HEINRICH HEINE ON THE GERMANS

"The greatest virtue of the Germans is a certain loyalty, a certain, thick-headed, but movingly generous loyalty. The German fights for the worst causes, once he has accepted the 'King’s shilling', or whenever he has promised his support in a moment of enthusiasm; he fights with a breaking heart, but he fights; no matter how his better conviction may grumble in his heart, he cannot simply desert the banner, and he is least likely of all to desert it when his party is in danger or perhaps surrounded by superior numbers of enemy…   

"There is also a certain shame in the nature of the Germans; he will will never draw his sword against a weaker adversary, and he will never touch an enemy who has been brought down, until that same enemy loosens his bonds and is free to fight once again…  

"The Germans are the bravest people. Other people fight well, too, but their fighting spirit is always supported by accessory causes. The French fight well whenever they have a big audience, or whenever it's a question of any of their pet hobby-horses, for example, Liberty and Equality, Glory and the like…

"But the Germans are brave without thinking about anything else, they fight just to fight, just as they drink just to drink. The German soldier is not driven into battle by vanity, or desire for glory, or an unawareness of the danger that awaits him in battle; he stands calmly in line and does his duty; cold, unafraid, reliable.. "  

Heinrich Heine, Über den Denunzianten, 1837
(translation: C. Porter)

Note: Heine was a German Jewish poet and socialist who hated the Germans, went into exile. and spent most of his life in France; but this is what he feels compelled to say about the Germans!