Escaping the Schnauze

Rumor has it that the farther south you go in Germany, specifically the more distance you put between yourself and Berlin, the friendlier Germans become. We’ve been fortunate in that we rarely encounter the Berliner Schnauze (their infamous grumpiness, rudeness, and frankness) and thus far have almost nothing but warm, fuzzy feelings for our fellow man in the city. Of course, our experience a few weeks ago with the extraordinarily rude waiter dressed like a cheap Boy George is an exception to our goodwill; but I like to chalk up his snarl to regret about his wardrobe choices and not any ill-feelings he may have held towards us.

At any rate, we thought we’d test out this rumor about German friendliness, escape the slippery sidewalks of Berlin and take a weekend trip to two small towns, Bamberg and Weimar. And indeed we found the locals to be cheery, helpful, accommodating and all around friendlier. I’ve posted photos from the trip which probably give a better picture of what we did, but we also wanted to tell you about the many unexpected moments of German hospitality that we enjoyed!

Bamberg, Germany

We knew the trip was off to a good start from the moment we arrived at our pension in Bamberg. John was chatting away with the receptionist and asked for a city map. When she asked whether we wanted the English or German, we laughed sheepishly and said “perhaps, the English.” “No, no,” she said “your German is fantastic! Take the German map, it’s better!” John walked away beaming and commented to me, “I don’t think we’re in Berlin anymore!”

Our next stop was the Bamberg tourist office. John had some questions about a beer tour they offer and I was wandering around with my camera around my neck when suddenly the woman behind the counter looks at me and asks, “You enjoy taking pictures?” A little stunned, I replied that “Well, yes I do”. She then proceeded to explain that the best views of the city were from the tower next door and that she’d be glad to give me the key. I’m repeatedly saying “thank you” when she whips out the biggest key attached to the biggest clothespin I have ever seen. She tells us "to head on over, let ourselves in, feel free to open any windows, just lock up on your way out!"..and so we did...and the views were indeed amazing!

Saturday morning we wandered Bamberg a bit and happened upon an adorable shop full of local wines and regional beers. We were peering in the windows, commenting on the wines when the owner came marching down the street, greeted us with a smile and invited us to come in even though the store wasn’t to open for almost an hour. He patiently explained the differences between the wines, didn’t seem at all disappointed when we didn't choose the most expensive wines and even threw in some free gummy bears and a gift bag “to remember Bamberg.”

Weimar, Germany

When we arrived in the Weimar train station we needed to stop at the city map to confirm the location of our hotel. While we were waiting in line an elderly woman moves over and asks “Do you need any help?” We explained where we were headed - a conversation which required some pronouncing and re-pronouncing of street names - she thought a minute and then proceeded to give us near-perfect directions to our hotel, instructed us not to waste our money on the bus and she did it all with a smile and a "good luck on our trip"!

Finally, in our ever present hunt for postcards (and because we’re both suckers for antiques) we wandered into an antique dealer’s shop in Weimar. As we’re perusing the books John found a beautiful hardback collection of Schiller’s writings, but it wasn’t marked with a price. When he asked the owner, the man cheerfully explained the history of that edition, the cover artwork, what made the book special, even the problems with the book. When he realized that John and I weren’t native speakers he offered to do the whole thing again in English (of course not necessary) and then insisted that I go into his postcard section and choose 10 to take “as a gift” from him. We bought the books, gathered the postcards and were saying our goodbyes when he stopped us to ask if we had a city map. We did have one and we showed it to him but he shook his head, pulled one from his racks and thrust it into John’s hands. “It’s prettier!” he said. “You take it...as a gift.”

Now maybe none of this seems remarkable to you, but these kinds of interactions NEVER happen in Berlin. It’s not that Berliners are necessarily rude, they just aren’t friendly. This weekend no one seemed put out by my German, people offered to help, people smiled; it’s amazing how these little moments with cheery Germans help remind me what an unbelievable opportunity we've been given.

(I found this blog by another expat in Berlin that I think perfectly captures our malaise prior to this weekend’s adventure. This may explain why we needed this trip and she mentions the Berliner Schnauze too!)