanation that Germans are humorless because of the epoch of romantic. Other cultures didn’t know about the epoche .One important term of the epoche is ‘’yearning’’. That term means that people didn’t enjoy to laugh. It is clear that this time is 200 years ago, but it is still a trade-marke of the German culture.

Then the interviewer starts to ask Stollmann about the humourists of the 19th century. Stollmann counters on this with telling about the stuffiness of the humourists works. He mentions that there are only two comedy versions.

Later on Rainer Stollmann talks about ‘’Grimmschen’’ fairytales. All that time fairytales were stories to laugh. They were like jokes today. But these fairytales withdraw the joke by using naive things.

Than Stollmann talks about Loriot. He is also a pretty funny person, but the problem is that nobody knows him. Loriot also says that the German people split serious and humour . He also mentions that Germans should mix these two qualities.

All in all is to say that Germans have a reason for their humourless. But it is also to say that they should mix their serious with their humour.

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Homework blog post Differences in humour

Every person has its own humour and each of us understand it in a different way. But there are myths and opinions about the German humour and why it is so different like the others. And I explain to you what is behind all these facts. So why are the Germans called humorless? Many people from other nations are shaped by prejudice and allegations which have evolved over the years. For example that they do not understand and like fun and that they are to serous for that. it is true that many Germans do not laugh much. But why? This has its origin in the era of romantic, where sensitive, soft, naive and thoughtful feelings formed the emotions of the German people. They wrote more texts about their longings and serious thoughts. And other nations do not really know that much about this season. So they did not understand the meaning of it and found it strange. These feelings of this time followed them into the presence and built the culture of Germany. Nevertheless there were many German people like authors and directors who created a special type of humour and who are known for this cultural aspect. An example for this are the ‘’ Grimm’s Märchen ‘’ which were written by the Gebrüder Grimm, who took on the feeling of these longings and the serious mind. Many of their self created stories had a sad ending and seriously actions, which in my opinion are not something for little kids. Because the content of the stories were mostly with an aggressive and depressive background for example the stories of Max and Moritz. Even though the German humour is different like the others, many people like this type of humour, because it is funny on its own way. Also to mention is that all nations had a beginning of their own humour in the past. Like that the French people have a political humour and the British ones an economic humour. But what you can laugh about does not depend on the nations because each one has its own humour they can laugh about and there is not any better one. To sum up the German humour might seem to be bourgeois and not funny, but it shows the Trademark of Germany and its culture.

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Do Germans even know humour?

Our school project humour around the globe needed someone to write about German humour and who would be better than me, the German exchange student. The base of my blog entry is an interview by ‘FOCUS Online’ with FOCUS-Online Expert Rainer Stollmann. Prejudices are usually not without a reference to the reality, as in the case of the Germans. I’m not saying we are completely humourless but our seriousness was born in the era of romance, which is not known in other countries. Our seriousness is the German trademark. Even our literature is serious Schiller and Goethe could never be interpreted as a comedy. Contrary to this Shakespear can be played as a tragedy or a comedy. We only have two comedies in the classic German advanced culture named “Mina von Barnheim” written by Lessing and “Der zebrochene Krug” by Kleist. Once upon a time fairy tales were something to laugh but the brothers Grimm made them to something serious, naive and romantic. Prejudices are the reason for other countries not knowing any comedians from Germany. However German people know comedy on an international level.

Conclusion is that Germans strictly separate humour and seriousness. I agree with Stollmann’s advice to sometimes laugh in serious moments to lighten up the atmosphere but we’re not that un hilarious, right? Don’t you agree?

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Do the Germans really lack a sense of humor? Many of you may be aware that the Germans are widely perceived to be lacking a good sense of humor. I should probably mention that I am a German myself spending a year abroad here, which is why it has always been of interest to me to find out more about the origin of this stereotype. Therefore, I immediately decided to use the opportunity that our year is doing a project on humor around the globe to uncover more about humor and the Germans. This blog entry is based on an interview by FOCUS online with Rainer Stollmann, an expert on this topic.

Firstly, it is important to realize that prejudices and stereotypes usually allude to reality in some way. According to Stolllmann, the reason that the Germans are so widely perceived to be lacking a sense of humor lies 200 years in the past. During the Romantic era, which had a great impact on Germany, the seriousness, for which the we are known nowadays, developed. The influence of Romanticism on the German culture can be observed in our literature. It is so, that Germany’s high literature only includes two comedies (“Minna von Barnhelm” and “Der zerbrochene Krug”) and even pieces such as Grimm’s fairy tales allude to the Romantic era. Nonetheless, there are other factors to contemplate as well. Germany does indeed have funny comedians, satire magazines, and TV shows. However, these often are not very well known, which may in some cases be a result of the prejudices about the German humor. Furthermore, the German TV audience knows more international comedy shows than other TV audiences do (on average).

In order to properly answer the question whether the we, the Germans, lack a sense of humor, it must be taken into consideration that we do enjoy laughing just like anyone else. However, as a German comedian once said, we often wait for a sign that they should laugh. The Germans like to draw a clear line between seriousness and fun. All in all, it can be said that we should try to mix seriousness and humor more often. Furthermore, I believe that we need to keep in mind, that while not everybody is going to share one’s own sense of humor, that doesn’t mean that they do not have one. I hope that you enjoyed this blog post and I would love to hear your opinions and experiences regarding the topic.

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Germans are the funniest (not)

Our school is doing a project about the “Humour around the globe“. I am a a german Stundent and I am for one year at this school. What do you think about German humour? Are they really not funny? I want to present the German humour for you. I hope you like it.

My informations are based on the interview by FOCUS Online, it is a famous online magazin in german. The interview with Rainer Stollmann, an expert on this topic. If you like to know more about the interview, here is the article “Wir sollten Ernst und Humor häufiger mischen“.

Firstly, I introduce the history of german humour. Can it explain why Germans are so serious and is the stereotype true that Germans are not funny. In one way is the stereotype true. It starts around the 18th century until the area of „Romance“ in Germany. Germans have humour, but they are more romantic. Moreover, they have a seriousness, which reflects in their music, phylosphie and literature. In 19th century there are only two comedies, which are from Lessing and Kleist. It shows that Germans have not much humour with the reason that they are bourgeois.

Do you know that jokes are tales 500 years ago. For example the tales of the brothers Grimm like „Snow white“ or „Frog king“ . Did you notice that the tales are mor negative, not funny and naive for example in snow white a toxic apple and an evil stepmother. That´s a sign of the Romance.

An important aspect is that some experts make clear why Germans are very serious. The reason for this is that they make another development than other countries like France or England, because for Germaness is their culture very important. Furthermore, lots of people have no interest in German comedian like Otto Waalkes, because they believe in the stereo type and the audience is more attracted to the international comdian, which are more known.

Finally I have to say that it is true that Germans are sometimes prejudice that they have no humour. But in comparison to other countries it is true that they are not much humorous, because they are being shaped by the past. And I have to add that the statement of Loriot is true and important. It says that Germans segregate seriousness and humour too much, but they should mix it more. I think what he says is great and a good advice. I hope you enjoyed reading this. What is your opinion about German humour and what do you think about this topic ? I would be happy to hear your opinions and experiences about the topic "Humour around the world".

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Do German people really have no humor?

A typical stereotype against Germans is that they have no humour. So as a part of our project “humour around the globe“ I will give some information about German humor. My blog is based on an online article of FOCUS Online with the humor expert Rainer Stollmann.

The question of German humour is not easy to answer. They started their interview with the German history. Germans are humourless because sterotypes are often true. Germans are not funny because they are romantic. The Romance was a German aera which stands for the values of nostalgia and world pain of the past. This aera was very serious and a important part of German history. But also if there are comedians in the 19th century like Wilhelm Busch who invents the cartoon most of their works are not funny. Works of authors such as Shakespeare can be often played in a tragedy or comedy way. But works of German authors like Schiller or Goethe can not be played in a comedy way they are just serious. And because the culture is still very important for German people it influences them a lot. Today there are many famous German comedians like Heinz Erhardt or Otto Waalkes but they are only famous in Germany because the other countries still think that Germans have no humour. Comedians of other countries like Charly Chaplin are famous in Germany becuase of the television.

Does that mean that Germans really have no humour? Loriot answered the question in a very good way. He said that Germans seperate humour and seriousness but they have to mix it a bit more. Than tey are more humourfull.

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Do Germans know what humor is?

Many countries support the opinion that Germany is a very strict and organized country and people don’t have time for humor and absolutely don’t understand fun. In connection to a school project with the title “Humour around the globe”, I’m going to base this blog entry with information and facts about the Germans and their humor based on the interview by FOCUS held with Rainer Stollmann a humor expert.

Oftentimes stereotypes rely on reality and Rainer Stollmann says that the Germans aren’t humorous because they are romantics. The romance is a German epoch that other countries and cultures haven’t had in the same way. This epoch was the footing for the worldwide known Trademark of the German serious music and philosophy but also describes the world pain and longing. Later on, Stollmann talks about the tails of the Grimm brothers and the tails that were written to make people laugh but also then the brothers added this “Grimm-Sound” which made the tails romantic again. So the stereotype of the Germans being humorless is grounded on the big choices for comedians that aren’t German. Germans laugh just as gladly as other cultures but they part seriousness and humor harder.

All in all the Germans had to mix seriousness and humor more to be able to laugh better and use the full humor.

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Why we Germans aren’t funny

Living in America has taught me many things and one of them was, that Americans believe that we Germans ain’t funny. Now that we’re having a project week on „Humour around the globe“, I decided to address this stereotype about Germans and see, if it’s true or not.

For this article I did a lot of research and found an interesting article from Rainer Stollmann. At first it is to say, that you guys are right with the statement „Germans aren’t funny“ and it‘s because we’re really romantic. The epoch that has shaped Germany the most was the romantic one and the most important word in this epoch is nostalgia. Persons who are nostalgic and love to feel pain don’t laugh a lot. The Classic/romantic epoch has born the seriousness which is typically German. Of course Germany also got some famous comedians, and also some back in the 19th Century but if you look closely, at first they were also serious. And if you take a look at Germans old writers like Goethe and Schiller, you realise, that you can’t perform their plays in a funny way like you can with for example Romeo and Julia from Shakespeare. In the German literature are only to comedy plays. Also the German Fairytales (who should have been the reason to laugh back then) have been naive and just romantic. Nower days, we Germans changed and we love to laugh. We have many comedians and also many funny TV-Shows but nobody knows them, because everyone believes we Germans aren’t funny. Resulting from this, the Germans know more foreign comedy than any other country.

And to close this blog entry, I would like to point out, that we Germans are funny and humours, but we just seperate seriousness and humour more.

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Are the Germans really that humourless?

Everyone have already heard the still existing stereotype that Germans cannot laugh. Germans are bourgeois, serious and always bad minded. I think as a German exchange student, I am exactly the right person to discuss that issue.

Especially American comedians are very popular worldwide, for example the Ellen DeGeneres show. But what's about German comedians? Otto Walkes? I bet you never heard about him before. The reason about the notorious seriousness of Germans ist replaced far back in the past. The German epoche is the romantic in which nostalgia place an important role. Today it's still recognizable in literature and tradition. Yeah I have to admit that many people especially in work life arent that funny, because they want to be taken serious and responsible. But in freetime exactly those are the funniest people I know. They only try to set their work place apart from personal life and I really understand that thought. I feel a little sad when I think of all those amazing and heart warming people in my home town, who make me laugh every day, no matter how terrible I felt before. Nobody knows about their funny side.

Yeah it's true, older generations are often more narrow minded, because of their education, but they have humor aswell, in case it's just another kind, it's black humor and not everyone knows how to understand and react on it. 

To sum it up guys, I am very proud to be able to tell, that my nation is not that serious as it seems. In my home town there live the most funniest people I know and I am so glad to understand their kind of humour, because it's very special, different and enormous funny!

How do you know the Germans? Do you think they are as serious as you can always hear. I am very interested in your opinion. See you soon.

Katja