das Land der Dichter und Denker . . .

. . . und Sorgen?

The first of this week's articles led me to believe that Deutschland is full of worriers. Draftophobia: Blown Away by the Fear of Air pointed out that, "colleagues are absolutely convinced the blowing wind will land them in the hospital."

Then, I discovered that German's have something to be worried about. You Have What?  Mysterious Illness in Germany brought my attention to Deutschland's diverse and rare diseases, including but not limited to:

1. Kreislaufzusammenbruch. "The odd thing is that in its mild, irritating, I-need-to-skip-work-and-lie-down form, this is a uniquely German phenomenon. Elsewhere, if people suffer a circulatory collapse, they die."
2. Hörsturz or Acute Hearing Loss. "The German Wikipedia entry for Hörsturz is pages long and talks about how serious stress can lead to a sudden loss of hearing. Acute Hearing Loss doesn't even make an appearance in the English version of Wikipedia."

I also couldn't agree more with the last bit on that website: "For many Teutons, braving a couple weeks of bronchitis-induced suffering is far preferable to risking their health with something as dodgy as antibiotics from a major pharmaceutical concern." If I take an aspirin, my German boyfriend gets really worried, as though I must be deathly ill. In the US, we like to take a whole lot of medicine.

The final article - Germany’s Sauna Obsession: Expose Yourself to the Culture - made me think that perhaps German's like being trapped in the over-heated car (see first article on Draftophobia), because they're mimicking their favorite trip to the sauna. The Sauna article also delved a little deeper into the German zeitgeist:

"Wrapped in tiny towels, the successful businessman and the welfare recipient are indistinguishable from each other. In the microcosm of the steam room, all worlds come together -- the frustrated intellectual, the esoteric do-gooder, the would-be entrepreneur, the overworked boss, the bureaucrat and the long-term unemployed. ...

" 'Im Schwitzkasten' has been interpreted as a metaphor for the way in which the whole country is feeling the heat right now amidst its economic and structural worries. Simply put, the sauna, with its mountain pine warmth and the comfort it offers of "sweating it out" with your neighbour, provides protection from the growing social chill outside."

Finally, Germans have a few other things to worry about. Apparently, they're staying in college too long (Philologus Ad Nauseam: Germany’s Aged Students) and their international education ratings have dropped recently (from Vorsprung, Seite 318, "Das deutsche Schulsystem").

So, I figured I'd look for some articles to allay all of our German fears (you know, articles that show Germany is doing just fine).

Unfortunately, this is what I found from the NYTimes:

1. Slowdown in Germany Worries Euro Zone: "Germany's economic decline late last year and a flurry of disappointing results recently in other major economies raised questions about ..." January 15, 2013 - By NICHOLAS KULISH and JACK EWING 
2. Data Show German Economy Stalling: "The government reported that the German economy expanded by 3 percent in 2011, but estimated that it actually contracted in the final quarter .." January 11, 2012 - By DAVID JOLLY 
3. Germans Start to Question Their Economic Resilience: "German analysts once had a predominantly optimistic view of how the German economy would ride out the world's economic storm." August 26, 2011 - By FLOYD NORRIS 

and in the Economist:

1. Europe: Mrs Merkel and the German dilemma: "Germany, unlike America, is not used to having the entire world pay attention as it descends into the silly season. But that will be its situation in 2013, as it nears the parliamentary election in September. There is really just one topic worth discussing, the euro crisis and its implications for the European Union—only Germany’s ambitious energy reform comes close in importance. But to the frustration of Germans and foreigners alike, politicians will offer voters little but confusion." Nov 13th 2012
2. The euro crisis: Even the good news is bad news: "The good news, in other words, is that the euro-zone economy continues to shrink, albeit at a slower pace." Feb 5th 2013

(to be fair, in the last article, the authors point out the Germany is actually slowing down the shrinking of the Eurozone economy)

Finally, after looking at the American (and I suppose British) media, I've come to realize that perhaps the Germans aren't the only negative-Nancies around.

And, because a blog post should not exist without pictures, here is Königsee!