AIBU to advise anyone who is ever rude to stay out of Germany?

[Zebrasarecooler]

I've just come across a German law which says that if you insult someone and they report you you'll be prosecuted. Punishment is up to one year in prison, or up to two years if you insulted the person in public or in a group setting. Or a fine.
In case people think that this only applies to really serious insults, here's some advice from a German law firm:

Examples of criminal insults:

VERBAL INSULTS:
Calling someone an ‘arsehole’, ‘idiot’, ‘slut’ or ‘scumbag’.
A member of the public calls a police officer on duty a ‘cop scum’.
An employee calls their line manager a ‘loser’ during a meeting.

GESTURES AND ACTIONS:
Giving the middle finger whilst driving.
Making an obscene gesture during an altercation.
Spitting at someone’s feet.

INSULTS ONLINE:
Defamatory comments on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
Sharing defamatory memes or caricatures.
Insults in WhatsApp groups.

Section 185 of the German Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch or StGB) defines and penalizes the criminal offence of Insult (Beleidigung). It protects a person's honor and dignity from verbal attacks, written defamation, or offensive gestures.

This goes to what @ALittleDropOfRain said about her DH, doesn't it. Apparently a German's personal honour is important, protected - and, apparently, rather fragile compared to a Briton's.

We must all look like dishonourable twats to them 😂 I'd prefer to think we see our dignity as (almost) inviolable. Plus, of course, we're argumentative dickheads.

I live in Berlin.
And my neighbour is a lady who is retired. She has a heart of gold, but has always lived alone, gets very bothered by noise, has strong opinions, is a bit quirky and tends to get carried away...

About 12 years ago the police were dealing with a VERY drunk British tourist. Drunk to the point of needing hospitalisation or he would probably die (normally drunk people get left alone by the police just in case it needs spelling out!). The whole process took place just under her and our apartments, and was loud (the tourist was regaining consciousness intermittently and yelling), involved lots of police and ambulance people and lasted a couple of hours before the guy was finally taken off to hospital.
At one point my neighbour went onto her balcony, yelled down to the police about why were they taking so long and being so loud? They yelled back at her that they were doing their best, and SHE yelled back at them that a herd of blind oxen could do a better job than they could (!)
When they were done with the drunk guy. they came storming up the stairs to her place. They were furious with her and I don't really blame them. After all, you've been trying to save someone's life, and this is how you get treated?
Anyway, she ended up with a €500 fine for insulting government officials.

That's the only case I know of for someone actually getting fined for this sort of thing.

The law is not used indiscriminately. There's another guy who lives close by who is clearly very mentally unwell. He has housing provided for him, which he has partially destroyed. He spends his days walking around the neighbourhood yelling racial slurs, insulting everyone loudly, disrupting traffic, and so on. People sometimes call the police on him, and it invariably ends up with the police telling the people to leave him alone, that he can't help it. He certainly doesn't get charged with anything.

The funny thing about my neighbour:
We live in walking distance of some major law courts, and one of her newish hobbies is to go and observe legal trials, particularly of cases that made the news. I was horrified the other day to hear her say the other day that she sometimes yells out in court insulting the legal defense, the accused, or the judgement just made. She hasn't got in legal trouble for it YET, but I'm awaiting the day...

I can see the appeal - but think for a moment of all the pissed-off, resentful shop assistants you've dealt with. They'd love this law, and take full advantage of it to ignore customers entirely!

I have definitely stood in front of shop assistants on the phone to their mates/mums, letting my face express my feelings.

Perhaps we could fund holidays to Germany for Reform voters. Should see a few of 'em off.

...but that word Beamtenbeleidigung is SO much better 😅 gotta love a Deutsch kofferwörter

They’d be around like a shot if you put it on Facebook or Twitter.

Very useful feature of the German language especially when you have to stick to a tight word count limit.

Having lived there for a long time before moving back, I have never known anyone to get in trouble for it. 🤷‍♀️ I actually wish they were a bit less lenient with some.of the unruly stag parties from.abrpad at times, though!

The football terraces are much nicer though, and i never hesitated to take DD to St Pauli, whereas I would some of the clubs here.

Michael Gove is not known to visit Germany, so he won’t end up in prison there.

Some of these I like!

TBF if you arrive at UK Border even before you get anywhere near any Border staff or e-gates there are often umpteen notices plastered around warning passengers about their behaviour when dealing with officials.

You can also end up in a heap of poo if you go off on one when dealing with French officials.

I'm not sure the German approach is that odd or that much of an outlier.

Yet on holiday, they can't and don't queue. Part of their holiday, must be the pleasure of behaving as far away from being respectful and polite, as possible, like a holiday from their country's norms.

I've done all these things 🤣🤣

Haha. Depends on how much she is prepared to pay for her new hobby, doesn't it? I've heard a middle finger costs ~€100.
Might be worth it to some...? 🙂

I'm guilty of the middle finger while driving....

Yes I have an expressive face.

I joke mine comes with subtitles as I don’t even have to speak half the time but people know what I’m thinking 🫣😂

The comment is the crime if the person takes it as offensive.

Sounds bliss.

🤣🤣🤣

If she was insulting you did you call the police?

So everyone walks around with their rage bottled up because they can’t even stick the finger up at someone who is being a twat? Fuck that!

I think Germany might not be the country for you! 😆

I wish we had the German law here. It's not normal to be hurling insults at people.

As regards the one protecting retail workers, I'd be fine with it if there was the same protection for customers.

How much rage do you walk around with? I think you need to find better ways to manage that!

No one swears in Germany because everything works.

I’m confused: I thought Germans had a reputation for being abrupt and direct, and speaking their minds, and found British politeness confusing: we had German au pairs in the 90s, and my mum used to brief them about this, saying how English is full of phrases such as “would you mind…”

Or have times changed? Am I missing something?

I think we’d get along famously 😂