Americanization of Germany

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American English words are penetrating the German language: . Some people even think that this invasion from America is a serious danger. Education tried to prevent any changes in the German language for decades with little success. But why, after all, does Germany and the German language become Americanized? A look at the history and relationship between the two countries makes clear the answer.

After World War II, relations between the German Federal Republic and the United States of America became stronger than ever. Connections between Germany and the USA are still very intense today viewing politics, military, economy, and culture. When Germany and the US fought side by side against Communism, contacts tightened, and acquiring of the English language continued (Carstensen 15). One has to mention the importance of the Marshall Plan on German economy that had supplied Europe’s reconstruction with $ 12 billion between 1948 and 1950 and had evoke the basis of the NATO (Steilberg and Flemming 152). Germany was very thankful for America’s widespread help. This friendliness created an “America Mania“ within the German youths. English vocabularies, like “okay“ or “cool“ are included in the German language today and are not unusual any more. America’s supremacy in the world has consequences on the German country and the German language. English became the language of command for German soldiers serving for the Western system of defense (Carstensen 16).

Today, almost all vocabulary-innovations are created by the youth. Communication between different languages brings these innovations about (Sanford 3). Young people take the advanced opportunities to travel around the world like no other generation before did. Studying at an American high school for some time, spending a year after graduation as an au pair, or taking part in a University exchange program is very common to do.

Another area of widespread Americanization is advertising. People working in this business tend to create words with an “English touch“. Some popular examples are “multimedia“, “handy“, everything concerning the Internet, or the Deutsche Bahn, like “InterCity“, “Service-Point“, “Park and Ride“, or “BahnCard“. German magazines are called “GIRL!“, “Quick“, “Hobby“, or “Fit for Fun“. Especially airlines prefer German-English- vocabulary mixtures in campaigns. Firms are producing job offering advertisement packed with English words, as “marketing“, “director“, “promotion“, or “business“ for example. Furthermore, there is the cosmetic industry that has used English words ever since. Asking for “lotion“, “spray“, “eye liner“, or “moisture cream“ in Germany seems the most natural thing in the world. Not to forget that daily advertising on TV showers a flood of English

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expressions in our minds. “Mega-Perls“, “just be“, “fair play“, “comedy show“, or “online service“ are the most striking examples, always underlined by an English song.

Americanization of entertainment in Germany is a fact with no doubts. No modern society was able to avoid this. Hollywood is dominating the movie section, especially in breaking records in the production of movies. The latest and most fascinating example is the movie “Titanic“; a blockbuster around the world. American companies are the most important sources delivering movies “made for TV“ (Wenzel 7) for private television channels. CNN, the dominating international news channel is based in Atlanta, Georgia, and MTV, the most important music channel, belongs to the American Viacom Concern.

Germany first adopted American shows like “Fury“, “Bill Cosby“, “Dallas“, or “Bonanza“ before she started to produce her own daily and weekly soaps. Nevertheless, a lot of Germans can not imagine living without “Al Bundee“, “The Simpsons“, or “Beverly Hills 90210“ nowadays. Shows like these are sometimes hard to translate and it can not be avoided that English vocabularies are adopted as German words. American talk shows have only served as ideas for German producers. As they could not be translated, German TV channels created their own German-style talk shows, based on American examples. Harald Schmidt, for example is trying to copy David Letterman in entertaining, attitude, talking, and even the scenery in the studio is about the same. Also, the toys-making industry stole almost all characters from the USA. It started with “The Muppet Show“ and “Sesame Street“, which is half synchronized and half self-made. But today, German children can watch American cartoons on various channels at every time of the day; and the exact same characters are available as rubber toys, beenie-babys, or stuffed animals like “Barney“, “Bananas in Pajamas“, “Ernie and Bert“, or “The Turtles“. The toys industry made a remarkable achievement in creating the “Barbie-doll“. She came with all consumer goods one could think of, and is a cultural symbol every girl in the world needs to posses.

America is an example in many ways. Clothing and looks brought new issues to the society of consumers. Blue Jeans, for example, had the reputation to be worker’s pants in the 1950s and worked as an ID for upper-class US tourists to show off coolness (Jarausch and Siegrist 225). They also symbolized freedom and adventure for people who wanted to be different. In this decade, Blue Jeans turned to be “school uniforms“ as almost every pupil or student in Germany is wearing them. Especially Levi Strauss made a fortune out of this trend when he introduced his obligated “501“. It is a “must-have“ for young people in Germany today. Other designers from the United States like Calvin Klein, Helmut Lang, Donna Karan,

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or Tommy Hilfiger also eased the way in Germany and it is really “hip“ to wear a shirt or some pants with the names mentioned above on it.

An even more important person who influenced the Germans was Harley Davidson. He created his first motor bike in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the 1930s and when US soldier rode them in WW II they were introduced to Germany. Meanwhile, Harley Davidson’s are heavy machines, very popular in the hard rock and biker’s scene, and their sound is non- interchangeable. The name became a status symbol and stands for unburdens, freedom and pursue of happiness. Therefore it is a part of the American Dream and in fact, a lot of Germans are dreaming about riding down Route 66 or Highway Number 1 on a Harley Davidson to experience these feelings.

In 1958, when Elvis Presley started to serve as a US soldier in Germany, the picture the press had created of him changed tremendously in the country. Well known as a wild rock ‘n’ roll star, he appeared well dressed, doing his duty. Young people were confused now because they were taught that “American“ reflects nonchalant and civil attitude, and now they were faced with this young soldier who embodied discipline. But these people soon figured out what they wanted to adopt to arrange their personal style. They wanted to rebel against the adult-generation and authoritarian education with their own Americanized appearance (223/224).

Americanization describes a conception with a process of goods, ideas, rules, behavior, and expressions from the US that are put into practice by German groups and individuals. We are witnessing the birth of a worldwide global-culture inspired by America (Wenzel 13). Especially the youths are changing society and the German way of life through American practices, realizations, and evaluations. Statistics show that within Europe, the Germans are acquiring two times as much American-English vocabularies than the French for example (Jarausch and Siegrist 232).

Since the end of the 19 th century, Americans are trying to publish the “American Dream“ in the whole world (253). The first and probably best try was the import of Coca- Cola. This drink is one example of Americanization of Germany in early days. Later on, Americans established fast food restaurants like McDonald’s or Burger King everywhere. Their latest kind of restaurant-imports are Bagel Stores. American Sports Bars are also becoming quite popular because sport has been attracting people ever since, and showing games on a big screen in a bar also provides a sense of solidarity. Furthermore, you can go out for dinner to American restaurants in Germany, that are serving American food. On the