Assignment: Business Communication (German culture)

LAND

The territory of Germany covers 357,021 km2), consisting of 349,223 km2 consisting of
349,223 km2 (134,836 sq mi) of land and 7,798 km2 (3,011 sq mi) of water. It is the
seventh largest country by area in Europe and the 63rd largest in the world.

. Its neighbors are Denmark in the north, Poland and the Czech Republic in the east,
Austria and Switzerland in the south, France and Luxembourg in the south-west and
Belgium and the Netherlands in the north-west.

CLIMATE

Winters can be very cold, summers can be very warm, and long dry periods are often
recorded Most of Germany has a temperate seasonal climate in which humid westerly
winds predominate.

GOVT
Germany is a federal, parliamentary, representative democratic republic. currently Angel
Merkel—is the head of government and exercises executive power, similar to the role of
a Prime Minister in other parliamentary democracies.

ECONOMY

Germany is the world's leading exporter of goods in 2007.

Germany is the largest national economy in Europe, the third largest by nominal GDP in
the world, and ranked fifth by GDP (PPP) its growth rate in 2007 was 2.4%. Germany. is
the world's top exporter with $1.133 trillion exported in 2006 The service sector
contributes around 70% to the total GDP, the industry 29.1% and agriculture 0.9
EDUCATION
Responsibility for educational oversight in Germany lies primarily with the federal states

schools based on a pupil's ability as determined by teacher

recommendations: the Gymnasium includes the most gifted children
and prepares students for university studies and attendance lasts eight
or nine years depending on the state; the Realschul has a broader
range of emphasis for intermediary students and lasts six years; the
Hauptschue prepares pupils for vocational education, and the
Gesamtschule or comprehensive school combines the three
approaches.

TRANSPORT

The volume of traffic in Germany, especially goods transportation, is at a very high level
due to its central location in Europe. In the past few decades, much of the freight traffic
shifted from rail to road

Roads

• Total: 656,140 km
• Paved: 650,891 km
• total: 40,826 km, including
• at least 14,253 km electrified and

14,768 km double Waterways: 7,500 km (1999); major rivers include the Rhine and
Elbe; Kiel Canal is an important connection between the Baltic Sea and North Sea

HEALTH

All of the German-speaking countries enjoy a high level of health care. Infant
mortality rates are lower and life expectancy is higher than are those of the United States
Most Europeans are accustomed to socialized, cradle-to-grave health care paid
for by the employer, employee, and taxes. In Germany, the average employee
salary contribution is about 13 percent (ranging from 8-16 percent). The
unemployed, retirees, or those on welfare get government-paid coverage. Because
of minimum income requirements, about half of the working population, mostly
blue-collar workers, has no choice of which health plan they will join.
2 THE PEOPLE OF THE COUNTRY

Population:
The population of Germany is approximately 82,220,000, making it the 14th most
populous country in the world

• Total population 82.3million

• Population below Age 15 11.9million
• Population Age 65 and Older 15.3million
• Annual Births 672,000
• Annual Deaths 821,000
• Annual Infants Deaths 2,600
• Life Expectancy at Birth 79years
• The population density of Germany 500 people per mile
• The birth rate is 8.6 births per thousand people
• The death rate is. 10.1 per thousand people
• The growth rate is 0.04%
German= (91.2%) 74,969,842
Turkish= (2.1%) 1, 713, 55Turkish
OteritalianPolishr = (6.7%)

Language:
German is Germany’s only official and most-widely spoken language. Standard German
is understood throughout the country.
Minority languages Danish, Low German, the Sorbian languages (Lower Sorbian and
Upper Sorbian), and the tow Frisian languages, Saterfrisian and North Frisian, are
officially recognized and protected as minority languages by the European Charter for
Regional or Minority Languages in their respective regions. With speakers of Romany
are living in all parts of Germany, the federal government has promised to take action to
protect the language. Until now, only Hesse has followed Berlin’s announcement, and
agreed on implementing concrete measures to support Romany speakers.

Implementation of Charter is poor. The monitoring reports on Charter implementation in

Germany show many provisions unfulfilled.
Minority language recognition

Protected Minority Languages in Germany

Language States
Danish Schleswig-Holstein
North Schleswig-Holstein
Frisian
Saterland Lower Saxony
Frisian
Low Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower
German Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, North Rhine-Westphalia
Upper Saxony
Sorbian
Lower Brandenburg
Sorbian
Romany Hesse

Religion:
The German constitution guarantees freedom of faith and religion. It also states that no
one may be discriminated against due to their faith or religious opinions. However, unlike
some other countries, cooperation between the state and religious communities is entirely
in keeping with the German constitution. Religious communities that are of considerable
size and stability and loyal to the constitution can be recognized as “corporation under
public law”. This gives them certain privileges, for example being able to give religious
instruction in state school and having memberships fees collected by the German
Finanzamt (the German equivalent of the US internal Revenue Service) or by themselves.
Such Church tax is levied if a person lists a religion on their tax form or is listed as
member in the population registry. It amounts to between 8 or 9% of the income tax. The
status mainly applies to the Roman Catholic Church, the mainline Protestant EKD, and
Jewish communities. There have been numerous discussions of allowing other religious
groups like Jehovah's Witnesses and Muslims into this system as well. The Muslim
efforts were hampered by the Muslims' own disorganized state in Germany, with many
small rivaling organizations and no central leadership, which does not fit well into a legal
frame that was originally created with well-organized, large Christian churches in mind.
 o Evangelical Church in Germany 25.101 M (30.5%) as of 31 December
2006
o New Apostolic Church 400,000
o Aussiedler-Baptisten300,000-380,000
o Free Evangelical / Charismatic 232,000
o Baptists (mostly Bund Evangelisch-Freikirchlicher Gemeinden in
Deutschland KdöR) 86,500
o Methodists65,638
o Christliche Versammlungen / Freier Brüderkreis / Plymouth Brethren
45,000
o Bund Freikirchlicher Pfingstgemeinde 40,000
o Evangelical Methodist Church (Evangelisch-methodistische Kirche),
part of the worldwide United Methodist Church 38,000
o Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church 36,000
o Mennonites 39,414
o Seventh-day Adventist Church 36,000
o Apostelamt Jesu Christi 20,000
o Federation of Evangelist-reformed churches of Germany (Bund
Evangelisch-reformierter Kirchen Deutschlands) 13,000
o Christian municipalities Elim (Christengemeinden Elim) 10,000
o Danish Church in Southern Schleswig 6,500
o Apostolische Gemeinschaft 6,000
o Gemeinde der Christen - Ecclesia 4,000
o Johannische Kirche 3,500
o Church of the Nazarene 1,984

Roman Catholics (31.2%)

Roman Catholics 25.685 million (31.2%) as of 31 December 2006 [11

Old Catholics 25,000

Orthodox 1.4 M (1.7%)

o Orthodox Church of Constantinople 450,000

o Romanian Orthodox Church 300,000
o Serbian Orthodox Church 250,000
o Russian Orthodox Church 150,000
o Bulgarian Orthodox Church 66,00
 o Syriac Orthodox Church 55,00]

o Islam Muslims 3.3 M (4%)

o Sunni 2.5 M
o Alevite 410,000
o Shi'a225,000
o Ahmadiya 50,000
o Ismaili 12,000
o Sufi 10,000
• Jews 200,000 (0.25%)

Union of Progressive Jews in Germany 3,000 members

Central Council of Jews in Germany Most Jewish communities

• Nonreligious (25-33%)

Holidays:
Holiday Local Name Date
New Year’s Day Neujahrstag January 1
Epiphany Heilige Drei Konige January 6
Good Friday Karfreitag Easter Sunday-2d
Easter Monday Ostermontag Easter Sunday +1d
Labor Day Tag der Arbeit May 1
Ascension Day Christi Himmelfahrt Easter Sunday + 39d
Whitmonday Pfingstmontag Easter Sunday + 50d
Corpus Christi Fronleichnamie Easter Sunday + 60d
Peace Festival Frdensfes August 8
Assumption Day Mariä Himmelfahrt August 15
German Unity Day Tag der Deutschen Einheit October 3 6)
Reformation Day Reformationstag October 31
All Saints Allerheiligen November 1
Repentance Day4) Buß- und Bettag Wednesday before
November 23
Christmas Day 1. Weihnachtstag December 25
Second day of Christmas 2. Weihnachtstag December 26
Etiquettes and Behavior in Germany:
Learn some of the basic etiquettes and behavior codes of Germany while you
pack your bags for the vacation! Knowing the customs, traditions and etiquette
patterns of the place will help you mix with the locals and prevent you from getting
into any kind of unwanted mess or brawl. Here are some tips to make your trip to
Germany a real success!

• Wish Guten Apetit to the others around you before you start your meal!
That is sure to gain you appreciation! Also say “Prost” instead of “cheers”
when you touch your drinks!

• Both your hands should be there on the table when you are eating. Do not
place your left hand on your lap when you are eating.

• Leave your shoes outside when you are entering the house of a German
acquaintance and also bring a bottle of wine and a bunch of flowers to
please your host. However, do take care to unwrap the flowers before you
finally present them.

• Address older people by adding a “Sie” before the name and if you are
calling a kid, call him “du”.

• Germans are known for their strict sense of punctuality. Always be on the
promised time!

• Shaking hands is the German way of greeting each other. It is often

important to shake hands with each and every individual in the group.

• Germans are most conscious of their environment. Do not dare to throw

garbage as and where you please.

• If you want to call someone just raise your hand with the palm facing out
and only the index finger extended. Waving or shouting is considered to be
 impolite.

• Do not hesitate to whisper something confidential to the person sitting

beside you. Germans do not consider whispering to be a rude habit.

Eye contact during the introduction is serious, direct, and should be maintained as long as
the person is addressing you. Even in public between strangers, eye contact or out and out
staring can be direct and not necessarily smiling. It would be wrong, however, to assume
that all stares in public are meant to be threatening. Nonetheless, do not expect direct eye
contact to necessitate some greeting or acknowledgement; the German will also not
expect anything from you. This is one of the most typical communication patterns
immediately observed by visitors to Germany. If the visitor is visibly foreign, this can
unfortunately result in a mistaken perception of the Germans as cold and unfriendly to
foreigners. What is essentially a typical example of intercultural
miscommunication/misunderstanding, can suddenly misread in an unfortunate, racial
context.

Before crossing the street, pedestrians are expected to wait patiently on the curb until the
light turns green. Moreover, on streets where there are no traffic lights, be very careful
when crossing, since German drivers will not always stop for you.

You can expect the distance of comfort between strangers in public to be much smaller
than is considered normal in North America and Australia, but more than in African and
Arab countries. While people in conversation typically maintain a comfortable distance
of at least 2 ft between them, the person directly behind you in the supermarket line can
be literally breathing down your neck.
3 Families in Germany:-

1. Family and Household Types in Germany:-

Households in Germany have been decreasing in size for decades. One –
generation families live in two thirds of al households.

One-generation households:-
Two-thirds of all homes in Germany are one-generation households, i.e. one-
person or
Couple households without children. One in three is a multi-generation
household. Two generations were living in 12.6 million households, that is a
proportion of 33 per cent of all households

Multi-generation households:-
in Germany are made up almost Exclusively of two-generation households, that
is of families with parents and children. Only 0.3 Million households (0.8% of all
households) house 3 or more generations.
Grandparents, parents and children living under one roof are thus a dwindling
minority of all households.

Families with children:-

over half of the population in Germany lived in family households with children
(54%), 41 percent in a household with children under the age of 18.

Every second inhabitant in Germany lives in a household with children. But the
share of this living arrangement in the population is on the decline. In 1972 this
was just under 69 per cent of the population in West Germany who lived in
homes with children.

A similar development can be observed in Eastern Germany, where the

proportion of the population living in households with children is 53 per cent.
Lone Parents:-
Some 1.8 million lone parents live in Germany, of which 86 per cent are lone\
mothers. Lone parenthood has become a widespread living arrangement in
Germany over the past decades. In Germany in 2000, there were 1.77 million
one-parent families in the narrower sense (i.e. lone parents with children under
27 and without any further persons in the household). Of these 86 per cent were
lone mothers and 14 per cent lone fathers. The majority of lone parents are thus
mother-and-child families.

Stepfamilies:-
Some 7 per cent of all families with children under 18 are stepfamilies.
Stepfamilies are not a new phenomenon in the development of the family. There
were always children who did not grow up with their biological parents.
Stepfamilies in the past were often formed after widowhood and remarriage of
the surviving parent; today they are more often the result of a reconstituted
partnership with children following a divorce or separation after cohabitation.
Of the approximately 9.5 million families with children under 18 in Germany,
658.000 are stepfamilies in the narrower sense, i.e. they are families where the
step-parent lives with the biological parent and the child one household. This is
about 7 per cent of all families with children under 18.

Non-married partnerships:-
Living together without a marriage license is especially widespread amongst
young, mainly childless couples. Few couples today wait until after they have
married before starting a common household. The vast majority of couples have
a phase of cohabitation. According to the micro census, in the year 2000, 17 per
cent of those aged between 25 and 29 and 13 per cent of those between 30 and
34 lived in a non-married partnership. This living arrangement is most common in
these age groups.
Nearly 30 per cent of unmarried couples cohabiting live in households with
children.

Social & Economic Levels:-

• Germany is a legally and socially tolerant country towards homosexuals.

• Germany is a modern, cosmopolitan country distinguished by its openness.
• Germans invest a large amount of money in international travel and domestic
vacation trips.
• Government and the German society are acknowledging the opinion that
controlled immigration should be allowed based on the qualification of
immigrants.
• Germans invested more money in travel rather than other countries.
• Germany has a high standard of living and multi-national diversity.
• Freedom of worship and the separation of church and state are the cornerstones of
the legal system.
Germany Businesses Hours:-
Throughout the year, apart from Festivals, businesses are open at the
following hours:

Offices: Mondays to Fridays:09:00 - 18:00 (with a 1 hour lunch break)

Banks: Mondays to Fridays:08:30 - 13:00

4:30 - 16:00 (on Thursday until 18:00)

Food:-
Utility Ownership:-
Ovens, freezers, kettles, toasters, microwaves, coffee makers and handheld
blenders are all owned by approximately 80% of Germans.

Food & Cooking:-

• Germans Endeavour to eat a lot of fruit and vegetable and dairy produce.
Meat is an important part of the German Consumer’s diet, more so for
men (97%) than women (87%).
• Half of German consumers eat ready prepared/ convenience meals.
• Women (73%) and those aged 25-34 (71%) are more inclined to say that
they really enjoy cooking and being able to create a great meal.
• Germans believe that it’s important to eat dinner together as a family and
they report less difficulty in getting the family together than other European
countries.
• The primary consideration for meal preparation is taste. Secondary
Considerations are:
 Quality
 Freshness
 Healthiness
• Germans are eating out more often during the week, with increases likely
to be male and younger adults (18-34 years). Primary reasons driving
midweek eating out is not wanting to wait for something to cook, it’s a
chance to meet with friends, and it’s a treat/something different.
4 CULTURAL CUSTOMS

Methods Of Greeting One Another

GERMANY Telephone greeting: In Germany, people answer the phone by saying their
last name. To find your partner, listen for a phone ring and say your last name

Courtesies: The first part of a greeting is a hello. The most common

hello is Guten Tag (gûtn tahgk) or good day. In the morning one
might say Guten Morgen (gûtn MÔR-gn) good morning, and in the
even Guten Abend (gûtn AH-bnt) good evening. You might also hear
the basic hello said as Hallo (HÂ-lo).
When greeting someone, a handshake is the most common gesture of
greeting. A man waits for a woman to extend her hand before shaking
it; in mixed company he shakes a woman’s hand before a man’s. In
groups, several people do not shake hands at once; crossing someone
else’s handshake is inappropriate. By tradition, only family members
and close friends address each other by their first names. Others use
titles and surnames, although this is changing among young people.
Pointing the index finger to one’s own head is an insult to another
person. Instead of crossing one’s fingers for luck, German’s ‘squeeze
the thumb’ between the index and the middle fingers. Only the thumb
tip is between the fingers; allowing it to protrude is an offensive
gesture. In some areas, public displays of affection are not
appropriate. Germans wear their wedding rings on their right hands,
not on the left.
In some areas when men reach the age of 30 and they still do not
have a girlfriend that they have to sweep the stairs of the city hall. All
their friends will throw rubble on the stairs and when the man is
finished they will throw some more rubble there. This way every girl
can see that this man reached the age of 30 and still doesn't have a
girlfriend (and that he can clean a house very well!).
Nonverbal Behavior

Germany has many cultural symbols as well as national symbols .

The Coat of Arms of Germany is one of the most important Germany

Symbol , this coat of arm symbol has an eagle . The colors of the coat
of arm is same as the color of the Flag of Germany. It has black, red
and gold color . This is one among the oldest state symbols in Europe.
The eagle stands as the symbol of the bird of the god named Odin , as
per a Germanic tribe.

The eagle designs were first made by artists from the Weimar period
and the position of the wings and the shape has differed since then
and has gone through several changes.

The symbol of the Arms of the Holy Roman Empire of the German
Nation showcases an emblem with two winged baby angels on the
upper side of the emblem and a double headed eagle colored in black
on yellow background, with a cross on the top of the emblem.

The emblem of the Arms of the German confederation is placed on a

yellow background with a black double headed eagle with wings spread
and having red claws.

A big version of this eagle symbol is found on the chamber of the

Bundestag, which is the German parliamen t and is sometimes
referred to as the “Fette Henne” or the Fat hen.

This eagle symbol is also found on German coins, letterhead of the

federal officials and stamps, official seals and on the federal
institutions flag .

Apart from this there are other cultural symbols like the embodiment
of Deutscher Michel , Brandenburg gate and the Deutsche mark on the
currency which is often referred to as the Darling of Germany and one
of the national symbol with which the Germans could identify
themselves with.
 Words and phrases

Question Words

Who Wer vehr Whom (acc.) Wen vain

What Was vahs Whom (dat.) Wem vaim
Why Warum vah-room How come Wieso vee-zo
When Wann vahn Where from Woher vo-hair

• Some Basic Phrases

Guten Morgen Guten Tag Guten Abend

goot-en mor-gen goot-en tahk goot-en ah-bent
Good Morning Hello/Good Day Good Evening

Tag / Hallo /
Servus
Gute Nacht tahk / hah-loh / sair- Auf Wiedersehen
goot-eh nakht voohs owf vee-dair-zayn
Good Night Hi / Hello / Hi & Bye Goodbye
(Southern Germany
& Austria)

Grüß dich / Grüß Gott! Tschüs / Tschau Gehen wir!

Hello! / Greetings! (Southern tchews / chow geh-en veer
Germany & Austria) Bye! Let's go!

Bis später Bis bald Bis morgen

biss shpay-ter biss bahlt biss mohr-gen
See you later See you soon See you tomorrow

Danke (schön /
Bitte Bitte schön
sehr)
bih-tuh bih-tuh shurn
dahn-kuh shurn/zair
Please You're welcome
Thank you

Entschuldigen Sie
Es tut mir leid.
ehnt-shool-dih-gun Verzeihung
ehs toot meer lite
zee Pardon me
I'm sorry
Excuse me
 Wie geht's?
Wie geht es Ihnen? (Sehr) Gut / So lala
vee gayts
vee gayt es ee-nen zair goot / zo lahlah
How are you?
How are you? (formal) (Very) Good / OK
(informal)

Schlecht / Nicht Gut Es geht. Ja / Nein

shlekht / nisht goot ess gate yah / nine
Bad / Not good I'm ok. (informal) Yes / No

Wie heißt du? Ich heiße...

Wie heißen Sie?
vee hiesst doo ikh hie-ssuh
vee hie-ssen zee
What's your name? My name is... [I am
What's your name? (formal)
(informal) called...]

Herr / Frau /
Es freut mich. Gleichfalls.
Fräulein
froyt mikh glykh-fals
hair / frow / froi-line
Pleased to meet you. Likewise.
Mister / Misses / Miss

Woher kommst
Woher kommen Sie? du? Ich komme aus...
vo-hair koh-men zee vo-hair kohmst doo ikh koh-muh ows...
Where are you from? (formal) Where are you I'm from...
from? (informal)

Wo wohnst du?
Wo wohnen Sie? Ich wohne in...
vo vohnst doo
vo voh-nen zee ikh voh-nuh in
Where do you live?
Where do you live? (formal) I live in...
(informal)