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Blame It on the Lederhosen?

DW staff (jen)June 22, 2004

It may have been more than half a century since Germany invading anyone, but the country still isn't very loved by its neighbors. A recent survey named Germans the most disliked Europeans.

https://p.dw.com/p/5DWY
Nobody likes me, everybody hates me ... I think I'll eat a wurst.Image: AP

Sweet Prussians, sunny Bavarians, fun-loving Hessians -- who can imagine it?

Apparently, nobody.

In a 19-country survey by Reader's Digest, Germans topped the list of the least appreciated Europeans, garnering a cool 22 percent of the responses to the question "which Europeans do you like least?"

As an explanation, respondents cited the Germans' "loud and nationalistic" manner. But it wasn't just the Germans were forced to wallow in old stereotypes. The British were said to have the best sense of humor; the Dutch were called most tolerant.

Italy scored best overall, partly because of la cucina italiana, which was considered by 40 percent of respondents the most important factor. Spaghetti and tortellini beat out French cuisine, which only got 23 percent. Italy was also named the country where most people would like to live, whose citizenship most would like to adopt and the nation whose people have the most sex appeal.

Spain was the second-most popular country, followed by France.

Not only were they the least well liked, but Germans were also named Europe's "least friendly" citizens, pulling in 27 percent of the vote in that category. Perhaps unsurprisingly they cleaned up in the categories "most hardworking" and "most efficient."

Other laggards in the overall popularity contest were Poles, Russians, Hungarians and Slovaks.

In terms of cities, Europeans like Paris the best (25 percent), followed by London, Rome, Prague, Barcelona and Venice.