Tags: Culture

Part I: A Brief Guide to the Mentalities of Major German Cities: Hamburg and Munich

The strong growth wind in the Smunch sails seems to be showing no sign of letting up as we are expanding from our Berlin base into other major German cities. Therefore, we thought it would be a good idea in the first part of the two part blog post to lend you a greater insight into the cities in which we already offer teams with delicious healthy lunches: Hamburg and Berlin. In the next part, we will cover cities in which we also operate: Munich and Frankfurt. Germany is an important European hub full of various regional cultures and traditions. After all, the mysterious jagged terrain of Bavaria’s border to Austria is a world apart from the flat and marshy lowlands around the basin of Hamburg’s river Elbe.

 

Hamburg is famous for its left-wing politics, tolerance and dynamism


  • Hamburg: Germany’s fish-based northern powerhouse

Let’s start with the northern port city of Hamburg. Hamburg is flooded with (no pun intended) various waterways, containing a bridge count just shy of 2,500. For reference, this is more than those in Venice, London and Amsterdam combined.

 

A city which is nearly 9% covered by water, Hamburgers (not the tasty meat-based fast food delicacy) are strongly influenced by their maritime setting. Fish-based meals are simply a fact of life here. The infamous term “Fischkopp” (meaning fishhead) is not so loosely associated to a typical Hamburger by the rest of central and southern Germany.

 

Hamburg's reeperbahn is famous throughout Germany

 

Furthermore, just like the rest of Germany’s North, Hamburg is reputed with displaying a seemingly closed and withdrawn mentality compared to the rest of Germany. However, we and those who have experienced Hamburg up close realise that this reputation is old-fashioned and clearly depicted out of jealousy. It would be more appropriate to state that the Hamburg mentality is shaped by the various exciting components as well as the general cosmopolitan and liberal vibe, prevailing round the clock throughout several parts of town.

 

Famous for its left-wing politics, the Hamburg mentality is also shaped by acceptance and tolerance. Although the city has become synonymous with psychedelic goa raves and the “seemingly” revolutionary activity by anti-global activists (proving Hamburg a difficult setting to hold a G20 world leader summit), the city also hosts the highest number of millionaires in Germany at roughly 40,000. Hamburg can therefore be summarised as a part of Germany whose harsh damp climate is a stark contrast to its tolerant, open-minded yet wealthy mentality with inhabitants proud of their maritime influenced culture.

 

Many people struggle to get used to Berlin's negative mindset

 

  • Berlin: Germany’s state capital of no-nonsense and currywurst

Moving down South East through Germany’s northern lowlands we conveniently stumble upon Germany’s vibrant, multilayered and international capital Berlin. It goes without saying that Berlin, a city whose boundaries and mentality is fundamentally crafted by recent and not so recent history is a place where the term, “one size fits all” is attributed loosely. If you haven’t visited Berlin before, you may be surprised to find a lack of a mutually agreed on city-centre as well as the notion of “heading up the town”. The locals and the many expats who have made Berlin their home in recent years rather regard Berlin as a collection of various towns and villages with unique personalities and substance.

 

Many non-Berliners are keen to point out that the infamous “Berliner Schnauze” attitude is prevalent amongst Berliners themselves - a direct and no-nonsense approach to communicating in everyday life. For those who are in Berlin for the first time, it can prove frustrating to frequent a supermarket without occasionally coming into contact with passive aggression at the checkout if you are unable to pack your bags at the speed of sound.

 

People move to Berlin to discover themselves 

Nonetheless, there are many positive undertones in which Berlin can be encompassed. The infamous term “poor but sexy” stated to Berlin from its former mayor, Klaus Wowereit, may be losing legitimacy due to rocketing rents and gentrification concerns. However, as is comparable to Hamburg, if you embark on a trip to Berlin you will be greeted with a paradox: An infamously bohemian and vibrant cultural scene mixed in with gruff indifference yet relaxed and “pessimistically optimistic” undertones of the Berliner Schnauze.

 

Berliners themselves are content with their way of life as the notion that Berliners stay in their city and the assigned term “Berliners don’t eat what they don’t know” would suggest. There is a saying in Germany that in many cases people don’t necessarily move to Berlin to further their careers - they move to find themselves in a unique and relaxed city with locals who are equally as proud of their way of life.

 

People move to Berlin to discover themselves


  • Adapting to various cities: Smunch style

Hamburg and Berlin are well renowned and proud cities with their own distinct identity and mentalities. We at Smunch thoroughly enjoy supplying delicious healthy team lunches to fish-hungry Hamburgers and Currywurst-(without darm, of course) hungry Berliners. In the next part, we will cover the financial giants of Munich and Frankfurt.

 

Happy exploring fellow travellers,

 

Your Smunch team

 

 

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