Best hostess gifts to bring from US to Germany?

Nikki,

can you provide a bit more information? Are you invited for dinner? Are you staying overnight? What are the different ages, do they include kids?

I would ask the hostess if there is anything they need or want from the US that they can't get in Germany.

Is this family, friends, girls, boys, women or men, ages? It is hard to help with so little information. For gifts I usually suggest something that says "your state" or something very American, like Native American handicrafts which are extremely popular in Germany, coffee table books with American landscape photos, regional cookbooks if the giftee is an Engish reader (a set of measuring cups and spoons would have to go with it though!) Wine is something I would not bring to Europe, flowers are of course ok, but they die so quickly. If the family are gardeners, sometimes seeds for white corn or gourds or big pumpkins can be fun to give.

Flowers and wine are good hostess gifts. Maybe pack a couple of bottles of mid-Atlantic wines (which probably would be virtually impossible for her to find), you can then replace them in your luggage with something you want to bring home.

For last minute, flower shops in Germany have vending machines out front so you can pick up some for the hostess any time.

Sees candy has always been well recieved, but we are entering summer !!!

I put this question on my favourite German message board and got the following requests:

• special American treats like Oreos or Marshmellows

• fabric for quilting or other sewing project (that was a surprise to me as I don't sew but it came up several times because fabric is very expensive in Germany -> check with your hostess if this is applicable)

• brand name clothing e.g. Gap or Abercombie & Fitch (i.e. brands that are known in Europe but hard to get)

Actually the "check with your hostess if this is applicable" caveat applies to all "is hard to get here" items too.

Western Europe is a relatively prosperous and capitalistic region, so the reason mass produced things aren't available there is in most cases "there is no market for that to make imports profitable".
In plain English: not enough Europeans are willing to spent money for that product.

Some people might like and miss it, e.g. if they were exposed to it while being in America, but that is something you'll have to check.

The main exceptions are the different release dates for movies, TV series, video games, certain high-tech gadgets, etc, but even those aren't sure bets -- not every housewife is interested in the latest "Grand Theft Auto" release.

If someone brought me flowers from a vending machine, I would be a little peeved, they just are not that nice. As for quilting fabric? Unless they quilt, that is kind of useless, and fabric is not expensive in Germany. I do not think marshmellows are a gift item either. This is supposed to be a hostess gift, something really nice. Nikki really does need to get in contact with these people to see what their interest are and also come back on here and give us more information about the ages of everybody and also what her relationship is to these people. Family, bosses family, distant relatives, college room-mates. This does make a difference in what you gift people.

We shipped a case of Charmin bath tissue to friends we were to spend several days with. It was extremely well received.

Jo,

the fabric as gift surprised me as well. But I asked specifically Germans what they would like to receive as a hostess gift from an American guest staying overnight with them. Granted, I had only 12 people answering in total on this particular message board but 4 of them mentioned fabric - for quilting with the reasoning that it's expensive in Germany. Of course, this is a gift only quilters would appreciate that's why one definitely should ask the recipient first. All the examples mentioned have been requested by Germans. And while it's getting boring for me every time I ask my family what to bring they tell me to bring marshmellows ....

Oh, and for teenagers I bring Archie comics and for my sister-in-law some paperbacks of current bestsellers (she's the only one whose English is strong enough to go beyond comics).

Granted, when we are in the states, my daughter wants to bring back all kinds of goodies for her friends, like oreos, or fruit roll-ups, log cabin syrup and so on and for her best friend, a pair of converse tennis shoes. But for a hostess gift, that is just another thing I think. I think one should lean towards the classier side unless of course it is close family. I can't imagine having to ask what a close family member would want as a gift though. One would probably know.

Jo,

I do ask because after 20+ trips I'm running out of ideas of what to bring that would be new and exciting for my family, fits into my suitcase and doesn't brake the bank ...