2. Germans and Germany as Object of Admiration
2.1 The Efficient, Precise, Perfect and Diligent German
Being accurate, efficient, precise, punctual, organized, and diligent are national characteristics of the Germans not only frequently perceived by Americans, but also by Germans themselves. Even though many of these characteristics could be discussed here as separate entities, I will present them as intertwined, as one image package, as one set of work ethics.
In the 1930s, the Nazi propaganda effort in the U.S. presents these apparently German qualities and their benefits for international travelers. A government agency travel ad claims:
“German genius for organization has timed these events so that you can enjoy them during a glorious vacation in Germany.”211 The Hamburg American Line/North German Lloyd stresses punctuality: “Consider also the regularity of sailings now scheduled through the year, more than 200 crossings, a frequency that fits your travel plans to the day. And a punctuality that keeps the fit perfectly.”212 While World War II halted such promotions and depictions, the post-war years once again showed that these apparently German characteristics could also be positively charged, which led to an enormous display of advantageous traits. Only a few years after the war,
211 Advertisement in: Jim Heimann, 30s: All-American Ads (Köln, Los Angeles: Taschen, 2003) 744.
212 Hamburg American Line/North German Lloyd, advertisement, Country Life March 1937: 19.
Germany began exporting goods again, and, as an ad for the 1950 United States International Trade Fair in Chicago reveals, it is promoted that “German products stand for quality.”213
Lufthansa and “typical German fussiness”
These characteristics have been enforced over decades and continued well into the post-war years. Lufthansa’s campaigns have made extensive use of qualities such as seriousness and attention to detail and perfection, characteristics highly esteemed in the airline business. For instance, a 1966 print advertisement deals with a flight being delayed eight minutes because the coffee-machine was broken (“kaputt”): “And with typical German fussiness we refuse to take off until every part works perfectly. Maybe it’s being ridiculously German to carry anything to such an extreme.”214 Koch-Hillebrecht comments on the salience of the discussed characteristics in airline advertising:
Einigen Ärger hatte die Werbeagentur Doyle, Dane und Bernbach mit einer Serie von Anzeigen für die Lufthansa, die 1966 erschien. Der deutsche Zug zur großen Genauigkeit, zur Gewissenhaftigkeit, zur Disziplin, den die Amerikaner an den Deutschen im allgemeinen nicht gerade besonders schätzen, kann jedoch einen Flugpassagier beruhigen, wenn er sich überlegt, daß das Flugzeug nicht von einem notorisch leichtlebigen Südländer gewartet wurde.215
In another 1971 ad, titled “It is time we changed our image,” the Red Baron, the fictional
‘spokesperson’ of Lufthansa for several years, tells his employees: “Guten Tag cheerful employees of Lufthansa German Airlines,” followed by this text written in verse:
You will continue to be efficient and prompt
and meticulous and methodical
But you will also pamper and coddle
213 German Industry, advertisement, New York Times 21 July 1950: 32.
214 Koch-Hillebrecht 241.
215 Koch-Hillebrecht 241.
Passengers
And it doesn’t hurt to know some funny jokes.216
The strict imperative and the emphasis on obedience produce a negative association of the Germans’ leaning towards hierarchies and strong leadership. It shows the German employees not as freethinking individuals but as recipients of an order, as someone who will obey to a superior;
even such a human trait as telling jokes seems to be dictated. A sense of humor, as discussed later, is not a trait commonly associated with the Germans. Interestingly, the superior here is the Red Baron, whose background is in the aristocracy and military, two institutions that rely on a system of rank and obedience.
In more recent ads such techniques, if somewhat more subtle, can still be found. The airline promises “Lufthansa thoughtfulness” and “expert efficiency”217 or “supremely efficient service that’s also sophisticated. Careful planning” and “cheerful efficiency.”218 Similarly, Lufthansa claims that it has “a passion for perfection,”219 and emphasizes its “reliable service.”220
Human Hands vs. Machines
Many automobile ads also emphasize safety and frequently show how often a car is inspected with careful attention to the minutest details.221 Many advertisements for German cars also explain every step of the production process: “The 230S body is a taut shell, welded 10,000 times.”222 Volkswagen speaks of “hair-splitting precision.”223 Extensive descriptions connote the quality of German craftsmanship, a quality that is generally acknowledged in the U.S.
Very often the perfection of German craftsmanship is highlighted, showing that this trait indeed is the opposite of machine-operated, faceless production processes. The German car industry uses the image of German manual workmanship to promote reliable quality products. A
216 Lufthansa, advertisement, 1971, personal collection.
217 Lufthansa, advertisement, New York Times 27 May 1963: 17.
218 Jim Heimann, 60s: All-American Ads (Köln, Los Angeles: Taschen, 2002) 928.
219 E.g.: Lufthansa, advertisement, New York Times 10 October 1990: C13; Lufthansa, advertisement, New York Times 2 October 1991: C15; Lufthansa, advertisement, New York Times 28 April 1991: CNA5.
220 Lufthansa, advertisement, New York Times 2 October 1991: C15.
221 E.g.: Volkswagen, advertisement, Esquire October 1963: 157.
222 Mercedes, advertisement, New York Times 30 January 1967: 17. See also Mercedes “Tests,” advertisement, 2001.
223 Volkswagen, advertisement, New York Times 19 November 1984: C5. Another commercial claims that
“Precision” is important and “MAKES IT BETTER.” (Volkswagen “Tight,” advertisement, 2002.)
Super Bowl Porsche commercial stresses its manual production processes: “The new Porsche Boxster is assembled in Zuffenhausen, Germany, much the same way our original roadsters, the Spiders, were assembled; by human hands. Makes you wonder who builds other sports cars.“
The classical music that accompanies the voice-over to this point quickly fades out and a robot is shown, pounding on the cars interior. Because the music is muted, the hammering of the relentless machine constitutes a sharp contrast to the personal, manual work that the presented employees “Kurt Hartmann, Assembly,” “Manfred Schirmer, Saddlery,” and “Dieter Wurster, Motorworks” perform. The names do not only add to the theme of ‘human hands vs. robots,’ but also to the label ‘made in Germany.’ It is most likely that they were carefully chosen, as they can easily be identitified as German names by non-Germans and yet are not too exotic for the American public. The workers shown are all middle-aged, white males in grey work coats.224
Manual, quality craftsmanship is a theme used in many automobile advertisements often to a level of repetitiveness. Quality, the “meticulous attention to detail,”225 is seen by the advertisers as a key characteristic, more important than a lifestyle image. The following excerpt should suffice as an example of the thoroughness of the coats of paint on German cars: “The body is then dunked in a 52-ton primer tank, baked, spray-painted, hand-sanded, sprayed again, then hand-sprayed.”226 Why the image that German cars are made by real people is so important is explained in the following ad: “hand-stitched upholstery, hand-smoothed coachwork, the fact that every moving part is bench-tested before assembly – these are the hallmarks of honest work, proud work, built to endure.” The “special quality” that apparently only cars of this brand boast is linked to the many German workers shown in their blue overalls and suits above a yellow Mercedes.227 Once again, worker and product are directly connected.
Efficiency and Purity
The German work ethic, which is very advantageous for the German business world, has been a very persistent stereotype not only since Max Weber’s discourse on the Protestant Ethic.
Even though working hours per week and days per year are far less in Germany than those in
224 Porsche “By Human Hands,” advertisement, 1997.
225 Mercedes, advertisement, Esquire April 1962: 53.
226 Mercedes, advertisement, New York Times 14 October 1968: 27. Very similar and even more repetitive:
Volkswagen, advertisement, Esquire September 1964: 25; Volkswagen, advertisement, Esquire May 1965: 29. The following TV commercial follows the same procedural descriptions: Volkswagen, advertisement, Automobile Advertising of the 60's, New York: London International Advertising Awards, Video Recording, 1992.
227 Heimann, 60s 167.
competitors’ countries such as the United States or Japan, Germans are still regarded as hard-working, diligent, and efficient. Stapf, Stroebe, and Jonas remark that the attribute “fleißig”
could always be found among the attributes stated most often in the studies that use character trait lists. They also remark that attributes in the field of work and science were often mentioned, such as “wissenschaftlich orientiert” and “effizient”.228 This work ethic seems to be one of the strongest German traits.229
Both the German immigrants to the United States as well as the European Germans have long been known for their dedication to work in America, a country in which diligence, frugality, temperance, and hard work are admired traits. In the commercial world, marketing and image campaigns cultivate this pre-existing image. Predominantly cars, but also many other products symbolize the largely positive German traits. Automobiles seem to embody the characteristics deemed German; a Mercedes in a 1982 Super Bowl ad, for instance, puts “function first,” has
“surgically precise steering, tenacious road-holding” and is “road-efficient as well as fuel-efficient.” Summed up, it is “aiming for efficiency in all its forms.”230
Beer is a product that combines German festival culture with experienced craftsmanship.
Some beer ads emphasize the strict German purity law, or “Reinheitsgebot,” which signals traditional brewing techniques, the product’s impeccability231 as well as superior ingredients.232 Many German beer advertisements stress the careful production process: “born through masterful blending of perfect ingredients.”233
228 Stapf, Stroebe, and Jonas 50-51.
229 Stapf, Stroebe, and Jonas 106-07.
230 Mercedes “Test Track,” advertisement, 1982.
231 E.g.: Löwenbräu, advertisement, 1961. Personal collection.
232 For example, a spot by the American brewer Sam Adams makes of point of importing Bavarian hops, showing German hops farmers talk about the importance of this carefully chosen ingredient. (Sam Adams, advertisement, Comedy Central 10 March 2005.)
233 Löwenbräu, advertisement, Esquire June 1960: 4.