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Punctuality, order and diligence.

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Allegedly, these are
the typical German virtues.

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But is it true?

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We were wondering what
are actual German traits

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and what we found is surprising.

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A German is supposed
to be punctual by minute.

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He is supposed to be
invincible in drinking beer,

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love garden gnomes

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and apparently wear
slides over white socks.

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But is that really typically German?

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The Germans are conscientious.

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That is not just a stereotype.

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According to a study,
almost 90% Germans claim to be so.

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If the traffic light is red,
we will wait,

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even if no car is passing.

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After all, it is forbidden
to cross at a red light.

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By the way, the longest red interval
has a traffic light in Stuttgart.

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Its waiting time is up to 5 minutes.

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Almost every guidebook about Germany says:

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The Germans are punctual.

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At any rate, that is true of the trains.

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95% of trains are punctual

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or are less than 6 minutes late.

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But they could be even more punctual:

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In Japan, the trains are in average

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only 6 seconds late.

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Another stereotype:
German bureaucracy.

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Apparently, no other land

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has so many rules and regulations as we.

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Perhaps that's why
our paper usage is so high.

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Every year, we use 247 kg per person.

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That is as much as one book
with around 500 pages per day.

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That is more than
25 times as much as India.

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Bureaucracy and consequent
paper war is thus typically German.

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Considering food,
in Germany it's all about the sausage.

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♪ Yeah, the sausage is ...
my reason for living. ♪

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With 1,500 types of sausage,
we are the front-runner of selection.

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The same goes for bread: 500 types!
Nobody bakes more.

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Besides, according to
international guidebooks

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'Guten Appetit!' should
always be said before a meal.

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- 'Guten Appetit!'
- Thank you.

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It is the stereotype about us,
the Germans:

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We love beer, we drink it
all the time and above all, a lot.

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But that isn't quite true.

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As in fact, the biggest quantity of beer
is drunk by the Czechs.

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A typical German virtue?
Orderliness.

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That is evident even
in the most private of places.

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While the Americans - for example -
just scrunch up their toilet paper.

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the Germans fold up theirs neatly

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before they use it.

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Bras band music and 'Schunkeln' (swaying),

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is highly sought after
among tourists in Germany.

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The Germans, however,
only rarely listen to the folk music.

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It is on the penultimate place
on the list of best-selling CDs,

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Third place: classical music.

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Second place: rock music.

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And the most popular in Germany:
pop music on the first place.

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At home, the Germans love comfort.

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Every year we invest
in average 390 € for furnishing.

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No other nation spends more.

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The classics are: the wall unit,

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the television unit,

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the computer desk

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and the rubber fig.

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A German invention?

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The garden gnome.

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There are around
20 mio samples in Germany.

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That's the number

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of people living in Australia.

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Although, every third gnome
produced in Germany gets exported.

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Therefore, an organisation called

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'The International Association for
Protection of Garden Gnomes' was founded.

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We love receiving parcels.

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Every year we spend
in average 246 € for mail order -

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more than any other country in the world.

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We order products,
test them

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and if we don't like them,
we simply send them back.

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That also makes us
the leading country in return ratio.

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In Germany,
it is the highest in the world.

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When it comes to the payment,
we are trustworthy.

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We settle the unpaid
invoices within 8 days.

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In majority of other European countries,
it usually takes at least 12 days.

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Our collecting skills
can't be defeated,

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especially concerning the plastic bags.

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Due to reluctance to dispose of something
that can still be used

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we re-use the plastic bags
up to 6 times.

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So each of us only uses
65 plastic bags per year.

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The Italians use 6 times as many.

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Finally, we don't just
dispose of our plastic bags.

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We repurpose them.

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Exemplary!
Just like our waste separation.

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Over 90% of Germans separate waste.

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Paper, plastic, residual
and biodegredable waste.

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Everything is diligently sorted
and separately discarded.

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Admittedly only,

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when the containers are
directly in front of our door.

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If they are further, our enthusiasm
for separation dwindles somewhat.

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In the eyes of foreign tourists
are the multicoloured containers

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in Germany, an attraction worth seeing.

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Back to our red traffic lights ...

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For those, fed up with waiting:

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In exceptional cases it is allowed


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to cross even at the red light;

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that is, when the light remains red

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unusually long, due to a defect.

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Legal experts advise, however,
to remain waiting for at least 5 minutes.

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Subtitles: Sandra P