Other Peoples: Notes of Interest concerning sundry non-Israelite Nations (13 June, 2013, Tammuz 5, 5773): Germany
Contents:
1. The Followers of Bismarck and Later German Nationalism
2. Why Germany is now 'Europe's biggest brothel'
3. Why do the hilariously precise Germans never go Dutch? by Brian Melican
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1. The Followers of Bismarck and Later German Nationalism
Source: A.J.P. Taylor, "Bismarck. The Man and the Statesman", (1955, Great Britain), p.212
Quote
# It was the world of Bismarckians who made up the silent German opposition, inactive, helpless, yet disapproving. In 1944, Hitler's failure, not his policy, drove them to resistance. This was tardy, incompetent, ineffectual. Yeyt the heirs of Bismarck attempted something agaisnt Hitler however late in the day. The outside world puzzled over the objects of this German 'resistance'. The answer is simple: They wanted the Bismarckian Reich. They had no contact with the German people, no faith in democracy. They still wished to combine militarism and the rule of law, to find somehow an 'authority' that would be moderate from its own decency. # End Quote.
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2. Why Germany is now 'Europe's biggest brothel'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/shortcuts/2013/jun/12/germany-now-europes-biggest-brothel
Extracts:
Legalised prostitution, cut-price offers and a boom in sex tourism mean Germany's red light districts are thriving. But not everyone is happy with the country's liberal legislation
...two-thirds of Germay's sex workers are thought to come from overseas.
The sex trade in Germany has increased dramatically since prostitution was liberalised in 2002, with more than one million men paying for sex every day here, according to a documentary...
Germany's law governing the sex trade is considered one of the most liberal in the world. It was passed by the former coalition government, made up of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Greens, in a bid to strengthen the rights of sex workers and give them access to health insurance and benefits.
Since then, red light districts have become even more prominent in many major German cities including Berlin, Frankfurt and Hamburg, where the Reeperbahn is, notoriously, the focus for the sex trade. During the 2006 World Cup in Germany, brothels appeared close to football stadiums across the country to cater for fans before and after games.
But more than 10 years after the law was passed, critics are becoming increasingly vocal. They argue that although it may benefit those sex workers who choose to work in the trade, it also makes it easier for women from eastern Europe and countries outside the EU to be forced into prostitution by traffickers. Two-thirds of Germany's estimated 400,000 sex workers come from overseas.
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3. Why do the hilariously precise Germans never go Dutch? by Brian Melican
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatlife/10115187/Why-do-the-hilariously-precise-Germans-never-go-Dutch.html
Extracts:
For all the bad press given to national stereotypes, there are some that are more or less true, quite flattering  and good for business to boot.
The Spanish, for example, really do tend to be chatty and gregarious; and being known as the life and soul of the party is pretty handy if one of your key economic sectors is attracting tourists. By the same token, German manufacturers and engineering bureaus trade on their country's worldwide reputation for precision and exactitude - a reputation well earned.
You can see exaggerated German precision in various spheres of everyday life. This is a country where new-build properties feature electronic showers which regulate water temperature to within a quarter of a degree Celsius; where the national rail website measures nominal walking distances between bus stands and train platforms to within a minute; and where housewives drive miles out of their way to get milk from Lidl because it is two cents cheaper than at Aldi on Tuesdays.
Auch Kleinvieh macht Mist is the motto, which translates more or less literally as 'even little varmint adds to the dungheap', or as one British supermarket more poetically puts it: 'every little helps'. ...
Indeed, especially with money, German precision is want to get out of hand. In restaurants, for example, the general practice is for each individual at a table to pay for exactly what she or he has eaten and drunk , Â not a cent more, not a cent less. For want of a better way of saying it: Germans never go Dutch. Even friends who have known each other for several years would hardly ever dream of just splitting a bill 50-50, regardless of how unnecessarily complex this can make things.
It also has a wider dimension. Germans expect that everyone should be scrupulously punctilious about paying their way - in both private and public life - to avoid owing anyone any favours.