I was patiently waiting to draw you out mister! LOL

I have no direct German blood for at least 5 generations on either side of my tree, but we see a lot of them here as tourists in the summer and I've been surrounded by them on vacations in Africa. I agree with a lot of the above comments about their order and discipline. We also see a ton of Dutch here because they can get to France in a van or a camping car, (that's what they call them here). The Dutch almost always show up with their bicycles and spend less money than any other tourists that come here. Where I hunt in Alberta they almost all Ukrainians but the few Germans I've met have garage floors you could eat off of.

There is an expression here that the Germans as individuals are great folks but in groups they can be dangerous, and the Dutch as individuals are horrible but in groups are great. As a society Holland is incredible well organized. In Amsterdam they have 5 story parking garages only for bicycles and they are already full and they need to build more. My impressions of the Germans I've met here and in Africa are that they only want to be around other Germans. Even when they speak perfect English it is very hard to start or have a conversation with them. As for the comment about the French air controllers, I think it is linguistically much easier for a German to speak English clearly than a French person. The airports in Paris deal with more airlines from all over the world than any airport in the US so they have to speak well enough to get those planes on or off the ground. If you look around the tarmac at those airports you'll see planes from countries most couldn't find on a map.

When I have fished or hunted in foreign countries and talked with the captains or guides over a beer, most have told me that the Germans are the worst tippers of anyone, and the Americans are the most generous. As for Europe, the Germans have long run the show due to exports and the robust car business. They barely participate in any Nato or EU military actions, but are much better than France, Spain, Italy or Greece when it comes to their fiscal policies as they are the only major country here that meets the 3% deficit target set out by the EU from the start.

Interesting post.

Pete

my grandfather was German an a framer , but was not tidy ,what ever piece of equipment he was using ,when he was done that's were it stay till next time .

Lived there for 5 years. I'm about 3/4 German by blood. Married one 33 years ago.Recently went back for my Father In Laws funeral. Most of the people and now several generations get reminded throughout their childhood in school how horrible their people before them were. Socially castrated into compliance. Heck they are trying to force the guys to pee sitting down. I'm speaking in generalities. I was treated well then and now. Losing their culture to globalization and the EU. The city where I was had several Hijab stores . City streets are not as clean since the influx of refugees Merkel let in. Their news makes CNN look like ultra right. Needless to say the opinion of Trump and anyone supporting him is closer to that of Hollywood. Ultra right nationalist party gaining seats and power due to the Green Party running the show.
I do agree on the OCD part of doing it by the book. Most there like here want to work hard, keep their family safe and enjoy a few cold ones with friends.

My .02 cents

We had Germans in the Luftwaffe for about 20 years here at the air base. We also had Italians, Brits, Dutch and Canadian military. Easily the most on the go people in the outdoors where the Germans. Sold them must be over a hundred black and polar bear skins, foxes, otters, lynx and wolves. I never sold them junk and they appreciated that and came back year after year. My own fur + other guy's when I had none left. The other nationalities bought 0. Super organized team work guys who worked hard and played hard. I think their most common word was "must" ("muss" in Deutsch) which they applied equally to themselves and you. I found them to be very respectful people and I dealt with a lot of them. The odd A hole but you get that everywhere.

It helped too that both the wife and I could speak a bit of German - much less than their English of course but it helped with building trust. They found that unusual to have anyone speak any German here and it was a pleasant surprise to them. They came to our house many times over the years and it became, like many in business, social after the business.

Took a trip there 3 years ago then to visit the wife's niece who married one of them. Was there 2 weeks in rural Germany. Very neat and clean and very impressed with the place. The rural Germans did not like the big cities and all the immigration coming to their country. I would not call them bigoted they just wanted the immigrants to fit in and leave the baggage from where ever it was they came from.

Ha ha ha! I had an experience like that here in the 60s

And then there is the guy who puts blinkers on BMW's ... but then again, they are built in that third world country that is Bavaria where the natives still wear shorts made out of animal skin.

My dad always said us kids were pretty much all German with just enough Polish to make it interesting. The Polish was my mothers fault as she was mostly German too with the interesting polish part. I don't know where that came from don't know my moms linage. I don't know about us all being orderly or anal? Do know was ok to have quick temper.. I tried to not pass that trait to my kids. Who by the way are now true mutts because their mother is a mix of Chech, Italian and other things..

Mac

Those are the same guys who drink Budweiser for breakfast in these parts. I have no idea why they drink one of the worse beers in America?

I worked with a german quality engineer in Lansing when building the Buick Reatta at plant #2.

When wanting a print out of our files, he coud never find them He wanted us to refile all of them to how they do it down state.

Of course, I had to say something about that. I meerily said, "if you need a print, ask me and I'll get it for you"!

He came right back at me and said, "you need to file the prints like we do at the Engineering in Warren"!

I proceeded to tell him, "if you don't like it thats too bad. Thats the way WE do it here"! That went over well. NOT!

All in all he was a good guy,just too set in his ways as well we were.

I've always thought of myself as English from my last name, but have always known I was 1/2 German from my mother's side, and recently figured out my grandmother on my father's side was also German......so I guess that makes me 3/4 German?

Funny thing is.......when German ancestors left in migration of late 1800's.......area they left from was part of Germany.......but is now part of Poland. So does that make me German or Polish? I like both kinds of sausage and beer the same.

Bitte ein Bit

True story :

A good friend of mine is a Master Guide here in AK. He had a German as a hunting client one year. Looking for a record class moose.

The hunter happened to be the number two guy on the German army rifle team.

So they find a great moose and work into position. Hunter gets set up in the prone with a rolled up jacket for a rest. The guide says...."OK take him"......... nothing happens. Again the guide says...." TAKE HIM !! " Again.........nothing happens.

The moose disappears into the brush.

The guide asks..."why didn't you shoot ? "

The hunter replies.........." If you vant me to fiah, you MUST say FIAH !! "

If it says " Bundesrepublik Deutchland " on your passport, you are like me a Kraut. I a guy winked at your great grandmother and this guy had an uncle that wore a Pickelhaube in WW 1. well that alone does not make you 3/4 German. You either are or you are not ...... Its like being pregnant. You seldom find a girl that tell a she is two thirds pregnant .... unless you are in Kentucky, There it counts.

So Scuba, none of my dang business of course, but how far from the 'neat and orderly' tree did your acorn fall? Does the stereotype fit?

And if so, what is your qualified opinion about why so much of that exists in the German genome?

Blood does not equal ethnicity.

Cultural traits don't exist in a genome, they are learned through upbringing.

You need to see the shots of Michael's work shop he made out of a trailer. It is organized well . Really like that idea, a movable compact shop.

And their land boat home is neat and clean. Even the shots he posted of the shooting lane in the woods he cleaned up nicely.

When everyone in a house helps keep things neat , it is a cinch to clean and look nice.

I always thought German gals tended toward being "big boned".

For starters the military service in Germany is not optional ... You either gear up in green for 18 month basic or work in a hospital or other social thing for 2 years. Tha may well have changed since the Merkel gang took over but it was like that in my days. That in itself instills some sort of order within a person IMHO. Then there is the apprenticeship usually 4 to 4 1/2 years of learning your job and learn how to have pride in what you do. It is instilled in the persons that are willing to soak it up that if a job is with doing it is worth doing well. Just turning up in the mornings on time does not count. There is a lot more to it than that , but thats it in a nutshell. I was born and raised in the most northern part of Germany on an Island in the North Sea called Borkum and thus was pretty old fashioned about views and standards. Would not miss that past for the world though.

I have a good friend here who was born in Germany in 1940. He has often talked about his time as an apprentice stone mason in Berlin. Sounded almost like boot camp for4-5 years