- BERLIN: Waving the national flag and being openly patriotic were taboo until very recently in Germany, but after six decades atoning for the crimes of the Nazis, Germans are no longer shy about calling themselves German, a new poll shows.
The EMNID poll, the first of its kind commissioned by the Lutheran Church magazine Chrismon for its October issue, asked 1,002 people whether they see themselves as world citizens, Europeans or Germans.
In a country where waving the red, yellow and black national flag has only become widespread again since the 2006 soccer World Cup held in Germany, 43 percent of those surveyed called themselves German, rising to 49 percent among those aged 14-29.
Only 17 percent classified themselves as European, at a time when many Germans are becoming increasingly skeptical about the cost of maintaining the common currency of 17 European Union nations, via bailouts for countries like Greece.
This percentage rose to 22 percent among 30- to 39-year-olds.
Only seven percent of participants considered themselves world citizens while the remaining 32 percent said they were inhabitants of either their province, city or village.
The group which most closely identified itself with its region were southern Germans. One in four Bavarians — who are notoriously proud of roots — gave their region top priority above their nationality or Europe.