Germanophiles!

[Ancilla Domini]

What is it that you love about the German language and Germanic culture? I'm genuinely curious. I don't dislike either, but they've just never captivated me the same way other languages and cultures have. What is it about them that inspires you?

[Jayne]

I do not speak German yet, but I am intrigued by what I have heard about its morphology.  However, this is one of the qualities Mark Twain complained about in "The Awful German Language":

There are ten parts of speech, and they are all troublesome. An average sentence, in a German newspaper, is a sublime and impressive curiosity; it occupies a quarter of a column; it contains all the ten parts of speech -- not in regular order, but mixed; it is built mainly of compound words constructed by the writer on the spot, and not to be found in any dictionary -- six or seven words compacted into one, without joint or seam -- that is, without hyphens; it treats of fourteen or fifteen different subjects, each inclosed in a parenthesis of its own, with here and there extra parentheses which reinclose three or four of the minor parentheses, making pens within pens: finally, all the parentheses and reparentheses are massed together between a couple of king-parentheses, one of which is placed in the first line of the majestic sentence and the other in the middle of the last line of it -- after which comes the VERB, and you find out for the first time what the man has been talking about; and after the verb -- merely by way of ornament, as far as I can make out -- the writer shovels in "haben sind gewesen gehabt haben geworden sein," or words to that effect, and the monument is finished. I suppose that this closing hurrah is in the nature of the flourish to a man's signature -- not necessary, but pretty. German books are easy enough to read when you hold them before the looking-glass or stand on your head -- so as to reverse the construction -- but I think that to learn to read and understand a German newspaper is a thing which must always remain an impossibility to a foreigner.

http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/awfgrmlg.html

[Mono no aware]

What is it that you love about the German language and Germanic culture? I'm genuinely curious. I don't dislike either, but they've just never captivated me the same way other languages and cultures have. What is it about them that inspires you?

This might be the wrong answer, but I really like the aesthetics of the "German revivalism" of the Third Reich.  Very modern but also very much a romanticism of the past.  It had an "ever ancient, ever new" quality.  The art deco architecture, mixed with the back-to-the-land philsophy; the sleek, dark military uniforms.  Even the controversial racial components of the ideology could sometimes be attractive.  You had this grand, mythologizing notion of pale, slender, great-looking blondes and brunettes being the standard-bearers of Germanic stock, and it was good advertising.  It had a certain commendable masculinity about it, without being macho.  It really steamrolled over the quaint German caracitures of buffoonish men in lederhosen canoodling with buxom barmaids.  Plus, the German cinema of the time was the best in the world, and they exploited that to the hilt.  German expressionism stands to this day as the apex of b&w films.  And so they really wanted to recapture the historical greatness of German literature and music (Geothe, Beethoven, Wagner, &c) and take that into the 20th century.  What's best about it, though, is it's simple emphasis on the family unit, and of self-sufficiency being the hallmark of the national identity.  And that's commendable.  We all know the faults of this period, but sometimes the positive aspects are neglected because of that.

[zork]

What is it that you love about the German language and Germanic culture? I'm genuinely curious. I don't dislike either, but they've just never captivated me the same way other languages and cultures have. What is it about them that inspires you?

I can understand. It's a potent taste, to be sure, and is not for everyone.

What I love about German language and culture:

1. It's a very precise language.

2. It's sounds great, especially whilst yelling at someone.

3. It uses the letter 'K' a lot. (I hate that Latin never uses the letter 'K'.)

4. The German peoples' temperament is very strong and at times intimidating; it's typically either reserved (probably just a general Northern/Central European trait though) or aggressive.

5. German engineering is a cut above everyone else.

6. The German nation was destroyed at the end of World War II, but rose to become an economic force to be reckoned with within 50 years.

7. It is scarred by its role in both world wars, and German pride will perhaps forever be tainted by it. People are afraid of the implications associated with being proud of Germany, and in the case of German-Americans, are too far removed from their immigrant ancestors to retain or care about their ethnic culture unlike most other European-Americans. Because of all this, Germany and its culture are very special to me on a personal level; nobody really seems to appreciate it in spite of its often overlooked positive qualities. I'm probably too nationalistic and over-protective of Germany (and very annoying), but I feel I have to be sometimes because no one else seems to really care about it.

What inspires me about it:

1. Germany is mostly clean and quiet, so it's a good example to follow.
2. Its resilience.
3. Its role as part of my ethnic heritage.

EDIT: INCLUDED ANCILLA DOMINI'S O.P.

[maryslittlegarden]

Why is it that I am 1/4 German (the rest is Scandinavian) and I can't speak proper German for the life of me?  I just can't get the pronunciation down.  Sigh

[Ancilla Domini]

This might be the wrong answer, but I really like the aesthetics of the "German revivalism" of the Third Reich.  Very modern but also very much a romanticism of the past.  It had an "ever ancient, ever new" quality.  The art deco architecture, mixed with the back-to-the-land philsophy; the sleek, dark military uniforms.  Even the controversial racial components of the ideology could sometimes be attractive.  You had this grand, mythologizing notion of pale, slender, great-looking blondes and brunettes being the standard-bearers of Germanic stock, and it was good advertising.  It had a certain commendable masculinity about it, without being macho.  It really steamrolled over the quaint German caracitures of buffoonish men in lederhosen canoodling with buxom barmaids.  Plus, the German cinema of the time was the best in the world, and they exploited that to the hilt.  German expressionism stands to this day as the apex of b&w films.  And so they really wanted to recapture the historical greatness of German literature and music (Geothe, Beethoven, Wagner, &c) and take that into the 20th century.  What's best about it, though, is it's simple emphasis on the family unit, and of self-sufficiency being the hallmark of the national identity.  And that's commendable.  We all know the faults of this period, but sometimes the positive aspects are neglected because of that.

I confess, I also admire the aesthetics of the Third Reich, particularly its masculinity.

[Ancilla Domini]

It's sounds great, especially whilst yelling at someone.

Agreed. You can yell at someone in German, as in no other language. 

The German nation was destroyed at the end of World War II, but rose to become an economic force to be reckoned with within 50 years.

Very true. My grandfather fought there in WWII, but despite that, said that he always respected the German people, that they were in his experience "just good, hard-working people." That has always been their history.

It is scarred by its role in both world wars, and German pride will perhaps forever be tainted by it. People are afraid of the implications associated with being proud of Germany, and in the case of German-Americans, are too far removed from their immigrant ancestors to retain or care about their ethnic culture unlike most other European-Americans. Because of all this, Germany and its culture are very special to me on a personal level; nobody really seems to appreciate it in spite of its often overlooked positive qualities. I'm probably too nationalistic and over-protective of Germany (and very annoying), but I feel I have to be sometimes because no one else seems to really care about it.

Yes, and this is truly unfortunate. One quality that really draws me to a culture is its pride in itself. I quite like nationalism, at least in its positive forms. 

[zork]

Thank you for your kind words, and much respect to your Grandfather. 

[Machaut1377]

This might be the wrong answer, but I really like the aesthetics of the "German revivalism" of the Third Reich.  Very modern but also very much a romanticism of the past.  It had an "ever ancient, ever new" quality.  The art deco architecture, mixed with the back-to-the-land philsophy; the sleek, dark military uniforms.  Even the controversial racial components of the ideology could sometimes be attractive.  You had this grand, mythologizing notion of pale, slender, great-looking blondes and brunettes being the standard-bearers of Germanic stock, and it was good advertising.  It had a certain commendable masculinity about it, without being macho.  It really steamrolled over the quaint German caracitures of buffoonish men in lederhosen canoodling with buxom barmaids.  Plus, the German cinema of the time was the best in the world, and they exploited that to the hilt.  German expressionism stands to this day as the apex of b&w films.  And so they really wanted to recapture the historical greatness of German literature and music (Geothe, Beethoven, Wagner, &c) and take that into the 20th century.  What's best about it, though, is it's simple emphasis on the family unit, and of self-sufficiency being the hallmark of the national identity.  And that's commendable.  We all know the faults of this period, but sometimes the positive aspects are neglected because of that.

I confess, I also admire the aesthetics of the Third Reich, particularly its masculinity.

I like the aesthetics of that short. 

Now, for the language/literature I took 2 years of German in college and we read a poem by Goethe and it was lets say beautifully sad, can't remember the title of it but it was about a child that dies after (I think) being touched by a Elf king, not sure though.

Also I was a plane ride once with a German sitting behind me, really slobbered when speaking, must have left a small lake back.

[Heinrich]

it was about a child that dies after (I think) being touched by a Elf king, not sure though.

"Der Erlenkönig" handelt sich von der Mythologie aus Skandinavien.

Hier doch sehen:

http://german.about.com/library/blerlking.htm

[Larry]

I know very little of the language, but I love the food and the music. And the beer. Definitely the beer.

[Mr.Crowley]

I like how soft-spoken Germans are. They're also much more polite than the English, they seem modest. Oh, and Aldi in the UK does some delicious Bratwurst!

I went to a metal festival in Germany when I was a kid. The village was lovely. The little children were going around collecting bottles to recycle, there was ancient dudes riding their bicycle like they were teenagers, homely women who opened cafe's on their front lawns, and these golden fields that just seemed to go on forever. Even the cities seemed full of nice people. Everything was so clean. The trains were cheap and actually arrived! Strangers would strike up conversation and switch to English to save my embarrassing language skills. It's just a lovely place.

[red solo cup]

A German speaking friend explained to me why the language is so precise; "They tell you what their going to say. They say it. Then they tell you
what they said." He also mentioned that there is some sort of Language Board that meets periodically to decide what new words will be allowed into the language. A way of preserving the purity or Germanic character of it.

[Dextimus]

I like German language because it's a part of my family heritage. Silesia has been part of German/Roman Empire for ages, German language was used here so our local etnolect (Silesian language) inherited many words and idioms from it.

German 3rd Reich architecture is also great, monumental and of high ergonomy values.

Aesthetics of 20-30's of 20th century is universal, used not only in 3rd Reich. Its brutalism, modernism and "cult of man" can be seen in many other countries.

[Machaut1377]

it was about a child that dies after (I think) being touched by a Elf king, not sure though.

"Der Erlenkönig" handelt sich von der Mythologie aus Skandinavien.

Hier doch sehen:

http://german.about.com/library/blerlking.htm

Yes yes that was it.