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This has several reasons, I think. - Modern Germans don't really see themselves as descendants of those Germans, in the German language both are named differen

This has several reasons, I think. - Modern Germans don't really see themselves as descendants of those Germans, in the German language both are named differently. Modern Germans are 'Deutsche' - ancient Germans are 'Germanen'. English does not make this distinction. There are more annoying confusions like this, for example, the Germanic tribe of the Saxons has nothing to do with the modern state of Saxony, as the ancestors of modern Saxons spoke a different dialect. There are several breaks like this in between modern Germany and Germanic tribes which are masked by nomenclature. - German (Deutsche) Catholics distanced themselves from the 'barbaric', non-Christian Germanic tribes. - As usual, the Nazis ruined it. The battle was sometimes used for propaganda reasons by the Nazis, replacing Romans with Jews. Modern Nazis are also using it for their own purposes (replacing Romans with immigrants and the US) Edit: the battle itself isn't silenced or anything, I do remember quite a few events when the 2000 year anniversary happened, including the cover of the SPIEGEL having it (IIRC?)

pm90 9y ago
Very interesting. So are the modern Germans descendents of the 'barbaric' ones? Is the distinction made only for separating the earlier pagans from the Christianized tribes? And is the distancing only for religious, or for cultural reasons as well? I mean, were the modern Germans really more 'civilized' (whatever that means) than the barbaric ones, or is it just propaganda?
- usrusr 9y ago
  The distinction is strongly related to the habit of claiming Charlemagne as the founding myth. Makes a lot more sense as a precursor of the EU, but in the fast-forward way history is taught at school, this is usually the point where the wording shifts from "tribes who lived in the same geographic area" to "a precursor state". People who want to identify with victory over Romans to fuel a nationalistic mindset won't stop at Arminius, they also claim the legacy of various gothic etc tribes who troubled and/or continued thedying western empire.

pm90 9y ago

Very interesting. So are the modern Germans descendents of the 'barbaric' ones? Is the distinction made only for separating the earlier pagans from the Christianized tribes? And is the distancing only for religious, or for cultural reasons as well? I mean, were the modern Germans really more 'civilized' (whatever that means) than the barbaric ones, or is it just propaganda?

usrusr 9y ago
The distinction is strongly related to the habit of claiming Charlemagne as the founding myth. Makes a lot more sense as a precursor of the EU, but in the fast-forward way history is taught at school, this is usually the point where the wording shifts from "tribes who lived in the same geographic area" to "a precursor state". People who want to identify with victory over Romans to fuel a nationalistic mindset won't stop at Arminius, they also claim the legacy of various gothic etc tribes who troubled and/or continued thedying western empire.