German stereotypes

The following comments reflect the views of DW.DE readers and come from our Facebook wall. DW.DE reserves the right to edit for length and appropriateness of content.

"Guys answering cell phones with their surnames." – Peter H.

"Punctuality, precision and sauerkraut with pickled ham." – Mary G.

"For me they are beautiful people. My boyfriend is a German from Frankfurt and he is a wonderful human." – Ile J.

"Everything I like is either expensive, makes you fat, or impossible." – Youssef S., Morocco

"When my great grandparents came to the US, they brought with them our sausage recipe. [That's been handed] down to me and my generation. Of course, for Americans, the biggest German stereotype is beer. Germany is considered the world's authority on beer and produces the best beer in the world." – Jeff S., US

"Being Scottish, I've never had any problems with German 'stereotypes' in Germany or over here." – Stefan C.

"Well, I am German and I had never wondered what other countries thought about my folks before I travelled the world. I like that Germans are seen as a very punctual and hard-working people who love correctness. We are seen as good quality [craftsmen] and excellent car makers. And we are famous for Christmas markets! But I don't like the stereotype with leather trousers, the traditional dirndl dress, huge glasses of beer and veal sausages. All that is Bavarian, which only covers a small part of Germany. I have never eaten veal sausage and never worn a Dirndl :-)" – Henriette L.

"Who cares what stereotypes people think?" – Catherine S.

"I really respect Germans!" Ilko I.

"I try not to notice. We are all Europeans. Some British people act as if the Nazis were still in power. I love Germany, and those ignorant people need to move on." – Ryan A., UK

"What about the notion that we are rude, unfriendly and arrogant? That's often heard from people that have never been to Germany." – Brigitte S., Germany