So many Americans in Munich!

I think Americans migrate to Munich because it is what Americans believe all of Germany is like. Beer, pretzels etc. To me, it's also seems more condensed than Berlin, so while there may be as many Americans in Berlin, it's more spread out.

Honestly, it's probably my favorite "big German city" as it's pretty clean and the transport is both clean and fairly safe at least it feels safer than Berlin. Plus they're the whole WW2 angle and I met many Americans who had lived or been stationed in the area.

Jessica, one giveaway in Italy is that Italians will greet the shopkeeper as soon as they enter a store, and Americans don't. Although if you say "Buongiorno" or "Salve" they will know from your accent that you are not Italian, so there's that....

Also, most Europeans watch American movies and the movie stars are mostly Americans. Therefore, Jessica, you must look like a movie star.

A dead ringer for Margot Robbie I'm sure ;)

On the Americans easy to spot in Munich (and elsewhere) front, I saw a lot of a newer subset:

Plus-sized couples, crisp dressers, many hipster tattoos, millennial age group, cool hats. Very Portland Oregon looking.

Maybe just got lucky, but several times saw above or similar, all confirmed Yanks by voices.

So my experience, at Oktoberfest about 12 years ago, 3 couples sat a table near us and I determined by their clothes that they were Americans. Clean Levis, plaid shirts, if not Portland, Portland suburbs. I went over to them and I said I could tell they were Americans. They all laughed.
Couple #1: "We are from Austria."
Couple #2: "We are from Switzerland."
Couple #3: "And we live here in Munich."
So I guess I struck out on that one.

New friends though maybe, usually doesn't hurt to put yourself out there. Even when dead wrong ;).

Why are you sure they were Americans? Most Northern countries travellers for example speak a very accent free US version of English because they learn it by TV; their films are often not translated but only subtitled. And yes, they are so used to do it that they sometimes change in private groups to it; especially when they often use Engish in their jobs.

Even they are Americans, are they tourists? We have a lot of foreign students and workers here. Studying for nearly free is very attractive to young US people - and even Munich is an expensive city in Germany it is far cheaper than some of US cities. Also a lot of US companies discovered Germany as high productive country with lower loan levels than the US.

In the center areas of our large cities we see also a change to English language because Germans switch to English if one in the group does not speak German. And some of my younger co-citizens speak a very good English. I experienced that often in a huge company when 10-20 people switched to English in meetings because one attendee joined who was not speaking German.

And yes, with 5.4 million nights in 2022 US tourists are #3 of non-domestic tourists which is still below Corona level (~ 7m). Leaders of that lists are our Dutch neighbors - and the millions of camper overnights are not counted. ;-)

For the interested ones: here is an interactive map where international visitors stay most in Germany - you can choose by country of origin.

I'm with you MarkK. I live in Europe, too, and can't claim to be able to spot who's American unless
they are speaking louder than everyone else, doing shots and talking about buzz. Everyone is wearing clothes and shoes from Asia. A lot of the people who travel are fit. Meanwhile, locals are getting heavier. I suppose that in a place where people speak loudly and go to marinate themselves in beer, it would still be difficult to distinguish at first glance. For me, body language and facial expressions distinguish, but this difference is noted after I hear the language.
Per the above not saying hello when entering a shop, at least in France and Italy--might be a difficult gesture to acquire, but not greeting is rude. Nobody gets a pass on that faux pas.

Based on my visit this time to Munich in late June, spending close to a week , Munich was the city in Germany where I saw the most Americans, both those working/living there and obviously, the tourists. I would agree with that conclusion.

There are numerous ways one can spot out Americans, which doesn't mean you'll get a perfect score but , 80-85 percent of the time. The "obvious Americans" are obvious.

Why are you sure they were Americans? Most Northern countries
travellers for example speak a very accent free US version of English
because they learn it by TV; their films are often not translated but
only subtitled. And yes, they are so used to do it that they sometimes
change in private groups to it; especially when they often use Engish
in their jobs.

Nice try Mark, but I know what native American accents sounds like. Even among professional actors whose first language is non-American English I can often pick up artifacts of their first language English. The percentage of foreign speakers of English as a second language who live in Europe that could fool me into thinking they were native language speakers of American English is tiny. For sure less than 1%. These people I'm observing were with greater than 99% certainty North Americans.

Even they are Americans, are they tourists?

Of course not, as clearly stated in my original post - both tourists and expat types, into which I will roll students studying abroad, etc.

Regarding the Dutch though, I accord with your take there Mark, observed a heck of a lot of them in Germany too. Given that there are not so many Dutch people, some really large proportion of them must visit Germany frequently.

My experience of nationality ID is different. I am a US citizen. For the past 20 years of visits to Germany including this past summer, I am greeted in German. When I respond with my accented Deutsch or in English, I get amazed looks.

I have been ushered to the EU immigration line when flying into Kastrup in Copenhagen despite the fact that my husband beside me was not so mis-identified.

My visit to Norway this summer was quite funny. No one opened their mouth to greet me until I spoke (English) first. Finally one of the hotel desk personnel explained to me that some Norwegians are put out when greeted in English - which I can certainly understand. So when uncertain, it was often prudent to wait for the customer to speak first.

I have also been mistaken for French although I don't know how that mistake was made.

Ordtraveller me too, nearly always assumed European if I don't speak. 3/4 German heritage, tall, thin, stern-ish resting face. Even when I speak in English to non-native born locals who are also speaking English (like kebab shop guys) they'll often guess that I'm German (if outside Germany), Swedish sometimes, etc.

Some people look more stereotypically North American, but I'm not surmising Americans by looks, rather voices in English.

I'm 99.9% with Hank on this.

Germans DO speak very good English as a rule. But the only Germans I've ever met who could pass for American - not after a mere 3-4 words in a passport line, but in a natural conversation longer than 2-3 minutes - were those who had lived for some extended period in the USA and/or married Americans and thus managed to pick up the phonological skills typical of standard American English. Whether it's a misplaced glottal stop, an unvoiced final consonant that should be voiced, or a misplaced adverb, the northern Europeans that to MarkK may sound "accent-free" will reveal themselves as Dutch or Danish or whatever - or at least non-American - after a few sentences. It only takes ONE oddball deviation from standard to signal that English is the individual's second language.

One reason for this is that English is used so frequently in European business/school/government settings that it develops its own independent sound, rhythm, rules, etc., often influenced by the group's native language, and to the American ear becomes noticeable as German-English or Dutch-English, etc. But the Europeans USING this form of English see it as STANDARD.

This is all very normal. There is almost zero chance that any American will sound perfectly German. Only if they have lived there for many years during their youth or young adulthood during that period of brain-flexibility that enhances language learning can they expect to be taken for native-speaker. The same is true for Europeans speaking American English.

But there are European countries where the school kids start studying English very young. I was told it's in the second grade in Estonia, and it must be similar in Norway. It shows.

A lot of northern-European English-speakers can fool me during a brief, superficial conversation. After several minutes, I don't know how many I'd be able to eliminate from the presumed-native pool, but it wouldn't be 99%. I can't always distinguish between Americans and Canadians.

It seems that many of the young people most comfortable in English (and most ambitious) gravitate to the capital city, so your impression of the level of the overall English-speaking skill level will be different if you spend time in Warsaw vs. Lodz or Bialystok (just one example).

I am an American in Munich tonight and have been going through various cities here for the past two weeks. It’s my first trip to Europe, and II am originally from Texas but have a very Midwest non-accent to me” accent. Definitely not what you think of when you think Texas. I have been asked at least five or six times if I’m from the UK? Lol, not sure why. I am plus sized American female with my American husband who has a red beard and an American son. So many think we are English. Not sure why. Anyone who is American would definitely know we are American.

I love this post! Thank you, OP, for bringing up such an interesting observation. I have also seen a lot more Americans is Munichnvs Prague, Budapest,mVienna and Salzburg. I totally agree with you!

Well, without knowing Jessica, I will say one thing:

Europeans can always identify US tourists. We are bigger than Europeans.

Plus, for women, makeup styles are different. And often Europeans have different grooming practices.

Simple as that, really.

In terms of US tourists sounding German, I lived in Germany from age 5-10. This is the age of language acquisition. My German accent is OK, and often I can get 6-7 sentences in before the truth comes out. My main problem is that my vocabulary is limited.

Bbouma That's very interesting. I often get pegged as British too once people hear me speaking English.

Thanks for listing the places where you've seen a lot of Americans. I wouldn't have pegged Budapest to be on that list, very interesting to know. :)

My German vocabulary is really extensive after living here for 36 years, and I know all the slang, the Frankfurt pronunciation of words, and all the little phrases that Germans use daily, but I am never, ever mistaken for a German when I speak. Looks-wise, yes, I get asked for directions ALL the time by Germans. My grammar suffers from not ever going to a class, though it is often correct, so I am told. I will not ever speak perfectly. I have only met one German who could pass for an American. Bi-lingual kids/adults don't count. They can speak both perfectly with no accents. Have met a number of those, including my own.

Anyway, Germans do not know if you are American, British, Australian, New Zealander, etc. when you speak. Just like you probably do not know if they are from Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne, Munich, Austria or Switzerland. You don't know those accents and dialects, and they don't the English ones either unless they have visited those countries or have friends there. I get asked all the time if I am from the UK.