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Apologies in advance if it might be a tiny little bit controversial !
I've been reading city data forums for a long time now, but few forums caught my interest as the ones in the European section, (I am European btw).
Anyway I think some of the most interesting forums on here were about the differences between nations and nationalities across Europe
so here is my question to all of you....
what are the differences between Germnay and Poland and Germans and polish people ?
Personally I think they are both very similar both culturally and in their appearance
Both countries are in Central Europe and have had a lot of cultural historical connections
what do you think the cultural and national differences are between poles and Germans ? e.g Attitudes, food, culture, beliefs, etc......
And to what extent do you think Poles and Germans share the same appearance ? e.g genetics, hair and eye colours, skin tone, etc...
Germans don't think they're similar to Poles. I don't know if the Poles feel otherwise.
Poles are Slavs, not Germanic peoples. Just because you have two countries adjacent to one another, and both have lots of fair-skinned blond people, doesn't mean they're similar.
Germans don't think they're similar to Poles. I don't know if the Poles feel otherwise.
Poles are Slavs, not Germanic peoples. Just because you have two countries adjacent to one another, and both have lots of fair-skinned blond people, doesn't mean they're similar.
I know Poles and Germans speak different language from different language groups, but their has been a lot of mixing between the Germans and Poles throughout history, Poland used to be part of Magna Germania in Roman times, Poland was inhabited by Germanic tribes, but after the Slavic tribes invaded from the east, they settled Poland and eastern germnay, and assimilated a lot of Germanic tribes
Even when Poland was the polish Lithuanian commonwealth, lots of Germans settled their, especially by the Baltic coast
Polish people are not just the Slavic ancestors who moved from the east, they are a mixture of Germanic and Baltic Groups, when Poland unified it was a unification of different tribes, many of which had assimilated Germans and Baltic people
much like modern Russians are a mixture of proto Slavs and Scandinavians, the poles are a mixture of proto Slavs and Germanic and Baltic groups
Blond hair is actually thought to have originated in the marshes of North Ukraine and spread westward by migrations of people
I think it was originally only the Slavic and Germanic people who naturally had blonde hair and light eyes
but this mixing of people also happened to the south Slavic groups who have darker features than the western and eastern Slavs, this was again because of mixing with the local population which were native Balkan tribes
Below is a photo of a polish church in St.Louis which has recent polish immigrants to the United States, I don't see much difference between the Poles and Germans in regards to their appearance, in fact the Poles are lighter haired and have more light eyes than the Germans, this again shows us that lighter features were first developed in Eastern Europe and were spread westward by migration (it also shows the mixing between the 2 groups)
this is a map of Magna Germania, the easternmost Germanic tribe, the venedi are actually thought to be ancestors of modern day poles
the 2nd diagram shows us the expansion of the slavs and hoe they overrun much of Magna Germania, and assimilated many of the Germanic people, likewise after the Germanic states reconquered central Magna Germania, they also assimilated the Slavic people there, such as sorbs
this shows us that both Germans and Poles have a shared history, and are actually very similar to each other
It also shows us how slavs mixed with the Baltic tribes to form today's Baltic people, and how Russians mixed with the northern tribes which were finns (the Scandinavian settlements came later)
below is a map showing Viking invasions and settlement across Europe
Germans don't think they're similar to Poles. I don't know if the Poles feel otherwise.
Poles are Slavs, not Germanic peoples. Just because you have two countries adjacent to one another, and both have lots of fair-skinned blond people, doesn't mean they're similar.
I have to disagree. The classification into Germanic peoples and Slavs doesn't make sense in my opinion. I am pretty sure that Germans and Poles have a lot of similarities. Much more than Germans and French for example. And I know that many Germans think the same way as I. For me its much easier to come along with Poles than with the French, the Brits, the Spaniards or Italians. For example Germans and Poles are both rather modesty, frugal, the shopping behaviours are very similar. Both seems to be hardworking people. Both are rather adaptable. Both are rather straightforward.
After the immigrants from Turkey, Polish immigrants are the second biggest group. And almost every German knows probably a few Polish immigrants. When in Poland I am always amazed by how much effort they put into refurbishing their houses and their front gardens. The building style is extremely similar. In Poland, I easily feel like at home. There are many similarities between the German and the Polish quisine. Poland has very nice bread.
I have to disagree. The classification into Germanic peoples and Slavs doesn't make sense in my opinion. I am pretty sure that Germans and Poles have a lot of similarities. Much more than Germans and French for example. And I know that many Germans think the same way as I. For me its much easier to come along with Poles than with the French, the Brits, the Spaniards or Italians. For example Germans and Poles are both rather modesty, frugal, the shopping behaviours are very similar. Both seems to be hardworking people. Both are rather adaptable. Both are rather straightforward.
Well, yeah, if you're comparing to Italians or Spaniards, then obviously Poles are more similar to Germans.
I thought the question was whether Germans and Poles were basically the same, which is obviously not the case. Even Bavarians don't have much to do with, say, Prussians, historically, so I don't see why Poles would be considered super-similar.
And I realize that there has been tons of mixing over the centuries. In fact, Polish immigration is hardly new; when the Ruhrgebiet industrialized during the 19th century, huge numbers of Poles immigrated to the region to work in the factories and mines.
But I honestly don't think current-day Germany and Poland are that similar, outside of some superficial similarities.
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