The German speaking countries that we researched this quarter are all first world, industrial nations. The major linking cultural trait for these countries is of course the German language. The current culture of these countries is fairly similar to the rest of modern western civilization. This is of course from a birds-eye-view. Each country in the German speaking world has its own flavor, quirks, and cultural traits which are idiosyncratic on the world view. I would still characterize most of the German speaking countries in Europe as having Central European culture. I believe that it’s hard to differentiate the history and what I know about Europe’s past from the current culture of German speaking Nations in Europe. I will say that the cultural aspects of German countries are so varied that it is extremely difficult to really zero in on a certain facet of current German culture.
When I look at each individual German speaking nation, it is easy for me to say that things are very different in Germany than they are here in the United States. At face value, this is very true. The language is different, the currency is different, and national personalities are different. Although the each German speaking country is its own sovereign nation, and each country has its independence on some level, German speaking European nations are just as varied their culture as different regions of the United States. So although it may seem like both German and American culture are different, I think that they are very similar. At the end of the day, both Germans and Americans both want the same things out of life, we just go about things slightly different. I feel that mass communication and connectivity through things like the internet really have made an impact on both cultures becoming more similar to each other.
