I am proud of German history

[Sladerstania]

Sounds kind of racist...

I have literally heard white nationalists say the exact same thing
Look on his forum posts, too; they're just as bad

If you switch "brown" and "white" in his post, it sounds like something a white nationalist would say.

[The Free Joy State]

After all, if you asked a British person “are you proud of being British” they’d likely say “yeah I guess” and not automatically feel obligated to default to “yes I’m proud of being British but I’m not proud of (long list of crimes against humanity*)”

It’s hard to imagine that many Canadians would go “Yes I’m proud of being Canadian but that doesn’t include the historical displacement of natives and the residential schools.”

It's very possible to be British, and consider yourself patriotic and yet to be ashamed of the crimes of the Empire.

It is an error to conflate patriotism with being proud of a nation's history.

Many nations have done dreadful, awful, inhuman acts. Such acts need not be lionised, celebrated, or considered causes for pride in order for one to care for one's country.

Sometimes, being patriotic includes owning the errors of your nation's past, or present, and looking at avoiding the same ones in the future. Sometimes, it involves looking at how you can be better. Insisting your nation is the best, was the best and can only be the best is not patriotism -- it's jingoism. And there is a difference.

To me history is something to be interested in, not proud of.

And there is this. History is a matter for study. Not flag-waving fervour.

[Koletsia]

I have literally heard white nationalists say the exact same thing
Look on his forum posts, too; they're just as bad

If you switch "brown" and "white" in his post, it sounds like something a white nationalist would say.

Did you just assume my gender?

[Fatimida]

If you switch "brown" and "white" in his post, it sounds like something a white nationalist would say.

Again I have legit seen white-nats make the exact same argument lmao

[Sladerstania]

If you switch "brown" and "white" in his post, it sounds like something a white nationalist would say.

Did you just assume my gender?

.

If you switch "brown" and "white" in his post, it sounds like something a white nationalist would say.

Again I have legit seen white-nats make the exact same argument lmao

Are you saying I'm a white nationalist?

[Fatimida]

Are you saying I'm a white nationalist?

How you got that implication I have no idea but no

[Picairn]

How dare you be proud of a white nation's history. This is now forbidden and Germany needs more third worlder brown people to repent for their past sins until every single white is completely wiped from the country and its culture and character is completely warped into something entirely unrecognisable. NO HUMAN IS ILLEGAL.

Expectation: Leftists want to destroy white people by importing illegals.
Reality: I just want taco trucks on every corner...

[The Free Joy State]

I think that for such an exchange there wouldn’t be a need to bring up WWII. I’d just reply by telling them I’m glad they’re enjoying their stay in Germany and that’s it.

Also, there is this. I would say "Enjoy your stay." and leave.

Also, if a random person is going around Germany, asking random citizens if they're proud of Germany's history, I would fear they might hold certain views and be trying to find a simpatico friend.

[Vassenor]

It's very possible to be British, and consider yourself patriotic and yet to be ashamed of the crimes of the Empire.

It is an error to conflate patriotism with being proud of a nation's history.

[...]

And there is this. History is a matter for study. Not flag-waving fervour.

Our government disagrees considering how hard they want to ban the teaching of any form of history other than their preferred rose-tinted and sanitised version and declaring such things to be "anti-British".

[Sladerstania]

Are you saying I'm a white nationalist?

How you got that implication I have no idea but no

Oh, I thought you were saying that the argument I was making is what white nationalists would say

[Risottia]

If you switch "brown" and "white" in his post, it sounds like something a white nationalist would say.

Did you just assume my gender?

If you feel you've been intentionally misgendered, do file a report in Moderation.

[Risottia]

How dare you be proud of a white nation's history. This is now forbidden and Germany needs more third worlder brown people to repent for their past sins until every single white is completely wiped from the country and its culture and character is completely warped into something entirely unrecognisable. NO HUMAN IS ILLEGAL.

Expectation: Leftists want to destroy white people by importing illegals.
Reality: I just want taco trucks on every corner...

Kein Taco LKW in Deutschland.

[Sladerstania]

Did you just assume my gender?

If you feel you've been intentionally misgendered, do file a report in Moderation.

I didn't "intentionally misgender" them. I didn't even know of them until now, I just usually assume people here are "He", since most are.

Edit: fixed some wording

[Kubra]

How dare you be proud of a white nation's history. This is now forbidden and Germany needs more third worlder brown people to repent for their past sins until every single white is completely wiped from the country and its culture and character is completely warped into something entirely unrecognisable. NO HUMAN IS ILLEGAL.

You think we leftists brought all the refugees to destroy white people but really we just wanted a wider range of restaurants.

the paradox of the middle East is that it has brought us truly some of the world's best drinking foods

[Old Tyrannia]

I don't think Germans, or any other nationality really, should feel the need to specify that they are not proud of atrocities committed by their nation's past governments when expressing pride in or affection for their country. In the scenario presented in the OP, assuming German Old Tyrannia is not significantly different to British Old Tyrannia in terms of his political and religious beliefs, I'd probably scare the poor tourist off with a rant about how everything went to the dogs after the First World War and we ought to bring back the Kaiser (aber den mit dem Bart, mit dem langen Bart!).

[Dogmeat]

Is it really an either/or?

You can be proud of something while still acknowledging its failings.

No amount of Nazism makes bratwurst taste bad.

[-Ra-]

There are many things the German people have to be proud of. They gave the world Gutenberg, Leibniz, Kant, Weber, Beethoven, Heisenberg, Holbein, Goethe, Gauss, among many other luminaries. Germans have made foundational contributions to the sciences, arts, politics, and culture. It is weird to let a disreputable period between 1933 and 1945 spoil it all. The German people are right to be proud of their history.

[Tsaivao]

I mean, I wouldn't really say it. Not because I'm not disappointed in that part of human history, but because it's kind of awkward to bring up out of nowhere? Like, it'd be the equivalent of saying "Oh your puppy is so cute! Did you know that 4000 puppies are road-killed every day?" It's not really a good thing to talk about with a complete stranger for no reason...

If they try to phrase it as a trap question, then yeah, I'm going to clarify my position and my disgust for the Nazi regime. But being proud of your nation isn't inherently a crime, nor an evil _{(unless you're english lel)}

[Chan Island]

I'll go with what a friend of mine who is German once said on this one (more or less, I don't remember word for word):

"Every country has bad parts that we are not proud of as it also has good things, Germany's is just the most well known and most terrible. But unlike other countries, we have tried very hard to move past that and become better people for it. We help make the EU and work together with everyone now."

Which seemed sensible enough from his mouth.

[HISPIDA]

The problem here is that when you define "German history" a lot of it is focused on WW2. Which is entirely fair -- many discussions of Cambodian history is focused on the Khmer Rouge -- but if one looks at the history unbiased then I think it's entirely fair to choose any option. You can either omit WW2, citing it as the exception and not the rule, you can include WW2 but still be proud of the country's history, or you can say that WW2 ruined German history.

I'd personally choose option 2, and I feel like issues are roughly similar in America. I'm not proud of the atrocities we've committed against Amerindians, black people, and Japanese-Americans, but as a whole I'd say I'm proud of American history.

[Neo Prutenia]

If you are a German IRL, then just answer it realistically.

4. Other (please explain)

Answer realistically? I'd say: "You must be an American tourist. Why? Because of the nonsense you just asked me."

I'm proud of my own accomplishments. I'm not proud about anything I didn't directly participate in, because there's no pride to be derived from nonparticipation or inaction. It's like saying you've proud of something that happened in a film or book—I really liked "Raiders of the Lost Ark", so I was very proud when we tricked the Nazis into opening it. That's how you people sound to me when you ask that question. Go do something, anything. o//

Now, I like my nation's history. I'm happy for my nation's history, because I see how we adapted and took those lessons to heart and how my nation's present turned out. I happen to participate in said "present", so I can be proud about that. Is everything good? No, of course not. Still, I'm "happy" how things turned out in the end.

Hm, then again, I have been an expat pretty much since I was 19 years old, so maybe I can't take pride in how things are currently, since I'm not there currently.

[Auzkhia]

I would simply say "Jaien, es ist kompliziert"

Though, if i had to pick yes or no, probably no, I certainly appreciate a lot of Germany, even as an Ami who has only visited a few times, I think national pride isn't inherently good or worthwhile. I do have a cultural appreciation and gratitude of the good things and positives that came from and are associated with the German Nation, though I get its appeal, it makes you feel like you have a place among liked minded folks, a meaning, and most of all an identity.

Germany has its good stuff but it still has its bad things, even if they atoned for the holocaust, there still is a racism against the Romani people, who were also targeted by the Nazis.

The truth is never simple. National Pride often simplifies and romanticizes, it turns history into a myth, even if it is a good story.

---

Expectation: Leftists want to destroy white people by importing illegals.
Reality: I just want taco trucks on every corner...

Kein Taco LKW in Deutschland.

Nur Dönerladen, hallobitteschön

[Ifreann]

Most of the Gen X and Millenial Germans I know don't do the whole national pride thing but most Gen X and Millenial Americans don't either. If you asked a typical German "why don't you have a flag on your home/car?" they're not going to answer "because of the nazis" they're going to say "because Germany isn't playing a football game right now."

The Germans I know who have tepid attitudes toward nationalism aren't that way just because of German history but because they find nationalism in general to be distasteful. But my perspective is limited because I don't voluntarily associate with right-wingers, if I find out someone I know is an AfD supporter they go on my ghost list.

The Rammstein music video for Deutschland might be of interest to you, it's a portrayal of German history that captures the "epic but also oof" vibe of it all.

"Are you proud of your history?"
*thinking about Ruby Commey decapitating Till Lindemann in Teutoberg Forest*
"Ja"

[Neo Prutenia]

Nur Dönerladen, hallobitteschön

Döner sind gut, aber überbewertet. Ćevapčići an jeder Ecke

[HISPIDA]

Nur Dönerladen, hallobitteschön

Döner sind gut, aber überbewertet. Ćevapčići an jeder Ecke

Ich hatte nie Döner, aber ich möchte sie ausprobieren.

(Sorry if that's not great German, I'm conversational at best.)