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Which city comes to mind when you think of Germany? Whenever I think of Germany I think of Bavaria, so Munich. Though some say that region feels more like Austria or Switzerland than Germany.
Bavaria is kind of like the Texas of Germany. Bavaria is in the far South, it's the biggest state geographically, it is the religious, conservative state, it thinks of itself as its own country, the food there is known for their big portions, it's one of the if not the fastest growing area of Germany, and it is the source for American stereotypes of Germany.
Just like how when Europeans think of America, they think of oil, cowboys, steak, football, pickups, religious conservatives, guns, everything is bigger, Southern accents, and ultra patriotic people. But to Americans, all of that screams Texas.
I would say that the first city that comes to mind for most Americans is Berlin. As much for its history and role as anything else.
However, the popular image of Germany to most Americans is Bavaria, and thus Munich is the runner up. I would maybe even say it is close to a tie, but I think Berlin edges out through sheer name recognition.
Frankfurt and Cologne are runners up. Then Hamburg.
The other major cities of Germany seem to be best known by people who are familiar with products, industries, or historical events associated with those cities. For example, Dusseldorf for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, Stutggart for Daimler-Benz, Nuremberg for the trials, etc.
Americans first/earliest experience with anything German comes from the Hogan's Hero's TV show, where we learn Berlin was the old capital of Germany, then we soon learn about hamburgers and the importance of Hamburg. But I also remember being taught the capital of Germany was Bonn, at that time, so I always assumed it was a fairly important German city. Now I know Bonn is not a big city at all and only has a population of 300K, the city goes back to roman times but it gets overshadowed by the nearby city of Cologne.
Bonn should be listed as it was the capital of Germany for 41 years, moved back to Berlin in 1990. They still have a lot of government offices/administration in Bonn.
Berlin is the most mentioned city on Hogan's Hero's, so I voted for Berlin. Hey? What about Bismark? Did some Bismark guy from North Dakota move to Germany and do something a long time ago? He made a pastry or something? Special mention to the Bismark in Germany, yes, there is another Bismark in Germany, it's not as big as our Bismark.
As an American Millennial/Zoomer (depending on what you consider 1995 to be), Berlin is the first city I think of when it comes to Germany. I see it as a cosmopolitan melting pot with a robust public transit system, akin to New York City.
Frankfurt is the second city I think of. Not only is it one of the few European cities with a skyline, but as someone who works in finance, it's one of the banking capitals of Europe.
After those two, I think of Munich, Dresden (from the Kurt Vonnegut novel), and Cologne (a major stop on the ICE) in that order. I also think of Wupperthal due to the elevated monorail.
I'm going with Augsburg, just 50km from Munich because I was stationed back and forth between the two of them for 2 1/2 years. I really enjoyed Augsburg because it was a lot smaller and easy to get around and it had a nice city center. And I think that Bavaria is the nicest part of Germany. I didn't enjoy Berlin because I only went there as they were building the Wall, not a nice time.
Americans first/earliest experience with anything German comes from the Hogan's Hero's TV show, where we learn Berlin was the old capital of Germany, then we soon learn about hamburgers and the importance of Hamburg. But I also remember being taught the capital of Germany was Bonn, at that time, so I always assumed it was a fairly important German city. Now I know Bonn is not a big city at all and only has a population of 300K, the city goes back to roman times but it gets overshadowed by the nearby city of Cologne.
Bonn should be listed as it was the capital of Germany for 41 years, moved back to Berlin in 1990. They still have a lot of government offices/administration in Bonn.
Berlin is the most mentioned city on Hogan's Hero's, so I voted for Berlin. Hey? What about Bismark? Did some Bismark guy from North Dakota move to Germany and do something a long time ago? He made a pastry or something? Special mention to the Bismark in Germany, yes, there is another Bismark in Germany, it's not as big as our Bismark.
I suppose if you are 50+ years old, but less than 70, and live in a part of America with no rooted German-American population (deep south, northern New England), this is spot on.
I'm going with Augsburg, just 50km from Munich because I was stationed back and forth between the two of them for 2 1/2 years. I really enjoyed Augsburg because it was a lot smaller and easy to get around and it had a nice city center. And I think that Bavaria is the nicest part of Germany. I didn't enjoy Berlin because I only went there as they were building the Wall, not a nice time.
Nodpete, I was stationed in West Berlin with the US Army at McNair Barracks in 1975. Not as tense or bitter as 1961 when the wall went up, but it was still in an era of great political division. The Army post movie theater on Clayallee (named after US General Lucius Clay, former US military governor after WW2) was called the Outpost for good reason, and is still intact and today serves as home of the Allied Forces Museum.
I have a lot of good memories of Berlin and have been there many times over the past 4 decades. It is a million times better post-reunification than during the divided wall era. I am retired and returned to live in Germany for a year or two, and ironically found that I like living in the eastern part of Germany. Chemnitz is a small city of 250K, a few hours southwest of Berlin, in the foothills of the Ore Mountains. Almost unknown outside of Germany and few foreign visitors, so it would be at the bottom of the list on this thread.
Berlin has everything. My wife and I used to go there a lot and stay in the Pankow area, a part of former East Berlin.
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