SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

LIVING IN GERMANY

Living in Germany: Reasons why foreigners don’t learn German, pumpkin love and coffee filters

In this week's roundup, we look at a debate surrounding foreigners not speaking German (and why some people don't learn the language), the start of a famous pumpkin festival and how a German invented coffee filters.

A Pokemon figure made of pumpkins at Ludwigsburg's pumpkin show.
A Pokemon figure made of pumpkins at Ludwigsburg's pumpkin show. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Bernd Weißbrod

Living in Germany is our weekly look at some of the news and talking points in Germany that you might not have heard about. Members can receive it directly to their inbox on Saturday.

Some foreigners don’t learn German or take longer to do it – should they be called out for it?

The debate on foreigners learning German (or not) rears its head often. Last week, we reported on the reaction to the Berliner Zeitung’s opinion piece, which asked why so many foreign nationals in Berlin do not learn German. The writer went on to say that not speaking German in Germany is a form of “arrogance” and “colonialism”. This sparked outrage and reignited the debate online.

It’s not the first time this polarising topic has arisen. A few years ago former Health Minister Jens Spahn of the conservatives complained about people speaking too much English (and not even German) in Berlin cafes. Meanwhile, a debate over mandatory German language tests before school came up again earlier this summer, with the Christian Democrats arguing it would improve integration. In our experience, very few foreign nationals are refusing outright to learn or speak German in a spiteful way. When you dig deeper there are plenty of reasons why someone’s German language skills may not be that great. Sometimes people are not planning to stay in Germany that long. Sometimes there are time or money constraints. Sometimes people just don’t want to learn a language; perhaps they already have two, three or more other languages that they speak, and they can get by without speaking German. 

Of course there is an argument for knowing the basics of German regardless of how long you’re in the country or if your friendship group is international. But perhaps instead of shaming people for not speaking German, a bit more empathy would go a long way. Each person has their own journey with learning languages; it’s not black and white. We asked The Local readers for their opinion on whether foreigners in Germany should make more of an effort to learn German. We received more than 80 responses and we’re going through them at the moment for an article. If you didn’t get the chance to comment, feel free to email us and let us know your views: [email protected]

Tweet of the week

Speaking of the German language, hopefully you “eingecremt” yourself this week during the super hot weather. 

Where is this?

Pumpkins

Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Bernd Weißbrod

OK don’t hate us. We know it’s still summer a while longer. But Germany’s ‘true love’ (at least in autumn) has arrived – the pumpkins or Kürbissen. That’s right, the famous pumpkin festival kicked off in Ludwigsburg on Friday, August 25th. Up until December 3rd, the grounds of the Ludwigsburg Palace host the world’s largest pumpkin exhibition (don’t worry, we’ll show you some more photos once the event is in full swing). Expect 450,000 pumpkins and 600 varieties shaped into elaborate sculptures. You can also try pumpkin-based meals, including soups and the Swabian delicacy Maultaschen.

Did you know?

Where would we be without our daily coffee? It’s certainly something that The Local team relies on. And did you know that the coffee filter was actually invented by a German?

Dresden housewife Melitta Bentz is said to have created the filter because she was frustrated by the quality of coffee produced by percolators, which left grounds in the drink and over brewed it. With the desperation many caffeine-lovers will recognise when they want a good cup of coffee, Bentz experimented using the blotting paper from her children’s school books and noticed that her coffee was far less bitter and almost free of pesky grounds. She patented the discovery in 1908 and it became so successful that she even set up her own business, nowadays called ‘Melitta’ and still under the control of her family. The method is still used today, and remains a favourite among coffee connoisseurs.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

INSIDE GERMANY

Inside Germany: Becoming German, European election vote and the Scottish ‘Mannschaft’

From what we can expect from voters at the European elections to what citizenship means to foreign residents and the Scottish take on the German word 'Mannschaft', here are a few things we're talking about this week.

Inside Germany: Becoming German, European election vote and the Scottish 'Mannschaft'

Inside Germany is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in Germany that you might not have heard about. It’s published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.

What can we expect as Germany goes to the polls for Europe?

On Sunday, EU citizens living in Germany will cast their vote to elect a new European parliament. 

A lot has changed since the last elections were held back in 2019 – the UK has since left the EU (meaning no Brits in Europe can vote unless they have an EU citizenship), we’ve experienced a worldwide pandemic and war has broken out in Europe. 

The big story of 2019 from Germany was the Green surge. 

Although the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) received the largest share of votes (28.7 percent), the Greens won more than 20 percent of the vote in Germany, increasing by about 10 percent from 2014.

Support for the conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD) dropped considerably. 

So what can we expect from voters in Germany this time? 

According to recent polls, the conservatives are likely to secure a victory on the German side of things. The CDU and CSU will scoop up around 30 percent of the vote, according to surveys.

poster urging people to vote

A giant poster announcing the upcoming European elections, on the facade of the European Parliament building in Strasbourg, eastern France. Photo: FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s centre-left SPD, on the other hand, is only polling between 14 and 16 percent. 

The poll figures for the Greens have fluctuated. The INSA institute reported in April that the Greens could receive 11.5 percent of the vote. But recent polls show the party receiving between 13 and 15 percent – a significant drop from 2019. 

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has also lost support. While pollsters INSA predicted the party would take 22 percent of the vote back in February, recent polls put them on 14 to 17 percent.

Meanwhile, the Free Democrats (FDP), currently in government with the SPD and Greens, have been hovering between just three and five percent in polls since the beginning of the year.

Aside from these well-known parties, there are also a number of smaller ones.

If you’re eligible to vote, who will you be choosing? Good luck at the ballot box and make sure to check The Local’s coverage as the results come in. 

READ ALSO:

Germany in Focus podcast

After devastating floods in Germany that have claimed lives and cause huge destruction, we talk about how communities are coping and the areas most at risk of flooding on this week’s podcast. We also get into predictions for the European parliamentary elections and answer a reader question on how much you need to earn to qualify for German citizenship, 

With the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament coming up on June 14th, we share some interesting facts about the stadiums involved and talk about the importance of football culture in Germany with guest Kit Holden. 

What does German citizenship mean to foreign residents in Germany?

With the new citizenship law coming into force later this month, we asked The Local readers to share their feelings about citizenship and the process in a questionnaire. More than 100 people filled out our survey in just a few days and were delighted to hear about the different experiences. 

In the first of our articles, we looked at what securing a German passport means to residents. 

Of 121 readers who took our survey, 81 percent intend to apply for citizenship, while 12 percent are still unsure. 

About six percent said they will not apply, and a few respondents had already naturalised. 

A German citizenship certificate and passport.

A German citizenship certificate and passport. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Fernando Gutierrez-Juarez

For many people, a huge benefit of citizenship is about gaining freedom of movement. 

“Free movement with the world’s strongest passport is the main goal here,” Khandakar Rahman from Bangladesh, told us. 

Others mentioned that they would feel more integrated – and have course receive full rights to voting. 

Kristian from Norway said the would “finally be an EU citizen, to be able to vote, and also to actually be German”.

READ MORE: What would German citizenship mean to foreign residents?

The Scottish ‘Mannschaft’ set to take on Germany 

As Germany is about to take on Scotland in the opener for UEFA Euro 2024, ad executives for the Scottish soft drink Irn Bru have outdone themselves. 

They’ve launched an advert playing around with the nickname for Germany’s national football – ‘Die Mannschaft’ 

READ MORE: German word of the day – Mannschaft 

I was keen to know what Germans felt about this advert featuring a guy in a kilt talking about how Scotland’s ‘Mannschaft’ may even reach the semis. 

While many Germans thought it was funny, a few pointed out that the advert technically doesn’t use the word correctly. 

One thing for sure is that the Scottish love it. 

SHOW COMMENTS