Germany forum < Racism in Germany - how bad is it?

  • Carsten Pfau

    Hausmeister

    posted by  Carsten Pfau in Germany forum 

    Hi Wincy,

    I am a German national and on top of that, you can say that my German skills are way above average. I just moved into an apartment building in Germany and guess what - the super (i.e., the Hausmeister) treats me like sh... He treats his handyman better than me, and I am paying his salary (or at least, parts of it). I suspect that the job itself basically attracts grumpy people. I wouldn´t take that personal, if I were you. Probably, your Hausmeister is just jealous of your success.

    If you don´t understand East German dialects - well, welcome to the club. Howver, it is much worse in the state of Bavaria or my native state Baden-Württemberg.

    Concerning the Ossis - well, remember they had to live behind a curtain (and partially, a wall) until 1989 and whatever (or whoever) came from outside was supposed to be a threat. Check out the movie "Das Leben der Anderen" (i.e. The life of Others), it will probably help you to understand where the Ossis come from. Unemployment and poverty is still an important issue in East Germany, and those severe social problems are sometimes the breeding ground for racism, crime or simply strange behaviour. In my opinion, if somebody treats you with disrespect over there, the very same person will most likely treat somebody from Bavaria or Hamburg as disrespectful.

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