Typical characteristics of cities and their people: Cologne,

Dusseldorf and Ratingen

During our project meeting in Germany we were searching for distinctive characteristics of the visited towns Cologne, Dusseldorf and Ratingen.

The results of the research were noted on overhead transparencies by the European working groups, which were used for the presentation afterwards. At least, students from three different countries worked in each group.

On the right transparency the following terms stick out: “order – tidiness – cleanliness – respect of rules”.

All these terms refer to “public order”.

It is an interesting question whether the students only confirmed their prejudices about typical „German“ characteristics during their investigations or whether they found indeed actual differences to their home country on this issue.

On the slide on the left, the cities of Cologne and Düsseldorf are perceived differently.

Cologne is an ancient city and dominated by tourism.

Düsseldorf is modern and focused on the business.

But the students don’t name typical characteristics which are common to both cities and thus to the Rhineland.

Specific differences between Germany and the native countries are mentioned here:

•Living in apartments and houses.•Underground power cables.•Use of public transport and cycling.

It is interesting that the students once again points to the German road users who seem to observe the traffic rules.

On this slide, the students write about typical behavior, especially the importance of politeness and kindness. Cross-cultural differences in the daily behavior are emphasized.

Because the students were in the Rhineland during the Carnival, they have learned a lot about the importance of the "crazy days" for the typical Rhinelander.

„Even the teachers should obey the rules at school“ – the Germans and their rules: prejudice or typical characteristic?

“The meals are at different times than in our country”

“They spend a lot of time in their houses.”

“They take care a lot of animals.”

Students identified behaviors that are certainly typical for Germans. For example, the Germans love their dogs. In our partner countries, for example in Turkey or Romania, we saw a lot of stray dogs.

The Germans eat later as e.g. the Spaniards. And while live is really more taking place outside in the street, the Germans prefer to stay at home. Also this we noticed in our partner countries as well.

Carnival and the beer in Cologne “Kölsch” and Dusseldorf “Alt” are naturally interdependent.

Visiting the traditional breweries in both cities, the attentive observer can experience the relative importance of traditions in both cities.