Germans do have humor. It is actually not that different from English humor in style.
The idea that Germans have no humor comes from a number of reasons. To understand a foreign joke, you need a thorough grasp of that language. And this applies to any foreign language - I could not understand e.g. a French joke, but I would not deny that they most likely love humor, too.
Then, most English or American peoples impression of Germans stem from times of war or shortly after - only a small minority bothered to update their views later. During the war, allied propaganda had obviously different goals than promote German humor or Germans as funny people. And people in the early years of post-war Germany had not much to laugh about in life, their prime job was to survive in less than funny circumstances.
You wanna hear a good German joke? Here it goes: Ein Mann kommt zum ersten Mal in den Knast, er als kleiner Wirtschafts Verbrecher zwischen den ganzen harten Langstraflern. Erster Tag in der Dusche, ein riesiger, nackter Kerl kommt auf ihn zu, behaart wie ein Gorilla und ein riesen Dödel. “Du bist jetzt meine neue Freundin. Mit Spucke oder ohne?” Der Neue, verzweifelt, wimmerte “Wenn’s den sein muß, mit…” Der Gorilla brüllt nach hinten “Ey, Spucke, du bist auch mit dabei.”
Exakt daher kommt der Spitzname, meine Tochter war 5 oder 6, hat Anlauf genommen und mit BEIDEN FÜSSEN in meine Weichteile, da lief mir der sagrotan! Eine Woche seltsam sitzen.
Being german, I’ve already heard this joke a thousand times, but it’s so true that it makes me laugh every time. I think many germans are big on sarcasm, where arguably the main part of the joke is the complete seriousness of whoever makes the joke.
For me, German humour is at its best when it's using subtitles in the German language - not really through puns, but by using language to highlight contradictions and absurdities. Obviously, this humour does not translate well at all.
After learning German and re-reading some Kafka stories I was struck by how stories I had read as somewhat somber in English were actually full of a weird sense of humour in the original German. It's still absurd and unsettling, but somehow Kafka is also funny.
I believe German comedians have to complete a Bewerbungsformularfürakzeptablenhumor before every show and every audience member must complete a Formularzurhaftungsfreistellungfürhumor and hand in to the comedian before the show can begin at the precise time stated as detailed in the Regierungsgesetzüberhumor in Deutschsprachigenortenindeutschland
That would be “Scherzereibewerbungsformular” nowadays. The old Bewerbungsformularfürakzeptablenhumor was abolished in August 2020, along with the Clownpolizei.
If a Sherzereibewerbungsformular is approved, you get a Scherzereigenehmigung for the next 30 days, starting at the next non-holiday calendar day, good for 1x (one) Scherz per day. If you exceed that quota, you have to pay a fine to the Humorüberwachungsamt (HUA) or face jail time. Professional Scherzemacher and Sprücheklopfer are exempt from this and may get a Witzelei-Lizenz for up to one year at a time, but you need an official Dummfugdiplom for that.
Because a lot of German humor is pun based and when the translated into English, the joke doesn’t land and so the English started this farce that the Germans ain’t funny
Germans are plenty funny, the English are the problem
The Germans? Jealous isn’t the right word, but I do enjoy it. I like the joke about the vampire on the Tandem bike.
The English? Ahahaha hell no, but the pathetic englishman is a funny character for sure. The English lost their knack for comedy some decades ago and many of the modern ones are kinda just relying on shock humor that isn’t really funny and kinda just makes em seem like bigoted geriatrics yearning for glory days when they were relevant.
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