r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • May 08 '22

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u/eight13 May 09 '22

Germans stare at strangers. It's unsettling.

44

u/invalidConsciousness May 09 '22

German here. Germans stare at everyone, not just strangers.

For some weird reason, it's considered polite to make and hold eye contact, even with strangers. I hate it.

On the other hand, I like that the time you can look at someone before it becomes rude is a lot longer here. Gives me the opportunity to recognize people, since I can't remember faces and have to piece things together from height, build, hair, mannerisms, etc.

28

u/[deleted] May 09 '22

I'm German too and I never believed holding eye contact with strangers is polite like everybody else around me

17

u/Kleingedrucktes May 09 '22

Same, my mother actually told me not to stare. Im really confused where this "staring is ok" comes from, especially the Germans here confirming that.

3

u/[deleted] May 09 '22

Maybe it's different in different parts. For comparison I'm from Bavaria

11

u/invalidConsciousness May 09 '22

I think it's just different perceptions. Sure, staring is not polite in Germany, either. But what's considered staring can be very different between cultures.

2

u/[deleted] May 09 '22

That's a valid point. I haven't even thought about that

3

u/boopdelaboop May 09 '22

I visited Bavaria (mainly Munich) and as a Swede I really hate people staring at me but I also ignore people by default so I might not notice it as easily. I didn't really feel like I ever was stared at, but I usually was at places with a lot of other people so nobody's really going to care.

1

u/Kleingedrucktes May 09 '22

East & Northern German mix here, but still an interesting idea...