Wed, Oct 03, 2001 page21

• What is Germanness?

  IMAGE A not so serious look at the (culinary) essence of 'Germanness.' So Germans are a cozy bunch of people with a liking for the stronger tastes in life, who are very effective -- kind of fits, doesn't it? So don't anybody dare liken Germans to a piece of machinery again! Or lacking a sense of humor, for that matter.

  • By Niels Cremer / EDITED BY STEFFEN S. PEDERSEN
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  In preparation for this article, I went around to ask my Taiwanese friends and colleagues what they associated Germany or Germans with. The answers I got were an interesting mix of (mostly positive) prejudices, exaggerations (I'm afraid), and quite clearly the results of extremely successful marketing! At the top of the list, of course, was "Mercedes Benz"; a few came up with "Porsche."

  While I do agree with the stance that these are indeed highly desirable transportation units, I'd prefer to be associated with something less mechanical. Others listed historical figures: above all, shockingly, a certain person who just recently made a posthumous claim to fame in a notorious political TV-ad in Taiwan ...

  Then there are the more concept-driven ideas about Germans: punctuality, accuracy, thoroughness, matter-of-factness. Again, all good and well and I admit that I try to live up to these standards every day. But I'm afraid that would it have been me that these perceptions of Germans were based on, they would have come out somewhat less heroic.

  Obviously, I'm playing the "advocatus diaboli" here a bit; yes, I do like Benz and even more Porsche and yes, I like German beer -- also mentioned by many -- and all the other great products that we so successfully engineer and market all over the globe, but I hate to think that that should be all there is to us!

  The basic assumptions behind these perceptions must be old, very old. When did the Chinese decide to name our country "De Guo," which means something like "Land of Virtue" or "Country of the Virtuous?"

  Certainly this was prior to Mr Benz pushing his first vehicle out onto the streets of a sceptic Stuttgart, or Werner von Siemens thinking up his famous pointer telegraph.

  With our favored barley brew I'm not so sure. I figure beer has been around a long time; the first Teutons probably downed their tankards of it just about when Chinese scientists blew up their laboratory in the first gun-powder explosion the world had ever seen.

  Although I will have to check on that, I heard on the radio (ICRT, what else?!) recently that, based on a new find of ancient engraved jewelry, it is suspected that early forms of the Chinese script might be 1,000 years older than previously thought.

  Be that as it may, I do like the idea of beer being the good-will ambassador of the early German people, sending out a message of good-quality, low-cost, highly-palatable and indeed sociable joy, and creating a remarkable reputation for all things German, quasi "en passant," that has lasted centuries and still endures.

  So let's agree that at the heart of "Germanness'?272 there are culinary issues. Allow me to ignore all the technology, mechanics politics. that has surely had it's impact; I'd like to stay with beer, for now. Are they not indeed related, some might rightfully remind us?

  Certainly the German art of brewing beer has come a long way since teutonic fermentation, and even I must admit that today, a large part of it is indeed technology and, the purist in me shudders, industrial processing. Now I don't want this to turn into a seminar in "opology," so let's concentrate on the intangible, the soul of beer and thus the German soul in essence.

  So what's in a beer that you can't put your finger on? First and foremost, the famous and so notoriously untranslatable term of German "Gemuetlichkeit" comes to mind. It's been said to mean homeliness, coziness, sociability or leisurely atmosphere, when really, it means all of these and much more. It is, above all, a highly individual perception that makes a person feel secure and comfortable in a place and situation that he or she would like to remain in for a bit longer, or one more glass of beer.

  What else? Beer is considered the ultimate lusty, natural and sturdy drink of lovers of the more robust delights. Nowhere but in Germany is it still brewed without the use of chemical additives or preservatives, purely nature's ingredients.

  We proudly call this the "Reinheitsgesetz", the "Purity Law." Its tartly taste truly pleasing to our flavor-deprived palate, bored beyond belief by fast food, frozen food, diet food, low-sodium food, low-cholesterol food, the list goes on ...

  More? Well, there is something else, slightly more measurable than the two aspects above, yet contributing its share to both: alcohol. Yes, let's not forget that beer is above all an intoxicating drink that should at all times be enjoyed in moderation and never while or before driving (there's a certain exception here for golfers, the lads will know what I mean). The distinctive quality of German beer in this context is that it tends to contain more alcohol than its non-German imitations, thus making it more "effective" and ergo dangerous.

  Thus to summarize, the essence of German beer, and thus in analogy 'Germanness' itself, is "Gemuetlichkeit," its harsh-bitter taste that makes you swallow every sip consciously, and its high-level effectiveness.

  So we are a cozy bunch of people with a liking for the stronger tastes in life, who are very effective -- kind of fits, doesn't it? So don't anybody dare liken us to a piece of machinery again!
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