on German Culture

from Understanding Cultural Differences, by E. T. and M. R. Hall.
Chapter titled-- German Time: Precise Scheduling, Slow Pace

…
German time and German consciousness are steeped in the past. When they explain something, they often find it necessary to lay a proper foundation and as a result are apt to go back to Charlemagne. Such lengthy explanations make the average American impatient and drive the French crazy.

This anecdote illustrates the German obsession with detail and their preoccupation with the past:

Once upon a time, journalists from all over the world were asked to write a story about the elephant. The Frenchman wrote L’elephant et l’amour. The American wrote Thirty-seven Miracle Diets and the Modern Working Elephant. And the German wrote The Socio-Dynamic Nature and Fundamental Psychological Constitution of the Elephant: Volume 1, The Burmese Ceremonial Elephant, Chapter 1, “From Karl the Great to the Present.”