My eight weeks in Berlin were split in two— four weeks all together with Northwestern faculty, and four weeks at Humboldt Universität. At Humboldt, we took one language class and were able to choose one other class from a myriad options ranging from economics to public policy to literature. Now, I, being a theatre major and a lover of impractical knowledge, decided to take a course called “What do Germans Laugh About?” and I would like to share my findings now, as I am sure you are all as curious as I was!
1. German humor and comedy is deeply different from American humor. This means that the films and comedians that make Germans laugh may not even register as attempts at comedy to Americans. For example, I had watched the famous German reunification film “Goodbye, Lenin!” in a German film class earlier in the year, but didn’t learn until at Humboldt that it is apparently considered mainstream comedy in Germany. An American audience sees the film as more dramatic and tragic rather than comedic, whic brings me to number…
2. German comedy is inextricably linked to tragedy. This, although strange to Americans, makes sense academically when one takes into account the massive effect the Holocaust took on every aspect of German life, including its culture and comedy. The Holocaust murdered or forced to flee most of the German comedians and comedy filmmakers (as most were Jewish at the time!) and destroyed all laughter for decades. Once the Germans started laughing again, it was mostly self-deprecating and gallows humor. The German cultural conscious is so deeply linked to the tragedies of past, and it is clearly represented in their comedies.
So yes, despite common myth, Germans DO laugh! However, it might be hard for Americans to know when or why. So, the next time you hear someone discussing the cold Berliner or the curt, serious Bavarian, let them know that Germans are actually a very funny and humorous bunch, they are just hard to understand!