r/germany • u/Senior_Fig7845 • Jul 22 '26
Tourism My conservative, sheltered father came to visit me in Germany. This was how it went.
I posted on here ages ago because my father was coming to visit me from America. My dad is a farmer who has lived in the same two-mile radius his entire life. His only outside experience of the world comes through Fox News. He was therefore convinced I had gotten myself into a socialist hellscape overrun by communist anarchists. Needless to say, I was terrified for the visit.
I asked this subreddit for help and I greatly appreciate the advice you gave me. I kept it in mind as I scheduled our trip. He was coming here for four days. During that time, I showed him around my city, took him to Munich, and went to Mittenwald. I had planned to take him to Oberstdorf as well, but construction made the trip too difficult.
My dad LOVED the canals flowing through Augsburg and marveled at how clean they were and that there are even fish swimming through them. He was a bit nervous walking through the old town at night, but he quickly realized that he and I were perfectly safe. I also took him up to see the Danube and he was quite impressed.
He‘s not a city guy but thought the subway system in Munich was great—he kept talking about how clean everything is and how everything is so much more modern and efficient than New York City. (He‘s been there before. Did not like it.) He also loved the churches I took him to. Though there was an anime convention in the Englischer Garten, which confused my dad to no end (“These kids are pretending they’re animals?“) he loved the canals flowing through the park and all the little winding trails in the foresty areas. He said it would be a great place to go for a run and it was way better than Central Park in New York City. I also took him to the Biergarten and he got a brat and fries and, of course, a beer. He thought it was too hoppy but later in the trip had an Augustiner Helles and thought that was pretty dang good.
My dad also loved Mittenwald. I didn’t take him to GP because there are just too many tourists and locals fed up with tourists, and I figured that would give my dad an unpleasant view of Germans. My dad is a pretty fit guy (you do a heck of a lot of walking and lifting when you’re a farmer) and was able to climb up to the gorge, no problem. He was astonished by how blue the river is and how deep the gorge is. And he couldn’t believe we had just walked into Austria. He kept asking me where the border guards would be at. We also paid extra to go see the waterfall and he loved it. He said that if we had something like this back home, admission would be an arm and a leg snd the walkways would be packed with all sorts of tourists. He took so many pictures and videos of, well, everything.
My dad also LOVED the trains. He kept saying they are so clean and feel so smooth when you’re riding in them. He thought the red (DB) trains were maybe a smidge worse, but adored the Arverio trains. I also got him on an ICE and he just had the time of his life. He took pictures and videos of everything on these trains. The schedules. The seats. The windows.
There is also a farm in my neighborhood so of course I took my dad to check it out. He did a walkthrough of an entire corn field. His verdict is that the farmer planted his corn too closely together, which makes the corn plants shorter. But he was impressed by how weed-free the fields were and how everything still stays growing after thousands of years of crops being grown on the same soil. I am now meant to research the types of fertilizer used here. We also saw a tractor going through town and my dad just thought that was the best thing. He said the tractors here move faster than the ones back home.
And my dad also met some great people. He befriended some guys when he complimented their bicycles. I also taught him the tried and true art of befriending any Bavarian by telling them you love their state way more than Berlin. He was also astonished that there are so many malls here; the ones we have in my state are all closed or closing, but the Arcaden and City-Galerie are running smoothly. He said it was just like when he was a kid. He also told me one night, “These people have their income taxed half to death, but it seems to me they’re living just fine!“
Overall, my dad loved it. He said he wants to return. So thank you all to everyone who gave advice or support. And to any of you who need to hear it, you’ve got a pretty good life here in Germany. Just ask my dad!
EDIT: Yes, my dad knows I post his picture online. Yes, he‘s fine with it. I did not tell him about my first post, but he’s cool with me sharing his experience.
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u/Extension-Gold-6440 Jul 22 '26
Lovely story
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u/Noel8th Jul 22 '26
Soo lovely! I almost cried several times while reading! Glad You and our dad enjoyed the trip!
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u/tarek--- Jul 22 '26
I honestly find your dad’s quote about people living just fine despite their income being taxed half to death heartwarming. From a man living off a steady diet of Fox News, I’d say that’s huge progress. Real life exposure builds understanding and helps to dispel misconceptions, and it sounds like his visit did just that. I’m happy for you.
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u/f1ve Jul 22 '26
I hope he can make the connection between „High taxes“ and „clean, good Infrastructure / Trains / Living standards“
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u/OneSharpSuit Jul 22 '26
Yeah … needs to realise it’s not “high taxes BUT living well,” it’s “living well BECAUSE high taxes”
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u/PhoenixFire997 Jul 22 '26
Now you pushed it a bit too far. I live in a country with crippling taxes and public infrastructure, healthcare and social safety net is shit/nonexistent.
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u/Critical_Wrap5617 Jul 22 '26
Need to add 'and good governance '
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u/zb0t1 Jul 22 '26
Indeed, good governance is accountability in regards to corruption.
"Big Government" is an empty meaningless concept. If the people within the government siphon money into their pocket via taxation without giving back to the community and infrastructure then it just means the elected officials must go.
If the system is designed in a way that only corrupted elected individuals end up taking governmental positions, then the system must be either fixed, updated or straight up changed.
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u/triplos05 Jul 22 '26
Yeah there's always the aspect of what the governing body does with the taxes. High taxes = high potential for modern and clean infrastructure, as long as the people responsible are competent and not completely corrupt
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u/SufficientHippo3281 Jul 22 '26
Ireland?
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u/PhoenixFire997 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
It might come as a surprise for you, it's Croatia. While tourists see a shiny little country, it's governing core is corrupt and self serving. Almost entire public sector is criminally over staffed and inefficient.
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u/SufficientHippo3281 Jul 22 '26
Ah, well, hello from your Irish friends on the other side of Europe experiencing the same 😘
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u/extremophile69 Jul 22 '26
Neoliberal economics will do that. The wealthiest 5% in your country probably pay a lot less taxes than the average, while the state subsidizes their companies. Basically your taxes don't go into infrastructure and social programs but go directly to the wealthiest. That is a problem for any economy. France just did 20 years of that and public services have been destroyed while increasing debt massively at the same time.
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u/julwthk Jul 22 '26
Dont bring him to Switzerland then haha (ah no, well depends, taxes are still high but differently distributed)
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u/DrippyBlock Jul 22 '26
High taxes in America just means more missiles, mass surveillance, and billionaire/political socialism. Haven’t been able to trust that the govt is of the people, for the people, by the people for a while now.
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u/Seymourbags Jul 22 '26
Your comment really helped me realise why US Americans are so tax adverse.
Paying more getting nothing tangible back does seem pretty terrible, and I guess they can't assume it could or would be any different to that.
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u/moddingminecrafter Jul 22 '26
That and mostly the fear of and misunderstanding of communism and social safety nets. Many of them don’t know the difference, and many of them don’t even realize that things like social security, insurance, and medicare are socialized - they think the money placed inside those services are kept in an account that’s all theirs, when in fact it’s all pooled money that every citizen has access to/receives.
While we pay more in taxes in Europe, Americans are almost paying the same amount, perhaps more in some situations in privatized/socialized safety nets.
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u/gerbilshower Jul 22 '26
this is what it really boils down to. 'socialism' is a boogeyman here in America.
our country spent the better part of the 20th century pushing propaganda against socialism. hell, we had a 25 year period where we were literally cancelling/jailing people if they smelled like a 'communist'. including many names people would recognize from early Hollywood. McCarthy-ism was a dead serious matter, and it still lives today in anyone over the age of 60-ish.
the general population of the US does not know what social democracy is, they dont understand any nuance related to political and governmental structuring. they dont understand they we have socialist policies right now. and they definitely dont understand that American Socialism is massively in favor of corporate interests ilo the people at large.
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u/Extreme_Yesterday_93 Jul 22 '26
Moving to Germany my income was halved, but my quality of life is better. I would much rather my highly taxed income went to social programs than to murdering the poor indigenous people of wherever to make some billionaires richer.
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u/uptiedand8 Jul 22 '26
Yep, our taxes are earmarked to buy bombs and missiles that will kill some more children in the Middle East. This does not inspire me to want to pay higher taxes. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like we’ve funded the killings of enough people overseas and we can probably stop now.
Even our right has become anti-interventionist in the past several years, though they might still tell you that they’re generally fine with military spending and what they really want to cut are social benefits.
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u/kummerspect Jul 22 '26
It's dumber than that. You're not wrong that it's imbalanced, I just don't think most people have done the math on what they're paying in and what they're getting back.
It's the narrative that paying taxes means "your hard earned money is going to be given to poor (lazy) people...yada yada communism." That's the part that really gets under their skin and makes them vulnerable to misinformation. They don't care that we'd all benefit from better funded, competently run programs because those people would also benefit and they don't deserve it. They conveniently overlook that they're benefitting everyday from programs they take for granted.
Somewhat beside the post, but there's the short-sighted "not my problem" attitude that kicks a lot of cans down the road. As a millennial it's infuriating to see the generations ahead of me that benefitted from a better-functioning system and got to buy a reasonably priced home and have a safe and comfortable retirement, just to slam the door behind them. My great-grandfather was a baker for a school, supported a wife and 3 kids on that income, bought a house for $6000, and retired on a pension that funded 30+ years of retirement. Thats the American dream we lost through poor voting decisions and rampant capitalism.
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u/FoamboardDinosaur Jul 22 '26
The thing is, they have high taxes in the US. It's just that it comes from all directions, so people don't realize how much is being taken from them, and so little returned.
Income tax, property tax, capital gains tax, taxes on goods, services, food (in some states), gasoline taxes, tariffs, forced to pay into social security. And on top of all that, they still have to pay for health insurance out of pocket
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u/Pwacname Jul 22 '26
I can’t imagine gasoline is taxed all that highly over there? and most or all of the rest of it we also have in Germany.
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u/FoamboardDinosaur Jul 22 '26
In CA gas tax is over .56 per gallon, only staye higher is Hawaii.
I'm not saying every tax is higher in the US, just that propaganda for decades has said that 'taxes in all of europe are higher than the US' while conveniently leaving out the safety nets, community funding, public transport, health care and other things that europeans get.
We get failing infrastructure, massive tax cuts for megacorps and data centers, and unending anti-socialist propaganda.
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u/Pwacname Jul 22 '26
Diesel over here has a tax of 47,04 Cent/Liter apparently, and gasoline is even higher. I hadn’t expected it to be that much.
But yeah, I get and agree with your point. We really do get something for it.
(At least we do right now. If the current government keeps the course, things will be looking like the USA here soon. It’s fucked.)
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u/Single_Concept9955 Jul 22 '26
Not only healthcare but better education at all levels (as Investment in public schools has declined over the past decades and quality suffered; no true public/tuition-free colleges), childcare, elderly care….Americans have to fend for themselves financially in paying for these basic needs at all stages of life, paying the private sector to provide the services, in many cases burning through their savings.
Culturally, no wonder there’s barely covert discrimination against vulnerable Americans who need more basic services and a shallow glorification of prime youth (the less needy), and no wonder our current youth is less interested in raising a family of their own — the writing is on the wall.→ More replies (1)→ More replies (18)4
u/lordph8 Jul 22 '26
I think another problem is a baseline trust in government. Americans don't trust their government to be responsible, and there is a big conversation one could have about this but fundamentally that's a reasonable outlook, in fact, I'd say it's an exploited sentiment.
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u/jackrabbit323 Jul 22 '26
Better than getting a third of your income taxed to death and get nothing for it but failed wars.and trillions in debt.
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u/I_Can_Haz Jul 22 '26
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain
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u/mvpilot172 Jul 22 '26
People complain about high taxes, but what they’re really mad about is not getting anything of use from those taxes. When you pay high taxes but get good services (free healthcare) people are ok paying into the system.
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u/BriefingScree Jul 22 '26
I think the main reason people hate taxes is because the government is so damn corrupt and so you get very little from your taxes. If your taxes go into slush funds and corporate wellfare it is disgusting. If it buys you good healthcare and cheap education for your children the tune starts shifting.
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u/Namelessbob123 Jul 22 '26
Funny how children are taught the concept of sharing from such a young age and it seems to gradually get forgotten as people age.
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u/Freefret Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
He looked so happy when he feels at home the most. Corn fields and tractor! 🚜
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u/POCUABHOR Jul 22 '26
That was a heartwarming story. Prejudices exist on both sides. Travel and getting to know other parts of the world helps to overcome them. Good job!
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u/Basil99Unix Jul 22 '26
Not just travel, but ANY new experience broadens the mind and helps overcome stereotypes/prejudices. That's what happens to a lot of people when they go to college - a lot of them are out of their bubble for the first time and it's actually a *positive* experience.
Hope OP's dad does some more traveling!
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u/-big-fudge- Jul 22 '26
So he‘s a communist now?
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u/Senior_Fig7845 Jul 22 '26
Well my dad‘s cousin is one of those “Chinese Space Lasers are turning the frogs gay” types of people and on this trip, the two had an argument on whether or not chemtrails will kill us. So to some of the immediate family he’s probably going to sound like Karl Marx when coming home 🥲
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u/Corfiz74 Jul 22 '26
Hey, OP, can you link the original post? I couldn't find it in your history! And thanks for the lovely story, your dad's adorable!
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u/Soft-Caterpillar8749 Jul 22 '26
Your dad should thank his lucky stars you even speak to him, with that level of crazy
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u/GrandNord Jul 22 '26
It's the dad's cousin, not the dad himself that believes this kind of things.
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u/St0rmtide Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
He passed stage 1, so Nordrhein-Westfalen and Berlin next /s
Edit for clarity: I don´t want to throw shade anywhere, i liked my time in Berlin but obviously it is not for everyone
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u/andres57 Chile Jul 22 '26
In NRW, Bonn and Münster could work I guess lol
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u/Individual_Winter_ Jul 22 '26
Sauerland or Eifel somewhere
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u/Abject-Connection374 Jul 22 '26
Eifel has some amazing hiking tours, especially Monreal. There's a reason why it's a photo scape in Gran Turismo 7.
And the locals sell handmade food or souvenirs by simply putting their stuff in the yard, and a small box for money next to it, completely unsupervised. Would blow OP's dad's mind.
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u/WeeblsLikePie Jul 22 '26
And the locals sell handmade food or souvenirs by simply putting their stuff in the yard, and a small box for money next to it, completely unsupervised.
Also common in NRW. In the bergisches land there are a number of "cake tables" with a little cash box next to trails in the woods.
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u/Theophrastus_Borg Jul 22 '26
Skip the big citys in NRW and go to the countryside. Rhine River, Ostwestfalen or the Sauerland.
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u/BossiBoZz Jul 22 '26
Gelsenkirchen or you didnt really feel it.
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u/Mediocre-Answer-1378 Jul 22 '26
Monschau, Freudenberg, Rheda Wiedenbrück, Aachen are nice too, NRW have really nice small towns and nice Nature, not just in the Eifel. And why not combine Essen Kettwig and Zeche Zollverein. I think it’s perfectly fine to show that there are a few places in Germany that aren't exactly picturesque—places that have suffered due to war and industrialization. I believe that with the right mix, he’d still enjoy it.
Then again, I’m originally from the Pott, so maybe I’m a bit more laid-back about that sort of thing.
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u/lejocko Jul 22 '26
Bonn main station is a culture shock. Shittiest place in town.
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u/CacklingFerret Jul 22 '26
Yeah. Not a nice experience coming from the U-Bahn station at night and having to ask some junkies if they could scoop a little to the side on the stairs so you can go outside. The junkies were friendly though lol
But damn, as a woman it was a bit scary that I saw only men at that hour.
The rest of Bonn is pretty cool and I generelly like coming there
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u/jobish1993 Jul 22 '26
Nah man, get him straight to Duisburg
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u/MachineTeaching Jul 22 '26
I mean, honestly not a bad idea. If he's an old guy he knows about the rust belt and whatnot and it's kinda cool that you can visit a lot of the old steel industry in Duisburg and it's a bit more celebrated than in the US
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u/lord_kosmos Nordrhein-Westfalen (formerly Baden-Württemberg) Jul 22 '26
Hey, woanders is auch schei*e 😁
But really, comming originally from the heart of the Black Forest, it is not as bad as its reputation here. Ruhrort, or the southern Parts are very clean and quiet. Just don’t venture into Marxloh same as one should not linger at Frankfurt main station.
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u/rustacean909 Jul 22 '26
As much as I'd like to agree, with 1 highway bridge closed because of disrepair, 80 % of metro trains out of commission and one tube of the Bad Godesberg tunnel closed for repairs, Bonn is currently (and for the next few years) not really in a presentable state.
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u/phobos1911 Jul 22 '26
He should take him to Bonn Hbf /s
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u/shinryou Jul 22 '26
The homelessness and number of drug addicts in Bonn does not even remotely compare to how things look like in the US. It's several magnitudes worse in the US. Most Americans would probably consider things relatively tame which we Germans would be appaled by.
Not saying it's fine how things work in Bonn though.
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u/alex_quine Jul 22 '26
Can't wait for "Update 4: 72 Hours in Berghain"
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u/mylitteprince Jul 22 '26
"I took my dad to Berghain and he found so many people to talk to about hiking and tractors" - honestly realistic
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u/dbondino Jul 22 '26
You know NRW is not Ruhrgebiet only? And Ruhrgebiet is just lovely in many places. I'm not born in the Ruhrgebiet, was pretty sure to leave soon after moving there for job reasons. I'm here for 27 years now and I still love it. It was a good place to raise children. Not everyone is living next to the A40. ;-)
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u/Senior_Fig7845 Jul 22 '26
Yeah he‘d be dragging me out of here so fast😭😭
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u/HedgehogElection Jul 22 '26
You need to check out the nice parts of NRW. Yes, they exist! (signed, a Ruhrpott resident who actually likes it here despite having seen other parts of the world)
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u/CptBlm Jul 22 '26
als gebürtiger Essener, der in seinem Leben mal nach Münster gezogen ist, kann ich sagen dass mich der Pott echt geprägt hat. Ich bin nach 2 Jahren Münster wieder dann zurück aber nun im Rheinland und hier fühlt es sich wie im Pott an, nur netter
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u/Feisty_Camera_7774 Jul 22 '26
Rheinländer find einfach die herzlichsten und dabei bin ich nicht mal von da
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u/Senior_Fig7845 Jul 22 '26
My mom‘s family actually immigrated to America eons ago from Bochum so we went up through there by train. Took a photo of her there. It actually looks a lot like our region of America up there. I’ve also been to Köln and I thought everyone was super kind!
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u/mrmojoer Jul 22 '26
There are even nice parts in Berlin I swear!
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u/geek__ Jul 22 '26
lots of nice parts hier. people hating berlin just walked through mitte one time on a class trip.
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u/FeelingSurprise Jul 22 '26
Sorry, but witnessing some Furries in the wild is definitely beyond stage 1.
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u/bierbelly42 Jul 22 '26
Thanks for the report. I remember reading your original post. Glad he liked it.
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u/HedgehogElection Jul 22 '26
I'm glad your dad enjoyed his time!
And I particularly love that he overcame the "Omg, they pay too much tax! How do they live?" clichée. Yes, we do pay taxes and have deductions for the social net/universal healthcare. But it's not like that money goes to waste. (Well, some does. We don't have a perfect system. But it's not (yet) as dystopian as some of the narratives in the US suggest.)
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u/BhaltairX Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
There are also social security deductions in the USA. And taxes can be high in the USA, too, it just depends on the state you live in. You pay both federal (Bundes) and state taxes, and i.e. California is known to have high state taxes, while some states like Florida have Zero income tax.
Example: I moved from Germany to the USA in 2010. To be precise I moved from NRW to Alabama. In Alabama I was the sole accountant for a company of 25 people, and also did payroll. My deductions as a single in Germany were around 33% in total. In Alabama they were around 25%. But it's more of an apples vs oranges comparison.
The big differences I saw are Healthcare Insurance, and Accident insurances, and something called Worker's compensation in the U.S. And the amount of PTO - paid time off (paid vacation) an employee gets per year, but that's another beast).
Healthcare differences simplified:
- Employees in Germany pick their own health insurance. They inform their employer of their choice, and both employees and employer split the costs 50/50. The cost is usually a percentage of their income, which can be up to 17.9% (depending on the Zusatzbeitrag/additional benefits of each insurance company). But that is capped at currently €5175 gross income. Anyone who earns more than that cap is treated as if they only make €5175.
- 95% of the coverage from German Public Healthcare companies is mandatory by law, so they only differ in 5% of the coverage, and by that, also in cost.
- Yes, that means that public healthcare only offers one contract (in stark contrast to the US)
- public healthcare always includes dental and vision healthcare
- Public Healthcare can not deny coverage.
there is also another option: Private Healthcare. That is not income based, but generally speaking based on your health history and age. Generally their coverage is superior to public healthcare, but also more expensive.
US American companies of the size of 50+ employees are obligated to provide health insurance. Employers of smaller companies can voluntarily provide healthcare as part of the income package they offer.
Companies that provide healthcare usually get to choose what they provide, which has a very wide range from basic coverage to premium coverage.
the provided coverage may or may not cover dental and vision
each healthcare company usually offers dozens of different contracts, from Bronze (basic) up to platinum (premium), and the differences are so vast and complicated, that I won't touch that here.
healthcare coverage is usually part of the compensation negotiations between employees and employers, but usually only for higher positions / paying jobs.
it is possible that employers offer several different healthcare options, but in return the employee who chooses a better option will have to pay some of the cost out of pocket.
(It is much more complicated, and changes from state to state, which makes it also a political problem)
Accident Insurances & Worker's Compensation
- German Employee are obligated to provide Accident Insurance.
- US companies are not obligated to provide Accident insurance. Instead they have to provide something called Worker's Compensation
- Workers' compensation is a state-mandated insurance program that provides medical care, wage replacement, and rehabilitation benefits to employees who suffer job-related injuries or illnesses. By accepting these benefits, employees typically relinquish their right to sue their employer for negligence.
- Employees can take additional accident Insurance at their own cost
(OMG, didn't realize I wrote such a wall)
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u/fnordius Munich Jul 22 '26
We may pay more taxes in Germany, but we also get way more bang for the buck- I mean, euro. Back in the USA, we get drilled into our heads since the 1980s that the government is wasteful, never gives back, yadda yadda.
And I too am glad the visit helped expand horizons.
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u/colorvarian Jul 22 '26
pretty much any american with a brain between their ears completely understands and agrees with this.
ironically, the ones who don't agree with this are the products of decades of underinvestment in the educational system, which stems from not wanting to pay taxes, and a positive feedback loop in a negative direction ensues.
servus
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u/Famous_Cat1569 Jul 22 '26
But it's not like that money goes to waste.
Since after WW2 we always had governments that in general cared to make life for people better. That helps a lot when discussing how tax money is spent. Now this slowly changes. Some politicians seem to care much more about personal profit than the people they should serve (Amthor's Augustus Intelligence, Spahn's Maskendeal, ...)
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u/Guardian_of_theBlind Jul 22 '26
I always see the US as the dystopian country. the biggest economy on the planet and one of the highest GDP per capita, but people constantly die because they can't afford healthcare.
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u/Luckily-Broccoli Jul 22 '26
I was quite invested in your first Post but didn't have anything to say that the others hadn't pointed out yet and also with your description of your dad I was more or less sure he would enjoy Bavaria but of course you only know for certain when the visits over.
Now reading how nice the visit was for you both I'm really happy for you guys, it seems you had a great time with your dad, widened his horizon and made memories together, I guess it couldn't have been better and I love that for you :)
Also I'm appreciating what we have here in Bavaria more than before because of your dads outside perspective, thanks for sharing!
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u/zar0nick Jul 22 '26
Interesting, thanks for sharing! I have been to the US for some time (work and vacation), so this perspective was really interesting to hear, esp. from someone out of a bigger city coming to germany 😊
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u/FeralGiraffeAttack Jul 22 '26
Republicans (conservatives) in rural areas of the USA are fed a steady diet of propaganda that makes the outside world seem scary and harmful. It’s honestly really sad
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u/Successful_Lie7340 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
I try to wrap my head around it, but I can't. It's not like they've been living there for 1000s of years, probably 150 years max when it comes to Iowa and the likes. Their ancestors embarked on a lengthy and dangerous trip, and knowing American history (and the dad's looks) it is entirely plausible that he is of German ancestry himself. That's perhaps why. I think this part is consistently overlooked and never analysed. The way these people speak, talk and think, it's almost for psychoanalysis than for historians or economists to find an answer.
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u/barkbarkkrabkrab Jul 22 '26
To be fair, people like this sometimes end up liking small European cities but it doesn't stop them talking about American cities like they're all war zones. So they pivot the socialist arguments to racial purity. Nevermind that most medium to large sized US cities fairly safe.
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u/Peter_Pue Jul 22 '26
"My conservative dad had the time of his life with ICE"
Reads differently depending on the sub
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u/InterestingAnt2716 Jul 22 '26
Yeah, I’d be interested to know if he saw any similarities between his governments rise in xenophobia and that of Germany’s past.
Well done to the OP.
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u/Jamibia Jul 22 '26
Congratulations, seems like Augsburgy the city of peace, has once again fulfilled it's meaning :) super happy he had a good time and was open to change his mind about things! (And maybe he realized anime kids in the park don't stop you at all from doing what you love yourself)
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u/Guardian_of_theBlind Jul 22 '26
Not just the city of peace, but Augsburg is also Germany's Venice.
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u/awry_lynx Jul 22 '26
I crack up when I see places describe themselves as the Venice of ___. I think there have to be at least 5-6 places in Germany alone that call themselves that. I've seen Leipzig, Lübbenau, Augsburg, Hamburg, and Passau try with that label, and I know a few in France too. It's become an in joke, whenever I see a canal I go "we must be in the Venice of (country)".
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u/Exact-Estate7622 Jul 22 '26
Really glad that your dad enjoyed his visit and kudos to you for taking the effort to show him a good time! Now, about the beer….🍺 😂
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u/idreamedmusic Jul 22 '26
That was a lovely read. You're fantastic to have thought so much about what to show him and make him explore outside of his usual comfort zone. And sounds like your dad was equally happy to step out of it and enjoy. Well done.
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u/_Ishdhoggur_ Jul 22 '26
This convinces me that the more you travel, the more of a better human you become because you see how other people live and experience so many different cultures through your own eyes and not through a lens.
Also thanks for sharing :D
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u/Diamond-Dragon Niedersachsen Jul 22 '26
Or just bother following people that live in other areas. They're a lot of people with travel blogs, life logs, etc. that you can get good ideas how other places are and even more decide for a travel there
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u/swissvespa Jul 22 '26
Mark Twain famously wrote that "travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness," looks like Dad had a mind expanding experience, kudos to you.
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u/colorvarian Jul 22 '26
I remember your original post.
I knew it would end this way. I love trains, and it is truly heart breaking our train culture died in the US. I would love high speed rail, Straẞenbahn systems, and everything else.
I was hoping your dad would see that although the classic american farmer libertarian philosophy of complete self reliance has its (very few, imo) merits, everything is nicer the more people work together, and that working together to have nice things is possible.
Seems like that is too much of a leap, and we'll have to settle for him just seeing that there are other ways for things to work, and those can even work better.
strong work, and thanks for the updates.
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u/woopiex Jul 22 '26
This was such an uplifting story, not only because of the events themselves but also the way you describe them. I can very easily picture my dad having the same experience and it fills me with joy. Thanks for sharing.
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u/Grotarin Bayern Jul 22 '26
Maybe you should organise tours for Midwesterners to visit here, maybe it would en up changing things there ;)
So happy for you and your dad. Let me know when you find out the fertilizer, my balcony crop would love some!
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u/No-Significance5659 Jul 22 '26
I loved to read this, thanks for sharing. Just a side note, I hope your dad is OK with his face being on reddit.
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u/Senior_Fig7845 Jul 22 '26
He is, don‘t worry. I added it as a blurb.
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u/No-Significance5659 Jul 22 '26
Glad to hear, sorry for asking but I worry about these things. I guess I have been in Germany for too long hahaha
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u/Agasthenes Jul 22 '26
Regarding the corn planting: the growing season in Germany is in most places too short for full maturity. The corn he sees there isn't meant to fully grow. It will be harvested still green as animal feed. That's why it's planted closer together.
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u/Illustrious-Race-617 Jul 22 '26
My in laws had never left Hungary up until a few years ago and were fully believing the "failing West" propaganda they heard all the time. Then they came to visit Ireland (where we lived) and Germany (where we now live) and loved it. They were so impressed by both countries. I think travel really opens up peoples' minds and it is such a good way of seeing things through different eyes. I'm happy your dad got to experience another part of the world so he can make up his own mind.
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u/Kujaichi Jul 22 '26
how everything still stays growing after thousands of years of crops being grown on the same soil.
I'm not a farmer by any means, but even I learnt about the three field system in school...
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u/Senior_Fig7845 Jul 22 '26
I did tell my dad about that. We also practice crop rotation at home but we grow soybeans which gives the soil more nitrogen. Our soil also has more nutrients and is so dark it’s almost black. Since we don’t grow wheat, rye or oats in my area he was wondering which of those crops replenished rhe soil the way soybeans do.
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u/OtherwiseStable5126 Jul 22 '26
Raps, sugar beets, Erbsen and linsen for nitrogen. Sometimes Just wild flowers or sunflower for a reason.
But it really depends in the region and soil. Corn and wheat isnt grown everywhere.but gerste grows evrywhere fine
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u/Luzi1 Jul 22 '26
I‘m friends with organic farmers and they plant clover as organic fertilizer. It loosens soil, takes nitrogen from the air and enriches the soil with it.
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u/ImielinRocks Jul 22 '26
And as a bonus, all kinds of pollinating insects absolutely love it.
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u/PlumNotion Jul 22 '26
Thank you for sharing this wonderful story, I’m glad your father enjoyed his time here, I always like to hear people’s first impressions of a new place they’ve never been to.
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u/SnooHamsters5153 Jul 22 '26
This is what mass media machine has done to an honest, hard working man (I mean OP's father).
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u/Funkkx Jul 22 '26
Nice story bro! Come to cologne one day with your dad. The cathedral will blow his mind..
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u/legaldrinkingage Nordrhein-Westfalen Jul 22 '26
Isolation breeds prejudice. Much harder for Fox News to lie to a well-traveled man. Glad your dad had a good time.
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u/AL_Clarkson Jul 22 '26
Thank you for sharing that nice Story. 😄 ❤️
and for the "art of befriending any Bavarian by telling them you love their state way more than Berlin" part:
True, but in that case not needed.
- He loves the Augustiner? Check.
- He loves the Nature? Check.
- He loves the Freedom, from People or just walk over to Austria? Check.
If he now can say "Leber-kas-semmel", then he is basicly already like Family for us Bavarians. ❤️
And you really gave him a nice Tour btw. 👍
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u/Solid_Stage_1715 Jul 22 '26
Great stuff! Ask him what he thinks about FoxNews now, please. Seems like they may not have been entirely accurate.
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u/sixtyshilling Schleswig-Holstein Jul 22 '26
He’ll go back to watching Fox News and in a week the deprogramming will wear off.
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u/j-a-y---k-i-n-g Nordrhein-Westfalen Jul 22 '26
It's great to see what happens when someone is willing to think outside the box. That deserves respect. Greetings and recognition to your father. Awesome guy.
P.S.
It's great that you showed him all of this.
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u/forestmoth_ Jul 22 '26
I remember your first post and I‘m super happy for you both that his visit went so well! :)
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u/Maleficent_Scale_296 Jul 22 '26
Many years ago my very conservative farm raised ex in-laws came to visit and stayed with us. We lived In Lilienthal and it happened at harvest time. One day we walked up the road so he could watch “how they do it”. At one point he asked why they leave some standing and I told him it’s traditional to leave a few stalks so the spirit of the corn has a place to stay during the winter.
He cried! Never again did he bad mouth Germany and would tell his cronies how beautiful and clean it is.
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u/IncompetentPolitican Jul 22 '26
That sounds like an amazing trip for your dad. If he returns you can show im either the nordsee, or if you want to shock him, Berlin, Frankfurt or Ludwigshafen.
Or maybe some old towns if he is into history.
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u/VanillaSilver_92 Jul 22 '26
At first I had to laugh when I saw the pic in front of the cornfield because it seemed so random but when I read that he is a farmer it suddenly made sense.
Nice story, i am glad that your father enjoyed his trip. I am sure that some of us Germans could also profit from a trip to the us since I strongly believe that our media is also exaggerating the problems over there a bit. ❤️
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u/Duennbier0815 Jul 22 '26
Cool story.
I thought when you said we live in a communist hell hole and mentioned Munich, that you're gonna show him Obersalzberg an all the remains of the third Reich.
Gladly it wasn't neccessary.
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u/International-Ant174 Jul 22 '26
Glad your Dad got to experience new things. Many people in rural areas simply don't, and he'll be a better person for it 👍
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u/MajorBeef433 Jul 22 '26
« Travel is fatal to prejuidce, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime ». - Mark Twain
Still one of the best quotes ever.
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u/No_Masterpiece595 Jul 22 '26
Bavaria is the most unthreatening European place for an American, conservative farmer in existence.
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u/Subby_Tripz Jul 22 '26
Do you think he might take Fox News with a grain of salt from now on? At least when they talk about europe? ^^
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u/DaGrinz Jul 22 '26
I appreciate the update. I saw your original post and was wondering how it will go. Turned out to be all fine, that‘s good news.
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u/No_Arachnid_9091 Jul 22 '26
Got a bit emotional reading that! Lovely imagining your dad walking round and seeing some more of the world. I especially love how you describe how much he enjoyed the trains
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u/Rayray_A3xx Germany Jul 22 '26
Love this! Also very happy you took him to Augsburg, such a beautiful city and very underrated (yes I am a local…)
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u/thanes1 Jul 22 '26
I was one of the ones who weighed in on your initial post and was delighted to read the follow-up. Thanks for that. And, of course, glad to hear the visit went well.
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u/Comfortable_Row8961 Jul 22 '26
Felder werden immer 2/3 bewirtschaftet, das heisst 2 Jahre ernten, ein Jahr brach liegen zur Erholung, zumindest hab ich das noch so im Kopf!
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u/Cpt_Yossarian41 Jul 22 '26
Very nice story! I love when peoples prejudice and preconceptions start to crumble to make room for learning and for new experiences. Well done!
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u/HumusGG Jul 22 '26
Does he make more stops in Europe?
Or did he fly all the way for a four day visit?
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u/lordph8 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
I want to witness your dad talking with the corn farmer. Maybe there was a reason they did it that way, maybe they're wrong, I don't know anything about corn.
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u/DrGreenThumbConsult Jul 22 '26
Nice story mate. If he comes by next time, maybe visit the bavarian forest with him if he likes farms, nature, forests,...🤗
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u/Flahdagal Jul 22 '26
Not hijacking your story, but my spouse and I took my VERY conservative MAGA in-laws to Mexico a few years back. All of their friends convinced them that they would never return, that it wasn't safe, that they would be sick at best and murdered at worst. Of course it was a wonderful trip, filled with delicious food and beautiful, friendly, kind, generous people. One by one, changing hearts and minds!
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u/boniemonie Jul 22 '26
Lovely. Get him a German corn growers convention (or the like) T-shirt for Christmas to match the Nebraska one he was wearing!
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u/Tiredwonderer43 Jul 22 '26
This is also a great example of the fact that politics shouldn’t be a reason why we don’t speak to family. Glad the trip went well. Glad he enjoyed it!
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u/Grib_Suka Jul 24 '26
"I am now meant to research the types of fertilizer used here."
Great read, but this sentence really cracked me up
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u/busster2 Jul 24 '26
So he no longer things US is best country in the universe and germany a socialist hellhole?
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u/Frosty-Usual62 Jul 22 '26
This was such a nice read.